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OFF THE PAGE

From the between the lines series , vol. 2.

by Jodi Picoult ; Samantha van Leer ; illustrated by Yvonne Gilbert ; Scott M. Fischer ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 19, 2015

Though it lacks the depth of Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart series, the story is at its best when it’s taken as a metafictive...

What happens when a happily-ever-after is no longer guaranteed?

Picoult and van Leer, her co-author daughter, explore the real-life consequences when two star-crossed, teen lovers leave the certainty of the fictive page and give their romance a test run in the real world. In the somewhat cluttered and chaotic sequel to Between the Lines (2012), Oliver, a once-fictional charming prince, and his doppelgänger, Edgar, the lonely teen son of the author of Oliver’s fairy tale, have swapped places. Edgar now resides between the covers of the book, and Oliver is braving three-dimensional high school life with his one true love, Delilah. Not surprisingly, things don’t go quite as planned. The swap has consequences, and as the fictional book attempts to restore order, characters from both worlds suddenly find themselves jumping on and off the pages. Watching Oliver navigate the perils of high school provides some easy laughs, and his romance with Delilah remains fairy-tale sweet, even as his rising popularity complicates things between them. But it’s secondary characters, like Delilah’s tough-as-nails best friend, Jules, who provide the most entertainment. Readers will likely find themselves anxiously awaiting their arrivals in scenes.

Pub Date: May 19, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-553-53556-3

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Delacorte

Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION

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More by Jodi Picoult

BOOK REVIEW

by Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan

by Jodi Picoult

THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS

From the girl of fire and thorns series , vol. 1.

by Rae Carson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2011

Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...

Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.

Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra , but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra —can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4

Page Count: 432

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION

MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN

From the peculiar children series , vol. 1.

by Ransom Riggs ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 7, 2011

A trilogy opener both rich and strange, if heavy at the front end.

Riggs spins a gothic tale of strangely gifted children and the monsters that pursue them from a set of eerie, old trick photographs.

The brutal murder of his grandfather and a glimpse of a man with a mouth full of tentacles prompts months of nightmares and psychotherapy for 15-year-old Jacob, followed by a visit to a remote Welsh island where, his grandfather had always claimed, there lived children who could fly, lift boulders and display like weird abilities. The stories turn out to be true—but Jacob discovers that he has unwittingly exposed the sheltered “peculiar spirits” (of which he turns out to be one) and their werefalcon protector to a murderous hollowgast and its shape-changing servant wight. The interspersed photographs—gathered at flea markets and from collectors—nearly all seem to have been created in the late 19th or early 20th centuries and generally feature stone-faced figures, mostly children, in inscrutable costumes and situations. They are seen floating in the air, posing with a disreputable-looking Santa, covered in bees, dressed in rags and kneeling on a bomb, among other surreal images. Though Jacob’s overdeveloped back story gives the tale a slow start, the pictures add an eldritch element from the early going, and along with creepy bad guys, the author tucks in suspenseful chases and splashes of gore as he goes. He also whirls a major storm, flying bullets and a time loop into a wild climax that leaves Jacob poised for the sequel.

Pub Date: June 7, 2011

ISBN: 978-1-59474-476-1

Page Count: 234

Publisher: Quirk Books

Review Posted Online: March 30, 2014

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL

by Ransom Riggs

by Ransom Riggs ; illustrated by Andrew Davidson

More by Ransom Riggs

by Ransom Riggs ; illustrated by Jim Tierney

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Off the page, common sense media reviewers.

Strong (but long) sequel about book characters come to life.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Some thought-provoking ideas about the importance

The main characters make huge personal sacrifices

Characters fight with each other (beyond some roma

A beloved character dies in an accident, while ano

Some passionate kissing. A boy sneaks into his gir

One scene takes place in a Victoria's Secret.

Educational Value

Some thought-provoking ideas about the importance of free choice, the meaning of hope, and so on. The authors include little musings between sections, including one that asks readers to consider the different people they are in different situations: "Given all these performances ... how do you ever know who you are?"

Positive Messages

The main characters make huge personal sacrifices to protect the ones they love.

Positive Role Models

Characters fight with each other (beyond some romantic jealousy, Delilah is mean to her mom when she asks about the book), but in general the characters are loyal and loving to each other. Delilah even helps care for the demanding Princess Seraphima when she accidently comes to the real world.

Violence & Scariness

A beloved character dies in an accident, while another suffers a deadly illness. A boy punches another boy at school after an accidental insult. Other characters reflect on losing loved ones.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Some passionate kissing. A boy sneaks into his girlfriend's bedroom to spend the night with her. A character is jealous of another girl's perfect body (that girl later says everything she eats go straight to her breasts).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Parents need to know.

Parents need to know that Off the Page , by mother-daughter coauthors Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer , is a romantic fantasy and the sequel to Between the Lines . It continues the story of a girl in love with the prince from a fairy tale, who has now come into the real world. Because it's a romantic fantasy, readers should expect some pretty passionate kissing. Also, a boy sneaks into his girlfriend's bedroom to spend the night with her. There's more tragedy than violence: A beloved character dies in an accident, while another suffers a deadly illness. In general, the characters are loyal and make huge personal sacrifices to protect the ones they love. And there are some thought-provoking ideas about the importance of free choice and the meaning of hope.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

Parents say (1)
Kids say (1)

Based on 1 parent review

Great transition book from kid fantasy to tween drama

What's the story.

In OFF THE PAGE, Delilah is happy to be with Oliver, a dashing prince newly escaped from a fairy tale who becomes surprisingly popular in high school. Meanwhile, back in the fairy tale, Edgar -- the author's real-world son and his doppelganger -- is having a hard time keeping everything in order, especially as other characters and real people swap places, sometimes unintentionally, and as the book starts trying to revert back to its original story. When a fairy tale character dies in the real world, Delilah decides Oliver must go back so she can keep him safe. But when Edgar discovers his mother, the author, is really sick, they must all work together to find new endings for everyone.

Is It Any Good?

This smart, sweet story mixes humor, romance, and deep thoughts about the risks we have to take to write our own stories, but it's very long, with many characters going in and out of the fairy tale. Readers will have to be pretty committed to work their way through it. Still, it's pretty impossible not to like a book with lines such as this one from Delilah, bemoaning her geometry homework: "So in spite of the fact that I am having possibly the worst Tuesday of my life, and my boyfriend is trapped in a fairy tale, and my best friend is hooking up with his clone, I have to prove that two triangles are congruent."

Pretty, classic illustrations of the fairy tale world are interspersed in the story, adding a bit of magic to the book and giving readers a good sense of what it's like to live in the idyllic -- but limited -- world.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the premise. Would you rather live in a beautiful story with limited options or take your chances in the real world where you're mortal?

If you had to live in a book or movie, what kind of story would you choose?

Off the Page is the second book in a series (after Between the Lines ). Do you think there will be more books? If so, what will happen?

Book Details

Authors : Jodi Picoult , Samantha Van Leer
Genre : Fantasy
Topics : Magic and Fantasy , Princesses, Fairies, Mermaids, and More , Adventures , High School
Book type : Fiction
Publisher : Delacorte Press
Publication date : May 19, 2015
Publisher's recommended age(s) : 12 - 18
Number of pages : 384
Available on : Paperback, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Kindle
Last updated : July 12, 2017

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Off the Page by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer – review

‘Off the Page is the ULTIMATE book for ALL fangirls’

Think about your favourite fairy tale. Think about Prince Charming. Actually, think about any boy, in a book or a movie, of whom you’ve thought, What if he was real?

What if your perfect guy, the one you’ve only wished into existence about eight thousand and forty three times, suddenly did come out of the page? What if the universe (and your own stubbornness) decided that maybe you deserve what you were wishing for?

Delilah wished for her prince from a children’s fairy tale novel, and out he came. Well, it wasn’t that simple, but the bottom line is that he’s here. In the real world, impersonating the son of his creator, going to dreaded high school and learning to live like a normal human being.

And everything should be perfect, but it’s not. Because wishes are powerful things, especially one from the purest desires, but stories have ways of rewriting themselves, and not everything is under our control.

Can I just start with: Off the Page is the ULTIMATE book for ALL fangirls. It’s what we’ve been dreaming/praying/wishing/living for, only better! It’s hilarious: Game of Thrones is a GAME played with thrones, the SAT’s are extremely easy because all one has to do is fill in the bubbles, and Victoria’s Secret will not be publicised.

I loved this book. It was amazing, hitting you in the face with things that you think off; about stories, about life and about love. I couldn’t recommend it more! 5 GOLDEN STARS!

Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop

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Off the Page by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer, book review: Central conceit remains fascinating in a witty fairy tale

The central conceit, whereby readers and characters manage to enter each other’s world, is a fascinating one, article bookmarked.

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Sixteen-year-old Delilah, in retreat from her peer group, finds she can transport Prince Oliver from her favourite fairy story out of its pages into her real life. She has long adored him and he, released from the tedium of recreating his story every time the book is read, falls in grateful love with her. Thus the main plot of Between the Lines, a number one New York Times bestseller during 2012 written by mother and daughter Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer. They have now followed this up with Off the Page , taking the story of Delilah and Oliver a stage further.

Samantha Van Leer, still at high school when the first novel appeared, was well qualified to reproduce the snap and crackle of daily teenage point-scoring. Now a student at Vassar College, her memory remains sharp as Delilah continues to fight verbal battles with nasty class rival Allie McAndrews.

Jodie Picoult, an established novelist, brings in her own more mature experience of how to craft a story. This comes in useful when the narrative refers back to the previous title. Her skills make sure that Off the Page still rates as a stand-alone story, although some of the characters drawn from the original fairy tale remain undeveloped for those unacquainted with them before.

Oliver’s problems dealing with a modern world, reminiscent of the young hero in Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee , can be funny. But while Twain also mocked what he saw as sentimental cults of medievalism, mother and daughter here simply set out to entertain.

This they do tolerably well, although they include far too many protestations of eternal love followed by long sessions of kissing but nothing else, so ensuring an easy passage with America’s current self-appointed moral guardians. The writing itself is good but not great, with ships slicing through waves like a knife cutting through butter and ground shifting under feet at bad moments.

But the central conceit, also explored by the German children’s author Cornelia Funke, whereby readers and characters manage to enter each other’s world, remains a fascinating one. While digital games and films have often delivered this particular form of wish-fulfilment, books themselves have generally had less to offer here.

Yvonne Gilbert’s lavish full colour illustrations, something of a rarity in young adult fiction, help maintain the illusion in this novel. Oliver appears so handsome he just has to be believed in while beautiful Princess Seraphina, his fairy tale consort, is a constant vision of sartorial splendour, with the blue jeans she once bought on a brief foray into the real world nowhere in sight.

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By Any Other Name
Wish You Were Here
The Book of Two Ways
A Spark of Light
Small Great Things

Off the Page

Leaving Time
The Storyteller
Between the Lines
Sing You Home
Over The Moon
House Rules
Handle With Care
Change of Heart
Wonder Woman
Nineteen Minutes
The Tenth Circle
Vanishing Acts
My Sister's Keeper
Second Glance
Perfect Match
Salem Falls
Plain Truth
Keeping Faith
Picture Perfect
Harvesting the Heart
Songs of the Humpback Whale

Jodi Picoult

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From #1 New York Times bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and her daughter and co-writer, Samantha van Leer, comes Off The Page , a tender and appealing romantic YA novel filled with humor, adventure, and magical relationships.

Sixteen-year-old Delilah is finally united with Oliver—a prince literally taken from the pages of a fairy tale. There are, however, complications now that Oliver has been able to enter the real world. To exist in Delilah’s world, Oliver must take the place of a regular boy. Enter Edgar, who agrees to take Oliver’s role in Delilah’s favorite book. 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. Includes twelve full-color illustrations, and black-and-white decorations throughout.

Full of humor and witty commentary about life, Off The Page is a stand-alone novel as well as a companion to the authors’ bestseller Between the Lines , and is perfect for readers looking for a fairytale ending. Fans of Sarah Dessen and Meg Cabot are sure to appreciate this novel about love, romance, and relationships.

A great contribution to the ever versatile YA fiction genre… A follow-up to their 2012 collaboration Between the Lines , Off the Page also stands alone perfectly, introducing quirky teenage teenage characters dealing with an even quirkier literary situation as the fairy tale world and the real world collide… Together these authors manage to make these characters not only likeable, but believable through an unlikely series of events. It’s fair to say this, not so young, adult was enthralled to the end and only left me wishing that I had the imagination to come up with such a brilliant formula for a story. UK Press Association

“CBS This Morning” interview May 28, 2015. Norah O'Donnell, Gayle King and Charlie Rose ask Jodi and her daughter and co-author Samantha Van Leer about writing Off the Page .

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Jodi Picoult with her daughter Samantha on Off The Page , the new book they've written together. BBC Woman's Hour - June 2, 2015.

authors Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer

An excerpt from Off The Page

I’ve been waiting my whole life for Oliver, so you’d think another fifteen minutes wouldn’t matter. But it’s fifteen minutes that Oliver is alone on a bus, unmonitored, for the first time, with the most ruthless, malicious, soul-sucking creatures on earth: high school students.

Going to high school is a little like being told you have to get up each morning and run headlong at sixty miles an hour into the same brick wall. Every day, you’re forced to watch Darwin’s principle of survival of the fittest play out: evolutionary advantages, like perfect white teeth and gravity-defying boobs, or a football team jacket keep you from falling prey to the demons that grow to three times their size when they feed on the fear of a hapless freshman and bully him to a pulp. After years of public school, I’ve gotten pretty good at being invisible. That way, you’re less likely to become a target.

But Oliver knows none of this. He has always been the center of attention. He’s even more undeveloped socially than the boy who enrolled last year after nine years of being homeschooled in a yurt. Which is why I’m actually breaking a sweat, imagining everything Oliver could be doing wrong.

At this point, he’s probably ten minutes into a story about the first dragon he ever encountered—and while he might think it’s a great icebreaker, the rest of the bus will either peg him as the new druggie in town, who puts ’shrooms in his breakfast omelet, or as one of those kids who run around speaking Elvish, wearing homemade cloaks, with foam swords tucked into their belts. Either way, that kind of first impression is one that sticks for the rest of your life.

Believe me, I know.

I’ve spent my entire school career as that girl. The one who wrote VD Rocks! on all her second-grade valentines and who literally walked into a wall once while reading a book. The one who recently reaffirmed her subterranean spot on the social status totem pole by accidentally punching out the most popular girl in school during swim practice.

Oliver and I make a fabulous couple.

Speaking of which . . . I kind of still can’t believe we are one.

It’s one thing to have a boyfriend, but to have someone who looks like he just stepped out of a romantic comedy—well, it doesn’t happen to people like me. Girls spend their lives dreaming of that perfect guy but always wind up settling when they realize he doesn’t exist. I found mine—but he was trapped inside a fairy tale. Since that’s the only world he’s ever lived in, acclimating to this one has been a bit of a challenge. How he came to be real—and mine—is a long story . . . but it’s been the biggest adventure of my life.

So far, anyway.

“Delilah!” I hear, and I turn around to see my best friend,

Jules, barreling toward me. We hug like magnets. We haven’t seen each other all summer—she was exiled to her aunt’s house in the Midwest, and I was totally preoccupied with Oliver’s arrival.

Her Mohawk has grown out into an Egyptian bob, which she’s dyed midnight blue, and she’s wearing her usual thick black eyeliner, combat boots, and a T-shirt with the name of her favorite band du jour: Khaleesi and the Dragons. “So where is he?” she asks, looking around.

“Not here yet,” I tell her. “What if he called the bus his trusty steed again?”

Jules laughs. “Delilah, you’ve been practicing the whole summer with him. I think he can handle a fifteen-minute bus ride without you.” Suddenly she grimaces. “Oh crap, don’t tell me you guys are going to be Gorilla-glued together, like BrAngelo,” Jules says, jerking her head toward Brianna and Angelo, the school’s power couple, who seem to have an uncanny ability to be making out on my locker at the exact moment I need to get inside. “I think it’s great that you have a hot new boyfriend, but you better not ditch me.”

“Are you kidding?” I say. “I’m going to need your help. Being around Oliver is like when you’re babysitting a toddler and you realize the entire house is a potential danger zone.”

“Perfect timing,” murmurs Jules as Oliver’s bus pulls up to the front of the school.

You know how there are some moments in your life when time just slows down? When you remember every minute detail: how the wind feels against your face, how the freshly cut grass smells, how the snippets of conversation become a dull background buzz, and how in that instant, there’s only the beat of your heart and the breath that you draw and the person whose eyes lock with yours?

Oliver is the last one to step off the bus. His black hair is ruffled by the breeze. He’s wearing the white shirt and jeans I picked out for him, and an unzipped hoodie. A leather satchel is strung across his chest, and his green eyes search the crowd.

When he sees me, a huge smile breaks across his face.

He walks toward me as if there aren’t three hundred people staring at him—the new kid—as if it doesn’t matter in the least that the popular girls are tossing their hair and batting their lashes like they’re at a photo shoot, or that the jocks are all sizing him up as competition. He walks as if the only thing he can see is me.

Oliver wraps his arms around me and swings me in a circle, like I weigh nothing at all. He sets me down, then gently holds my face in his hands, looking at me as if he has found treasure. “Hello,” he says, and he kisses me.

I can feel everyone’s eyes on me, their mouths gaping.

Not gonna lie: I could get used to this.

Off the Page, by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer | Book Review

The Children’s Book Review | May 23, 2015

Off the Page

Written by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer

Illustrations by Yvonne Gilbert and Scott M. Fischer

Age Range: 12 and up

Hardcover: 384 pages

Publisher: Delacorte Press (May 19, 2015)

ISBN-13: 978-0553535563

What to expect: Romance, Humor, Adventure, Magic

Fantasy meets reality in Off the Page, a romantic comedy written for the young adult audience by New York Times bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and her daughter and coauthor, Samantha van Leer. It’s a sweet companion novel to Between the Pages.

“If a character sits in a book and no one reads it, is he truly alive?”

Oliver is a prince from the pages of a fairy tale and his girlfriend, Delilah, is helping him navigate the real world and high school. It was Delilah that wished Oliver out of his book and into reality—Oliver is besotted with Delilah, and vise versa. They appear to be proof of a fairy tale coming true. That is, until the book that Oliver came from wants him back within the pages.

Off the Page is full of great puns and funny mishaps and provides an entertaining interpretation of high school life and finding one’s place in the world—or, a world. Given that the main protagonists each take turns in narrating, the likable characters are easy to get to know. Picoult and Van Leer steer the story with a wonderful balance of make-believe and realism. The authors’ combined modern writing style and contemporary plot elements are enhanced by lovely color illustrations sprinkled throughout—each picture adding an essence of nostalgia with true fairy tale flair.

Readers that enjoy romance and dream of living happily ever after can delve right into this novel, but may also enjoy picking up a copy of Between the Pages to devour first. Off the Page is a fun romantic romp for the end of the school year or to kick-off summer reading.

Available Here:

About the Authors

JODI PICOULT is the author of twenty-three novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers Leaving Time, The Storyteller, Lone Wolf, Sing You Home, House Rules, Handle with Care, Change of Heart, Nineteen Minutes, and My Sister’s Keeper. She also cowrote the #1 New York Times bestseller Between the Lines, the companion to Off the Page, with her daughter, Samantha van Leer. Jodi lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. Visit her online at jodipicoult.com .

SAMANTHA VAN LEER is a sophomore at Vassar College majoring in psychology with a minor in human development. She cowrote the #1 New York Times bestseller Between the Lines, the companion to Off the Page, with her mother, Jodi Picoult.

Jodi and Samantha have four dogs: Alvin, Harvey, Dudley, and Oliver, for whom the prince in this story is named.

Off the Page, written by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer, was reviewed by Bianca Schulze. Follow along with our book reviews and articles tagged with Acceptance , Adventure , Dorothy Hearst , Rivalry , Wolves and our Young Adult Books category to discover more great novels.

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Bianca Schulze is the founder of The Children’s Book Review. She is a reader, reviewer, mother and children’s book lover. She also has a decade’s worth of experience working with children in the great outdoors. Combined with her love of books and experience as a children’s specialist bookseller, the goal is to share her passion for children’s literature to grow readers. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she now lives with her husband and three children near Boulder, Colorado.

Nice one Bianca. Perhaps you have read more Jodi Picoult novels also? What reading order would you suggest? I’ve tried to answer this question on my blog and I was wondering if you could check my list and had any ideas for improving it? http://www.bestreadingorder.com/2015/11/jodi-picoult-books-reading-order/

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Amy S. Brown

Review of off the page by jodi picoult and samantha van leer.

Synopsis: Delilah and Oliver shouldn’t be together. But they are together. And just as they’re getting used to the possibility that happily ever after may really, truly be theirs, the universe sends them a message they can’t ignore: they won’t be allowed to rewrite their story. Delilah and Oliver must decide how much they’re willing to risk for love and what it takes to have a happy ending in a world where the greatest adventures happen off the page. Review: This was actually everything I needed to read at the time, and along with Vespertine and another book I’m still in the process of reading, it really helped me feel something when facing personal tragedy. Now, this book does pick up where Between the Lines left off, however, Delilah, in my opinion, becomes quite unlikeable. Oliver and Edgar face a lot of personal trials and tribulations and grow a lot, but Delilah seems to sink into her relationship in a way that seems quite unhealthy. She recognizes this and even begins to dislike herself for it, but she doesn’t change or advance or grow in any way. That’s alright, because this book is honestly more about Oliver and Edgar and what it means to be yourself and put those you love first. One thing that I think this book does better than almost any other book I’ve read is actually talk about death and dying in a way that makes sense and doesn’t belittle how much it hurts to lose someone. Everyone will lose someone in life, and it can be hard to understand and even harder to know how to pick up your life and continue on when someone who was an integral part is just… gone. Thank you so much to Picoult and van Leer for realizing that this was something that not everyone may have experienced, and that it hits people differently; especially the feelings of guilt. This book was awesome, and I think it’s a definitely must read if you loved the first; but warning, this one has no pretty pictures (unless you count the chapter headings). Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

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Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, off the page.

About the Book

\ From #1 New York Times bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and her daughter and coauthor, Samantha van Leer, comes OFF THE PAGE, a tender and appealing romantic YA novel filled with humor, adventure, and just a little bit of magic. 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. Sure, Oliver doesn’t know that you shouldn’t try to open your locker with a dagger or that there’s no such thing as “the ruler” of the local mall. But he also looks at Delilah as if she’s the only girl in the world --- the only girl in any world --- and Delilah can’t help feeling that being with him is a dream come to life. But not every story can have a happy ending. Because the book wants Oliver back. And it will turn both worlds upside down to get him. Oliver and Delilah will have to decide what --- and who --- they’re willing to risk for love and what it really means for a fairy tale to come true. Full of humor and witty commentary about life, OFF THE PAGE is a stand-alone novel as well as the companion to the authors’ #1 bestseller BETWEEN THE LINES. Fans of Sarah Dessen and Meg Cabot are sure to appreciate this novel about love, romance and happily-ever-afters.

Off the Page written by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer , illustrated by Yvonne Gilbert

Publication Date: May 19, 2015
Genres: Fantasy , Fiction , Romance , Young Adult 12+ , Youth Fiction
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Random House
ISBN-10: 0553535560
ISBN-13: 9780553535563

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in Blog , New Adult Books · September 11, 2020

Off the Page | Review

Jane can count the joys of her life on one hand:

Writing, Her roommates, and Benjamin King

At twenty-two years old with a job she doesn’t know how to quit and a book she doesn’t know how to finish, Jane feels more than a little lost. So imagine her surprise when she meets the leading man of her own creation, not only living and breathing, but completely unaware of his own literary origin. Jane immediately takes a shining to him—of course she does, she’s half in love with him already.

But what happens when the leading lady—everything Jane is not (independent, adventurous, driven)—shows up with all the right tools to steal Ben’s heart? Will Jane submit to the story she’s worked on for years, or learn how to write her own?

Title: Off the Page Author: Elizabeth Kenyon Publication Date: August 11, 2020 Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance

This book blew me out of the water! I was invested from page one and hooked until the end. There was just so much to love about this book so Iet me share a few of these things.

We hear the story through the main character, Jane. Jane was such a relatable character which is part of really bonded me to the story. She’s in her early twenties, stuck on a writers block, and trying to figure out what to do with her life. Even as she goes through this crazy experience of her book characters coming to life, I found myself nodding along to her thoughts and decisions. It was easy to see myself doing a lot of the same things as her. I just really loved how relatable she was.

As well, Kenyon paces this book very well. Just when you think the action might be falling, something jolts it back to life. I was never bored or tired of the story.

Something that I loved (perhaps the most) was the romance in this book. Things played out exactly how I hoped they would and left me smiling and, admittedly, a little giddy. It was all the hints in the book that really did it for me though. I won’t say anymore as not to give anything away, but it was a well-written romance for the hopeless romantic in me.

Overall, it was fun, a little magical, and just romantic enough to leave me wanting more from Kenyon. Seriously, though, do you have another book coming out soon? A must-read for all!!

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

To check out my other reviews, click here. Buy this book on Amazon !

Reader Interactions

September 11, 2020 at 2:14 pm

I hadn’t heard of this book before, but it’s definitely on my radar now! It sounds so adorable 😍 Lovely review, Ariel! 💛

September 12, 2020 at 11:49 am

One of the people I follow on Instagram wrote this book so that’s how I first found out about it. It is seriously so cute! Thanks for checking out my review!

September 11, 2020 at 9:55 pm

Oooh! Off The Page sounds like a great read. Sometimes, we find some interesting turns when we feel a little lost in life, which is okay and great! It is great when the character is relatable. Big plus when the book is easy to consume and read through. Glad you enjoyed the book overall! Thanks for sharing your thoughts :).

Nancy ✨ exquisitely.me

September 12, 2020 at 11:50 am

I definitely agree with all you said!

[…] Off the Page – ARC […]

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17 Book Review Examples to Help You Write the Perfect Review

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Blog – Posted on Friday, Mar 29

17 book review examples to help you write the perfect review.

It’s an exciting time to be a book reviewer. Once confined to print newspapers and journals, reviews now dot many corridors of the Internet — forever helping others discover their next great read. That said, every book reviewer will face a familiar panic: how can you do justice to a great book in just a thousand words?

As you know, the best way to learn how to do something is by immersing yourself in it. Luckily, the Internet (i.e. Goodreads and other review sites , in particular) has made book reviews more accessible than ever — which means that there are a lot of book reviews examples out there for you to view!

In this post, we compiled 17 prototypical book review examples in multiple genres to help you figure out how to write the perfect review . If you want to jump straight to the examples, you can skip the next section. Otherwise, let’s first check out what makes up a good review.

Are you interested in becoming a book reviewer? We recommend you check out Reedsy Discovery , where you can earn money for writing reviews — and are guaranteed people will read your reviews! To register as a book reviewer, sign up here.

Pro-tip : But wait! How are you sure if you should become a book reviewer in the first place? If you're on the fence, or curious about your match with a book reviewing career, take our quick quiz:

Should you become a book reviewer?

Find out the answer. Takes 30 seconds!

What must a book review contain?

Like all works of art, no two book reviews will be identical. But fear not: there are a few guidelines for any aspiring book reviewer to follow. Most book reviews, for instance, are less than 1,500 words long, with the sweet spot hitting somewhere around the 1,000-word mark. (However, this may vary depending on the platform on which you’re writing, as we’ll see later.)

In addition, all reviews share some universal elements, as shown in our book review templates . These include:

A review will offer a concise plot summary of the book.
A book review will offer an evaluation of the work.
A book review will offer a recommendation for the audience.

If these are the basic ingredients that make up a book review, it’s the tone and style with which the book reviewer writes that brings the extra panache. This will differ from platform to platform, of course. A book review on Goodreads, for instance, will be much more informal and personal than a book review on Kirkus Reviews, as it is catering to a different audience. However, at the end of the day, the goal of all book reviews is to give the audience the tools to determine whether or not they’d like to read the book themselves.

Keeping that in mind, let’s proceed to some book review examples to put all of this in action.

How much of a book nerd are you, really?

Find out here, once and for all. Takes 30 seconds!

Book review examples for fiction books

Since story is king in the world of fiction, it probably won’t come as any surprise to learn that a book review for a novel will concentrate on how well the story was told .

That said, book reviews in all genres follow the same basic formula that we discussed earlier. In these examples, you’ll be able to see how book reviewers on different platforms expertly intertwine the plot summary and their personal opinions of the book to produce a clear, informative, and concise review.

Note: Some of the book review examples run very long. If a book review is truncated in this post, we’ve indicated by including a […] at the end, but you can always read the entire review if you click on the link provided.

Examples of literary fiction book reviews

Kirkus Reviews reviews Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man :

An extremely powerful story of a young Southern Negro, from his late high school days through three years of college to his life in Harlem.

His early training prepared him for a life of humility before white men, but through injustices- large and small, he came to realize that he was an "invisible man". People saw in him only a reflection of their preconceived ideas of what he was, denied his individuality, and ultimately did not see him at all. This theme, which has implications far beyond the obvious racial parallel, is skillfully handled. The incidents of the story are wholly absorbing. The boy's dismissal from college because of an innocent mistake, his shocked reaction to the anonymity of the North and to Harlem, his nightmare experiences on a one-day job in a paint factory and in the hospital, his lightning success as the Harlem leader of a communistic organization known as the Brotherhood, his involvement in black versus white and black versus black clashes and his disillusion and understanding of his invisibility- all climax naturally in scenes of violence and riot, followed by a retreat which is both literal and figurative. Parts of this experience may have been told before, but never with such freshness, intensity and power.

This is Ellison's first novel, but he has complete control of his story and his style. Watch it.

Lyndsey reviews George Orwell’s 1984 on Goodreads:

YOU. ARE. THE. DEAD. Oh my God. I got the chills so many times toward the end of this book. It completely blew my mind. It managed to surpass my high expectations AND be nothing at all like I expected. Or in Newspeak "Double Plus Good." Let me preface this with an apology. If I sound stunningly inarticulate at times in this review, I can't help it. My mind is completely fried.

This book is like the dystopian Lord of the Rings, with its richly developed culture and economics, not to mention a fully developed language called Newspeak, or rather more of the anti-language, whose purpose is to limit speech and understanding instead of to enhance and expand it. The world-building is so fully fleshed out and spine-tinglingly terrifying that it's almost as if George travelled to such a place, escaped from it, and then just wrote it all down.

I read Fahrenheit 451 over ten years ago in my early teens. At the time, I remember really wanting to read 1984, although I never managed to get my hands on it. I'm almost glad I didn't. Though I would not have admitted it at the time, it would have gone over my head. Or at the very least, I wouldn't have been able to appreciate it fully. […]

The New York Times reviews Lisa Halliday’s Asymmetry :

Three-quarters of the way through Lisa Halliday’s debut novel, “Asymmetry,” a British foreign correspondent named Alistair is spending Christmas on a compound outside of Baghdad. His fellow revelers include cameramen, defense contractors, United Nations employees and aid workers. Someone’s mother has FedExed a HoneyBaked ham from Maine; people are smoking by the swimming pool. It is 2003, just days after Saddam Hussein’s capture, and though the mood is optimistic, Alistair is worrying aloud about the ethics of his chosen profession, wondering if reporting on violence doesn’t indirectly abet violence and questioning why he’d rather be in a combat zone than reading a picture book to his son. But every time he returns to London, he begins to “spin out.” He can’t go home. “You observe what people do with their freedom — what they don’t do — and it’s impossible not to judge them for it,” he says.

The line, embedded unceremoniously in the middle of a page-long paragraph, doubles, like so many others in “Asymmetry,” as literary criticism. Halliday’s novel is so strange and startlingly smart that its mere existence seems like commentary on the state of fiction. One finishes “Asymmetry” for the first or second (or like this reader, third) time and is left wondering what other writers are not doing with their freedom — and, like Alistair, judging them for it.

Despite its title, “Asymmetry” comprises two seemingly unrelated sections of equal length, appended by a slim and quietly shocking coda. Halliday’s prose is clean and lean, almost reportorial in the style of W. G. Sebald, and like the murmurings of a shy person at a cocktail party, often comic only in single clauses. It’s a first novel that reads like the work of an author who has published many books over many years. […]

Emily W. Thompson reviews Michael Doane's The Crossing on Reedsy Discovery :

In Doane’s debut novel, a young man embarks on a journey of self-discovery with surprising results.

An unnamed protagonist (The Narrator) is dealing with heartbreak. His love, determined to see the world, sets out for Portland, Oregon. But he’s a small-town boy who hasn’t traveled much. So, the Narrator mourns her loss and hides from life, throwing himself into rehabbing an old motorcycle. Until one day, he takes a leap; he packs his bike and a few belongings and heads out to find the Girl.

Following in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and William Least Heat-Moon, Doane offers a coming of age story about a man finding himself on the backroads of America. Doane’s a gifted writer with fluid prose and insightful observations, using The Narrator’s personal interactions to illuminate the diversity of the United States.

The Narrator initially sticks to the highways, trying to make it to the West Coast as quickly as possible. But a hitchhiker named Duke convinces him to get off the beaten path and enjoy the ride. “There’s not a place that’s like any other,” [39] Dukes contends, and The Narrator realizes he’s right. Suddenly, the trip is about the journey, not just the destination. The Narrator ditches his truck and traverses the deserts and mountains on his bike. He destroys his phone, cutting off ties with his past and living only in the moment.

As he crosses the country, The Narrator connects with several unique personalities whose experiences and views deeply impact his own. Duke, the complicated cowboy and drifter, who opens The Narrator’s eyes to a larger world. Zooey, the waitress in Colorado who opens his heart and reminds him that love can be found in this big world. And Rosie, The Narrator’s sweet landlady in Portland, who helps piece him back together both physically and emotionally.

This supporting cast of characters is excellent. Duke, in particular, is wonderfully nuanced and complicated. He’s a throwback to another time, a man without a cell phone who reads Sartre and sleeps under the stars. Yet he’s also a grifter with a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” attitude that harms those around him. It’s fascinating to watch The Narrator wrestle with Duke’s behavior, trying to determine which to model and which to discard.

Doane creates a relatable protagonist in The Narrator, whose personal growth doesn’t erase his faults. His willingness to hit the road with few resources is admirable, and he’s prescient enough to recognize the jealousy of those who cannot or will not take the leap. His encounters with new foods, places, and people broaden his horizons. Yet his immaturity and selfishness persist. He tells Rosie she’s been a good mother to him but chooses to ignore the continuing concern from his own parents as he effectively disappears from his old life.

Despite his flaws, it’s a pleasure to accompany The Narrator on his physical and emotional journey. The unexpected ending is a fitting denouement to an epic and memorable road trip.

The Book Smugglers review Anissa Gray’s The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls :

I am still dipping my toes into the literally fiction pool, finding what works for me and what doesn’t. Books like The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray are definitely my cup of tea.

Althea and Proctor Cochran had been pillars of their economically disadvantaged community for years – with their local restaurant/small market and their charity drives. Until they are found guilty of fraud for stealing and keeping most of the money they raised and sent to jail. Now disgraced, their entire family is suffering the consequences, specially their twin teenage daughters Baby Vi and Kim. To complicate matters even more: Kim was actually the one to call the police on her parents after yet another fight with her mother. […]

Examples of children’s and YA fiction book reviews

The Book Hookup reviews Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give :

♥ Quick Thoughts and Rating: 5 stars! I can’t imagine how challenging it would be to tackle the voice of a movement like Black Lives Matter, but I do know that Thomas did it with a finesse only a talented author like herself possibly could. With an unapologetically realistic delivery packed with emotion, The Hate U Give is a crucially important portrayal of the difficulties minorities face in our country every single day. I have no doubt that this book will be met with resistance by some (possibly many) and slapped with a “controversial” label, but if you’ve ever wondered what it was like to walk in a POC’s shoes, then I feel like this is an unflinchingly honest place to start.

In Angie Thomas’s debut novel, Starr Carter bursts on to the YA scene with both heart-wrecking and heartwarming sincerity. This author is definitely one to watch.

♥ Review: The hype around this book has been unquestionable and, admittedly, that made me both eager to get my hands on it and terrified to read it. I mean, what if I was to be the one person that didn’t love it as much as others? (That seems silly now because of how truly mesmerizing THUG was in the most heartbreakingly realistic way.) However, with the relevancy of its summary in regards to the unjust predicaments POC currently face in the US, I knew this one was a must-read, so I was ready to set my fears aside and dive in. That said, I had an altogether more personal, ulterior motive for wanting to read this book. […]

The New York Times reviews Melissa Albert’s The Hazel Wood :

Alice Crewe (a last name she’s chosen for herself) is a fairy tale legacy: the granddaughter of Althea Proserpine, author of a collection of dark-as-night fairy tales called “Tales From the Hinterland.” The book has a cult following, and though Alice has never met her grandmother, she’s learned a little about her through internet research. She hasn’t read the stories, because her mother, Ella Proserpine, forbids it.

Alice and Ella have moved from place to place in an attempt to avoid the “bad luck” that seems to follow them. Weird things have happened. As a child, Alice was kidnapped by a man who took her on a road trip to find her grandmother; he was stopped by the police before they did so. When at 17 she sees that man again, unchanged despite the years, Alice panics. Then Ella goes missing, and Alice turns to Ellery Finch, a schoolmate who’s an Althea Proserpine superfan, for help in tracking down her mother. Not only has Finch read every fairy tale in the collection, but handily, he remembers them, sharing them with Alice as they journey to the mysterious Hazel Wood, the estate of her now-dead grandmother, where they hope to find Ella.

“The Hazel Wood” starts out strange and gets stranger, in the best way possible. (The fairy stories Finch relays, which Albert includes as their own chapters, are as creepy and evocative as you’d hope.) Albert seamlessly combines contemporary realism with fantasy, blurring the edges in a way that highlights that place where stories and real life convene, where magic contains truth and the world as it appears is false, where just about anything can happen, particularly in the pages of a very good book. It’s a captivating debut. […]

James reviews Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight, Moon on Goodreads:

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is one of the books that followers of my blog voted as a must-read for our Children's Book August 2018 Readathon. Come check it out and join the next few weeks!

This picture book was such a delight. I hadn't remembered reading it when I was a child, but it might have been read to me... either way, it was like a whole new experience! It's always so difficult to convince a child to fall asleep at night. I don't have kids, but I do have a 5-month-old puppy who whines for 5 minutes every night when he goes in his cage/crate (hopefully he'll be fully housebroken soon so he can roam around when he wants). I can only imagine! I babysat a lot as a teenager and I have tons of younger cousins, nieces, and nephews, so I've been through it before, too. This was a believable experience, and it really helps show kids how to relax and just let go when it's time to sleep.

The bunny's are adorable. The rhymes are exquisite. I found it pretty fun, but possibly a little dated given many of those things aren't normal routines anymore. But the lessons to take from it are still powerful. Loved it! I want to sample some more books by this fine author and her illustrators.

Publishers Weekly reviews Elizabeth Lilly’s Geraldine :

This funny, thoroughly accomplished debut opens with two words: “I’m moving.” They’re spoken by the title character while she swoons across her family’s ottoman, and because Geraldine is a giraffe, her full-on melancholy mode is quite a spectacle. But while Geraldine may be a drama queen (even her mother says so), it won’t take readers long to warm up to her. The move takes Geraldine from Giraffe City, where everyone is like her, to a new school, where everyone else is human. Suddenly, the former extrovert becomes “That Giraffe Girl,” and all she wants to do is hide, which is pretty much impossible. “Even my voice tries to hide,” she says, in the book’s most poignant moment. “It’s gotten quiet and whispery.” Then she meets Cassie, who, though human, is also an outlier (“I’m that girl who wears glasses and likes MATH and always organizes her food”), and things begin to look up.

Lilly’s watercolor-and-ink drawings are as vividly comic and emotionally astute as her writing; just when readers think there are no more ways for Geraldine to contort her long neck, this highly promising talent comes up with something new.

Examples of genre fiction book reviews

Karlyn P reviews Nora Roberts’ Dark Witch , a paranormal romance novel , on Goodreads:

4 stars. Great world-building, weak romance, but still worth the read.

I hesitate to describe this book as a 'romance' novel simply because the book spent little time actually exploring the romance between Iona and Boyle. Sure, there IS a romance in this novel. Sprinkled throughout the book are a few scenes where Iona and Boyle meet, chat, wink at each, flirt some more, sleep together, have a misunderstanding, make up, and then profess their undying love. Very formulaic stuff, and all woven around the more important parts of this book.

The meat of this book is far more focused on the story of the Dark witch and her magically-gifted descendants living in Ireland. Despite being weak on the romance, I really enjoyed it. I think the book is probably better for it, because the romance itself was pretty lackluster stuff.

I absolutely plan to stick with this series as I enjoyed the world building, loved the Ireland setting, and was intrigued by all of the secondary characters. However, If you read Nora Roberts strictly for the romance scenes, this one might disappoint. But if you enjoy a solid background story with some dark magic and prophesies, you might enjoy it as much as I did.

I listened to this one on audio, and felt the narration was excellent.

Emily May reviews R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy Wars , an epic fantasy novel , on Goodreads:

“But I warn you, little warrior. The price of power is pain.”

Holy hell, what did I just read??

➽ A fantasy military school

➽ A rich world based on modern Chinese history

➽ Shamans and gods

➽ Detailed characterization leading to unforgettable characters

➽ Adorable, opium-smoking mentors

That's a basic list, but this book is all of that and SO MUCH MORE. I know 100% that The Poppy War will be one of my best reads of 2018.

Isn't it just so great when you find one of those books that completely drags you in, makes you fall in love with the characters, and demands that you sit on the edge of your seat for every horrific, nail-biting moment of it? This is one of those books for me. And I must issue a serious content warning: this book explores some very dark themes. Proceed with caution (or not at all) if you are particularly sensitive to scenes of war, drug use and addiction, genocide, racism, sexism, ableism, self-harm, torture, and rape (off-page but extremely horrific).

Because, despite the fairly innocuous first 200 pages, the title speaks the truth: this is a book about war. All of its horrors and atrocities. It is not sugar-coated, and it is often graphic. The "poppy" aspect refers to opium, which is a big part of this book. It is a fantasy, but the book draws inspiration from the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking.

Crime Fiction Lover reviews Jessica Barry’s Freefall , a crime novel:

In some crime novels, the wrongdoing hits you between the eyes from page one. With others it’s a more subtle process, and that’s OK too. So where does Freefall fit into the sliding scale?

In truth, it’s not clear. This is a novel with a thrilling concept at its core. A woman survives plane crash, then runs for her life. However, it is the subtleties at play that will draw you in like a spider beckoning to an unwitting fly.

Like the heroine in Sharon Bolton’s Dead Woman Walking, Allison is lucky to be alive. She was the only passenger in a private plane, belonging to her fiancé, Ben, who was piloting the expensive aircraft, when it came down in woodlands in the Colorado Rockies. Ally is also the only survivor, but rather than sitting back and waiting for rescue, she is soon pulling together items that may help her survive a little longer – first aid kit, energy bars, warm clothes, trainers – before fleeing the scene. If you’re hearing the faint sound of alarm bells ringing, get used to it. There’s much, much more to learn about Ally before this tale is over.

Kirkus Reviews reviews Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One , a science-fiction novel :

Video-game players embrace the quest of a lifetime in a virtual world; screenwriter Cline’s first novel is old wine in new bottles.

The real world, in 2045, is the usual dystopian horror story. So who can blame Wade, our narrator, if he spends most of his time in a virtual world? The 18-year-old, orphaned at 11, has no friends in his vertical trailer park in Oklahoma City, while the OASIS has captivating bells and whistles, and it’s free. Its creator, the legendary billionaire James Halliday, left a curious will. He had devised an elaborate online game, a hunt for a hidden Easter egg. The finder would inherit his estate. Old-fashioned riddles lead to three keys and three gates. Wade, or rather his avatar Parzival, is the first gunter (egg-hunter) to win the Copper Key, first of three.

Halliday was obsessed with the pop culture of the 1980s, primarily the arcade games, so the novel is as much retro as futurist. Parzival’s great strength is that he has absorbed all Halliday’s obsessions; he knows by heart three essential movies, crossing the line from geek to freak. His most formidable competitors are the Sixers, contract gunters working for the evil conglomerate IOI, whose goal is to acquire the OASIS. Cline’s narrative is straightforward but loaded with exposition. It takes a while to reach a scene that crackles with excitement: the meeting between Parzival (now world famous as the lead contender) and Sorrento, the head of IOI. The latter tries to recruit Parzival; when he fails, he issues and executes a death threat. Wade’s trailer is demolished, his relatives killed; luckily Wade was not at home. Too bad this is the dramatic high point. Parzival threads his way between more ’80s games and movies to gain the other keys; it’s clever but not exciting. Even a romance with another avatar and the ultimate “epic throwdown” fail to stir the blood.

Too much puzzle-solving, not enough suspense.

Book review examples for non-fiction books

Nonfiction books are generally written to inform readers about a certain topic. As such, the focus of a nonfiction book review will be on the clarity and effectiveness of this communication . In carrying this out, a book review may analyze the author’s source materials and assess the thesis in order to determine whether or not the book meets expectations.

Again, we’ve included abbreviated versions of long reviews here, so feel free to click on the link to read the entire piece!

The Washington Post reviews David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon :

The arc of David Grann’s career reminds one of a software whiz-kid or a latest-thing talk-show host — certainly not an investigative reporter, even if he is one of the best in the business. The newly released movie of his first book, “The Lost City of Z,” is generating all kinds of Oscar talk, and now comes the release of his second book, “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI,” the film rights to which have already been sold for $5 million in what one industry journal called the “biggest and wildest book rights auction in memory.”

Grann deserves the attention. He’s canny about the stories he chases, he’s willing to go anywhere to chase them, and he’s a maestro in his ability to parcel out information at just the right clip: a hint here, a shading of meaning there, a smartly paced buildup of multiple possibilities followed by an inevitable reversal of readerly expectations or, in some cases, by a thrilling and dislocating pull of the entire narrative rug.

All of these strengths are on display in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Around the turn of the 20th century, oil was discovered underneath Osage lands in the Oklahoma Territory, lands that were soon to become part of the state of Oklahoma. Through foresight and legal maneuvering, the Osage found a way to permanently attach that oil to themselves and shield it from the prying hands of white interlopers; this mechanism was known as “headrights,” which forbade the outright sale of oil rights and granted each full member of the tribe — and, supposedly, no one else — a share in the proceeds from any lease arrangement. For a while, the fail-safes did their job, and the Osage got rich — diamond-ring and chauffeured-car and imported-French-fashion rich — following which quite a large group of white men started to work like devils to separate the Osage from their money. And soon enough, and predictably enough, this work involved murder. Here in Jazz Age America’s most isolated of locales, dozens or even hundreds of Osage in possession of great fortunes — and of the potential for even greater fortunes in the future — were dispatched by poison, by gunshot and by dynamite. […]

Stacked Books reviews Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers :

I’ve heard a lot of great things about Malcolm Gladwell’s writing. Friends and co-workers tell me that his subjects are interesting and his writing style is easy to follow without talking down to the reader. I wasn’t disappointed with Outliers. In it, Gladwell tackles the subject of success – how people obtain it and what contributes to extraordinary success as opposed to everyday success.

The thesis – that our success depends much more on circumstances out of our control than any effort we put forth – isn’t exactly revolutionary. Most of us know it to be true. However, I don’t think I’m lying when I say that most of us also believe that we if we just try that much harder and develop our talent that much further, it will be enough to become wildly successful, despite bad or just mediocre beginnings. Not so, says Gladwell.

Most of the evidence Gladwell gives us is anecdotal, which is my favorite kind to read. I can’t really speak to how scientifically valid it is, but it sure makes for engrossing listening. For example, did you know that successful hockey players are almost all born in January, February, or March? Kids born during these months are older than the others kids when they start playing in the youth leagues, which means they’re already better at the game (because they’re bigger). Thus, they get more play time, which means their skill increases at a faster rate, and it compounds as time goes by. Within a few years, they’re much, much better than the kids born just a few months later in the year. Basically, these kids’ birthdates are a huge factor in their success as adults – and it’s nothing they can do anything about. If anyone could make hockey interesting to a Texan who only grudgingly admits the sport even exists, it’s Gladwell. […]

Quill and Quire reviews Rick Prashaw’s Soar, Adam, Soar :

Ten years ago, I read a book called Almost Perfect. The young-adult novel by Brian Katcher won some awards and was held up as a powerful, nuanced portrayal of a young trans person. But the reality did not live up to the book’s billing. Instead, it turned out to be a one-dimensional and highly fetishized portrait of a trans person’s life, one that was nevertheless repeatedly dubbed “realistic” and “affecting” by non-transgender readers possessing only a vague, mass-market understanding of trans experiences.

In the intervening decade, trans narratives have emerged further into the literary spotlight, but those authored by trans people ourselves – and by trans men in particular – have seemed to fall under the shadow of cisgender sensationalized imaginings. Two current Canadian releases – Soar, Adam, Soar and This One Looks Like a Boy – provide a pointed object lesson into why trans-authored work about transgender experiences remains critical.

To be fair, Soar, Adam, Soar isn’t just a story about a trans man. It’s also a story about epilepsy, the medical establishment, and coming of age as seen through a grieving father’s eyes. Adam, Prashaw’s trans son, died unexpectedly at age 22. Woven through the elder Prashaw’s narrative are excerpts from Adam’s social media posts, giving us glimpses into the young man’s interior life as he traverses his late teens and early 20s. […]

Book Geeks reviews Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love :

WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5

SUBJECT: 4/5

CANDIDNESS: 4.5/5

RELEVANCE: 3.5/5

ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5

“Eat Pray Love” is so popular that it is almost impossible to not read it. Having felt ashamed many times on my not having read this book, I quietly ordered the book (before I saw the movie) from amazon.in and sat down to read it. I don’t remember what I expected it to be – maybe more like a chick lit thing but it turned out quite different. The book is a real story and is a short journal from the time when its writer went travelling to three different countries in pursuit of three different things – Italy (Pleasure), India (Spirituality), Bali (Balance) and this is what corresponds to the book’s name – EAT (in Italy), PRAY (in India) and LOVE (in Bali, Indonesia). These are also the three Is – ITALY, INDIA, INDONESIA.

Though she had everything a middle-aged American woman can aspire for – MONEY, CAREER, FRIENDS, HUSBAND; Elizabeth was not happy in her life, she wasn’t happy in her marriage. Having suffered a terrible divorce and terrible breakup soon after, Elizabeth was shattered. She didn’t know where to go and what to do – all she knew was that she wanted to run away. So she set out on a weird adventure – she will go to three countries in a year and see if she can find out what she was looking for in life. This book is about that life changing journey that she takes for one whole year. […]

Emily May reviews Michelle Obama’s Becoming on Goodreads:

Look, I'm not a happy crier. I might cry at songs about leaving and missing someone; I might cry at books where things don't work out; I might cry at movies where someone dies. I've just never really understood why people get all choked up over happy, inspirational things. But Michelle Obama's kindness and empathy changed that. This book had me in tears for all the right reasons.

This is not really a book about politics, though political experiences obviously do come into it. It's a shame that some will dismiss this book because of a difference in political opinion, when it is really about a woman's life. About growing up poor and black on the South Side of Chicago; about getting married and struggling to maintain that marriage; about motherhood; about being thrown into an amazing and terrifying position.

I hate words like "inspirational" because they've become so overdone and cheesy, but I just have to say it-- Michelle Obama is an inspiration. I had the privilege of seeing her speak at The Forum in Inglewood, and she is one of the warmest, funniest, smartest, down-to-earth people I have ever seen in this world.

And yes, I know we present what we want the world to see, but I truly do think it's genuine. I think she is someone who really cares about people - especially kids - and wants to give them better lives and opportunities.

She's obviously intelligent, but she also doesn't gussy up her words. She talks straight, with an openness and honesty rarely seen. She's been one of the most powerful women in the world, she's been a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School, she's had her own successful career, and yet she has remained throughout that same girl - Michelle Robinson - from a working class family in Chicago.

I don't think there's anyone who wouldn't benefit from reading this book.

Hopefully, this post has given you a better idea of how to write a book review. You might be wondering how to put all of this knowledge into action now! Many book reviewers start out by setting up a book blog. If you don’t have time to research the intricacies of HTML, check out Reedsy Discovery — where you can read indie books for free and review them without going through the hassle of creating a blog. To register as a book reviewer , go here .

And if you’d like to see even more book review examples, simply go to this directory of book review blogs and click on any one of them to see a wealth of good book reviews. Beyond that, it's up to you to pick up a book and pen — and start reviewing!

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If there’s one thing that we can all agree is universal, it’s that you never forget your first love. Ironically enough, first loves might also be one of the hardest things to capture in words — but, luckily, we have books for that. These brilliant authors

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What to Know About Donald Trump’s New $60 Bible

“all americans need a bible in their home, and i have many. it’s my favorite book.”.

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A simple collage of Donald Trump holding a bible in front of white dollar signs.

Mother Jones illustration; Shealah Craighead/White House/ZUMA

One month after releasing a line of gilded high-tops for $399, Donald Trump revealed on Tuesday a new item: the Bible. “All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many,” the former president explained in a video promoting the country singer Lee Greenwood’s version of a King James translation, the “God Bless the USA Bible.”

“It’s my favorite book,” Trump added.

Throughout the rest of the clip, as if daring us into a collective disgust, Trump swerved through random opportunities to rail against bureaucrats and a country under threat—all while hawking a holy text.

But his latest sales pitch also prompted some legitimate questions. Such as: What the hell is going on? And: Excuse me? Here, we try to answer some of the queries.

So, that first question—what the hell—but more formally: What exactly is Trump promoting and how much will it cost me to shell out for this?

Trump is encouraging his supporters to buy a Bible endorsed by himself and Lee Greenwood. It costs $59.99, without taxes or shipping included. That seems to sit on the more expensive end of Bibles on sale at Barnes & Noble . But those books presumably don’t include copies of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the handwritten lyrics to the chorus of Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”

The “God Bless the USA Bible” does include these items .

Trump is in a serious cash crunch . So is he going to make money with this Bible?

According to the book’s official site , the God Bless the USA Bible has nothing to do with Trump’s campaign. It is “not owned, managed, or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Ventures LLC, or any of their respective principals or affiliates.” Instead, Trump’s “name, likeness, and image” are being used “under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC.”

Wait, what is CIC Ventures LLC, though?

Okay, so CIC Ventures LLC is, according to the Washington Post , basically a pipeline to Trump:

In [Trump’s] financial disclosure released last year, he’s identified as the [CIC Ventures LLC’s] “manager, president, secretary and treasurer” and the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust is identified as a 100 percent owner of the business. The same entity also receives royalties from his book “A MAGA Journey” and speaking engagements.

In case it’s not already obvious: if you look at the company’s documents, you’ll find the principal address for CIC Ventures LLC is 3505 Summit Boulevard, West Palm Beach, Florida. That is a Trump golf course . Moreover, in a 2022 disclosure, Nick Luna is listed as a manager. Luna was Trump’s personal assistant and body man.

So, I’m sorry, but let me ask again: Is Trump making money off this?

The New York Times reports that “according to a person familiar” (classic) Trump will receive royalties from sales.

You could have just said that.

I wanted to tell you about the other stuff I found. Any other questions?

Yes. Who is Lee Greenwood?

The country singer who wrote “God Bless the USA.” Greenwood is a fierce MAGA guy who otherwise made news after pulling out of an NRA concert in response to the Uvalde, Texas, mass shooting.

Does Greenwood have a Christmas album with an oddly sexual cover?

Yes. Look at this .

Perfect sweater. Anyway, I feel like I’m experiencing deja vu. Hasn’t Trump made headlines before with a Bible?

You’re probably recalling that despicable photo-op when Trump held up a Bible in front of St. John’s Church, which had been a location of racial justice protests in the days prior. There was a complicated saga, afterward, about whether or not Trump deployed the police to clear protesters to get to the church. An Inspector General’s report ultimately concluded that he did not.

Man, it’s pretty rough remembering all the awful shit we went through with him as president.

Yep. If you ever want to wallow in political depression, check out this quick compilation .

But wait. Wasn’t there another time Trump and the Bible made waves for something far more stupid?

Christian nationalists adore Trump, so there have probably been many times that Trump has referenced the Bible. But you might also be thinking of this incredible clip of Trump attempting to name his favorite verse .

Has a presidential candidate ever partnered on a holy text sale with a country musician?

Not to my knowledge. But this is from a dude who just last week seemed to compare his current legal jeopardy with the persecution of Jesus Christ. Happy Easter!

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We all aspire to own a great laptop .

One that we can reliably work on and communicate from. One with sharp, crisp visuals, and enough storage space to house all of our files and applications. Whether we’re working, studying, or gaming, we aspire to own a computer that supports our needs.

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‘Close to You’ Review: Elliot Page Makes an Affecting Big-Screen Return in a Fragile Homecoming Drama

In his first male film role, the actor brings palpable personal investment and empathy to director Dominic Savage's study of a strained family reunion.

By Guy Lodge

Film Critic

‘Mothers’ Instinct’ Review: Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain Primly Do Battle in a Loopy Suburban Psychodrama 6 days ago
‘Who by Fire’ Review: A Canadian Cabin-in-the-Woods Getaway Goes Strangely and Rivetingly Awry 1 week ago
‘Close to You’ Review: Elliot Page Makes an Affecting Big-Screen Return in a Fragile Homecoming Drama 2 weeks ago

British director Savage is known for his improvisatory collaborations with actors, which recently drew career-best work from Gemma Arterton in the 2017 feature “The Escape,” and extended to the TV project “I Am…,” a series of intimate standalone character portraits by the likes of Samantha Morton, Letitia Wright and a BAFTA-winning Kate Winslet. Crossing over to Canada to work with Page on his home turf, the director’s technique once again gives his star ample leeway to explore himself on screen, in the process capturing something that feels truthful, however fictionally constructed. That sense of raw integrity has stood the film in good stead on the festival circuit, attracting particular interest from LGBT-oriented programmers and distributors, since its buzzy Toronto premiere last fall, shortly after the publication of Page’s memoir “Pageboy.”

Dramatically, however, improv yields mixed rewards in “Close to You,” which bounces between scenes that are finely detailed in their examination of open prejudice and subtler microaggressions in the family sphere, and others that are more vaguely essayed, building relationships on backstories that don’t yet feel fully formed. From-the-gut acting, not just by Page but a fine ensemble of Canuck character players, carries the film across the line, though even at a modest 98 minutes, it could feel tighter.

Sure enough, the reunion begins amicably but never quite comfortably, the mood aptly set by DP Catherine Lutes’ frosty, dun-hued lensing of the family home’s low-lit, timber-heavy interiors. Sam’s mother Miriam (a wonderful Wendy Crewson) is eager to make up for lost time, offering effusive affection but trying too hard: When she absentmindedly uses the wrong pronouns, her apologies put Sam in the position of comforting her. Dad Jim (Peter Outerbridge) is more relaxed, content simply to see his once severely withdrawn child leading a productive, independent life; Sam’s older sisters are more passive-aggressive, almost reproachful in their persistent enquiries as to his happiness.

“You weren’t this worried about me when I was actually not okay,” Sam responds, in one of the film’s most cutting lines — a sentiment that lays the groundwork for a more heated familial dispute in response to the less politely disguised transphobia of his brother-in-law Paul (David Reale). This scene serves as the film’s centerpiece, bringing any number of latent conflicts collectively to the surface, though there is an air of contrivance, workshopping even, to its heavily pointed rhetoric.

Counteracting this tension is the separate, gentler subplot of Sam’s unexpected reconnection with former high-school BFF Katherine (Hillary Baack), now a married suburban mother with clear yearnings for something more. They meet by chance on the train from Toronto, later reuniting in town for a heart to heart. In contrast to the trickier tacit negotiations with his family, Katherine’s acceptance of his new identity is unquestioning and unconditional (“You look the same, just more you,” she tenderly observes), and realigned desire is stirred between them.

This tentative romance is poignant, but timidly approached: Katherine never comes fully into focus as a character outside her relationship to Sam, which itself is drawn in soft pastel strokes, while the sparse piano and sorrowful strings of the score (composed by Savage with Oliver Coates) is called on to fill in some emotional blanks. The stories of a brittle family fallout and a second-chance spark don’t entirely mesh together, though they afford Page a full spectrum of feeling to play: hard and soft, guarded and unbound, combative and seductive. For any viewers who have lost touch with the star, it’s a happy reacquaintance.

Reviewed at BFI Flare Festival, London, March 15, 2024. (Also in Toronto Film Festival.) Running time: 98 MIN.

Production: (Canada-U.K.) A Kindred Spirit, Rolling Dice presentation in association with Mongrel Media of a Me + You, Good Question Media production in association with Pageboy Prods. Producers: Krishnendu Majumdar, Richard Yee, Daniel Bekerman, Chris Yurkovich, Dominic Savage, Elliot Page. Executive producers: Anita Gou, Sam Intili, Nia Vazirani, Francine Maisler, Matt Jordan Smith, Andrew Frank.
Crew: Director: Dominic Savage. Screenplay: Savage, from a story by Savage, Elliot Page. Camera: Catherine Lutes. Editor: David Charap. Music: Savage, Oliver Coates.
With: lliot Page, Hillary Baack, Wendy Crewson, Peter Outerbridge, Janet Porter, Alex Paxton-Beesley, Daniel Maslany, David Reale.

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Cash-strapped Trump is now selling $60 Bibles, U.S. Constitution included

Rachel Treisman

Then-President Donald Trump holds up a Bible outside St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., during a controversial 2020 photo-op. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Then-President Donald Trump holds up a Bible outside St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., during a controversial 2020 photo-op.

Former President Donald Trump is bringing together church and state in a gilded package for his latest venture, a $60 "God Bless The USA" Bible complete with copies of the nation's founding documents.

Trump announced the launch of the leather-bound, large-print, King James Bible in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday — a day after the social media company surged in its trading debut and two days after a New York appeals court extended his bond deadline to comply with a ruling in a civil fraud case and slashed the bond amount by 61%.

"Happy Holy Week! Let's Make America Pray Again," Trump wrote. "As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless The USA Bible."

Consider This from NPR

Why trump's persecution narrative resonates with christian supporters.

The Bible is inspired by "God Bless the USA," the patriotic Lee Greenwood anthem that has been a fixture at many a Trump rally (and has a long political history dating back to Ronald Reagan). It is the only Bible endorsed by Trump as well as Greenwood, according to its promotional website .

The Bible is only available online and sells for $59.99 (considerably more expensive than the traditional Bibles sold at major retailers, or those available for free at many churches and hotels). It includes Greenwood's handwritten chorus of its titular song as well as copies of historical documents including the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Pledge of Allegiance.

"Many of you have never read them and don't know the liberties and rights you have as Americans, and how you are being threatened to lose those rights," Trump said in a three-minute video advertisement.

"Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country, and I truly believe that we need to bring them back and we have to bring them back fast."

'You gotta be tough': White evangelicals remain enthusiastic about Donald Trump

Trump critics on both sides of the aisle quickly criticized the product, characterizing it as self-serving and hypocritical.

Conservative political commentator Charlie Sykes slammed him for "commodifying the Bible during Holy Week," while Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota critiqued him for "literally taking a holy book and selling it, and putting it out there in order to make money for his campaign."

Trump says the money isn't going to his campaign, but more on that below.

Klobuchar added that Trump's public attacks on others are "not consistent with the teachings of the Bible," calling this "one more moment of hypocrisy." Tara Setmayer, a senior adviser for anti-Trump Republican PAC the Lincoln Project, called it "blasphemous ."

And former Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, trolled Trump with a social media post alluding to his alleged extramarital affairs.

"Happy Holy Week, Donald," she wrote. "Instead of selling Bibles, you should probably buy one. And read it, including Exodus 20:14 ."

Christianity is an increasingly prominent part of his campaign

Trump has made a point of cultivating Christian supporters since his 2016 presidential campaign and remains popular with white evangelicals despite his multiple divorces, insults toward marginalized groups and allegations of extramarital affairs and sexual assault.

And his narrative of being persecuted — including in the courts — appears to resonate with his many Christian supporters.

Trump has increasingly embraced Christian nationalist ideas in public. He promised a convention of religious broadcasters last month that he would use a second term to defend Christian values from the "radical left," swearing that "no one will be touching the cross of Christ under the Trump administration."

He made similar comments in the Bible promotional video, in which he warned that "Christians are under siege" and the country is "going haywire" because it lost religion.

What to know about the debut of Trump's $399 golden, high-top sneakers

"We must defend God in the public square and not allow the media or the left-wing groups to silence, censor or discriminate against us," he said. "We have to bring Christianity back into our lives and back into what will be again a great nation."

Trump himself is not known to be particularly religious or a regular churchgoer. He long identified as Presbyterian but announced in 2020 that he identified as nondenominational .

A Pew Research Center survey released earlier this month found that most people with positive views of Trump don't see him as especially religious, but think he stands up for people with religious beliefs like their own.

Trump said in the promotional video that he has many Bibles at home.

"It's my favorite book," he said, echoing a comment he's made in previous years. "It's a lot of people's favorite book."

The Impact Of Christian Nationalism On American Democracy

Trump's relationship to the Bible has been a point of discussion and sometimes controversy over the years.

In 2020, amid protests over George Floyd's murder, he posed with a Bible outside a Washington, D.C., church, for which he was widely criticized. U.S. Park Police and National Guard troops had tear-gassed peaceful protesters in the area beforehand, seemingly to make way for the photo-op, though a watchdog report the following year determined otherwise .

That same year, a clip of a 2015 Bloomberg interview, in which Trump declines to name his favorite — or any — Bible verse resurfaced on social media and went viral.

Bible sales are unlikely to solve Trump's financial problems

An FAQ section on the Bible website says no profits will go to Trump's reelection campaign.

"GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign," it says.

However, the site adds that it uses Trump's name, likeness and image "under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC."

Trump is listed as the manager, president, secretary and treasurer of CIC Ventures LLC in a financial disclosure from last year.

Here's what happens if Trump can't pay his $454 million bond

Trump's sales pitch focuses on bringing religion back to America.

"I want to have a lot of people have it," he said at one point in the video. "You have to have it for your heart and for your soul."

But many are wondering whether Trump has something else to gain from Bible sales while facing under mounting financial pressure.

There's his presidential reelection campaign, which has raised only about half of what Biden's has so far this cycle. Trump acknowledged Monday that he "might" spend his own money on his campaign, something he hasn't done since 2016.

There's also his mounting legal expenses, as he faces four criminal indictments and numerous civil cases. Trump posted bond to support a $83.3 million jury award granted to writer E. Jean Carroll in a defamation case earlier this month, and was due to put up another $454 million in a civil fraud case this past Monday.

Trump is on the verge of a windfall of billions of dollars. Here are 3 things to know

His lawyers had said last week that they had approached 30 companies for help making bond, but doing so was a "practical impossibility" — prompting New York's attorney general to confirm that if Trump did not pay, she would move to seize his assets . On Monday, the appeals court reduced the bond amount to $175 million and gave Trump another 10 days to post it.

Trump has evidently been trying to raise money in other ways.

The day after the civil fraud judgment was announced, he debuted a line of $399 golden, high-top sneakers , which sold out in hours . The company behind his social media app, Truth Social, started trading on the Nasdaq exchange on Tuesday, which could deliver him a windfall of more than $3 billion — though he can't sell his shares for another six months.

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Off the Deep End: A Thriller Kindle Edition

From the bestselling author of The Best of Friends comes a heart-stopping psychological thriller about the shades of truth and the power of lies in the wake of one mother’s unspeakable loss.

Therapist turned stay-at-home mom Jules Hart’s idyllic suburban life shatters when she crashes her car into an icy lake. Her son and another teenage boy plunge into the water with her, but Jules can only manage to save one—the wrong one.

Reeling from the death of her son, Jules spirals into a violent and unstable mental state. Ten months after the accident, she’s still trying to reckon with the fact that she rescued Isaac Greer, another woman’s child, when Isaac suddenly vanishes.

Jules finds herself at the center of a massive police investigation. While she harbors her own dangerous secrets, Jules is adamant that she didn’t take Isaac. But then who did? Is Isaac the victim of a dangerous killer who’s been targeting boys in the Midwest? Or is someone else pulling the strings in this deadly game?

Print length 268 pages
Language English
Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
Publisher Thomas & Mercer
Publication date January 10, 2023
File size 3591 KB
Page Flip Enabled
Word Wise Enabled
Enhanced typesetting Enabled
See all details

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From the Publisher

Only she knows what happened in the dark water. Is she going off the deep end?

Editorial Reviews

“As usual, Berry tightens the screws smartly in the opening pages and never lets up, and as usual, her ending is more intent on deepening the nightmare than providing a plausible explanation for it. Warning: the title applies as much to the audience as to the characters.” — Kirkus Reviews

“As the suspense mounts, the action drives to a harrowing conclusion. Berry delivers the goods.” — Publishers Weekly

“A well-done mystery with a plausible yet surprising ending.” — Library Journal

UNDER HER CARE

“The action never wavers, and the surprises are unending. Berry is writing at the top of her game.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“[It’s] a humdinger…Perfect for suspense fans.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Lucinda delivers every time. Unputdownable.” —Tarryn Fisher, New York Times bestselling author

“Lucinda Berry’s latest, Under Her Care , is her best thriller yet! A dark, riveting read that will keep you up late, racing to the chilling end.” —Kaira Rouda, USA Today bestselling author of The Next Wife and Somebody’s Home

“Lucinda Berry’s Under Her Care is stunning, diabolical, and gripping, with one of the best and most gasp-worthy twists I have read in a very long time. Fast paced, fabulous, and enthralling, the pages practically turn themselves. Absolutely captivating.” —Lisa Regan, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author

“Creepy and chilling, Under Her Care is a tense page-turner that leaves you questioning everything you ever knew about motherhood and the family bond.” —Tara Laskowski, award-winning author of The Mother Next Door

THE SECRETS OF US

“Those looking for an emotional roller-coaster ride will be rewarded.” — Publishers Weekly

“Combine Lucinda Berry’s deep understanding of the complexities of the human mind with her immense talent for storytelling and you have The Secrets of Us , an intense psychological thriller that kept my heart racing until the shocking, jaw-dropping conclusion. Bravo!” —T. R. Ragan, New York Times bestselling author

“ The Secrets of Us is an unputdownable page-turner with two compelling female protagonists that will keep readers on their toes. Fantastic!” —Cate Holahan, USA Today bestselling author of One Little Secret

“Lucinda Berry’s The Secrets of Us is a tense psychological thriller that explores the dark corners of the mind and turns a mind can take when it harbors secret guilt. The interplay between sisters Krystal and Nichole and their hidden past is gradually revealed, and in the end, the plot twists keep coming. Right and wrong can be ambivalent, and this story explores all shades of gray, from their dysfunctional family to an old childhood friend to a husband who may or may not be too good to be true. Berry’s background as a clinical psychologist shines in this novel with a character so disturbed they spend time in seclusion lockdown at a psychiatric ward. Don’t miss this one!” —Debbie Herbert, USA Today and Amazon Charts bestselling author

“ The Secrets of Us is an utterly gripping, raw, and heartbreaking story of two sisters. Berry’s flawlessly placed clues and psychological expertise grab you from the first word, not letting go until the last. Compelling, intricate, and shocking, this inventive thriller cleverly weaves from past to present with stunning precision. I was absolutely enthralled.” —Samantha M. Bailey, USA Today and #1 national bestselling author of Woman on the Edge

“The past and present collide with explosive consequences in this addictive, twisty thriller from an author at the top of her game. The Secrets of Us grips from the first page and doesn’t let go until the final shocking twist.” —Lisa Gray, bestselling author of Dark Highway

THE BEST OF FRIENDS

“A mother’s worst nightmare on the page. For those who dare.” — Kirkus Reviews

“ The Best of Friends gripped me from the stunning opening to the emotional, explosive ending. In this moving novel, Berry creates a beautifully crafted study of secrets and grief among a tight-knit group of friends and of how far a mother will go to discover the truth and protect her children.” —Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Weight of Silence and This Is How I Lied

“In The Best of Friends , Berry starts with a heart-stopping bang—the dreaded middle-of-the-night phone call—and then delivers a dark and gritty tale that unfolds twist by devastating twist. Intense, terrifying, and at times utterly heartbreaking. Absolutely unputdownable.” —Kimberly Belle, international bestselling author of Dear Wife and Stranger in the Lake

THE PERFECT CHILD

“I am a compulsive reader of literary novels…but there was one book that kept me reading, the sort of novel I can’t put down… The Perfect Child , by Lucinda Berry. It speaks to the fear of every parent: What if your child was a psychopath? This novel takes it a step further. A couple, desperate for a child, has the chance to adopt a beautiful little girl who, they are told, has been abused. They’re told it might take a while for her to learn to behave and trust people. She can be sweet and loving, and in public she is adorable. But in private—well, I won’t give away what happens. But needless to say, it’s chilling.” —Gina Kolata, New York Times

“A mesmerizing, unbearably tense thriller that will have you looking over your shoulder and sleeping with one eye open. This creepy, serpentine tale explores the darkest corners of parenthood and the profoundly unsettling lengths one will go to, to keep a family together—no matter the consequences. Electrifying and atmospheric, this dark gem of a novel is one I couldn’t put down.” —Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author

“A deep, dark, and dangerously addictive read. All-absorbing to the very end!” —Minka Kent, Washington Post bestselling author

About the Author

Dr. Lucinda Berry is a former psychologist and leading researcher in childhood trauma. Now she writes full time, using her clinical experience to blur the line between fiction and nonfiction. She enjoys taking her readers on a journey through the dark recesses of the human psyche. Her work has been optioned for film and translated into multiple languages.

If Berry isn’t chasing after her son, you can find her running through Los Angeles, prepping for her next marathon. To hear about her upcoming releases and other fun news, visit her on Facebook or sign up for her newsletter at https://lucindaberry.com.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09WYLPWNR
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas & Mercer (January 10, 2023)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 10, 2023
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3591 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 268 pages
#15 in Genre Fiction (Kindle Store)
#19 in Suspense (Kindle Store)
#24 in Thrillers (Kindle Store)

About the author

Lucinda berry.

Dr. Lucinda Berry is a former clinical psychologist and leading researcher in childhood trauma. Now, she spends her days writing full-time where she uses her clinical experience to blur the line between fiction and nonfiction. She enjoys taking her readers on a journey through the dark recesses of the human psyche. Her work has been optioned for film and translated into multiple languages.

If Berry isn’t chasing after her son, you can find her running through Los Angeles, prepping for her next marathon. To hear about her upcoming releases and other author news, visit her on social media or sign up for her newsletter at https://lucindaberry.com/.

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

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COMMENTS

Off the Page (Between the Lines, #2) by Jodi Picoult
13,956 ratings1,796 reviews. From #1 New York Times bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer, OFF THE PAGE is a tender and appealing YA novel filled with romance, humor, and adventure. Delilah and Oliver shouldn't be together. But they are together. And just as they're getting used to the possibility that happily ever after ...
OFF THE PAGE
Readers will likely find themselves anxiously awaiting their arrivals in scenes. Though it lacks the depth of Cornelia Funke's Inkheart series, the story is at its best when it's taken as a metafictive exploration of the relationship between a reader and a beloved book. (Fantasy. 10-14) 1. Pub Date: May 19, 2015.
Off the Page Book Review
In OFF THE PAGE, Delilah is happy to be with Oliver, a dashing prince newly escaped from a fairy tale who becomes surprisingly popular in high school. Meanwhile, back in the fairy tale, Edgar -- the author's real-world son and his doppelganger -- is having a hard time keeping everything in order, especially as other characters and real people swap places, sometimes unintentionally, and as the ...
Off the Page by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer
Delilah wished for her prince from a children's fairy tale novel, and out he came. Well, it wasn't that simple, but the bottom line is that he's here. In the real world, impersonating the ...
Off the Page by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer, book review
Off the Page by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer, book review: Central conceit remains fascinating in a witty fairy tale. The central conceit, whereby readers and characters manage to enter each ...
Off The Page · by Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer
Off the Page. From #1 New York Times bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and her daughter and co-writer, Samantha van Leer, comes Off The Page, a tender and appealing romantic YA novel filled with humor, adventure, and magical relationships. Sixteen-year-old Delilah is finally united with Oliver—a prince literally taken from the pages of a fairy ...
Off the Page (novel)
Off the Page is a young adult fiction novel co-written by American author Jodi Picoult and her daughter, Samantha Van Leer. Off the Page is Picoult's second YA novel, and also Van Leer's second published work. The novel was published on May 19, 2015, by Ember Publishing, ...
Off the Page, by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer
The Children's Book Review | May 23, 2015. Off the Page. Written by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer. Illustrations by Yvonne Gilbert and Scott M. Fischer. Age Range: 12 and up Hardcover: 384 pages Publisher: Delacorte Press (May 19, 2015) ISBN-13: 978-0553535563 What to expect: Romance, Humor, Adventure, Magic Fantasy meets reality in Off the Page, a romantic comedy written for the young ...
Off the Page
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 ...
Review: Off the Page by Jodi Picoult
Review: Off the Page by Jodi Picoult By Kasey | March 21, 2016 - 7:00 am | August 11, 2016 Book Review and Content , Fantasy , Romance , Young Adult/Teen 12-18 Off the Page
Off the Page Paperback
Audio CD. $34.92 4 Used from $7.50 1 New from $34.92. From #1 New York Times bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer, OFF THE PAGE is a tender and appealing YA novel filled with romance, humor, and adventure. Delilah and Oliver shouldn't be together. But they are together.
Review of Off the Page by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer
This was actually everything I needed to read at the time, and along with Vespertine and another book I'm still in the process of reading, it really helped me feel something when facing personal tragedy. Now, this book does pick up where Between the Lines left off, however, Delilah, in my opinion, becomes quite unlikeable. Oliver and Edgar ...
Off the Page Hardcover
Audio CD. $34.92 4 Used from $6.24 1 New from $34.92. From #1 New York Times bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer, OFF THE PAGE is a tender and appealing YA novel filled with romance, humor, and adventure. Delilah and Oliver shouldn't be together. But they are together.
Off the Page by written by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer
\From #1 New York Times bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and her daughter and coauthor, Samantha van Leer, comes OFF THE PAGE, a tender and appealing romantic YA novel filled with humor, adventure, and just a little bit of magic. Meet Oliver, a prince literally taken from the pages of a fairy tale and transported into the real world.
Jan Peregrine's review of Off the Page
4/5: Off The Page~~~ Jodi Picoult and her young daughter Samantha "Sammy" Van Leer had so much fun and success writing 2012's Between The Lines, a children's modern fairy tale, that they wrote a sequel for young adults called Off The Page. It isn't completely predictable, but charming and amusing. Delilah is a teen who is obsessed with a fairy tale and in the first book she realizes that ...
Off the Page
Review. This book blew me out of the water! I was invested from page one and hooked until the end. There was just so much to love about this book so Iet me share a few of these things. We hear the story through the main character, Jane. Jane was such a relatable character which is part of really bonded me to the story.
Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Off the Page
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Off the Page at Amazon.com. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users.
Off the Page by Jodi Picoult, Samantha van Leer
Off the Page - Ebook written by Jodi Picoult, Samantha van Leer. Read this book using Google Play Books app on your PC, android, iOS devices. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read Off the Page.
17 Book Review Examples to Help You Write the Perfect Review
It is a fantasy, but the book draws inspiration from the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking. Crime Fiction Lover reviews Jessica Barry's Freefall, a crime novel: In some crime novels, the wrongdoing hits you between the eyes from page one. With others it's a more subtle process, and that's OK too.
Off the Page Kindle Edition
PRAISE FOR OFF THE PAGE: "A fun, fairy-tale romance for teens who believe in happily ever after."— SLJ "Fairy-tale sweet." — Kirkus Reviews "A lovely fairy tale emphasizing the importance of family and creativity."— Booklist PRAISE FOR BETWEEN THE LINES: "An exploration of the nature of escapism that asks whether reality is any more real than make-believe, Between the Lines ...
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Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters. One month after releasing a line of gilded high-tops for $399, Donald Trump revealed on ...
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Off the Page: Picoult, Jodi: 9781760292720: Amazon.com: Books
Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-eight novels, including Wish You Were Here, The Book of Two Ways, A Spark of Light, Small Great Things, Leaving Time, and My Sister's Keeper, and, with daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. Picoult lives in New Hampshire.
'Close to You' Review: Elliot Page's Welcome Big-Screen Return
Screenplay: Savage, from a story by Savage, Elliot Page. Camera: Catherine Lutes. Editor: David Charap. Music: Savage, Oliver Coates. With: lliot Page, Hillary Baack, Wendy Crewson, Peter ...
Donald Trump is selling a 'God Bless the USA' Bible for $60 : NPR
Former President Donald Trump is bringing together church and state in a gilded package for his latest venture, a $60 "God Bless The USA" Bible complete with copies of the nation's founding documents.
Off the Page: Writers Talk About Beginnings, Endings, and Everything In
Carole Burns is a fiction writer, journalist and lecturer who reviews books and interviews authors for The Washington Post. Her first book, "Off the Page: Writers Talk About Beginnings, Endings and Everything in Between," was based on interviews with 43 writers including Colm Tóibín, Joyce Carol Oates, Alice McDermott and Tobias Wolff.
Off the Deep End: A Thriller Kindle Edition
by Lucinda Berry (Author) Format: Kindle Edition. 3.8 9,053 ratings. See all formats and editions. From the bestselling author of The Best of Friends comes a heart-stopping psychological thriller about the shades of truth and the power of lies in the wake of one mother's unspeakable loss. Therapist turned stay-at-home mom Jules Hart's ...

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