Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev

Release Date: July 7, 2009
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 368
From: Publisher
Interest: genre & plot

All her world's a stage.
Beatrice Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater.
She is not an orphan, but she has no parents.
She knows every part, but has no lines of her own.
Until now.

Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the characters of every place 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.

An strikingly enchanting debut novel, featuring a quirky cast of characters that not only entertains but enthralls!

Never have I read a novel so uniquely portrayed, so full of magic and awe. Mantchev is exceptional storyteller and I can’t wait to read more. Although most of the characters in the novel have been portrayed in plays of the theater, Mantchev was still able to enhance their characterization into beings as magical as the Theatre Illuminata itself. Not to mention the intrepid Beatrice Shakespeare Smith!

Perfectly intriguing plot line. I will admit that I was a little confused at first, amidst the “scene changes” and whatnot, but I quickly acquired to the theater lingo! I love it when authors create such an appealing world, I find it hard to disengage and put down! Eyes Like Stars is one of those novels.

I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment in the series!