Between the Lines Review

Title: Between the Lines
Authors: Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer
Release Date: June 26th 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: ARC for review
Rating: 3.5

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.

Review:

Having only heard of Jodi Picoults books briefly before I didn't know really what to expect in Between the Lines, the concept of the book really interested me though. I loved the mix of fairytale with reality and the alternating chapters spilt into 3 sections;  Delilahs point of view, Oliver's point of view and the actual fairytale story that Oliver lives in.

If you think other book you've read previously have a forbidden romance you have to check out the one in Between the Lines, can't get more forbidden then falling in love with a guy who lives in a book and not even in your world. Although the concept of falling for a guy who is a "fiction"character may seem a bit odd, I enjoyed it and it made the book unique in its own way. Jodi Picoult and her daughter, Samantha Van Leer worked very well together and I couldn't tell where one began and where one ended, it was seemless.

The characters in Between the Lines (the fictional book Oliver lives in) are controlled to act out the story as readers read it, when I discovered this while reading I was entralled, that just sounds so awesome and made me think does that happen when I read a book. I wish! Each of the characters has a life outside of the role they play in the book, it's like characters that we read about are actual people, awesome!

This book did seem though that it's written more for pre-teens are younger teens, or die hard fairytale fans. Throughout the book there are little drawings on the side of the pages that go along with what's happening in the book. They made the book really cute and detailed, I can't wait to see what they look like in the finished copy.

Between the Lines is a great book written by a mother, daughter duo. Blends reality with fiction seemlessly and incorporates a forbidden romance that takes place in 2 worlds. Between the Lines is a pysically detailed piece of literature that should not be missed based  on it's unqiness. If you love fun, cute reads and fairytales, this is the book for you.