Book Review: Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (July 7, 2009)

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.
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This story blew me away. Difficult to describe, it is just one of those books you have to read for yourself to truly appreciate. The Théâtre Illuminata is such a unique setting. Bertie actually lives there, her bedroom is on the stage. It is a magical place where plays are performed. The set changes and it is basically real on stage and the actors appear to play their parts. In this book someone wants to be free of the theater and tries to escape which causes havoc. while Bertie is on the verge of being kicked out and has to figure out a way she can stay. In the meantime she is also trying to figure out who her mother could be. By the end of the book I was floored with how the story exceeded my expectations. Now I can't wait to read the second book in the series, Perchance to Dream which will be coming out in May 2010.

5/5