Bargain Ebook: Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and her daughter Samantha van Leer is bargain priced today only for $1.99. I featured it last year when it was released since it uses fairy tale themes for inspiration, best described by the professional reviews and book description, provided below.

I haven't read the book--it was on my mental watch list and so I pinged on it when it was highlighted for sale today--but I am always amused/frustrated by the reviews for books like this. The reader reviews range greatly and most of the negative ones are essentially "this is a bad book because my adult author wrote a dumb book for younger readers" ilk.

Does the book's writing vary that greatly from the adult ones by the same author? I don't know. (And I am again frustrated when adult audience authors condescend with a book for YA that is obviously "dumbed down," too.) Or were they simply off put by the main character's age, not the writing quality? Always fascinating. Beautiful writing is beautiful writing whatever the intended audience age. Since I'm all ages I've ever lived in my head, I enjoy well-written books for all ages, even the ages I still hope to become. The family joke is that I am finally the age I have always been in my head so turning 40 last year was in no way traumatic for me and yet I enjoy YA and children's literature, too.

But on to the book description for what may be a great or not so great book by Picoult et fille:

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult and her teenage daughter present their first-ever novel for teens, filled with romance, adventure, and humor.

What happens when happily ever after…isn’t?

Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah.

And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.

Delilah and Oliver work together to attempt to get Oliver out of his book, a challenging task that forces them to examine their perceptions of fate, the world, and their places in it. And as their attraction to each other grows along the way, a romance blossoms that is anything but a fairy tale.