Becky's Book Reviews: Perchance to Dream

Thursday, May 02, 2019

Perchance to Dream

Perchance to Dream. Lisa Mantchev. 2010. 341 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: "It is a truth universally acknowledged," Mustardseen said, flying in lazy loops like an intoxicated bumblebee, "that a fairy in possession of a good appetite must be in want of a pie."

Premise/plot: Bertie Shakespeare Smith has left the Theatre. Accompanying her are her best fairy friends (Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed) and her love interest, Ariel. Bertie is on a quest to save Nate, her other love interest. Nate was kidnapped by Sedna, the Sea Goddess, in the first book in the series Eyes Like Stars. But she's also on a quest to find her father. Bertie grew up not knowing WHO her father or her mother were. Now that she knows who her mother is, she wants to find her father too. She'd LOVE to find her father and convince him to return with her to the Theatre. But wanting something doesn't make it happen. Wishes don't work like that--even for a young woman realizing her own power. Bertie has a gift, a talent, with WORDS. This adventure-packed book has more misadventures than anything else. But Bertie is persistent...

My thoughts: Perchance to Dream was published a year before ONCE UPON A TIME premiered in 2011. Both Eyes Like Stars and Perchance To Dream have a very OUAT feel to them. Bertie is essentially THE AUTHOR. (This story line was from 2015). I suppose this observation is neither here nor there--it just is.

I liked Perchance to Dream. I love the characters in this one. I am very much Team Ariel. I am. It's not that I dislike Nate, but, he's just not the one for Bertie. In my opinion. I have a love/hate relationship with love triangles. I can't help that.

Quotes:

"Words are like the delicate stitches in the dress you wear, holding the fabric of the garment together. Without them, the dress and the world are nothing but barren cloth." (172)
"I thought I had the chance to win your heart, but there's no way to compete against the idea of a man, something you've built up into a terrible fancy in that imagination of yours." (190)