Between the Lines - Jodi Picoult

Between the Lines is one of the newest Young Adult books to be written by an adult author. A trend I think we will continue to see as books like The Hunger Games and The Fault of Our Stars (both highly recommended) become popular not only among teens.

I have read a lot of Jodi Picoult, and while I stopped because her books are formulaic and I now can see the end coming quite quickly, I enjoy how well researched they are and my favorites are always about the cultures or issues I'm most interested in. So when I saw that her daughter had pitched her an idea for a young adult novel she wrote, I was intrigued.

The basic ideas is that characters in a fairy tale are actually alive and somewhat actors themselves. When the book is closed, the actors can do whatever they want and all Oliver (the prince and hero of the story) wants to do is escape. When he finally gets a reader, Delilah to notice he is alive they attempt plan after plan to get him out of the book. I thought this idea would be great because it could not resort to the courtroom that Picoult's books always do. Which is true, it didn't, but I'm left with mixed feelings at the end.

The book itself is a bit slow moving. The conversations between Delilah and Oliver get old as the attempts continue to fail. I do enjoy the fact that Delilah is in high school and when Oliver in all his fairy tale glory, proposes she says no. Delilah,  while wanting a boyfriend and a companion like so many of us has a great moment of independence when she states that she wants her life, with Oliver in it, but not for him to be her entire life. However, that said - it seems extreme the measures she continues to go to release him from the book.

*Major Spoilers ahead*

In the end -  Oliver switches places with the author's son who looks just like him (she drew him as he hoped he'd look). The son has never come to terms with losing his father and is unhappy, however the switch feels abrupt and I'm not quite satisfied with this "happy ending".  Edgar, the son, is now trapped in the book and while he says he'll be happy as he's rewritten the story to include elements of his favorite video game, I'm extremely sad for him. I would rather had Edgar stay out of the story and Delilah begin to help him heal. Just my personal preference I guess.

I enjoyed most of the story - the illustrations are great, but I don't think I'll be recommending this one much when there are so many others out there that I enjoyed more.

Also note: Palace of Stone, Shannon's Hale's sequel to The Princess Academy came out in August. I devoured it. While perhaps not quite as good as the first, the sequel does not disappoint. Pick it up, along with The Princess Academy, if you haven't read that one yet.