Review: Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Release Date: June 26^th, 2012

Number of Pages: 358

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult and her teenage daughter present their first-ever novel for teens, filled with romance, adventure, and humor. 

What happens when happily ever after…isn’t?     

Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah.     

And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.     

Delilah and Oliver work together to attempt to get Oliver out of his book, a challenging task that forces them to examine their perceptions of fate, the world, and their places in it. And as their attraction to each other grows along the way, a romance blossoms that is anything but a fairy tale.

I should probably start by staying that I haven’t read anything by Jodi Picoult before, meaning I can’t compare this book with her adult work. I have to say I was quite surprised to see this book appear in my mailbox, as it didn’t sound that much like something I usually read. Maybe that’s why I didn’t love this book, or maybe it was the fact that I found it to be somehow childish for YA (personal opinion.) I do feel like it will please younger readers, but to me, it just didn’t make the cut. Sure, it was a really cute story. It just wasn’t my cup of tea.

If there’s one thing though that I have to say really caught my eyes when I was reading it, it’s the illustrations. Those were only the sketches (making me really curious to see the final version) and I thought they were beautiful.

Now, to the story. The book has this fairy tale vibe, as the story within the story is one. We have Delilah, who’s complete in love with this book, and with the main character, Oliver. Delilah, who’s kind of a loner, is shocked when the charming prince she likes (she seems to fall for him because they have both lost their father. This seem like a strange reason for what seems to be insta-love) starts talking to her. One thing I did like about the book was that we got to see both Oliver’s and Delilah’s point of view. The fact that one is from the real world and the other from the fairy tale made it even more interesting to get both sides of the story.

In addition to the two point of view, we also get to read about the original fairy tale Oliver is from. I was happy to know what was going in Oliver’s world, as we wouldn’t learn the whole story otherwise.  One thing that did disappoint me was the ending. I felt it wasn’t realistic for even this fairy tale like novel (that means something, no?) I would just have preferred something different.

Overall, I think this book will charm a younger audience, especially those who enjoys the beauty of fairy tales. I’m quite curious to see the final copy of this book, as the art looks gorgeous, even just as sketches.