Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer
352 pages
Released: June 26, 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: the library
★★★☆☆
You can read the Goodreads summary here.
I've tried a couple times to read Jodi Picoult's work, but I've never actually finished anything she's written. Those that I've tried reading have all be kind of "meh," to me. But when I found out Picoult was writing a YA novel with her daughter (an actual young adult!) I was kind of excited to read it.
Delilah is a high school student with a bit of a closeted obsession - she can't stop reading the one-of-a-kind fairytale "Between the Lines," which she found in her school library. Sure, she knows she's too old for this kind of thing, but she finds herself in love with the hero of the book, Prince Oliver. When Prince Oliver learns how to communicate with Delilah, they set to work trying to figure out a way for Oliver to exit his book and enter real life so they can be together.
This was a really intriguing concept to me, which is mainly why I wanted to read Between the Lines. The fantasy that characters in the books you're reading have lives outside their storyline; that when you shut the book, they interact with each other, have their own hobbies and loves... It's pretty much the same concept as when you're a kid and you imagine that your stuffed animals come to life when you leave the room. I was really interested to see where Picoult and her daughter would take that concept.
Unfortunately for me, the whole thing fell kind of flat. The first few chapters really drew me in, but as the book wore on and all we got as more of the same, I got bored rather quickly. While Between the Lines is billed as a young adult novel, I think this story would be more appropriate for younger girls. I think it would be a fantastic book for a mother to read to her eight-year-old daughter, for example. (And then have a feminist conversation about girl-power and not falling in love with fictional men.)
Delilah is a high school student with a bit of a closeted obsession - she can't stop reading the one-of-a-kind fairytale "Between the Lines," which she found in her school library. Sure, she knows she's too old for this kind of thing, but she finds herself in love with the hero of the book, Prince Oliver. When Prince Oliver learns how to communicate with Delilah, they set to work trying to figure out a way for Oliver to exit his book and enter real life so they can be together.
This was a really intriguing concept to me, which is mainly why I wanted to read Between the Lines. The fantasy that characters in the books you're reading have lives outside their storyline; that when you shut the book, they interact with each other, have their own hobbies and loves... It's pretty much the same concept as when you're a kid and you imagine that your stuffed animals come to life when you leave the room. I was really interested to see where Picoult and her daughter would take that concept.
Unfortunately for me, the whole thing fell kind of flat. The first few chapters really drew me in, but as the book wore on and all we got as more of the same, I got bored rather quickly. While Between the Lines is billed as a young adult novel, I think this story would be more appropriate for younger girls. I think it would be a fantastic book for a mother to read to her eight-year-old daughter, for example. (And then have a feminist conversation about girl-power and not falling in love with fictional men.)
Three stars. Between the Lines isn't the best book I've read in 2012, but it was the best smelling. Don't lie, I know you smell books, too.
I have to agree with you, the first couple of chapters had so much promise then the novel fell flat. I also rated it 3 stars, I hoped for more.
ReplyDeletegreat review
Juhina @ Maji Bookshelf
Sorry to hear that you didn't like this one. I haven't read it yet myself, but I am a fan of Jodi Picoult's writing. Some I like better than others, but I haven't yet met one of her books that I have strongly disliked.
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