Book Thoughts: So Silver Bright

Title: So Silver Bright
Author: Lisa Mantchev
Series: Theatre Illuminata #3

Okay okay so. I've been trying to find this book FOREVER. It's been three years since I read the previous one and my local bookstore didn't have it and my local library didn't have it and the library at my college didn't have it, and then I finally got my hands on it --

And you couldn't tell it had been three years since I'd read the last book, the way I devoured it. The story pulls you right back in and reminds you well enough of what's going on that you're totally not lost. (Of course, it helps that this is such an engaging story that I still remembered most of the details even after three years.)

And I just. This was such a wonderful conclusion to a simply beautiful trilogy. Bertie continues to be awesome, because even though she's totally in the middle of a love triangle, she completely resists the damsel-in-distress trope and gets things done her way. Ariel and Nate are both awesome characters, and the FAIRIES don't even get me started because we'll be here all night with my love for them. I love the way word-magic and Shakespeare are incorporated, and the way this draws on the magic of the theater and of storytelling, and yeah pretty much everything about it.

The ending was bittersweet, as the endings to great series always are, but I think it was just what it needed to be. A truly stunning trilogy that I am so glad I finally got to finish. :) Definitely worth your time!

Book Thoughts: Perchance to Dream

Title: Perchance to Dream
Author: Lisa Mantchev
Series: Eyes Like Stars #2

I read and fell in love with the first book in the Théâtre Illuminata series, Eyes Like Stars, several months ago. I was a bit concerned about starting the sequel because I was a little hazy on the details of the first book. I needn't have worried; while you certainly want to read the first book first, book two is almost self-sufficient.

As Bertie, Ariel, and the four Midsummer Night's Dream fairies are off on an adventure outside the Théâtre; Bertie is desperate to rescue her sort-of-boyfriend, the pirate Nate, and she also wants to discover the identity of the Mysterious Stranger who is her father. At the same time, she's maybe-a-little-bit falling for Ariel. She's also learning how to use her storytelling magic without accidentally doing anything dangerous, like lighting her fairy friends on fire.

So much of this book had me literally laughing out loud. I adored it. The comic relief, mostly in the form of the fairies but from other sources as well, is excellent. And I love, love, love all the literary references (the first line is "'It is a truth universally acknowledged,' Mustardseed said, flying in lazy loops like an intoxicated bumblebee, 'that a fairy in possession of a good appetite must be in want of pie," and it only gets better from there). But even through the lighthearted tone and the cheerfulness, there's a fair amount of danger and dark situations that definitely kept me turning the pages.

And the characters. Oh my goodness, the characters. Peaseblossom, Moth, Cobweb, and Mustardseed alone would be enough to keep me reading even with out all the other amazingness. Edible boyfriends and parodies about pie? Oh, yes. And Bertie is so sweet and so relatable - an awesome protagonist. And then there are the love interests. Nate and Ariel are both great characters (I'm Team Ariel, but that's me.) And all of the side characters are so much fun too. It's just spectacular.

My one complaint is that some of it was really hard to follow. While Bertie was experimenting with her magic, there were two or three places where I got really confused as to where she was and who she was with. But I think even that worked, because Bertie was confused a lot too. It made it difficult to keep up in places, but I still really, really loved the story.

So if you're looking for a quick, lighthearted, bundles-of-fun summer read (er, two), the Théâtre Illuminata books (first one titled Eyes Like Stars and the second one, of course, is Perchance to Dream) would be an excellent choice.