Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer - Review

Between the Lines
by Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer
Expected publication: June 26, 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse

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. 

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My Review:
Delilah feels like she doesn't belong in her own life, so she turns to books and imaginary worlds to cope. Her favorite book is a children's fairy tale. She feels like she can relate to the main character, Oliver, who is the prince in the fairy tale. But this is no ordinary children's book. When the book is closed, Oliver lives a different life than the one written on the pages. Oliver and the rest of the characters are forced to perform the story that is written every time the book is open. Oliver isn't content to be stuck in the book and wants to know what real life outside the book would be like.

The writing in Between the Lines was excellent and easy to read. It isn't necessarily "fast paced" but was very engaging. Details are revealed at appropriate intervals to keep you interested and entertained. Delilah is an easy character to relate to and understand. Oliver's feelings are also explained with enough detail and emotion that you can understand how hopeless and stuck he feels with not being able to choose his own life and always having to perform when the book is open. We also get to meet the author of the children's fairy tale, which I found to be an interesting addition to the story.

I really enjoyed Between the Lines, but I already expected to since it is written by Jodi Picoult. No, this isn't your typical "Jodi Picoult book" that we have come to know and love, and you may be disappointed if that is what you are expecting. Elements of Jodi's style can be seen throughout the book, but it is very different, as it was meant to be. Jodi, along with her daughter, Samantha, has ventured into the Young Adult genre and has successfully created a sort of modern day fairy tale. I will always read any book by Jodi Picoult, no matter what genre she decides to explore, and I think Samantha has a bright literary future.

About the authors:
Jodi Picoult is the author of nineteen novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers Sing You Home, House Rules, Handle With Care, Change of Heart, Nineteen Minutes, and My Sister’s Keeper. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. Visit her website at JodiPicoult.com.  

Samantha van Leer is a junior in high school. She conceived the idea for this book and pitched it to her mom, who was in the middle of a book tour. In her spare time, Samantha can be found playing softball, doing contemporary dance, acting and singing in musicals, and cuddling on the ground with her two dogs, Dudley and Oliver—for whom the prince in this fairy tale was named.