Early Review - So Silver Bright (Theatre Illuminata, Book 3) by Lisa Mantchev (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult

Genre: Fantasy
Size:  368 pages

Publisher:  Feiwel & Friends

Release Date: September 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0312380984
Stand Alone or Series: Third (and final) book in the Theatre Illuminata series
Source: ARC from Publisher
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the final book in the Theatre Illuminata series by Lisa Mantchev.  I received am advanced reading copy of this book for review in exchange for participating in the Silver So Bright cover reveal earlier this year.  It was a good conclusion to the series.  The book is beautifully written and creative, I enjoyed how the series was wrapped up.

Bertie is recovering from her run-in with the sea witch Sedna and meeting her father.  Her father takes off leaving her abandoned.  Now Bertie is stuck in a horrible situation; Sedna is still after her and Bertie still hasn't been able to fulfill her promise to her mother, Ophelia, that she will bring her father back to the Theatre.  As if this isn't enough Bertie recieves an inviation to perform in front of the Queen that cannot be refused.  Bertie has a lot to do; and through it all she will have to finally make a decision about who she will choose as her companion...will in be the steadfast pirate Nate or will it be the magical and mysterious wind spirit Aeriel.

The writing in this book is beautiful, magical, and glittering.  This is a book to be savored slowly, and while that makes it a tough read a points, for the most part it is very beautiful and magical.  

There is a lot that happens in this book, a lot of adventure, some action, and some emotional turmoil.  Our favorite characters are all here; with the addition of a couple more.  In this book we get to meet a beautiful Queen who ages from birth to death each day, a herb witch who wants ideas of children as payment, and we get to spend more time with Bertie's father.  We finally learn the history between Bertie's father, Ophelia, and Sedna.  We also get to watch Bertie struggle between her love for Aeriel and Nate and see her finally make a decision.

The plot moves along as a wonderfully fast clip, as I said a lot happens here.  The world is incredibly creative and we see more of this world in this book than in any of the previous.  So many magical and fantastic things happen; you just never knew what would happen next.

I only have a couple small complaints.  The first is that, like the other books, you have to read every word and really pay attention to follow what is going on.  That's not necessarily bad, but it makes the book a harder and slower read; the language in the book just doesn't flow as naturally as it could.  The second complaint is at points I still had some trouble picturing exactly what was happening.  I think this is because some of the things that happen are so fantastical and so complicated, that it is just hard for the reader to really picture the world in detail.

Overall I enjoyed this book.  It was an excellent ending to an incredibly beautiful and creative series.  If you love a creative fantasy with adventure and a touch of romance check this series out.  I will be keeping an eye open to see what Mantchev writes next.  

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:

- 100+ Reading Challenge
- Fantasy Reading Challenge

Review - Perchance to Dream (Theatre Illuminata, Book 2) by Lisa Mantchev (4/5 stars)

This is the second book in the Theatre Illuminata trilogy by Lisa Mantchev.  It was more wondrous and adventurous than the first book in the series, "Eyes Like Stars", I enjoyed it a lot.  I got this book as an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) through the Amazon Vine program.

In this book Bertie has left the Theatre with Aeriel at her side.  They are going in search of Bertie's sweetheart Nate (the pirate who was kidnapped by Sedna, the witch from The Little Mermaid).  Bertie also hopes to find information on who her father is, after the strange news in book one that Ophelia is her mother.  Along the way they will meet a myriad of crazy characters and Bertie will have to make a choice between Nate and Aeriel.  Of course the three ever-present fairies accompany the party providing snarky comments and trouble throughout the story.

Many parts of this story are much better than "Eyes Like Stars", the first novel in this series.  It was wonderful to be out of the Theatre and in the countryside.  Mantchev did an excellent job coming up with quirky characters and a creative backdrop for her story.  The writing is more polished than in the first book and the descriptions of things are decadent and lush; if a bit quirky sounding at times.  There is a lot more action and adventure in this book which I enjoyed; I thought Mantchev did a great job with the action scenes too.  If I had to give the strengths of this novel I would say that creativity and intriguing imagery are what Mantchev excels at.

This book is a fun read, the fairies provide a lot of humor.  It is a sweet book that is light on violence and heavy on romance; by romance I mean the general romantic kind...full of sweet kisses, gentle cuddles, and beautiful descriptions the drip with jewels and glitter.  Aeriel is a wonderful character and, as with the majority of the characters in this book, is very grey in nature...he is not good or evil but something in between.  I did not envy Bertie at having to choose between Nate and Aeriel, both are excellent male leads that are intriguing and kind in different ways.

My least favorite part about this book was still Bertie.  She does not whine as much as in the last book and her dialogue is a bit more mature.  But she still comes off as helpless and a bit stupid at times.  I was very frustrated when she couldn't figure out how to use the magic book...after making mistakes with it a number of times, she continued to word things poorly and make more mistakes.  I guess I just like my heroines a bit more quick of mind.  I also thought her reactions to things were very immature.  Again this is a personal preference.  I liked her better than in the first book, but I still don't like her all that much.

I also thought that Bertie's "magic" wasn't really defined all that well.  It was a bit confusing how she needed the book to work magic, then later on she didn't.  Much of the book has a dreamlike quality to it as we are tossed in and out of Bertie's "reality".  Mantchev tried to make this clear, but it is a confusing concept and it could have been made a bit cleaner and clearer.

Overall though this is was a fun read.  If you liked "Eyes Like Stars" you will like this book even better.  Mantchev's writing style has matured, and her creativity is unmatched.  She does an excellent job with imagery too.  If I could just like Bertie better I would be thrilled with this book.  I do look forward to reading the third book in this series!

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The Young Adult Reading Challenge
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge

 

Waiting on Wednesday - 1/13

Okay "Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week my WoW book is "Perchance to Dream" (Theatre' Illuminata, Book 2) by Lisa Mantchev. This is the second book in the Theatre' Illluminata Trilogy by Lisa Mantchev.  The first book was a fun and intriguing read.  The series is based on an interesting premise and I recommend checking it out it you get the chance!  The cover art below was released by LIsa Mantchev on her livejournal page; it is the cover art for the ARC and may not be the final art.

"Perchance to Dream" (Theatre' Illuminata, Book 2) by Lisa Mantchev
Pages:352 pages
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: May 25th, 2010

Synopsis:
We are such stuff as dreams are made on.

Act Two, Scene One
Growing up in the enchanted Thèâtre Illuminata, Beatrice Shakespeare Smith learned everything about every play ever written. She knew the Players and their parts, but she didn’t know that she, too, had magic. Now, she is the Mistress of Revels, the Teller of Tales, and determined to follow her stars. She is ready for the outside world.
Enter BERTIE AND COMPANY
But the outside world soon proves more topsy-turvy than any stage production. Bertie can make things happen by writing them, but outside the protective walls of the Thèâtre, nothing goes as planned. And her magic cannot help her make a decision between—
 Nate: Her suave and swashbuckling pirate, now in mortal peril.
 Ariel: A brooding, yet seductive, air spirit whose true motives remain unclear.
When Nate is kidnapped and taken prisoner by the Sea Goddess, only Bertie can free him. She and her fairy sidekicks embark on a journey aboard the Thèâtre’s caravan, using Bertie’s word magic to guide them. Along the way, they collect a sneak-thief, who has in his possession something most valuable, and meet The Mysterious Stranger, Bertie’s father—and the creator of the scrimshaw medallion. Bertie’s dreams are haunted by Nate, whose love for Bertie is keeping him alive, but in the daytime, it’s Ariel who is tantalizingly close, and the one she is falling for. Who does Bertie love the most? And will her magic be powerful enough to save her once she enters the Sea Goddess’s lair?

Once again, LISA MANTCHEV has spun a tale like no other—full of romance, magic, adventure, and fairies, too—that readers won’t want to put down, even after the curtain has closed. 

Eyes Like Stars (Theatre Illuminata, Act 1) by Lisa Mantchev (4/5 stars)

This is the first book in the Theatre Illuminata series by Lisa Mantchev. It is the first book of three; the second book "Perchance to Dream" is supposed to be out in Fall of 2010. I liked this book pretty well, it is a very creative premise. Although I thought the main character Bertie was a bit immature.

This tells the story of Bertie. Bertie lives in The Theatre; her bedroom is a scene and she is constantly going through scene changes. Her friends are the Players of the plays that the Theatre runs and are bound to the Theatre and the plays that they continuously perform. Someone wants Bertie kicked out of The Theatre and Bertie is desperate to stay, it is the only home she has ever known. For as long as she can remember she has never been outside The Theatre. On one side she has the mysterious and breath-taking Ariel pushing her to leave and on the other side the dashing pirate Nate, who is quite the gentleman and is willing to help Bertie come up with a plan to stay. Flitting through it all are Cobweb, Moth, Mustard Seed, and Peaseblossom the fairies who constantly accompany Bertie providing advice, most of it not so helpful. Will Bertie ever find a way to stay in the Theatre? Will she ever figure out her past before she was left to The Theatre's care?

I really wanted to love this story. When I started it I was a bit disappointed. The first couple chapters basically deal with Bertie dying her hair blue and getting in trouble for it...it was not the depth I had been hoping for. I actually put it down for a while and then picked it up when I had a large block of time to read more and get further into the story. As the story went on though it got a lot better. The idea of people being bound to a Theater and only existing in the realm of their characters' personalities was incredibly interesting. I will admit it was a bit tough to keep a picture in my mind of exactly what was happening, with all the scene changes and stuff at the beginning, as the book went on through I got the hang of it and had an easier time with visualizing what was going on. The way everything in the book is set up like a play was also cute and clever and added some to the creativity of the book.

Mantchev's writing style is pretty straight-forward and easy to read. At times I wondered why this book was young adult. The characters are fairly child-like and the plot is easy reading. Which brings me to the biggest thing I didn't like about this book, and that was Bertie. I thought she was very juvenile for her age and very ditsy. I also thought she wasn't really all that likable. Lucky for her the supporting cast made up for her lack. The fairies always provided humorous banter in the background, which managed to never really get annoying and actually added to the story. Nate was written as a wonderful handsome, sincere, and dashing pirate. He was a great character. Ariel was also a wonderful character with his alluring magic and his bouts of temper. Nate and Ariel are the ones who really carried this book.

The book was a very easy read and a humorous read at parts. I enjoyed the concept. If Mantchev had made Bertie and bit less, well stupid, and a bit more mature this book could have been a 5 star-er. For me though Bertie's lack of characterization and the simplistic writing style brought this book down from something wonderful for me. I still liked it a lot and am eager to read the next book. I am curious to see what Bertie will do next. This book was fairly well-wrapped up but enough loose ends were left that I am going to have trouble waiting for the next book!