Review: Eyes Like Stars (Théâtre Illuminata, #1) - Lisa Mantchev

All her world’s a stage. Bertie Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater. She’s not an orphan, but she has no parents. She knows every part, but she has no lines of her own. That is, until now.
Enter Stage Right
NATE. Dashing pirate. Will do anything to protect Bertie.
COBWEB, MOTH, MUSTARD SEED, and PEASEBLOSSOM. Four tiny and incredibly annoying fairies. BERTIE’S sidekicks.
ARIEL. Seductive air spirit and Bertie’s weakness. The symbol of impending doom.
BERTIE. Our heroine.
Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the actors of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. They were born to play their parts, and are bound to the Théâtre by The Book—an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but they are her family—and she is about to lose them all and the only home she has ever known.
Lisa Mantchev has written a debut novel that is dramatic, romantic, and witty, with an irresistible and irreverent cast of characters who are sure to enchant the audience.
Open Curtain

Genre: Fantasy, YA


Length: 352 pages
Published July 7th 2009 by Feiwel & Friends

Review


vanilla-rating-4-stars


"Eyes Like Stars" has grabbed my attention almost an year ago, when I got my Kindle. The title, the cover, the plot... they all intrigued me. I added the book to my to-be-read pile, and forgot about it... until now. What made me remember was taking part in a Paranormal Reading Challenge that required reading a book with Fae for the month of March. And so I realised there was a Faery book I really wanted to read for a long time.

I must admit I was very confused at the beggining of this book. Though I knew what it was about, it took me a chapter or two to realise that the Players were all the actual characters from plays, with Bertie being the only one who didn't truly belong... or so it seemed.

I really missed reading about a character as unique as Bertie was. Her imagination and rebelious attitude, combined with her smart lines and her sense of humour made her a very realistic character, one easy to like.

I found the dialogues very well written, at times hilarious,


“You didn't just write the play, Bertie," Peaseblossom said suddenly. "You ordered the Players about, shouted, and threw an artistic hissy fit. Do you know what that makes you?"
"A temperamental fusspot?" Mustardseed guessed.
"Crazier than a bag full of crazy?" Moth said.
"Close," Peaseblossom said. "It makes her a Director.”


...but inspirational and touching at the right moment.


“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”


Though I'm tired of finding love triangles in so many books lately, the one in this book is so subtle and realistic, that I couldn't not enjoy it. Nate (the pirate) is a funny character, and I cheered for him most of the time, while Ariel (from Shakespeare's "Tempest") is charming and seductive, and at times very annoying.

The faeries (from A Midsummer Night's Dream) were a cute addition to the story. I found their role in the story quite interesting, and I couldn't help being amused by their hilarious behaviour, and touched by their loialty to Bertie.

The story is unique, full of interesting ideas, none of which I would've thought of. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, boom! - a surprise is thrown at me.

This goes without saying on my favourites shelf, and as much as I would've loved to give it a 5-vanilla-flower rating, I am forced to take one out due to the confusing parts. I'm definitely reading the sequel as soon as I can, as I must find out what happens to Bertie, Nate, Ariel and the faeries.

I recommend this book to those in search of something different.

semnatura

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2 comentarii

  1. I got this one from a library sale about 2 years ago and still haven't read it but after this review I think this'll be coming up on my TBR pile sooner than later :)
    -Kimberly @ Turning the Pages

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  2. Well, it was very interesting and different. It was a welcome breath of fresh air.

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