Book Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Thanks for clicking over to read my review of Lola and the Boy Next Door. If you’ve just found this review, you can read my review of Anna and the French Kiss HERE.

Title: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance

Publisher: Dutton Books

Publication Date: July 201

Hardback: 338 pages

Stand alone or series: Second in a set of three companion novels

How did I get this book: Borrowed from a friend

After reading Anna and the French Kiss, I was really glad that I already had Lola to read right after.

Synopsis (from the dust jacket):

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.

What I thought:

I adored this book. So much so that I flew through it in a day. It’s also safe to say that I liked it more than Anna and the French Kiss. And oh my goodness, I am in love with Cricket. He’s definitely my latest book boyfriend. I need a Cricket in my life. Like, for the rest of my life.

I think we should probably talk about Cricket first (I’ll try not to just talk about him the whole time). He’s wonderful: dorky, smart, funny, sweet, just…lovely. Tall and gangly and well, the pants. He’s got perfect pants. I could just picture Cricket perfectly in my mind. And I totally fell in love with him, pretty much right away. I know you’re probably not supposed to because of the problems between him and Lola, but geez, he’s great. I’m sorry that I can’t seem to put into words why. Cricket is just perfect.

I really enjoyed Lola as well. I thought she was quirky and weird. I loved that she wears costumes (wigs, fake eyelashes, crazy clothes) as her normal wardrobe. It was fun and I could picture all of her outfits in my mind and see her walking proudly down the street. I felt like she would both fit in and stand out in San Francisco, where the novel is set. She did annoy me with the way she strung Cricket along, but this is probably part of the point. I also really felt for her when it came to Max – how could you not have feelings for the older boy in a band with tattoos? I mean, that’s pretty much what I look for in a boy (yes, I have a thing for boys in bands…and tattoos). So I could understand the problem she was facing in having feelings for both of these boys. It also made me understand St. Clair from the first book more.

One of my favorite parts of this book was being able to see Anna and St. Clair again! Anna works at the same movie theater where Lola works. Seeing Anna and St. Clair together made me really happy because I was really glad when the two of them finally got together at the end of the previous book. They were sweet and funny and sarcastic and I just loved them.

Again, I think the Lola/Max/Cricket thing was a little more drawn out than it needed to be, but I can’t say that I ever wanted to stop reading it. I enjoyed every page.

The bottom line:

I seriously loved this book. So much. I’m head over heels in love with Cricket. I already know that I’ll be rereading this book in the future when I need a happy, sweet, adorable novel about love.

Rating: 8 – Freaking fantastic

I can’t wait for Isla and the Happily Ever After which is set to be released in August. Josh is back! Yay!

Reading next: It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Have you read these books? What did you think?