Maddie's Books

I was really excited to get Eyes Like Stars. All that I had heard about it was compliments- no bad reviews. I've always been into the theater and reading a book where the characters are so involved in the world of drama seemed great. And, I liked the first hundred pages. After that, not so much. I'll admit in advance that I did not finish this book. I got about 300 pages in, skimmed the rest, and gave up. Why? I couldn't stand the main character anymore. The sheer fact that I'm writing this review without fully reading the entire book says something, because I don't usually approve of making comments on something you haven't finished, unless you have a good reason for it. Eyes Like Stars had a good reason for me.

The beginning was fine. Like all of the other reviewers said, it was a bit confusing to jump into, but things evened out after a while. Basically, the story is about Bertie, her friends, and her attempt to stay in the Theatre, when she is told she will have to leave. It should be a basic enough plot, but as it goes on, the author seems to almost add a second conflict to the story. This I didn't like at all. Focusing on one would have been plenty, without casting the original idea off to incorporate something else. But, I might have been able to handle that. If it weren't for the main character, Bertie.

Beatrice honestly got on my nerves. She acts immaturely, does whatever she wants, complains too often, and is completely fickle. I understand that this is how Lisa probably wanted her character to come off as, but it's way too extreme. The first half of the book focuses on the romantic tension between her and a pirate named Nate. Only, (spoiler alert!) Nate basically gets taken to sea and out of the Theatre entirely part of the way in. What does Bertie do? Decides she'll look for him later and moves on. The audience hardly sees any sorrow in Bertie for Nate being gone, despite the fact that Bertie was supposed to like him. What makes it worse is that this was her fault and we still see barely see remorse from her. That part alone got me aggravated with the book. But, I kept reading. Not long after Nate is gone, Bertie starts to fall for Ariel, someone she was supposed to hate before. The protagonist's changing personality drove me nuts.

As I got closer to the end, I skimmed the rest and stopped. I just couldn't read anymore. I honestly don't see a point in reading about all of the character's friends and goals if she's just going to drop them for something else. Also, I feel that the author was too descriptive in parts of the book. The readers don't need the immense detail she goes into and at times, it's just too much. Maybe someday I'll go back and completely read the rest of this book for kicks, but probably not. I know there's a sequel and a third novel coming out soon, but I don't intend on reading those either. I'm really not trying to completely steer you away from this book, but I would like to point out that it's nowhere near as good as some of these other reviews are saying. Before picking it up, please take into considerations the things I've listed above. If you think you can handle Bertie and the other poor points of this book, then go for it. I would recommend borrowing it from a library instead of wasting your money, though.