Review: Eyes Like Stars

Title:  Eyes Like Stars
Author:  Lisa Mantchev
Review Copy Provided by:  Feiwel and Friends

About the Book:  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.

My Review: First of all, don't you just love the cover?  It just looks magical, and well it should, because in this book, magic seems to happen.  You may have some questions like, is it a play? No, but at times it reads like one.  Is it based on Shakespeare? No, but some of the characters are taken from Shakespearean plays and parts of the plays are used in the book.  Do I need to be familiar with Shakespeare before I read this? No. You can understand the book just fine without knowing any Shakespeare.  Did I like this book? YES, I did!

This was a fun read for me.  I really enjoyed the lightheartedness of it, and I attribute that to the fairies.  They have to be my absolute favorite characters in the whole book, especially Peaseblossom.  She was always the level headed one, the voice of reason, and the one who kept the "boys" in line.  Maybe I can relate to her a little, okay a lot!  The boys were mischievious and kept me laughing throughout.  You can always count on them to be the comic relief during the tense times in the story.

Bertie, the main character, is strong-willed, to say the least.  She knows what she wants and she sets out to get it from the very beginning.  When she's asked to leave the Theatre, she asks for a chance to prove herself in order to stay.  Not many believed she would pull it off, but Bertie was sure, until something happens to disrupt her plans.  It's part magic and part perseverence that allow Bertie to overcome and push through the tragedy.  Does she stay at the theatre?  You'll have to read it to see.

Lisa Mantchev has a fantastic read on her hands!  She has craftted a work that is unique, magical, funny and enjoyable.  Drama buffs will flock to it because it's about what they love, the theater.  Others will enjoy it for the fun that it exudes.  Read it and you will see for yourself. 

5/5 stars to Lisa Mantchev and Eyes Like Stars - Bravo! Bravo!

You can also find Lisa at Goodreads, Theatre Illuminata, Facebook, and on her blog.

Eyes Like Stars will be released on July 7, so preorder yours today.
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