Someone recommended this book to me because I had read and loved The Night Circus. While the two definitely shared elements of Magic and childhood in common, something darker darker runs through The Toymakers. Both offer magic as an escape from the horrors of reality; in The Night Circus, the characters escape into the fantastical dreamscape of a circus that opens and midnight and runs through the night. In The Toymakers, characters escape into their memories of childhood aided by the magical toys made by a Santa Claus-like toymaker and his two sons.

The main difference between the two stories is that in one the reader escapes along with the characters into the surreal world of magic at midnight, while in the other the reader observes the characters escaping for just a little while into a childhood that is constantly threatened by intrusions of the real world horrors of war, abuse, and neglect. Where The Night Circus felt safe, dreamy, and full of magic, The Toymakers felt vulnerable, anxious, yet full of wonder.

I did enjoy getting lost in the story and watching the characters grow, yet by the end most still seem underdeveloped, and I would have preferred a little less darkness and a little more light in the storyline. Even the wildest tales of fantasy still need logic.