Book Review: Off the Page

Off the Page was a dream come true. 

The companion novel to Between the Lines, which I also have a review of, takes place about a month after the first book. The story focuses on three main characters: Delilah, Edgar, and Oliver. In  Between the Lines, Delilah is able to take Oliver, who used to live in a book, out of the pages and replace him with Edgar. Soon into the story, the characters realize that their plan wasn't fool proof and things start to go awry.

In comparison to the first book, Off the Page had much stronger characters. I related and sympathized more with all of them, especially Edgar. I actually didn't like Edgar in the first book and he became one of my favorite characters in this novel. As a reader, we also see more of Delilah's world now that she isn't obsessing over the children's book anymore. It was really fun to see and experince high school with her. There were some great scenes were Oliver tried to fit in with high
school and I laughed out loud a couple of times. Delilah and Oliver grew so much as a couple in this novel, and I'm much more assured in their relationship than I was before. We also see more of some characters, particularly Delilah's best friend, Jules, and Seraphima. All the scenes with Jules in them were hilarious and I loved her character. As for Seraphima, I wasn't as annoyed with her as I was in the first book, but after awhile I couldn't handle her. Delilah grates on my nerves sometimes just because she doesn't really think of others that often, but I still liked reading from her point of view. She's a classic outcast high school girl. Oliver is by far, still my favorite out of all the characters in both of the books.

The alternate cover

Off the Page itself just shows more into both of the worlds. We get to see more about the characters and what life is like in the storybook, while we also see more of Delilah's world. Edgar's chapters where it was his point of view were really eye opening into what the differences were between our world and theirs, and I found it really cool to learn more about it. Throughout the story, we also learn more about the magic of the book. My complaint about the world building  is that the magic is never really explained as to why the book is that way, it's just given to us and we're supposed to roll with it. As for any of my other complaints, I liked the ending, but I feel as if two characters (Edgar and Jules) didn't get the happy ending they deserved. The first book's message was that everyone deserved a happy ending, so to see not all the characters get one was sad, but realistic. Unfortunately, I don't see a third book happening just because of the two characters and I don't think there would be a lot of material to even write about.

All in all, Off the Page was an endearing read and satisfying conclusion. I would recommend to read Between the Lines before you pick up this one, just because I think you'll appreciate the story and characters more. For me, there was just something missing in the book. While I really enjoyed it, I didn't love it like I did Between the Lines. 

With that, I give this book

4.2 out of 5 Stars!

Book Review: Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Between the  Lines is my first ever book by Jodi Picoult and it was such an adventure! The book itself is published in such a nice format I could not help but read it right away when I got if from the library. There are beautiful illustrations and each point of view is not only in a different color, but a different font. The drawings in this book were one of a kind and helped me visualize the characters much better. Not only are there full page color drawings, there are also small black and white ones interspersed throughout the pages. This formatting made the book even more enjoyable and I knew just by flipping through the pages that I was going to have an excellent time reading this novel by Jodi Picoult and her daughter, Samantha Van Leer. 

The novel's main plot is that there is a boy, Oliver, that lives inside a children's fairy tale book with all the other characters from it. When the book is opened, they reenact it as if it were a play, and then go back to their normal lives once it is closed. Oliver, however, is never truly happy, and his dream is to leave the book and go into the "Otherworld", which is the world us readers live in. Delilah, an avid reader of this fairy tale, finally sees Oliver as he is and decides to help him try to get out. 

The book opens with a beautiful illustration of  Oliver, the male protagonist, scaling a cliff with a dagger in his mouth. Not  only did this image draw me in, I immediately wanted to know more about the world. I mean, Oliver isn't that hard to look at, if I do say so myself. The first ten pages are of the fairy tale that Delilah, the main character, is obsessed with. We soon discover that this fairy tale is one of a kind. In fact, there is only one copy in existence. 

The plot is like nothing I've ever read from the young adult genre, and can only be truly compared to a fairy tale. While simple, the plot drew me in and I could not stop reading. Though juvenile at times, Delilah was such a pleasure to read. She wasn't the stereotypical female protagonist that's beautiful without knowing and has a plethora of guys fawning after her while she remains oblivious to it all. In fact, she's your average fifteen year old shy girl with one true friend to speak of and has only one parent in her life. This made her all the more real to me. While it's not plausible to have one of the characters from my books start talking to me (though I wouldn't be complaining), it is still so easy to relate to Delilah. Oliver, our other main character, is in fact, very princely. While not a prince in his real life, he proves to be a loyal, brave, and a romantic character that I couldn't help but root for as he tried getting out into the real world.

The only main problem I have with this book is a small one. Delilah seemed dependent on Oliver for her happiness, and I see that as a big issue. I want to see characters who don't need someone else to make them happy, and could be fine on their own. It's great to see Delilah and Oliver together, but I wish she was less dependent so I knew that she can achieve happiness on her own. While she only fifteen, I don't think it's healthy to be so reliant on someone (Oliver) or something (the fairy tale) to feel truly happy. 

And with that, I give this book 

4.4 out of 5 Stars!