Review: Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev

Summary: Beatrice Shakespeare Smith lives inside a magic theater where all the players from all the plays ever written and performed come to life. Some are her friends, some are not, and some are indifferent.

The same can be said of the adults who manage the theater productions and control the players. In life all Beatrice wants to find her parents (mom) and get this boy she likes to kiss her… that is until Management tries to force her to leave, then all she wants is to find a way to stay.

Why I started reading this book:

Saw the book cover at another blog and read the review. It looked good.

Likes:

  • Nate. He’s a random pirate from the Little Mermaid and wants to be Beatrice’s boyfriend. He’s sweet and cute and fun. Not a bad choice. Kind of like Jacob Black from the Twilight Series, but better. Too bad the Sea Witch claims him and won’t return him.
  • Ariel. He’s the mysterious boy, sort of the Edward Cullen. Is he good? Is he evil? All we know for certain is that he was once Beatrice’s friend until he was warned away by Management and that he’s terribly unhappy living inside the walls of the Théâtre Illuminata.
  • The three fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. They’re good for a laugh and are clearly good friends to each other and to Beatrice.
  • The magical Théâtre Illuminata. What a great setting! Very cool idea.

Dislikes:

  • The play that supplants Beatrice’s Hamlet makeover at the end of the book. It was necessary but didn’t do much for me.
  • What happened to Beatrice’s mom and how Beatrice once figuring out who she is leaves the theater without bringing her mom along.