Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

4 out of 5 Robots!

   

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Release: September 29, 2011

Hardcover: 338 Pages

Publisher: Dutton Books

My Copy: Purchased

Reviewer: Shannon

Buy the Book: Amazon

Book Summary:
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. (Courtesy of the Publisher)

 
Shannon's Thoughts:

I really enjoyed Anna and the French Kiss, so I was excited to read another one of Stephanie Perkins books.  Lola and the Boy Next Door was definitely entertaining and fun.  Perkins has a great easy writing style that works especially well for contemporary young adult.  But I have to admit that I didn’t enjoy Lola as much as Anna.  Perhaps it isn’t fair to judge them side by side, but I think the comparison is inevitable, especially since Anna and Etienne make an appearance.  I think the problem stems from the MC herself.  Lola is quirky.  No, really.  She dresses in costumes and wigs everyday, lives in San Francisco with her two gay dads and has a best friend who is obsessed with murder mysteries.  Luckily Perkins kept Lola’s personality fairly normal otherwise I don’t think I would be able to stomach it.  Lola is also very dramatic.  Everything is a big deal to her.  She builds up how heartbroken she was by Cricket when he left the first time, but once you found out what really happened....you kind of think that maybe it isn’t worth all the dramatics when Cricket moves back into town.  (Fainting?  Really?).  Lola is also really good at lying to herself.  We spend most of the book listening to Lola convince herself she doesn’t like Cricket when really she does.  It hurt my brain a little.  Cricket is also far too perfect and patient.  Which made this book start to fall into the cliched YA contemporary romance category of Quirky girl gets Perfect guy after many Misunderstandings.  But, all this aside, Perkins writing is really fun and witty.  She is very good at creating memorable characters and situations.  While I may not have loved Lola on the same level as Anna, I was definitely entertained throughout.  I do really recommend this book.