The Night Circus

I wanted to like this story, overall. In particular, I was impressed by the occasional use of the second person point of view. That was quite unique and it definitely grabbed my attention. I had issues with which characters I found myself invested in and which characters I cared for less than I think the author intended. For instance, I was really toed to Bailey and Poppet and Herr Tiessen but I cared less about Marco and Ceilia. That was...unfortunate. Also, what's with the romance between the principle protagonists being fraught with nothing more challenging than distance, and a vague expression of “you're really not supposed to do that!”?

There was one other detail that baffled me and I won't spoil anything for you but it was enough of a “miss” that I'm still irked by it. Forgive the cryptic language but there was one detail that was well set-up with zero payoff and it would have sealed the deal for a full 3 stars.