The Night Circus

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern I can't remember where I read it, but someone somewhere compared this novel to The Hunger Games (presumably because there is a fixed venue and they are supposed to duel it out). Um, how about no. :/
Anyways. The overlapping timeline was confusing for about half of the book. Also, there are loose ends in the story and I doubt it was the author's intent to be mysterious in that sense. I'm thinking it was just never explored (or mayhaps not thought of in as much details?). More than anything though, it was Isobel's role that sort of baffles me. I thought she was just a normal person with a skill in tarot reading. But then apparently, it was her who is supposedly "tempering", protecting and holding things together that when she finally lets go, everything falls apart. Does it mean her "charm" or whatever it is she did was more than those of Marco and Celia's hold on the circus? Hmm.
And though I appreciate the idea and imagery of the circus, as well as the premise behind the "competition", what transpired during it and how the way the love story unfolded just didn't work for me. I just wasn't enchanted.