The world is a better place with this book in it. It is well worth reading once, with the proper expectations. Ignore the exaggerated expectations that the cover blurbs set for you, and you will like it. 
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 The Good: 
 The author's phrasing borders on sublime and Gaiman-esque at times. The concept is fascinating, the circus incredibly well detailed, and the plot obviously well thought out and properly planned. When the characters interact, they are very interesting. 
 The Bad: 
 I feel like a real injustice was done to the author by the back of the book blurb, incorrectly emphasizing the stakes instead of the tale itself-which is much more interesting, and what the book is actually about. I never felt from the text that the main characters' lives were at stake, until I was told so explicitly 3/4 of the way through the book. Removing my false expectations, I like the book a lot more. 
 That being said, this book was almost all tell and very little show, character wise. I'm very modern as a reader, so this was not very satisfying to me. The language and tenses used meant I felt at arm's length in this book, except when it came to the two, maybe three romantic scenes. 
 The characters (except Celia) are mainly two dimensional, like paper dolls on a miniature stage, until very late in the book. The long setup is incredibly atmospheric but could have been done in 1/4 the time, because almost all of it does not payoff as much as it should (for the time devoted to it). 
 The rules of the bet themselves are not ever properly explained nor why the bet occurs at all. Considering how often it is brought up, this was a bit of a let down for me. Perhaps this was done to avoid the obvious comparison to The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus? I know from some background research that the book changed in a significant way in the hands of editors, and I think I can pinpoint that change in the book itself. 
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