Scribner Public Library

Being a librarian has its perks and getting to be one of the first to see the new books is a big one. So, I just got the chance to read the new James Patterson thriller, Zoo! Not at all what I was expecting. I absolutely loved the main characters Jackson Oz and Chloe. Jackson or Oz, as he is called is a rather reluctant hero and has just the right amount of sarcasm and character that make him Awesome. I was a little surprised by the plot, our beloved animals turning on us. Definitely made this an edge of my seat reading experience. The first incident involves lions in the zoo, and is told from both the zookeeper’s and the lion’s perspective, spooky! Had this been a movie, I would have covered my eyes for some of the action/attack scenes. Some were just a bit graphic for me. This was a very fast paced book that even after you set it down, which with 5 kids at home I had to do a few times, you wanted to hurry and see what would happen next. There was an odd five year jump in the midst of it all that surprised me. Some of the what- if’s of their science-fiction, make you wonder, if this happened would it end this way? Not sure I loved the ending or what it said about human nature. This book is still haunting me… I invite you to read this book and see if the ending is as sad to you as it was to me.

Have you ever felt that the characters in your favorite books were real? Did you ever wonder what happened to them when you weren’t reading? Well, in this brand-new story, we find out. Meet Prince Oliver, the main character in the fairy tale “Between the Lines”. But his life hasn’t had a happy-ever-after, despite the book’s ending.

Turns out that when the book is closed, the characters take on their true personalities and carry on with their lives, only to rush into place and act out their ‘scenes’ every single time the book is read. And the book’s owner, Delilah, reads this story a lot, even though she’s 15 and too old for fairy tales.

Hated by everyone in school and the child of divorced parents, Delilah relates to Oliver, who lost his father in the story. One day, after years of trying, Oliver is heard by a reader: and who else would it be besides Delilah? The adventure that follows is a funny and frustrating one, but a great read the whole way through.

Between the Lines is a wonderful love story with a twist – two star-crossed lovers separated by two different worlds, determined to be together, no matter what. The imagination and creativity behind the fairy tale and the main plot are exquisite and original, and you never know what’s going to happen next. For my first Jodi Picoult book (though she wrote this with her daughter), I was not disappointed!

This book was read and the review was written by Elizabeth Hittle.