Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins Review

Hey Everyone!

So I FINALLY read it!!

I've been wanting to read this book FOREVER, but have been almost trying not to, just so I don't have to wait too long for Stephanie Perkins next book!

NOW, I have to wait until September!!! UGH!!!

I read Stephanie Perkins Anna and the French Kiss last year, shortly after I met Stephanie at a signing here in my area! I absolutely fell in love with that book!!  I actually had bought Lola and the Boy Next Door (which is a companion novel to Anna and the French Kiss!) there as well, and had gotten it signed, knowing I would devour that book by the time I got to it!

Well I did!

From Goodreads:

 

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion...she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit--more sparkly, more fun, more wild--the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket--a gifted inventor--steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

My thoughts:

WOW!  I absolutely devoured this book!  I read it less than two days, and just couldn't put it down the entire time I was reading it!  I loved the characters, the story, how realistic it felt at times!  I even loved the setting...San Francisco, one of the coolest cities to visit!

Lola is such a unique character just by how different she is, expressing herself in unique ways through her fashion; yet at the same time she is so much similar to a regular teenage girl!  Falling in love with someone and thinking and they are your forever, a lot of girls have that happen!, and then always remembering your first love...definitely know that one haha.

Cricket (haha, funny name!) was a great character too, who the reader can tell is absolutely perfect for Lola from the beginning just by his style!  He is accepting, and such a good person, that you, the reader, just find yourself falling for him just like Lola!

I also loved some of the other parts of the story, such that Lola has two fathers, who love her so much.  Lola has a birth mother who can be completely unpredictable, and not in a good way, giving the story an even more realistic view.  

My overall rating:

I loved it from beginning until end!  I was a bit worried when the book started off with Lola talking about how she was going to stay with her boyfriend forever, even though they'd only been together for a couple of months, but I was wrong to have worried; because in the end, I felt it was true to how a lot of teenagers feel.  In fact, there is another book (which I personally didn't think was anywhere as close to being good as this one), Forever... by Judy Blume, which deals with the same thing!

I loved the characters, the story, and overall the entire layout of the book!  Highly recommend this one to everyone who loved Stephanie Perkin's Anna and the French Kiss!  This is a companion novel to that one, so possibly read it before hand, because Anna and St. Clair show up this one!!!!! Which I LOVED!! I love it when my favorite characters from past book show up in future books!!

Also recommend it to young adult contemporary lovers.  Fans of Sarah Dessen, Kody Keplinger, Gayle Forman, Miranda Kenneally, and Meg Cabot are sure to devour this one I believe! :)

Happy Reading!

The Romance Bookie :)