#48 Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
Beatrice “Bertie” Shakespeare Smith lives in a theater. Her room looks like any other teenage girl's bedroom, only it's on a stage and can b
e rolled away whenever a show needs to take place. Her closest friends are Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed, fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream. The guy of her dreams is Nate, a pirate from The Little Mermaid. Her nemesis is Ariel an air spirit from The Tempest. Spending your life surrounded by all of the characters from every play ever written may seem strange, but to Bertie, it's her home. So when the Theater Manager gets fed up with her mischievous ways and threatens to kick her out, Bertie will do anything to make sure that she can stay.
Thanks to the success of The Twilight Saga, the young adult genre has seen a boom of fantastical stories with a heavy romantic edge, starring a female lead and featuring beautiful cover art. At times, it can be difficult to keep up with the influx of titles, never mind figure out which one is right for you. Eyes Like Stars is a book that manages to stand out despite all of that competition, thanks to Lisa Mantchev's original vision and tight execution. Eyes Like Stars is a whimsical little book filled with humor, romance, and great characterization. I absolutely loved the idea of setting the story in a theater. On one hand, it makes for a small, very intimate story, as the we never leave the building, and spend the majority of our time on the stage. At the same time, since what's happening in the novel feels very big and important to Bertie, the conflict never feels too small or insignificant. The author also cleverly adds drama and color to the story through constant scene changes, which gives the story different backdrops for our characters to play upon.
Eyes Like Stars should appeal to anyone who has ever been involved in theater, or who has fallen in love with Shakespeare's plays (like me!). The novel is sprinkled with little in-jokes to famous plays (my favorite being Macbeth's encountering the donuts), that gave an extra layer of enjoyment. Bertie is an interesting heroine, mischievous and passionate, and should accessible to readers, despite her strange upbringing. My favorite characters would have to be the four fairies who follow Bertie around, as they do a great job of providing comic relief. The romance is for the most part good, although I felt that some of the later developments were a bit rushed (I know I'm being rather vague here. I just don't want to give away too much).
Eyes Like Stars is hands down, a fun read. The story just sparkles, and the unique setting made the book really enjoyable. Some people may have trouble keeping track of all of the scene changes, but for me, it worked quite well. Eyes Like Stars may be a little strange, but it's my kind of strange, and I'm quite happy that I decided to pick it up. I plan on picking up the second book in the trilogy, Perchance to Dream, once my library gets a copy.
Rating: four and a half stars
Length: 356 pages
Source: Lewiston Public Library
Challenges: This book is part of the 2010 Support Your Local Library Challenge, and The 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge
Similar Books: Holly Black's Modern Faerie Tales- start with Tithe
Other books I've read by this author: This is my first
xposted to temporaryworlds , bookish , and goodreads
e rolled away whenever a show needs to take place. Her closest friends are Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed, fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream. The guy of her dreams is Nate, a pirate from The Little Mermaid. Her nemesis is Ariel an air spirit from The Tempest. Spending your life surrounded by all of the characters from every play ever written may seem strange, but to Bertie, it's her home. So when the Theater Manager gets fed up with her mischievous ways and threatens to kick her out, Bertie will do anything to make sure that she can stay.
Thanks to the success of The Twilight Saga, the young adult genre has seen a boom of fantastical stories with a heavy romantic edge, starring a female lead and featuring beautiful cover art. At times, it can be difficult to keep up with the influx of titles, never mind figure out which one is right for you. Eyes Like Stars is a book that manages to stand out despite all of that competition, thanks to Lisa Mantchev's original vision and tight execution. Eyes Like Stars is a whimsical little book filled with humor, romance, and great characterization. I absolutely loved the idea of setting the story in a theater. On one hand, it makes for a small, very intimate story, as the we never leave the building, and spend the majority of our time on the stage. At the same time, since what's happening in the novel feels very big and important to Bertie, the conflict never feels too small or insignificant. The author also cleverly adds drama and color to the story through constant scene changes, which gives the story different backdrops for our characters to play upon.
Eyes Like Stars should appeal to anyone who has ever been involved in theater, or who has fallen in love with Shakespeare's plays (like me!). The novel is sprinkled with little in-jokes to famous plays (my favorite being Macbeth's encountering the donuts), that gave an extra layer of enjoyment. Bertie is an interesting heroine, mischievous and passionate, and should accessible to readers, despite her strange upbringing. My favorite characters would have to be the four fairies who follow Bertie around, as they do a great job of providing comic relief. The romance is for the most part good, although I felt that some of the later developments were a bit rushed (I know I'm being rather vague here. I just don't want to give away too much).
Eyes Like Stars is hands down, a fun read. The story just sparkles, and the unique setting made the book really enjoyable. Some people may have trouble keeping track of all of the scene changes, but for me, it worked quite well. Eyes Like Stars may be a little strange, but it's my kind of strange, and I'm quite happy that I decided to pick it up. I plan on picking up the second book in the trilogy, Perchance to Dream, once my library gets a copy.
Rating: four and a half stars
Length: 356 pages
Source: Lewiston Public Library
Challenges: This book is part of the 2010 Support Your Local Library Challenge, and The 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge
Similar Books: Holly Black's Modern Faerie Tales- start with Tithe
Other books I've read by this author: This is my first
xposted to temporaryworlds , bookish , and goodreads