Comment on style

Despite the novel's seemingly adolescent premise: two young illusionists falling in love at a traveling circus, The Night Circus is undoubtedly an adult novel. Within the first few pages, Morgenstern ensures that she weeds out young readers with Prospero the Entertainer's first line, upon realizing that he has fathered a child: "Well, fuck" (p. 10). In this one sentence, so early in the novel, Morgenstern makes a clear statement that this magical story is not for children. For the rest of the novel, Morgenstern uses an advanced vocabulary with very little context for understanding new words without previous knowledge. Although engaging, the novel's structure - from the plot to the chapters to the sentences themselves - are winding, confusing, and take time to puzzle out.