It is midnight here where I am, though I suppose I could have done this at midnight your time and would have had the same effect; though this is the internet, so for this post it will be midnight always.
That is only fitting.
Here are my questions for the book.
✩1★ Please describe your initial thoughts of this book upon reading it, how it makes you feel and was there a character you could relate to more than the others?
★2✩ What about the structure of the book? I believe we all have read a couple books that lack linear timelines, but what about this one? There was so much more to the book beyond just dates and sections. Tent addition, Thiessen qoutes, etc. Was is good at disorienting, as though you were in and a part of the circus as well?
✩3★ What do you think about the other characters who were trapped by the game, unknowingly, by mistake or purposefully? Especially ones like Isobel, Bailey and the creators of the circus?
★4✩ How do you feel about the women in this book, keeping the time period of the book in mind? Many of them, if not all of them, are greatly independent, many of them very bold, (i.e. the cut of Celia’s dress at her audition).
✩5★ A note as to the timing of the book. What do you think might have happened if the timing was at all off? Isobel made her train, Bailey made it to the circus, etc.
★6✩ What about the email at the end of the book? Is it the same Bailey?
★★★★★★★ please feel free
✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩ to add any other thoughts or questions you might have.
★★When answering skip any question.★★
But don’t forget to number those you prefer to answer.✩✩✩✩
Tiffany
fuerteamanda
Kelly Hannon
Lauren
leilani42
HighFiveCO 
1) My initial thoughts were that this was the best book I’ve read in such a long time. It was so engrossing, and the scenes described were right out of a dream. I loved the descriptions of all the different tents, and the stark black-and-white mysterious pictures they drew in my imagination. As I read it, I could just picture walking through a dark midnight field, surrounded by towering tents on all sides, breathless with anticipation. I would have been one of the reveurs, for sure.
2) I thought the structure really lent itself to the reality of the story. I loved the quotes from the articles describing the circus. An author can tell you all they want about a scene in the book, but it really has a different feel when it’s another character describing it. I thought it was easy to discern the different parts of the narrative and to see where they fit together. Anything that took some time to fit into the puzzle just made it more captivating.
3) I didn’t much care for the creators of the circus. I know you weren’t particularly supposed to like Prospero, but I thought there should have been an actual REASON for the battles. Isobel was sucked in by Marco, but I can relate to someone so lost in love that they can’t pull themselves away. It was sad to think of her there, for so many years, waiting for something that wouldn’t happen. And I loved Bailey. Who could resist running away and joining the circus, as cliche as that is?
4) I thought the women in the book were a bit two-dimensional. All the characters in the book, actually, lacked substance, but I actually thought that was possibly intentional. Their superficiality really threw the exhibits into sharp contrast, in all their magical detail. Tsukiko was there, mysterious and beautiful. Isobel wanted to be loved by Marco, but we don’t really know why. Celia was born to be a magician, and fell in love with Marco because… well, because she would. Maybe I’m being too critical, but I didn’t see a lot of the reason behind their actions. Tsukiko was the most independent of them all, and about her we know the least. But their sketchy rendering made the whole book seem like a dream. People you see in dreams act for reasons you don’t understand, and the details you remember are the visual ones.
~~I’ll try to think of some questions of my own, and think of some answers for the last 2, but I have to go to work now! Also, I haven’t read it in a few months. I bought a copy, and immediately loaned it to my friend. 🙂
1- This was an incredible book. It got to a point where I just literally couldn’t put it down and then binge read for as long as I could possibly manage until the book was done. It didn’t take too long. I thought all the characters were very interesting, but I am not sure if there is one I could specifically relate to myself. I feel like Isobel might be a character that a lot of people could relate to, but overall, I enjoyed everyone. I agree though, there was a lot left to wonder about many of the characters and so maybe that is a reason why it is harder to relate to them.
2. I love the timing for the tent additions. You would have just read about a very heated part of Marco and Celia’s relationship and all of the sudden there was a tent to follow what had just happened. At the same time, I did not really pay attention to many of the quotes by Thiessen, kind of like the songs in “Year of the Flood” I skimmed over them and then went back after I knew more and enjoyed them. Overall though, I did get a tiny bit confused sometimes when Bailey was involved in the story. I would have to keep looking back at the date and seeing where he was in relation to everything.
3. For all the characters who got sucked into the game unknowingly, I felt somewhat bad for them. Especially the ones who were very negatively affected by it, Chandresh and Tara for example. For everyone else though, it just puts into perspective the intensity of the game that is being played. I guess Chandresh and Tara are even more examples of how intense the game is.
4. I would disagree slightly that Tsukiko was the only independent woman in the book. I think Mme. Padva was also very independent. She had her own business and was influential enough to make it consistently into Chandresh’s dinners. She was never really looking for any companions in the book. Tsukiko was extremely independent and bold throughout the entire book though. More what I was thinking is that for the time period, and maybe it has more to do with the fact that the book takes place mainly in a circus, I do not feel as though the women were as oppressed, as I had thought they might be. Obviously Celia was by her father. Isobel however, ran away from oppression and the rest of the women, Lainie and Tara who traveled freely, Mme. Padva who openly and aggressively owned her own business, Tsukiko who did what she wanted etc.
More to write for Later. These are my responses for now!!!
Here are the rest of my answers.
5. The timing was something I accepted UNTIL Bailey missed the circus. I was so mad at her for like 10 pages of the book. Then I was made because of what Tsukiko started saying, that all of this could have been avoided had he been on time. However, I came back to accepting the timing, when he decided to take the responsibility of the circus. For if he hadn’t have missed the circus, he would not have met all the reveurs and heard all the stories about the circus and come to love it even more. I think that whole portion, though frustrating, was absolutely essential for him to become a full part of the circus. Still not sure how I feel about the timing of Isobel.
6. I think for the email at the end of the book, it is obviously the same Bailey. I wonder if the circus will ever stop.