Perchance to Dream

Provided by Traveling ARC Tours
Bertie sets out to rescue Nate, who was captured by the sea goddess in the first book, Eyes Like Stars.  But she meets with a whole lot of trouble and some very interesting characters during her travels.  Meanwhile,  visions and dreams of Nate spur her on even as Ariel gets closer to Bertie.

Carrying it gingerly outside, she sat the stairs and braced the hatbox against her knees, sawing away at the cardboard until a scalloped proscenium archway emerged somewhat crooked for her haste to finish and set the knife down before a wayward tug caused her to pull an inadvertent Juliet.  p.93-94 ARC

There is something so odd about these books.  I enjoy them but sometimes I can't wrap my head around why certain things need to happen to move the plot forward.  But then at the end, I can see, ah, that's why.  I like Bertie and the message that the author was trying to convey was important though it felt heavy handed in a couple of places.  It didn't help that my head was in a different world than the one that this book occupies.  I was thinking it was the modern day world, but it's not and once I realized that it made more sense to me.  So that was reader fail, not writer fail.

I like Bertie and her two guys and that whole love triangle is very interesting since it is easy to see they both care for her and she for them.  I still like one better than the other for her though.  The fairies are hilarious as usual and I like the additional sneak-thief character and the circus made for a good visual in my head.  Perchance to Dream was definitely a strong book in this series and didn't suffer from "middle book syndrome" like some books.

Hogwarts: A History of Magic
Young Adult

Eyes Like Stars (The Théâtre Illuminata: Act 1)

Jacket:
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.

First up, let me say that I love the concept.  An abandoned girl grows in a magical theater where the characters in the play are not actors, they are actually the characters is so cool.  And I liked Bertie too.  She was feisty and conniving and, dare I say, a little sexy.  It was nice to see a strong female protagonist who isn't afraid to push down the boys and make them cry if she needs to.  And I loved the little fairies who followed her around like a little demon posse.  They were so cute. 


It was interesting to see Shakespeare's, and other, famous characters brought to life in a different way.  So while they all retain their personalities as written, it's fun to see them outside of their own plays although this is mostly with Ophelia and Ariel.  I wasn't very fond of the love triangle between Nate and Ariel and Bertie though.  While Ariel might be charismatic, Nate is obviously the best choice.  Anyway, I'm curious for the sequel now especially with the great surprise at the end.