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. (From Goodreads)
I so was not going to read this book. I was really curious about it so I read the beginning just to get an idea of what the book was about, how the writing was, and if it was anything like Jodi Picoult's adult novels. Yeah. I got totally sucked in. This book was surprisingly delightful and not at all the heavy social commentaries that seem to exist just to make you cry that her adult novels are. Which, I suspect is where her daughter came in. I did quickly forget that this book had Jodi Picoult's name on the cover (although the cover tries very hard not to let you forget...) and I just fell head over heels for these characters and the beautiful possibilies held within these pages.
If you are a reader, here is your love story. This is a book about a fairy tale, but it becomes a fairy tale itself. Only instead of a princess and a prince (although there is a prince) it's a love story between a reader and a story. The villain with a heart of gold is the people who don't understand what it is to be a reader. And the writer is the group of fairies that bestow their wishes upon your birth. It's about writing your own story, changing the ending if you don't like it, and of course falling in love.
Best of all, part of the plot line is about convincing people you aren't crazy for reading a book over or for being convinced that your favorite characters are real and can talk to you beyond the confines of the book. Which, as readers, we know that the best fictional characters are real and that sometimes they do speak to us. Something that non-readers definitely would think is crazy. Even my mother who IS a reader thinks I'm crazy and that I need to get a life that doesn't exist only in words. So I completely related to Delilah.
Oliver was so charming as well. As a prince out of a fairy tale - he was perfect. Charming? Check. Self-Assured? Check. Handsome. Double check. Oh yeah...did I mention the illustrations yet? Part of the reason I'm so enthralled by this book is the gorgeous illustrations that accompany the story. There are pictures of what is meant to be the original fairy tale (which is how we can actually see what Oliver looks like). And there are fun little black and white illustrations that pop up through out the text. Adorable.
So yeah. I'm pretty impressed by this book. It's beautiful, sweet, and it completely swept me away.
