Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Book: Lola and the Boy Next Door
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Series: Anna and the French Kiss #2
Started: August 5, 2014
Finished: August 7, 2014
Published: July 9, 2013
Publisher: Speak

Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the Bell Twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood. When Cricket, a gifted inventor, steps out from his sister's shadow and back into Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door. [Via Goodreads]

Dear Stephanie Perkins, 

Thank you for including Anna and Etienne in this story without drowning out Lola's story. Thank you for adding them to the story but also making us know at all times that this is Lola's stories and not an extension of Anna's. You wrote San Francisco as wonderfully as you wrote Paris and sure, there isn't a beautiful Eiffel Tower or old creepy cemetery, but you didn't need that to make this story beautiful. Thank you for making Lola different than Anna. Lola is her own person and I'm sure Isla is too. Lola and Anna are two completely different people. I was worried that I would feel like I was reading the same book two times in a row, but I knew I wasn't. I could tell the obvious differences between Lola and Anna. So thank you for making different characters so so many different girls can feel connected to the characters. A+ books for an A+ author.

Dear Lola Nolan, 

Thank you for always being yourself. Thank you for being faithful. You are a fun character. You made me laugh. You made me cry. I felt like I could easily be your friend. Lola, you are smart and strong. You know what you want and you go get it. There were times where I wasn't sure that we would get along, especially when you were rude to Calliope but that's my only complaint. Other than that, you were the perfect character for a perfect book. I can't wait to hang out with you again.

Dear Cricket Bell,

*blushes* hi. Thanks for being literally perfect. You're the closest thing to a book boyfriend I've ever had. You're nice and funny and just try to make everyone happy. You're kinda goofy but in a totally sweet way. You and Lola are adorable. You get along so well but you also have your differences and I like that about you two. Thank you for loving Lola and letting her be herself.

Dear Lola and Cricket,

THANK YOU FOR TAKING YOUR TIME. This was not insta-love. I could feel the relationship growing slowly and it made me so happy when you two finally got together. Can I see more relationships like yours? This was a healthy and fun relationship that just filled me with joy and happiness and the way new puppies make me feel.

Seriously, if you like fun, witty characters that aren't super insta-lovey: this is the book for you! I am so glad that I read this book.Still crying about not having Isla yet, though. This is such a fun series. One of my top series I've read this year.

Want to buy this book?: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

I should mention that you should probably read Anna and the French Kiss prior to reading this. They are companion novels, but it just fits better if you read Anna before!

Review: Anna and the French Kiss

Book: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Published: December 10, 2010
Started: August 3, 2014
Finished: August 4, 2014
Format: E-book
Own or borrow?: Borrow
Synopsis: Anna is happy in Atlanta. She has a loyal best friend and a crush on her coworker at the movie theater, who is just starting to return her affection. So she's less than thrilled when her father decides to send her to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year. But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna meets some cool new people, including the handsome Étienne St. Clair, who quickly becomes her best friend. Unfortunately, he's taken —and Anna might be, too. Will a year of romantic near misses end with the French kiss she's waiting for? Can Anna find love in the City of Light?

Five french stars! I loved this book. I miss the characters, I miss the setting, and I miss how I felt when I read this book. As soon as I got done reading it, I jumped right into Lola because I didn't want to stop hearing about Anna and Etienne. This was the perfect book.

Usually I don't like the insta-love or the super mushy gushy stuff that happened in this book, but I had just got done reading an 800 page book about Ted Bundy, so I NEEDED fluffy and cute, and that's exactly what I got. I don't doubt that I wouldn't have loved it at any other time. Stephanie Perkins has some serious writing talent.

At times, I actually didn't want Anna and Etienne to be together at all. I didn't like that Etienne was in a relationship and stilled had feelings for Anna and was trying to act on them. That bothered me, but I went along with it because of the book mood I was in. I also didn't like that Etienne's actual girlfriend ended up being the antagonist in this book. She never did anything wrong and just by being the reason that Anna and Etienne couldn't be together, she was the bad guy. That trope needs to be burned and never brought back.

I gotta admit though, Etienne is swoon worthy. He's a sweetheart and tries to hard to make everyone happy. Unfortunately, whoever ends up being happy there is always someone else that ends up being upset. I think that's why everyone likes Etienne so much. Because he's a genuinely nice guy and yet he's making people upset without meaning to and we're supposed to feel bad for him. And we do because he's swoony. Swoony isn't a word but if it was, his face would be next to it in the dictionary.

PARIS. The description of Paris in this book seriously made me feel like I wasn't in Michigan in the summer. I felt like I was in Paris in the winter. It was great writing and great imagery. When I go to Paris one day, I'll feel like I already know everything about it because of this book. Thank you Stephanie for turning me into an art snob.

This book was just adorable. Sure, there were some things that I didn't like. There were things I might have changed but overall, this was a great love story and I'm glad that I finally gave Stephanie Perkins a chance. I'm thinking of re-reading it soon before I get Isla and the Happily Ever After.

If you like cute love stories with even cuter male leads, this may be the book for you.
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