Today’s post is very interesting because one book I still hold in very high regard and the other I now really dislike. However, during my teen years, it was one of my favourite series and that’s what this post is all about.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
I remember being absolutely in awe at this book every part of this book was stunning. The non-linear structure was definitely very confusing, but I think I may have been a little too young for it at the time.
The circus trope is one of my favourites even though I don’t seem to read it very often. Honestly, I can’t remember too much about the story, but I do know that I thought about it for a very long time after reading.
I have brought this on my Kindle so I will definitely re-read it at some point. I just don’t know when.
Synopsis: The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.
Divergent by Veronica Roth
I’m sure everyone read and loved this in their teens. Now I do remember absolutely loving the first two books and my friends at the time said I reminded them of Tris. I’m not sure if I should take offence from this now? I’m going with yes, thank god I’m not friends with them anymore.
At the time of reading this, I was just coming out of my The Hunger Games hype (this went on for longer than I care to admit) and I would say that it definitely filled that hole. For a while…
I’ve later come to dislike this series purely because I just could not get through the last book. I tried three times, but it’s never going to happen. The ending got ruined for me and I just couldn’t read it. I’m pretty sure this happened for a lot of people as I’ve seen a few people mention this online.
Genuinely back in, I want to say 2013 (this was not shelved on my Goodreads for some reason), I really loved this book, but I would probably say I’ve outgrown it now.
Synopsis: In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
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