Review - Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

GOODREADS DESCRIPTION

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.

So I got this for myself over the holiday. I loved Anna and the French Kiss, and heard that Lola and the Boy Next Door was even better. Sadly, I didn’t think it was better. It was really good, but in comparison for me, it wasn’t as good as Anna.

My reasons are personal though. Lola, she’s fun. She really is, but she’s into fashion and makeup and I’m just not. I like clothes, I like makeup, but I kinda got a little lost in her fashion talk. I have never been into trends. Some of the references made to fashion, I didn’t understand, but that’s okay! I still loved her, even though I didn’t connect with her as much as I did with Anna.

Speaking of Anna, I knew this was a companion, and you would see her and dreamy Etienne. You actually see a lot of them! This made me super happy. <3 them.

Lola has two dads. That was pretty awesome. I kept thinking of Cam and Mitchell because I watch Modern Family. There’s more to her family though, some deeper stuff which was interesting to delve into. Lola is more than a fashionista, she’s a little troubled. It made her seem real.

Cricket, I loved him. I feel like he deserved better than Lola at times. He’s a great male character. Not sure if he’s quite my type, but I can imagine he would be nice to look at. As for the name, I’m not a fan of those noisy things. I would never, I repeat, NEVER, name my child after a nasty ass bug. Lol. I actually liked his twin sister Calliope. She was bitchy, but rightly so. I would love to read more about her life later on, I hope this happens.

Over all, this book is cute. I really enjoyed it. I will always read Perkins stuff. There is just something about the way she writes. Oh, and how about this cover! Adorable, right! I think the house colors are in the wrong order. I will have to re-read the beginning, but I could have sworn the lavender one was supposed to be next to the green one. But there is a pink house there. Hmm. But anyway, it really captures the feel of the book. I even made a teaser trailer for this last fall, just because I loved the cover so much. So I’ll leave you with that.