Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Book Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door



Lola and the Boy Next Door

by Stephanie Perkins
Release date: 29th September, 2011
Publisher: Dutton
Pages: 388 (Hardcover)
Next book: Isla and the Happily Ever After

Summary 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.

Review By Alaiel Kreuz:

After reading "Anna and the French kiss" and, thank goodness, having Lola in my bookshelf already I HAD to read it next. And I did in just one day like I did with Anna because you know what? It was awesome too!

So, what do you want to know about it? Let's start with a description of Lola, because beside being the main character she is the type of person I just love. First of all her parents are gay. Yep, two guys raising a little girl. And since I'm all pro-gay here (some of my best friends are gay) I couldn't help but smile at this. I do believe they can raise kids like straight parents can and to read a book with that point of view was, beside refreshing, very brave. For that, I just want to say, you rock, Stephanie Perkins!

So yeah, going back to Lola: she is unique, just the way a girl should be. Her outfits are different every single day, and I'm not talking about clothes only but about wigs, different types and colors of wigs. Colors and clothes are the way she expresses herself. I'm a fan of that kind of people, you need to have a lot of confidence to go out there and be "different". Kudos for that!

But despite the loving parents not everything is shinning in her life... her real mother is actually the sister of one of her dads and she had a really difficult time with alcohol and other stuff.

And to complicate things more her "secret crush" (who wasn't secret at all...) ditched her after what seem to be a perfect friendship.
Only that Cricket had a reason, not a really good one, but he had a reason. You see, Calliope, Cricket's twin, showed a perfect talent for figure-skating and her whole family decided that, with that amazing gift, they all had to move according to her needs which meant: a lot of travelling and home-school for both kids. The last time Lola saw Cricket she thought they were in love but he proved her wrong and now that he is back he wants to continue where they left it but Lola can't do it, not only because she is still hurt for what he did but because she now has a boyfriend that happens to be a few years older than her.

And, if you read "Anna and the French kiss" and want to know what happened with Étienne and Anna then, read this book ;) I love it when a book have a crossover from another one, feels like meeting with old friends.

Are you a fan of YA romance or you read "Anna and the French kiss"? Then this book is a must, a huge, huge must.

Alaiel's Rating:


If you really like it, you can find it here:

6 comments:

  1. I love Perkins books too, but really felt liked Anna and Etienne were just card board cut outs of themselves. Such great characters and while I do understand they were minor characters in Lola, I wanted more from them. Great review!

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  2. I ha heard that Anna makes an appearance in this one. I just got it last week I'm really excited to get it started. Wonderful review!

    Giselle
    Xpresso Reads

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  3. Thanks for the review! I have this and can't wait to read it. Anna and the French Kiss is one of my favorites! Can't wait for this new one!

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  4. I LOVE Lola and Cricket:)

    It's such a meaningful romance,with both of them coming to terms with their past:)

    Great review:)

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  5. lovely review, i've wanted to read this book for a while now and good to know that i probably won't be disappointed and would enjoy it

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  6. I am so excited to read this! Even more because of gay parents! I have been wanting to read this for a long time but I wanted to read anna first! I love the fact that stephanie perkins didn't just do the normal one mom, one dad.. I feel like there aren't a lot of books like this! So excited to read this! Thanks for the review!

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