Yay for the book of the week! This week’s book is chosen because…its the only book that I’ve finished in weeks since finishing These Broken Stars.

I know, I know, I’m going to get back in the groove of reading soon, I promise :)

Until then, enjoy this review!

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

GoodReads / Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository

Genre:

Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Part of a Series?:

No, standalone novel

You May Like if You Liked:

Fairy tale Re-tellings

Age Recommendation:

10+

Plot Summary:

From GoodReads:

Delilah, a loner hates school as much as she loves books— one book in particular. In fact if anyone knew how many times she has read and reread the sweet little fairy tale she found in the library, especially her cooler than cool classmates, she’d be sent to social Siberia forever.To Delilah, though, this fairy tale is more than just words on the page. Sure, there’s a handsome (well, okay, incredibly handsome) prince, and a castle, and an evil villain, but it feels as if there’s something deeper going on. And one day, Delilah finds out there is. Turns out, this Prince Charming is not just a one-dimensional character in a book. He’s real, and a certain fifteen-year-old loner has caught his eye. But they’re from two different worlds, and how can it ever possibly work?

My Review: 

I’m going to start off by saying this: this book is definitely not YA. Well, at least in my opinion. I think this book is more rooted in a middle grade sort of style, and the story is much on the level of a middle grade book. That being said, I want you to keep that in mind as I review the book.

The book was extremely sweet. The story was simple, with little to no complicated conflict. Delilah is obsessed with a fairy tale book, and like most readers (you know what I mean), she has fallen head over heels for the main character, Oliver. So she’s surprised as hell when she opens the book one day and Oliver says hello, from the pages. They embark on an adventure to try and get Oliver out of the book and into the real world, where hopefully they can be together.

The plot is basic, simple and sweet. There isn’t a lot of depth, and the conflict is very minimal: basically, find a way to get Oliver out of the book. I felt like I saw a lot of negative reviews for this book on GoodReads and I attribute it to the fact that I think people are expecting the depth of a YA novel, but its definitely a smaller, lighter story more suited to a middle grade novel. It also has a sort of easy narrative, not a lot of struggles and not a lot of…not a lot of depth. Really, both Delilah and Oliver were sort of flat characters, and the minor characters lacked real depth as well. I busted through the book because it was SUCH an easy read. I felt like I didn’t have to think *too* much while reading it.

That being said, I did like the book. If you look at it for what it is, it is really good. Its a sweet story, honestly, and its basically every fangirl’s dream, that her fictional crush would magically come to life off the pages and fall madly in love with her for exactly who she is, when everyone else thinks she’s just plain weird. I wanted Oliver to get out of the book as much as Delilah did, and I enjoyed the back and forth narrative. You were able to get into both of the main characters’ heads and see what was motivating them. You could say why Delilah wanted to escape the real world for the kingdom in the fairy tale and you saw why Oliver wanted out of the book and into the real world.

I also really enjoyed the fairy tale that the authors wove in between the stories. While Oliver and Delilah have their story, we get to see the actual fairy tale, the one that causes Delilah to become so attached. I like when boos include that kind of thing. It takes a little more effort. Its like when Rainbow Rowell includes the selections from the fictional Simon Snow series; it just shows that much more effort, and it really adds to the story. You can see why Delilah is drawn to the story, and I really enjoyed that.

Rating:

3.5 out of 5 Stars

Recommended or Not?:

Depends. If you’re looking for a light read, more geared toward younger teens, maybe tweens, then this is the book for you. If you’re expecting a deeper story, a more complicated plot line, or a bigger romance, you’re barking up the wrong tree.

*      *      *      *      *

I hope you enjoyed this week’s review :) Check back soon for more posts!