I liked the second half, when events finally start to come together, much more than the earlier sections. Erin Morgenstern spent much, much time setting the stage. And setting it. And setting it. There were some fabulous elements to her magical circus, and I suspect that sometimes words couldn't do justice to her vision.

This book presented many stark visual contrasts: fire and ice, black and white. The obvious contrast that's missing is good and evil; the only "bad guy" seemed to be the passage of time--and even "time" was not necessarily a bad thing, just something to be manipulated.

Each chapter is prefaced with a place and a date, and I almost didn't notice some overlapping time frames.

Another "time" trick was Morgenstern's use of describing everything in current tense, so that events happen now, not before now.

I was not particularly swept away by the love story, nor was I engaged with any of the characters. They felt like set pieces more than people.

Recommended for: Harry Potter fans, all grown up.