Off the Page by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer: Book Review!

Hello, everyone! I'm back, and I'm here to review Off the Page by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer. It's the sequel/spin-off to Between the Lines. It takes place after Oliver escapes from the fairy tale to join Delilah in the "real" world and the mayhem that ensues. I  know you weren't expecting this, especially since I've been talking about finishing the book for months. However, I'm here, and I'm going to explain my thoughts on the novel. Enough about that. Let's get onto the review.

Let me just say, yes, it was a bit difficult for me to get into the book. What I loved about the first book was the fairy tale, the life in the story. Since all of the people I liked were out of the story, it felt like the magic was taken out of it. Also, it felt like the first part of the story was filler. I didn't feel like it connected to the rest of the story, and it didn't help build up the conclusion. 

There are two other parts, well scenes, of the story that I didn't quite like/believe. The first scene broke one of my cardinal sins of stories (which I can't say here because it is a total spoiler), and the other scene is close to the conclusion where the characters are able to solve a problem out of thin air. There wasn't enough build up of problem solving that made me believe that they could figure out how to get everyone a happy ending. 

That's not to say there weren't things I loved about the novel. I love how the stakes were raised. One of the major problems in Between the Lines was that it felt like the action wasn't important enough. There wasn't a major drive. In this book there is a lot of drive. There are multiple problems and each one effects all of the characters in a way that can change their lives. It felt more "real" in this book then in the other. 

I know this may seem strange, but I really enjoy the parents in this book. Usually, YA novels tend to erase parents from children's lives better than Disney. While they may not be "traditional" parents, they are still parents. They're slightly oblivious, but they still provide important lessons while still being entertaining. It's refreshing to say the least.

I'm also liking all of the fish-out-of-water experiences. It's not even so much the fairy tale characters in our world. I preferred having the "real" people show up in the fairy tale. It may be because I'm a little biased toward fairy tales and magic. I also have to admit that when the fantastic characters do something that's rather banal (i.e. the pirate dentist) I get a little giddy inside. the horse alone made me laugh more than I have this past week. That might have something to do with reading On the Road for the past couple of weeks. But let's chock it up to good writing and lovable characters. 

With everything said and done, if you need a little pick-me-up with a happy ending (spoiler alert?), you'll enjoy Off the Page. I'm giving this novel a solid three and a half birthday candles out of five. 

That's it for this post! Comment down below with some of your favorite stories with happy endings. Subscribe to the blog by adding your email address to the Subscribe Box down below. Add me to your circles by clicking the Google+ Button off to the right. Follow me on twitter @KK_Donna_Blog for up to date information on the blog and ridiculousness about my life. Follow the tumblr dedicated to the blog, which you can find at this link. Read on, lovelies! I'll see y'all next post!