Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Book Review: Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev



Eyes Like Stars

by Lisa Mantchev
Series: Théâtre Illuminata #1
Release date: 7th July, 2009
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 320 (Hardcover bought by me)
Next Book: Perchance to Dream

Summary from Goodreads:

Enter Stage Right
Beatrice Shakespeare Smith (Bertie): Our heroine.
Nate: A dashing pirate who will do anything to protect Bertie.
Cobweb, Moth, Mustardseed, and Peaseblossom: Four tiny, mischievous fairies, and Bertie’s loyal sidekicks.
Ariel: A seductive air spirit. Disaster follows in his wake, but Bertie simply cannot resist him.
Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the characters of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. The actors are bound to the Théâtre by The Book, an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of the actors, but they are her family. And she is about to lose them all because The Book has been threatened, and along with it the Théâtre. It’s the only home Bertie has ever known, and she has to find a way to save it. But first, there’s the small problem of two handsome men, both vying for her attention. The course of true love never did run smooth...

Review By Alaiel Kreuz:

When no one is watching the Théâtre Illuminata's company is full of colors and life, happiness and lies. Yes, lies... because even in beautiful places there are lies to hide and truths to discover.
And our main character, Bertie, is about to begin her journey.

She doesn't know how did she ended up in the Théâtre but she's been there for as long as she can remember and is very happy. Very happy indeed: her room is the stage and her world spins around classic stories like Hamlet, The Tempest and The Little Mermaid. Her best friends are fairies who are always causing trouble but love her and she likes to dye her hair (and her life) with vivid and crazy colors to express herself.
But her perfect world is about to crumble when she ruins some set pieces and sets on fire other stuff using a cannon... and now the Theatre Manager -who until now has protect her from being thrown away- tells her that this has been the last drop and that she needs to prove that she is important for the company or leave at once.

And now not only she has a few hours to think of something to stay but she also needs protection from Ariel, an air spirit that is part of the company, who believes that only Bertie can set him free and is ready to do whatever it takes to prove he is right...
Luckily Bertie has another friend, Nate, who gives her a lucky charm to prevent Ariel from hurting her. But if the charm touches saltwater it will call The Sea Goddess and that would be very bad news.

To make things even more interesting the secret of her childhood runs along the purpose of The Book and its secrets... Now she only needs to understand it all.

Personal opinion:
There are so many things about this book that I loved that I'm afraid I'm going to make no sense at all but I'm going to try because this book deserves all the attention it can get.

Who wouldn't want to live in a theatre? I mean, what's not to love?! The costumes, the make-up, the stories, the scenarios, the possibilities and the craziness itself is just enough. If to that you add a caring and handsome pirate and a tempting air spirit then it just ends being AWESOME.

And let's not forget that this theatre in particular is magic itself and the players are the real ones from the classics... I had a wonderful and amazing time falling in love again with characters like the fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream who made me smile, laugh out loud, cry (of amusement!) and clap of joy. They are crazy and funny but they are also loyal and Bertie is very lucky to have them -even if they driver her nuts most of the time. And believe me, they do...-.

Then we meet characters less important in the classics that here are important keys for the development of the plot like Nate -who is actually a pirate from The Little Mermaid that only had one line- or Ariel -who comes from The Tempest-.
My feelings for both characters are so deep that is actually very difficult to choose a team right now.
First there's Nate who would do anything to protect Bertie and shows his love for her in soft and tender ways. He is strong, rude (he is a pirate, remember?), very masculine and sexy... *daydreaming*.
And then we have Ariel who seems is just trying to use Bertie to achieve his goals but at the same time shows feelings for her in the most unexpected ways. Completely different from Nate he is tall and lean with long silver hair and a handsome face... *daydreaming again*.

Oh, and let's not forget the cover! Have you seen it?! I think it's amazing! It remembers me of some mangas and just wait until you see the next one... *drooling already*.

As for me all I have to say is that I have added Lisa Mantchev to my favorite authors because it takes a great talent to create such a wonderful world and make it flow into a story for people to read.

Alaiel's Rating:


If you really like it, you can find it here:

5 comments:

  1. The cover is geeeorgeous!Sounds like a great read!

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  2. I kee seeing wonderful reviews on this one I'm really curious about it! I have to pick it up soon!

    Giselle
    Xpresso Reads

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  3. That is such a gorgeous cover... looks like a must read to me. i am also your new follower so feel free to check out my page Totally Booked Solid and join if you wish http://totallybookedsolid.blogspot.com/

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  4. Great Review! and the cover is reeeally pretty, I really need to read this one soon :)

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  5. This sounds like a very intriguing read. I'll be honest, it's not one I would typically pick up on my own, but your review was absolutely infectious. Seriously. Infectious! Your joy and fondness for the characters definitely came through. Eyes Like Stars has been added to my TBR. Thank you for sharing the love.
    Tracy Awalt Juliano

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