Off the Page by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer ~ Review

It's time to sit down with a sequel!



I cannot put into words how excited I am to finally be reading the sequel to Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer's Between the Lines, Off the Page!

A massive thank you to the amazing people over at Allen & Unwin for providing me with a review copy of Off the Page (which I immediately had to pose next to a variety of fairytale dolls because I am totally a mature adult!).

Read on for my thoughts on princes, the evils of highschool, and true love...! 

Title: Off the Page (Between the Lines #2)

Publication date: June 2015

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Imprint: A & U Children

Australian RRP: $16.99 (AUD)

From internationally bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and her daughter and co-writer, Samantha van Leer, comes Off the Page, a classic fairy tale with a uniquely modern twist filled with humour, adventure and magical relationships.

Meet Oliver, a prince literally taken from the pages of a fairy tale and transported into the real world. Meet Delilah, the girl who wished Oliver into being. It's a miracle that seems perfect at first - but there are complications. To exist in Delilah's world, Oliver must take the place of a regular boy. Enter Edgar, who agrees to play Oliver's role in the pages of Delilah’s favourite book. But just when it seems that the plan will work, everything gets turned upside down.

In this multilayered universe, the line between what is on the page and what is possible is blurred, but all must be resolved for the characters to live happily ever after.

Off the Page is a tender and appealing romantic novel filled with humour, adventure and magical relationships.

Learn more about Off the Page via the Allen & Unwin website.

Or add it to your Goodreads bookshelf today!

Off the Page combines the whimsical with the bittersweetly mundane.

Before Off the Page graced readers with its presence, Between the Lines swept them away with the tantalising concept of stories - and their characters - having a life of their own. Between the Lines was fairytale-esque in nature. It was a tale that connected two seemingly star-crossed lovers and gave them their happily ever after.

In Off the Page authors Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer introduce a new element...reality.

Oh for sure, Between the Lines had very realistic elements woven throughout, mainly in relation to its real-world heroine Delilah. But Off the Page focuses on the bittersweet beauty of real life - the challenges it brings, the heartbreak that can unfold, and the struggle for us to reach something resembling a happily ever after.

Oliver and Delilah are clearly #relationshipgoals!

But will their love survive in a world not built from paper and ink?

I loved the new layer of complexity that has been added to Deliver (is that their official couple name?!) in Off the Page. Don't get me wrong - I was head over heels in love with them in Between the Lines, but their fight to be together was always so...Disney.

The stakes were high, but they were glittery and fanciful. Deliver existed outside of our world and our reality, dealing with issues that we don't normally deal with (unless you guys happen to be dating characters from books, in which case I stand corrected!).

But this book is different. In Off the Page Deliver faces trials and evils like:

Hormonal highschool girls

Wandering through shopping malls

Highschool

Romeo and Juliet

Traffic

Someone not picking up their phone when you call them

Did I mention highschool?!

But their biggest challenge is understanding what true love actually is.

True love is sacrifice. True love is selfless. True love is eternal.

Delilah and Oliver come to realise that if their love truly is real, it will survive anything the real world - or the world between the pages of a fairytale - throws at it.



And their love isn't the only kind of love that gets a shoutout. The emphasis on family love, and the relationship between child and parent made me tear up many a time during my reading of Off the Page. It was nice to see Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer expand the book's 'love horizon' and not overdo the romantic love plotline. (Edgar and his mum = ALL THE FEELS!!)

All in all Off the Page gives you new couples to ship...

...more Oliver scenes to gush over...

...and will make you long even more fervently for a magical fairytale of your own!

If you could transport a character out of a book and into your life, who would it be and why?

Let me know in the comments below!

Although I was provided with a review copy by the author and/or publisher, all opinions expressed in the this post are purely my own. To find out more, please visit my disclaimer page.