Between the Lines Book Review

By Jodi Piccoult and Samantha van Leer

Genre: YA fantasy

My rating: 3 stars

Summary, taken from goodreads.com: "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 loved the imagination and creativity behind this premise as soon as I heard what it was about, and it was immediately put on the very top of my to-read list.  The book kept me enthralled for about the first third, and then my enthusiasm sadly dwindled away.  A few days later I finished the book.

It's not that it was bad.  It just feels like it's lacking something.  Conflict, maybe.  Or depth?  I think Jodi Piccoult may have given her daughter too much of the story-writing reigns, for I know Piccoult is capable of so much more.

The story is filled with fluffy fairy tale goodness that I know a lot of readers would gobble up.  What I did enjoy were the lovely illustrations that grace each page, and the creativity behind the concept.  It was a fun read with some beautiful descriptions, interesting and quirky characters, and some humor sprinkled in.

Overall, I found it an enjoyable read, but was disappointed.  I just really wish the writers had taken the concept to its fullest potential.