Review by Lauren: Eyes Like Stars

Eyes Like Stars by 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

Wow. Two amazing books in like 3 days. Plus, this one has a sequel :) :) I thought it might just because of the ending and then amazon pretty much confirmed it, so there's something else for me to look forward to.

So Alex brought this over to my house a couple days ago, but I wasn't really drawn into it. The jacket description is a little confusing and it seemed weird but she assured me that the reviews were amazing so I decided to give it a try.

Eyes Like Stars follows Bertie - an orphaned girl who helps out at a theatre where all the characters are real and bound to play their parts. The cannot leave. The little references throughout the novel to various plays over the course of history were cute - ranging from Shakespear to Les Mis and Peter Pan. The book has a really creative concept that I enjoyed and the writing was just all around enjoyable. There's a little love triangle, that I'm sure will develope in later books, but I'm not going to spoil anything for anyone. I was never bored and enjoyed the combination of fantasy and modern writing - it wasn't awkward and weirdly placed... it was just like a whole entire world inside of our own.

Its hard to review without revealing all of the plot twists and mystery that make up the novel so I'm just going to go tell you to go read the book. Sorry about the brief and scattered review. Go buy the book. Just do it.

Trust me.

6/6

♥ Lauren