Off the Page

Off the Page is a YA contemporary fantasy companion to Between the Lines by mother-daughter writing team Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer.

Oliver is about to start his new life as an ordinary teen boy at a new high school.

But he’s not an ordinary teen boy. He’s a prince taken from the pages of a fairy tale – and his new life is due to hard-earned freedom to be with the reader he loves, Delilah.

In order to do this, he has to fake an American accent and pretend to be Edgar, son to the author of the book he is from.

Totally not complicated.

At first, Oliver and Delilah delight in their ability to be together – but then real life interferes. Things aren’t as easy as fairy tales.

And the real Edgar, who is voluntarily taking Oliver’s place in the fairy tale – which he has now changed to a sort of space adventure meets alien invasion storyline – is finding his new role isn’t as easy as he expected either.

Is Happily Ever After possible?

Off the Page has full color illustrations and different colored fonts for each characters perspective, which really plays into the fairy tale vibe.

Though Off the Page is a companion, and not specifically labeled a sequel, to Between the Lines – I think it would have been beneficial to read the books in order. Primarily because the reader would then have an investment in Oliver and Delilah’s relationship. That was a bit harder to establish for a new reader, i.e. me.

Modern, light and fluffy in a way that can be entertaining and fun, Off the Page is an easy read and spotlights a dream many readers are likely to have – to pull their novel crushes out of the pages and actually get to be with them!

I can’t say it was the most original book – or that the characters were the most believable. Yet it was a generally enjoyable diversion that, to me, was an introduction for readers to dive into something a little more complex with a similar idea – hopping into books – such as Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series.

Off the Page had some surprising, heartfelt, more serious moments that helped the overall story to have more weight – but all in all Off the Page is a gentle, reader’s fantasy that will likely be primarily loved by younger teens.