Between the Lines
Author: Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer
Average Rating: 3.52/5.0
Personal Rating: 3.5/5.0
Page Count: 353
Publisher: Simon Pulse Simon Schuster
Release Date: 26 June 2012
According to Goodreads:
What happens when happily ever after... isn’t?
Delilah 15 is a loner, obsessed with a fairy tale. One day she hears the prince, Oliver 16, who has tried other readers before, speak to her. He feels trapped, and wants out. His best friend Frump is a dog now, but was a boy, pants for Ollie's predestined princess Seraphima. Feelings grow along with frustrations.
Delilah 15 is a loner, obsessed with a fairy tale. One day she hears the prince, Oliver 16, who has tried other readers before, speak to her. He feels trapped, and wants out. His best friend Frump is a dog now, but was a boy, pants for Ollie's predestined princess Seraphima. Feelings grow along with frustrations.
My Opinion:
This time reading Between the Lines was my second attempt of finishing the novel. I don't know why I finished it this time and not the first time, because I have the same exact emotions towards it. To be blunt, Between the Lines is an okay book.
The characters, to me at least, seem flat. You have Delilah, a fifteen year old girl who can hear and see a character from a fairy tale talk and move. We learn that her father has been out of the picture for the past five years, and that his annual phone calls are awkward. Her mother is loving and hardworking in order to make ends meet. I believe it was briefly mentioned that she was a house cleaner. Delilah's social life is non-existent except for one person due to breaking the head cheerleader's knee. Other than those details we don't know too much about Delilah. I would freak out if a character from a book started talking to me. Well...it would be amazingly cool, especially if it was one of my favorite characters but still. She freaks out for a bit, and then falls in love with Prince Oliver. All he wants is to get out of the fairy tale to live a real life with Delilah.
The romance was even more confusing to me. Let's be honest with ourselves here, many of us have wanted or want to have a Prince Charming in our lives. That's why I was drawn to the novel...to be able to talk to your favorite male character from your favorite book. However, the romance happened way too quick. Prince Oliver, I felt, fell in love with the fact Delilah could hear him talk and see him move. How can a book character love exactly? Then Delilah "falls in love" with Prince Oliver, because a) he's nice b) he listens to her, so he makes her feel less lonely c) he's a handsome prince. No where in the novel does she stop herself to really think about the whole concept of being in love with a fictional character. So to me, I believe she was in love with the idea she now had another person she could call her friend.
Even though the characters and the romance were weak, I still enjoyed the overall novel. Between the Lines takes an idea that many readers have had during the course of their reading years...what if you could talk and meet with your favorite character whether it be romantically or just to be friends? I will be reading Off the Page, the companion novel to Between the Lines, to see where the novel goes next.
Purchase Links:
Nice review! I still need to read this one myself! I've had it since its release but just never got to reading it! Like with many other books! LOL! But with the companion coming out soon, I plan to read this one in the next week or so! Glad to hear that it was an enjoyable read if there were a few problems with the realism...in the fictional sense! LOL! Again, great review!
ReplyDeleteI was the same exact way! I'm pretty sure I bought Between the Lines pretty soon after it was released. I'm really curious how the story will continue though. I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think of it! Thank you!!
DeleteThis sounds like a good read but like it is lacking in some areas. I don't like the sound of a confusing romance or flat characters. I do want to try a Jodi Picoult book but I doubt I will start with this one.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't want to start with this one then I'm going to recommend Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. It's about a school shooting, so a much heavier topic than a fairy tale re-telling. However, it's one of those stories that will stick with you for a while. That was the first book I read of hers, and I have been hooked ever since. Back to Between the Lines...it was cute read. I think what I struggled with the most was the romantic relationship between Oliver and Delilah just seemed so unrealistic. That is not including the fact he is in a book and she is in the physical world, because I think it would be cool if that was a thing.
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