Between the Lines book review

I bought this book on Kindle because the blurbs said that it was written jointly by Jodi Picoult (one of my favourite current authors) and her daughter.  I knew that the book was YA, but it seemed younger YA than I was expecting from the writing.  The plot has a story within a story and I have to admit that the fairy tale story did not hold me as well as the modern story.

I loved that the book had some beautiful illustrations and the premise was good, if a little similar to the Disney movie Enchanted, but I was disappointed in that it read far more like a less accomplished writer had written it.  It only had a few aspects of Jodi in there.  I know because it is YA it wouldn't have any moral problems, but I was expecting a lot more depth and an ending not as rushed.  It felt like any deep and meaningful aspects were light and forced in there and the pace was too slow for everything except the last section, which was too rushed for me to feel fulfilled as a reader - especially with the loose ends.*

I found a fair few inconsistencies as well, for example, Oliver did not know what a sandwich was, but understood what orthodontia and a fire extinguisher was?  As previously mentioned, a few plot points were, for me, not tied up (I have put these below, but they contain spoilers, so please do not scroll down past the picture if you intend to read the book) and the real-life world of the heroine felt a bit Glee/Mean Girls - though I admit, not being American, I would not know if cheerleaders really are that mean.  Also, we did not get to see the development of Oliver/Delilah's relationship - we were told rather than shown.

Overall I was disappointed, but as the book is not aimed at me, I am not their target audience (though I did enjoy Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, the Harry Potter series, the Twilight Saga and the Hunger Games trilogy to name a few - well most of the Hunger Games trilogy - so I am not unused to the YA genre and as I also write YA, it was good research for me), but I did expect a writer of Jodi's brilliance to conquer the cross-over as well as Phillip Pullman does.

I will be asking my daughter to read the book, so I can get a real YA opinion as this will be useful in my YA research and it is a way of introducing one of my favourite authors to my daughter.

'What happens when happily ever after...isn't'                                                           6/10

#BetweenTheLines








* Edgar's Mum would notice the change in her son, especially as Oliver would be unable to mature.  The fact that Delilah's Mum and her psychiatrist would have to gain closure to her running away from home to visit an author in order to 'save' a fictional character - this for me, would have made far better reading.  What happens to Edgar, who would still age in the fictional world, as he matures?  Unless this was left open for a sequel to save him.  The mermaids changed character at the end of the story - I hate any character doing/saying things that are far out of character - they were supposed to be man-haters.