Wednesday 1 August 2012

TEEN: Between the Lines - Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Release Date: 05/07/12  
BOOK BLURB:  
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:  
Whilst I know the name of Jodi Picoult very well, I’m always a little dubious when an author takes a stab at another genre. Don’t get me wrong, there are common traits between quite a few of them but when you’re writing for a YA audience after having written for adults, theres a lot of differences that need to be addressed and whilst some make the transition very well the majority sadly don’t. Such was the case with Philippa Gregory and for me, it’s the same case with Jodi. The book really didn’t work well for me as a reader, it felt more like forcing the elements together to make it work rather than allowing a certain amount of organic work to take the burden for the writers. Its convoluted, it doesn’t work characters wise and sad to say, I suspect it wouldn’t have made it to print had Jodi not been associated with it. Add to this a confused set of quandaries, lacking emotional context to allow the characters to grow and all in, this is not a book that I’ll be recommending to others. 

 

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