The circus arrives without warning.

No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentioned or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it wasn’t.

All of the characters —from the circus itself, to the performers and circusgoers— are alluring, multidimensional, complex characters. These morally-grey, deeply flawed characters are relatable, realistic, and easily loveable—a rarity in books like this one, that have a very large cast of characters. The way Morgenstern seemingly effortlessly weaves so many intriguing character arcs into a single story is truly mystifying—every character has a part to play.

It’s been on my to-be-read list for quite some time now, and I fear I might not have seriously picked it up if it weren’t for COVID-19. But I am SO glad that I did, because once I got into it, I couldn’t stop. I binged the series in less than a week and found myself highlighting passages because the writing was JUST.THAT.GOOD.