The Night Circus- Part One (Primordium): Chapter Three (Shades of Grey) - That Was Easy

This chapter begins not with Hector abusing his child or performing, but with the man in the grey suit.
He is visiting an orphanage, searching for a student to challenge Celia, and presents "unusual criteria" to the headmistress as to what he is searching for.
Three children are brought to him to be privately interviewed, two of which are dismissed. As they leave, they offer and are offered no explanation, but only look confused, and it's here that I wonder just what he was asking them, because the interview of the third child seemed pretty trivial, except for the cane throwing.
The only test the man gives him is throwing a cane at him(which he catches), and it seems like kind of a gamble to choose a child to participate in a lifelong game just because he has good reflexes.

The only other requirements, it seems, are:
Likes books
And that's it.

Because after the cane, the man tells the boy he will be coming with him.

"Do I have a choice?"
"Do you wish to remain here?"
The boy considers this for a moment.
"No," he says.
"Very well."

Now, exactly how magic is taught is never explained, so I don't know if you have to have a certain gene or a high enough IQ level or whatever, but if anyone who likes to read and can catch things can do it, then we should seriously consider altering our school system to something more Hogwarts-like.

This chapter ends with something that sounds like abduction: "the man in the grey suit takes him from the grey stone building, and he does not return."

Chapter Four should be up by Tuesday.

Shatter Me might be a while longer, so I might be posting some other things (mini-reviews, Night Vale/Doctor Who speculation, philosophical ramblings, etc.) in the meantime.

Shatter Me- Introduction

Hello earthlings! Audrey here.

I'm currently reviewing The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern chapter-by-chapter, and I was planning to start Tahreh Mafi's Shatter Me series once I had finished, but The Night Circus is a book that will take at least two months to review, so I decided that I would start it now.

I'll try to keep with the weekly schedule, so there'll be at least one chapter of The Night Circus and one chapter of Shatter Me every week. It might be a little while before I get started on the Shatter Me review, because I might want to format it differently than chapter-by-chapter, but the first chapter of the first book should be up within two weeks.

Real Introduction:

Sigh...this series.

It is by all means the stereotypical YA dystopian romance novel:

Controlling Government-check

Altered Society-check

First Person Female Protagonist-check

Love Triangle-check

etc., etc.

But still, I found myself truly enjoying it. I can't really explain what made it so good to me, but I've recommended this series to almost everyone I know. 

There are three main books: Shatter Me, Unravel Me, and Ignite Me, with two novellas: Fracture Me, and Destroy Me

In this review, they will go in this order:

Shatter Me

Unravel Me

Destroy Me

Ignite Me

Fracture Me (as an afterthought)

I've read them all except Fracture Me, and writing this I realize I actually have to read it.

My lack of excitement isn't based on the rest of the series; the series is great, but if you've read the books it probably makes sense as to why I don't want to read Fracture Me.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this review!

Thoughts? Think I should review a different book? Have suggestions on format for the review? Tell me down in the comments or on our Twitter (@midnightharbor) or Instagram (@midnight.harbor)

The Night Circus- Part One (Primordium): Chapter Two (A Gentlemen's Wager) - Even Worse Parenting

This chapter starts with Prospero the Enchanter (who happens to be a terrible father) giving the last performance of a single week of shows. 

At the sold-out show, among the amazed Londoners, sits a man in a grey suit. 

During the entire performance, he does not speak nor applaud, but simply stares at Prospero. 

Completely unimpressed, once the show is over, he goes backstage and opens the door to Prospero's dressing room by tapping his cane on the door. 

Now, I understand that magic is a large part of this book, and that Morgenstern wanted to show that this man had the ability to use magic, but he could have just as easily just opened the door by turning the doorknob.

The two greet each other, and the man in the grey suit tells Hector that he does not approve of using their gift to make money off of the unsuspecting public. 

Hector's response includes what is possibly the only sentence that I would quote him on: 

"They [the magicians] are a bunch of fish covered in feathers trying to convince the public they can fly, and I am simply a bird in their midst." (In case you can't tell, Hector Bowen is not exactly my favorite character.) Still, though, the man in the grey suit remains disapproving of Hector using magic, but he moves on to ask why Hector invited him to visit from wherever he had been previously (because I honestly have no idea.)

And this is where this book takes a turn for the douchebag.

Hector tells the man that he wants to play a "game," which ends up being bad enough in itself, but we'll get back to that. 
He brings Celia out, introducing the man as Alexander, and calling her, yes, calling his young daughter, his "new project."

Congratulations, sir! You are a terrible parent.

He makes Celia spin a watch on the table using magic, and when the man calls it "impressive" but "very basic", she becomes angry and the watch shatters. When she mends it, he takes more notice.
For the only time in his life, Hector is visibly proud of his daughter, as he has only been teaching her for eight months and clearly has natural ability.
The man agrees, but remarks that her temper is problematic.
They continue to talk, but they "muddle" their voices so that Celia cannot understand what they are saying.

"'You would wager your own child?'
'She won't lose,' Hector says. 'I suggest you find a student you can tolerate parting with, if you do not already have one to spare.'
'I assume her mother has no opinion on the matter?'
'You assume correctly.'
The man in the grey suit considers the girl for some time before he speaks again, and still, she does not comprehend the words.
'I understand your confidence in her ability, though I encourage you to at least consider the possibility that she could be lost, should the competition not play out in her favor. I will find a player to truly challenge her. Otherwise there is no reason for me to agree to participate. Her victory cannot be guaranteed.'
'That is a risk I am willing to take,' Hector says without even glancing at his daughter. 'If you would like to make it official here and now, go right ahead.'"

So basically, Hector is willing to enter his young daughter in an incredibly intense, very vague competition in which she might die. For his entertainment.
He is the man that launched a thousand Social Services investigations.

The man slides a silver ring on her finger that burns into her skin (the child abuse only goes downhill from here) before fading and leaving a scar that (I assume) binds her to the competition. He tells Hector that he needs time to find his own player, and Hector gives him a gold ring to be used when a student is a found.
The man in the grey suit references his own player winning the last competition (which will come up later, though I wouldn't call it "winning"), and Hector tells him that Chandresh Lefevre will be organizing the "venue" for the competition (it's the circus).
They discuss rules, and decide that there will be no time limit, which really does mean no time limit, because this game takes decades.
The man in the grey suit says goodbye to Celia, who curtseys, and then leaves.

After he is gone, Celia asks why her father called the man Alexander, when it is not his name, and Hector asks how she knew that.

"'It's not a real name,' she says. 'Not one that he's carried with him always. It's one he wears like his hat. So he can take it off if he wants. Like Prospero is for you.'"

I retract my previous statement. There are two sentences by Hector that I would quote.

"'You are more even more clever than I could have hoped,'" he says, and the chapter ends with him placing his silk top hat on his daughter's much smaller head, where it slides over her eyes. A brief, fleeting moment of caring.

Thoughts so far? If so please comment, or go to our Twitter and/or Instagram. Chapter 3 should be out before next Sunday. 

The Night Circus- Part One (Primordium): Chapter One (Unexpected Post) - Bad Parenting

This chapter begins with a man, Hector Bowen, whose mail is billed to his stage name, Prospero the Enchanter, receiving a suicide note attached to the coat of his five-year old daughter.
The theater manager takes the silent girl to Prospero's office, and upon seeing his daughter for the first time, he says what any parent would say: "Well, fuck."
This is the tip of the iceberg for the years of abuse toward Hector's daughter that follow.
Reading the note without any emotional reaction, the only fact that he takes away is that he is now the primary guardian of his daughter, Celia.
After joking that Celia's mother was not clever enough to think to name her Miranda, the little girl narrows her eyes and the teacup on his desk shatters.
His humor instantly gone, he glances at the shards of porcelain and Celia watches as the teacup mends itself.
Then, like any good parent, Hector Bowen inspects his daughter by grabbing her face.

"Hector Bowen takes his daughter's face in his gloved hand, scrutinizing her expression for a moment before releasing her, his fingers leaving long red marks across her cheeks.
'You might be interesting,' he says."

There's already a sense of magic established in this book, real magic, not the kind Prospero pretends to do onstage, and the best thing about his daughter, to him, is the fact that she's inherited his gift.

Months (of abuse) pass, and the first chapter ends with Hector sending his own letter across the ocean, and it reaches its destination despite having no address (again, magic).

This chapter, of course, is an introduction to the book, and years pass before the major events of the plot, but we've established two things:
1. Magic
2. Hector is a douche

Thoughts so far? Again, I'm trying to post within a week of the previous one, so at the latest, Chapter 2 should be out by next Saturday.

Handle With Care- Introduction

Hi Readers!

As you know I'm a friend of Audrey's and am new to the blog, but hopefully I meet your expectations!

I'm currently in the middle of a wonderful book called Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult. I'm not quite done yet, but I'll give you a short synopsis:

Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe have a young daughter named Amelia and have been trying to conceive for a year. Charlotte finally becomes pregnant, only to find out that her much wanted baby, Willow, has Osteogenesis Imperfecta, or OI. OI is a disease that affects the bones and causes them to become very brittle. Charlotte and Sean are thankful for Willow every day, but as Willow grows up, the money pours out of their pockets to pay for her, and their happy family might not last much longer.

So hopefully I'll be done with this book by Monday, although I may not post about it until Tuesday or Wednesday.

If you have any suggestions about books for us to read and post about, please put them in the comments below. Thanks!

News

Hello there, earthlings!

I come to you now to tell you that I have taken on a partnership for this blog. 
A friend of mine, Eliana Eme, will be joining me on this strange journey through the pages of both terrible and wonderful books.
Her reviews might be structured a bit differently, but hopefully, we can now put out twice as much content.
So welcome, Eliana!

Here's to however much time we can afford to spend on this!

Night Circus- Introduction (Anticipation)

The book opens with a short few pages written in second-person, describing your confusion when the circus arrives one day without warning. Of course, you are bewildered, like the other people beginning to gather, especially because no one seems to know how or when it arrived.
One major thing about this book is the descriptions. Morgenstern doesn't shy away from painting lurid, bordering-on-extravagant pictures through her writing, and this has to do with the characters involved, but we'll come back to that in later chapters.
In this little preface, she describes the circus as a colorless mass of black-and-white striped tents and a clock that defies description in its complexity, all surrounded by a wrought-iron fence.
What is even more bewildering to both you and the crowd is the sign on the gated that reads:
                             "Opens at Nightfall
                                      Closes at Dawn"

The people around you ask questions no one among you can answer. For whatever reason, you can afford to stand outside the gates of this strange circus all day, waiting for nightfall, and so can the large mass of people around you.
After the sun goes down, popping sounds precede the appearance of little flickering lights, "as though the entirety of the circus is covered in particularly bright fireflies." The restless crowd grows quiet and still, enchanted.
More lights flicker to life along the top of the gates, revealing the words "Le Cirque des Rēves", which translates to "The Circus of Dreams".
For whatever reason, the circus is not called The Night Circus as the title suggests, but instead "The Circus of Dreams". It does make sense with the tone of this book but, still, a bit strange.
Finally, the gates unlock and open, seemingly without any hands pulling them, and you are invited in.
"Now the circus is open.
Now you may enter."

I found that these few pages are not the most accurate preview into the book, as the rest is written in neither second-person nor is it about you.
However, it very accurately describes what the circus is like, and what the experience is like for the outsiders. These little passages pop up often throughout the book, offering another glimpse of the circus, but the actual effect on the plot is minimal.

Thoughts so far? I plan to be more detailed and offer more of my opinion throughout the review, but I figured this made a good intro to both the book and my review of the book.
I'll try to have the first chapter out by Wednesday at the latest, but no promises.

The Night Circus- Introduction

This book is wonderful.

Of course, I know I promised I would keep bias out of the picture, but this has to have been, hands down, one of the best books I've ever read. 

I plan to go chapter by chapter, and The Night Circus has 75 chapters, split up into 5 parts. After each part, I'll probably summarize what happened and wait a bit longer before posting again. I still have to work out a schedule, but I'll try my best to have at least one chapter done each week. 

Please, I know everyone ever on the Internet has asked this, but if you find yourself on my blog and feel things, please comment and/or share this with others. It doesn't matter if you hate it or love it or are a robot incapable of emotions or you just don't know, please let me know. I'm given much more incentive to produce content if I know humans/other biological life forms are aware of it and reading my babble.

All right. Enough of that. I'm so excited to get into this. I guess there's nothing else to say, so ...Geronimo!

And So It Begins

Hello there, lovelies!

This blog is mainly going to be about book reviews, but may include some babble about Doctor Who, Night Vale, and God knows what else down the road. Don't stick around if you can't handle Tumblr-esque ranting and rambling.

 This is something completely new for me, so I have no schedule for uploads. 
The best I can do for now is give a list of the books I'll be reviewing soon (hopefully).

1. Tahreh Mafi's Shatter Me Series:

Shatter Me

Unravel Me

Ignite Me

2. Ghosting- Edith Pattou

3. The Night Circus- Erin Morgenstern (current)

4. Flowers For Algernon

5. Perks of Being a Wallflower

6. Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles

Cinder

Scarlet

Cress

Fairest

Winter (after the brief eternity preceding its release)

7. Handle With Care- Jodi Picoult

8. Attachments- Rainbow Rowell

Now that's out of the way and I've come to the bottom of the page... Welcome to the Midnight Harbor, my personal fifth circle of hell!