** spoiler alert ** 
 The night circus was written very well, but it just didn't pull me in. I kept waiting for something fantastical to happen, which I believed would involve the magical competition between the two main characters, but nothing really took shape. Magical things happened, don't get me wrong, and they were beautiful, and sometimes extremely heartbreaking. However, it was not as thrilling as I thought it would be. There were some very exciting aspects of the book though. I really liked Celia and Marco's love story. They managed to find love, in spite of their upbringing. I loathed Celia's father. He was the one person I really could not stand in this book. I didn't like Isobel, but soon realized she was a victim of the competition just like everyone else. Overall, I found it to be a bit of a slow read. There was a lot of beautifully detailed descriptions of people and places, but I sometimes found it to make the book a slower read than necessary. I gave this book 3 stars instead of 4, just because I had to force myself to keep reading during some parts of the book. It was good though and I recommend it to those that like a magical love story.