Between the Lines

Avevo sentito parlare di questo romanzo e, da lettrice che da sempre ha desiderato veder uscire dalle pagine i propri eroi, non ho potuto proprio resistere.

Mi aspettavo un romanzo fresco, originale, rilassante e dolce... solo che non mi sarei mai aspettata di veder arrivare fra le mie mani un libro di quelli di una volta!
Illustrazioni antiche ed eleganti, testo curato e particolareggiato... in poche parole uno dei pochi romanzi per la quale vale la pena spendere un euro in più. La dimostrazione tangibile che, dietro, c'è stato un lavoro, una cura dei particolari... un romanzo che rievoca i tempi in cui, un libro, era ancora un piccolo capolavoro.

La storia in sé è semplicemente adorabile. Si enuncia chiaramente lo stile della show more giovanissima scrittrice, come anche il supporto della consolidata madre che ha aiutato a dare una struttura solida ad una favola che, altrimenti, avrebbe potuto anche risultare semplicemente un'accozzaglia di idee.

Bello, dolce... Impossibile non scorrere ogni pagina con il sorriso sulle labbra. Uno YA, così almeno è stato catalogato, ma in realtà è una favola... che parla di favole. show less

I've never read any of Jodi Picoult's work before, though a quick look at a Books-A-Million the other day showed me that I'd be willing to at least give them a shot. So when Between the Lines and its sequel Off the Page started showing up in my BookTube world, I didn't quite know what to expect. But since it's about falling in love with characters in a book, and it's a mother/daughter co-written story, I was excited to pick it up.

It did not disappoint.

Is this book great literary fiction? No, it's really not. The plot is predictable, the characters are expected, and nothing really surprises necessarily. But to be honest, I wouldn't have wanted this book any other way.

Delilah is a high school girl who is absolutely obsessed with one show more particular fairy tale she found at the library. Reading wouldn't make her an outcast, per se, but reading something this far out of her grade level certainly will. Her mother thinks it's strange, her best friend Jules thinks it's strange...but there's a very good reason why Delilah is so entranced by this book.

See, not only is the hero of the story--Prince Oliver--handsome and wonderful and true, but...he can talk to her. And when she opens that book, Oliver comes alive. And much like her, he doesn't feel like he fits in with his story, and longs to make his way through the world of the Reader--Delilah's world. As Delilah longs to be in the world of the story, they try to understand each other and over time, begin to fall in love. Now Delilah needs to find a way to get the boy of her dreams out of the pages of his fairy tale and into her arms...before someone takes the book away for good.

I feel for Delilah and Oliver. I was an outcast in high school, with my very small group of friends, and I always dreamed for bigger shores. I still do, to some extent. I've never quite found where I properly fit in, and Lord knows I've fallen in love with my fair share of book characters. And I know what it's like to feel like you're doing something strange by reading out of your age range. Some of my favorite books are YA novels. I'm 27. Do I care? Not in the least. The characters are no less "real" to me because they're younger, or written for a younger audience. And if I found out that the illustrations of one of my beloved protagonists could talk to me? Yes, you'd probably want to send me to the funny farm. There would be no taking me away from that book--ESPECIALLY when I was Delilah's age. I wanted nothing more than to be far away from where I was, in the arms of a valiant savior.

The story swaps perspective from Delilah, to Oliver, to Oliver's original story (also aptly titled Between the Lines), and to good effect. Especially as they have to live their separate lives in their different worlds, it's good to see both sides of the coin. I love the concept of Oliver's original tale and who the prince was meant to be as well. The belief that characters can be something other than what the story tells them once the pages are closed...well, let's just say I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who's ever thought about that. Being able to see who these characters become is a lot of fun, and very well put together.

The book is charming and fun, with all the right dashes of young love, adventure, and heartbreak. The ending is beautiful, and makes me excited to read what happens next in Off the Page...because I know something is going to go down. It has to. And I like that set up.

Rating: **** - Recommended show less

I don't know what's better - this sweet, magical story or the fact that it's a mother-daughter collaboration. Have you ever read a book that you enjoyed so much you wish that it wasn't fiction? Did you ever fall in love with a character in a story that you wish he/she is real? I think we all have, I for one wished I was one of Nancy Drew's friends when I was young, or that I was a librarian at Hogwarts:) Well, this book explores those questions.

Fifteen year old Delilah is struggling socially at school and life in general. She tries to escape her troubles by reading her favorite fairytale - Between the Lines. However, she starts noticing something weird about the book. It was subtle at first, until one day she discovers she can actually show more interact with the main character of the story - Prince Oliver. Soon they find themselves falling in love, but will their feelings be strong enough to transcend the tremendous barrier between them?

I like how the story was written alternately in Delilah's and Oliver's pov. Pages from Oliver's actual tale are also interspersed, it's like reading a book within a book. I like that the text color changes depending on who is narrating and that the book also has illustrations.

I found Delilah's character annoying at times, she strikes me as a tad selfish (which she admits on page 293). But all in all I enjoyed reading this book and I'm looking forward to reading its companion book - Off the Page. show less

Have you ever wished your favourite book characters were real? Have you ever considered that they want to be part of the real world as much as you want them to?

Delilah is obsessed with a children’s fairy tale book — maybe an unhealthy amount. The true love, the happy ending, the hero who uses his wits to solve every problem that gets thrown at him, and that line at the beginning about how hard it is to grow up without a dad. But as much as she wishes Prince Oliver could be real, she never expected that one day he would start talking to her! It turns out the characters are not quite the same as the story portrays them, and Oliver wants more than the limited world he exists in. Together, he and Delilah try to find a way to bring show more Oliver out of the book … easier said than done.

This is a self-indulgent teen booklover’s dream, but it’s also a really interesting concept that touches on themes of destiny, free will, love and loss. The book switches between Delilah’s and Oliver’s perspectives interspersed with chapters of the actual fairy tale story that Oliver is a part of, including the illustrations. Like I said, booklover’s dream! show less

I hadn't heard of this book before I was considering going to see a small local production of the musical. At that point, I decided to read the book before seeing the show, just for comparison. And I couldn't help but feel many times as I was reading that it would make a much better visual production than written one.

Let me back up: this is a book told in three parts. One: Oliver's POV. Two: Delilah's POV. Three: the fairy tale itself. The text sections from the POVs of the two main characters seemed a VERY YOUNG YA, which fits the marketing placing the audience at age 12+. (Which is not really a YA book, even though it's not really a MG either. It very much straddles the line between YA and MG.) My favorite part of the book was the show more lovely color illustrations portraying the scenes being told in the fairy tale section. I also liked the silhouettes peppered throughout the rest of the text. The two different illustration types were very nice touches for the book.

Don't get me wrong: I love the concept of this book, and I never considered DNFing. But I feel that the execution of the book didn't live up to its potential, and that the concept could have been done better. For example, I think it would have been better if the whole thing was told in third person, instead of having two very similar-sounding first person POV sections. This book seems to have a very mixed set of reviews, with lots of people who loved it. So if it sounds interesting to you, it's worth trying it to see what you think of the writing style.

EDIT FOR SOME SPOILERS: I have to make one note about the end of the book: I don't like the decision that was made for Edgar and Oliver to switch places. However, Edgar is also supposed to be young (about the same age as Delilah and Oliver) and I can see where a 15-year-old would make that decision and be happy with it... at least at the time. Honestly, that decision was one of the more believable parts of character interactions to me. Edgar gets to live out his fantasy, and is not old enough yet to see what the consequences of his actions are. He's not thinking of his mother's feelings at that point. I dislike that decision because I'm an adult and looking at it from an adult perspective. 15-year-old me would at times have happily switched places with book characters, and as a result I can't complain about the ending. show less

Imagine this. The characters in the book you are reading have a life of their own, beyond what is written for their characters. And they do what they want to every time you close the book, only to be pulled back in their roles when you reopen the book. Unbelievable, right? Goes without saying then that I've never read a story like this before! That doesn't necessarily mean that I loved it. But the concept is mind-blowing for sure.

Delilah, a fifteen year old introverted bookworm, is shocked to discover something new appear in the illustrations of her latest favourite read, a fairy tale about a cowardly prince who uses his wits rather than his valour to fulfill his royal duties. Soon, she realises that the protagonist, Prince Oliver, can show more actually talk to her, that he dreams of getting out of his routine and predictable "plotlife", and that the book world has a life of its own. Can Delilah help Oliver escape his two-dimensional fairy tale?

Jodi Picoult fans need to keep in mind that this is unlike her typical work, which is much darker thematically. As she has co-authored this with her teenage daughter, the plot is distinctly YA in flow and content. So you need to realign your expectations accordingly. You will find Jodi's usual twists and turns, and you will also find her favourite style of writing from multiple perspectives (which works wonderfully in this book.) What you won't get is emotional or moral dilemmas, something that is omnipresent in her books.

I found the plot quite intriguing, though not foolproof. There are a few loopholes in the book character's breaking of the fourth wall. I tried hard to keep the logical side of my brain turned off but sadly, it turned out to be stronger than my romantic side, which is long past its expiry date! show less

Delilah is a loner, a misfit, and a dreamer. She prefers spending her time buried in a book - Between the Lines - which is a fairy tale that has captured her imagination. The main character Prince Oliver feels so real to her. Then one day he talks to her...

Oliver is tired of repeating the same series of events over and over whenever anyone opens the pages of the book. He really isn't at all enchanted with the princess that his is destined to save. While lovely, Seraphina isn't very bright and, besides, his best friend Frump who was magically turned into a dog has a major crush on her.

This was an imaginative and engaging story. Who hasn't thought that the characters in books had a secret life when the covers were closed? I liked Oliver's show more determination in finding a way to get out of the story and Delilah's determination to help him. I liked what this book said about the power of story. show less