Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev

Title: Eyes Like Stars
Author: Lisa Mantchev
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: July 7th, 2009
Number of Pages: 356

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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.

Eyes Like Stars. The title alone holds so much promise, so much possibility. The beautiful cover painting of Bertie, our heroine, is absolutely breathtaking. You open the book to the first page, and the fancy font brings a smile to your face. The only question that remains is, "What about the actual content of the book? Was it as enchanting as you thought it would be?" Well . . . yes. No. Yes and no.

Let me start with the best part of this book first: the writing. Lisa Mantchev's writing is just astonishing. It's one of those things that you simply can not describe because it's so amazing and wow-ifying. It was an elegant butterfly fluttering in the breeze. It was a heart shattering in an infinite number of pieces. Mantchev's writing is so wonderful that I think you should read this book just to witness it's beauty.

However, even though I loved the writing, Eyes Like Stars also has it's weak points.

For example, the beginning is quite confusing at first so you have to re-read a few parts to understand what is happening. This novel is also a little slow and takes time reading (at least for me). It's one of those books that you just can't read in one sitting. I also feel that even though the twists in this story were clever, I'm sure they could have been delivered a little better.

Even then, the ending of this book left me feeling very satisfied and paved out a very promising Book Two in this series. Lisa Mantchev is a flower that will soon flourish - I'm sure of it. :) B+