In short: Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer was a cute read, but ultimately too fluffy and lacking in substance for my taste. 
 Between the Lines was billed as Jodi Picoult's YA debut. And yet - except for the cover and the age of the protagonist - everything about this book read more like Middle Grade. The plot, the illustrations included in the text, the writing - all read very young. And that's fine - it's just not what I was expecting, nor is it really the type of Middle Grade fiction that I tend to enjoy. Some parts of Between the Lines were cute... but quite simply, this just wasn't the book for me. 
 I loved the concept of finding out that your favourite story is real and getting sucked into the pages, getting to meet the characters that you already know so well, reliving the scenes that you know by heart. And I really liked the imagery of the text of the book floating in the sky and the characters being whipped into place to act for their scene as the pages were turned. All very neat ideas that were executed well - and I credit Jodi Picoult's sixteen-year-old daughter, Samantha van Leer, for coming up with them. 
 Unfortunately, I would've appreciated the concept a lot more if the story hadn't been so fluffy and if the writing had been a bit more sophisticated. I am also split on the illustrations - some were quite nice, clearly expertly drawn, and could only be even more beautiful in colour in the finished copy of Between the Lines, compared to my ARC copy. Other little pictures that were included among the text seemed entirely random and unnecessary, however. 
 It's hard to criticize a book that just isn't your thing. Certainly, my biggest problem with Between the Lines - that it was too fluffy and young - might be the very same thing that some people would love about it. I have to say though that the ending was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read, completely indefensible. This was my first exposure to Jodi Picoult, which is unfortunate because I know a lot of people love her books, so I would like to read something else of hers sometime to change my mind. I would recommend Between the Lines to younger MG readers who like cutesy Princess-type fluff stories.