Review: Between the Lines

 

Summary and image from Amazon:

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.

 When I first heard that Jodi Piccoult was writing a YA book with her daughter, Samantha, I thought, "Hm.  Should be interesting.  I'll borrow it from someone eventually."  Well, my sister (she of the odd automaton fear) got a copy for her birthday, and let me read it before she did as it was this month's selection for the Geeks Who Read (GWR) book club.

It started out in the typical Jodi Piccoult form, with different fonts and colors showing different narrators.  But that was the only Jodi flair I found. 

I went in to the book thinking that it would be one thing, and was honestly surprised to find that the book was totally different.  Its not a bad thing, just not what I expected.  I didn't dislike the book, I was just expecting more. 

The characters were ok, but I didn't really connect with any of them.  I really tried to like Delilah and Oliver, but it was hard.  They both just seemed forced, like Jodi (and daughter) were writing like they thought teens should act.

I found a couple inconsistencies within the story that I didn't like.  I wondered if it was that Delilah had told different people different things (but it wasn't explained as such).  

And I haven't even gotten to the fact that I didn't understand the ending AT ALL.  Even after talking with my sister and then the rest of the GWR book club, I still don't understand it!  I was also hoping there would be a little more to the ending, like how did Eugene's mother take what had happened?  How did Delilah and Oliver keep their relationship going? 

After all that "meh", the best part of the book were the illustrations.  They were gorgeous.  I also enjoyed when the characters were within the book waiting for the book to open again (when they were themselves).  They were pretty funny.

All in all, I was disappointed.  I think the book will sell because its marketed as a Jodi (with her daughter), but it has none of Jodi's flair and lots of loose ends.