Night Circus

I read Night Circus because everyone was telling me I would like it because I love Harry Potter. The similarities between the two stories start and end with their inclusion of magic. And the magic systems are different. Night Circus's plot unfolds very slowly. Instead of moving forward because of plot developments, the two main characters develop. And slowly. Lovely writing is not enough to enamor me of a book. I need a story that keeps me turning the pages. The two young magicians are in trapped in a magical contest-to-the-death, all unfolding in a gorgeous Victorian circus that never ages. I should have been invested in the characters' fates, but I wasn't. There's a death match and I didn't feel compelled to stay up late furiously turning pages. In fact, I ended up reading this slowly while I finished other books. And I finished it only because my boss (who is maybe the only person who reads more than me) loved it and re-read it. Which of course, is the point of reading: two separate people can react completely differently to the same book and that's part of the fun.