Review for Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer 
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
Release Date: 5th July 2012
Genre: Fairytale, Crossover, Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance
Rating: 4/5 stars
Source: Received from the publisher for review

Amazon Summary:
"Delilah knows it's weird, but she can't stop reading her favourite fairy tale. Other girls her age are dating and cheerleading. But then, other girls are popular. She loves the comfort of the happy ending, and knowing there will be no surprises. Until she gets the biggest surprise of all, when Prince Oliver looks out from the page and speaks to her. Now Delilah must decide: will she do as Oliver asks, and help him to break out of the book? Or is this her chance to escape into happily ever after? Read between the lines for total enchantment..."

Review 
I’ve read almost all of Jodi Picoult’s adult books over the years and have loved all of them. I’d definitely consider Jodi to be one of my very favourite authors so when I heard that she was venturing into the ever popular Young Adult market with something completely new I was excited especially with YA being my favourite genre to read. Little did I realise that this novel was co-written with debut author Samantha Van Leer who just so happens to be Jodi’s teenage daughter.

At the beginning of the book is an author’s note from Jodi explaining how this book came to be about. At the young age of fourteen Sammy came to her with an idea for a book and over a span of two years they worked on her idea together. Sammy must have inherited her mom’s talent for storytelling because the idea behind this story is a wonderful one. Despite the ever trending topic of paranormal romance in YA Sammy and Jodi have gone down a different route and have created a story that reads as part contemporary part modern day fairytale.

The book itself is about Delilah a teenage girl who instead of dating, shopping and experimenting with make-up would much rather be reading a good book (a girl after my own heart!) particularly Between the Lines a fairytale she came upon in her school library. Delilah can relate to the hero of the story Oliver in a way that she can’t with other boys her age and like Oliver understands how it feels to grow up without a dad. Delilah’s read this book countless times and knows the story by heart so one day when there’s a subtle chance that anybody else probably wouldn’t notice Delilah does and so begins an enchanting adventure about a book that is so much more than your average fairytale.

Between the Lines is told alternately between Prince Oliver who wants much more from life than what the author of his story gave to him and Delilah who feels a real connection with Oliver and so try’s to help him escape from his story into our world. In between their chapters is also the fairytale itself and some gorgeous illustrations of not only the fairytale but also of Delilah’s life in the real world too. I loved the idea behind this book of a story that’s real. A place that really has magic and our favourite characters, who have a whole life of their own outside of the story as we know it. And although I loved Delilah and Oliver’s chapters I found that the sections I most enjoyed were the chapters of the fairytale itself it was so well imagined and I know I would have loved to have read it when I was younger as a fairytale in its own right.

Overall I found Between the Lines to be an enchanting, magical read it’s a modern day fairytale that has all the wonder and excitement of the original fairytales I grew up with. This is a book with huge crossover appeal that can be enjoyed by tweens, teens and adults alike. I enjoyed the seamless combination of this mother daughter duo and hope there will be more books by both Jodi and Sammy in the future.