Le Cirque des Rêves (The Circus of Dreams) features exhibitions such as illusionists, fortune-tellers, and attractions that defy the laws of physics and reality.

Marco also starts a romantic relationship with the circus's fortune-teller, but he and Celia eventually fall in love after having learned that they are each other's competitor.

When a spectator is accidentally stabbed in an exhibition, Celia resolves to end the game as quickly as possible, while also preserving the circus and those involved with it.

The book ends with the revelation that Poppet, Widget, Bailey, and the circus still exist in the modern day, having been preserved for over a century.

The Night Circus has been compared to Harry Potter and Twilight, as well as to Neil Gaiman, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

[10] In the November/December 2011 issue of Bookmarks, the book received (3.5 out of 5) stars, with the critical summary stating, "And if the main characters tend to be cardboard figures and the love plot is no more surprising than the presence of trapeze artists at a circus, well, the real magic, reviewers agreed, resides in how Morgenstern weaves together seemingly unrelated plot threads in a dazzling finish".

[11][12] Ron Charles writing for The Washington Post compares Morgenstern's imagery to Steven Millhauser's, albeit with "more playful and more dramatic surrealism".

[13] Olivia Laing writing for The Observer compares the book to an "eminently intriguing cabinet of curiosities" with an intricate but unmoored setting and colorful but clockwork characters.

[16] Richard Peabody writing for the Washington Independent Review of Books describes the narrative as nonlinear, with frequent shifts in points of view, tangential vignettes, and short almost cinematic chapters.

[4] Stacey D'Erasmo writing for The New York Times Book Review criticizes the lack of specificity of the imagery, describing the experience as being "continually told how magical the circus and its denizens are without ever being truly surprised, entranced or beguiled.