Review

Book Title~ Lola and the Boy Next Door

Author ~ Stephanie Perkins

Genre ~ YA Contemporary Romance

Rating ~ 4.5 stars

Funny- Yes

Romance - Yes

Sad - Hardly

Relatable - Yes

Amount of times of reading - 1

Will I read again? - Yes

Lola's has to face a lot throughout the book; rejection, family issues and finding her own identity so if you think that these novels are just simple love stories, think again.

Lola, Lola, Lola. What can I say about Lola and the Boy next door?

I loved the creativity of Lola's character, I myself am interested in costume and design and this quirk of hers made me like and understand Lola a lot more.

Even though I found it quite clear from the start where the story was heading it didn't stop me from racing through the pages in about five days and coming to the end with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat.

As the companion novel to Anna and the French Kiss, Stephanie Perkins succeeded yet again to make me fall in love with her writing, I can't say that I loved Cricket more than Etienne but he was definitely more likeable than I expected. The sweet awkwardness that came through whenever he was around Lola just made the reader want to love him. Everything he did was for Lola, all the small little gestures and the gifts are not to be taken lightly, they are treasures which he carefully plan so they can be perfect enough for him to show them to her. What he doesn't know is that his love for her is all she had ever wanted.

*Spoilers *

Lola Nolan, a seventeen year old girl who doesn't know who she is, like most girls her age. All she knows about her identity is she loves dressing up in costumes and she never wants to wear the same thing twice.

Her rock star boyfriend who is many years older than her is not approved by her parents, Andrew and Nathan, and is constantly called to Sunday Brunch so they can continuously interrogate him and show their disapproval.

All is going well  until one Sunday Morning when the Bells decide to come back to town after two years and move back into their old house, next door to Lola. And that is when everything starts to become complicate.

It seems Lola has rather a messy history with two members of the Bell family, Calliope and Cricket, or the Bell twins which is what they are often referred to, that are almost a year older than her. Calliope was once Lola's best friend until it all went horribly wrong but Cricket, he could have been a lot more than a friend but Calliope's jealousy and fear of losing her brother put a stop to that before it could have even begun.

When Cricket and Lola are reunited it is everything but easy going, it isn't long before Cricket admits how he feels about her but with the pain of his departure still lingering and the fact that she already has a very cool boyfriend who she can't believe likes her, she has no choice to reject him but little does she know that he doesn't give up that easily.

The fact that Cricket confesses his feelings so early on puts Lola in a difficult position and it takes the entire novel for her to find her way out of it, facing many setbacks on the way. However that just makes the end of the book much more cherishable because you see how much they have both gone through and yet they still love each other.

The only part I didn't enjoy as much is the period between when she breaks up with Max and when she finally begins to find herself again. I know this part of the book is meant to show her sorting out her feelings but I don't think it needed to be as long as it is clear that in the end she is going to end up with Cricket. However this was probably was done to time it right with the dance and the fact that that would be the night where they finally let everything else go and allowed themselves to be together.

Just like Anna and the french Kiss, Perkins explores the difficulties within families. The fact that Lola has two father's is a bold statement which is only brushed on lightly. My favourite part on this subject was when Lola speaks of the fact that people assume there is always one more masculine partner and one more feminine in a gay relationship. It sheds light on this assumption in a way i have never thought of before and I really liked this refreshing opinion on such a matter.

Overall, even though Anna will always have a special place in my heart I think Lola will also have a lasting impression on me too.

If Anna didn't have such an impact on you then you should try Lola just for the sake of it and you might just find that it is more your cup of tea.