Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss #2)
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Released: September 2011
Pages: 338
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Favourite Quote: “I know you aren't perfect. But it's a person's imperfections that make them perfect for someone else.”

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.

  My Review

Initial Thoughts: Man, Stephanie Perkins does it again. I am now officially in love with a new fictional male character. 

Lola has always liked Cricket Bell, ever since they were really young. They would have chats through their windows (they lived next door) and go on walks together 'accidentally'. But after Cricket breaks her heart and then moves away straight after, it was time for Lola to move on. So she did. She met Max - he's 22. She's 17. Although her parents don't approve of their relationship, they are still going strong. But then Cricket moves back into the house next door and a whole wave of emotions start to creep back into her.

The Pros: The flashbacks. I loved how they were beautifully woven into the story. I loved reading about Lola and Cricket's past and how they started to like each other. It was so adorable. It felt as though everything flowed. One minute were were reading about the present and the next we were in a flashback. I didn't even realise because I was so invested in the story. Stephanie Perkins never fails to create adorable stories

The romance was so damn cute. I loved Cricket and seeing what he would do for Lola even though it breaks his heart that she has a boyfriend. I loved how he was the nice guy. He didn't want Lola to cheat on her boyfriend with him even though it was so obvious that he was still in love with her. He was such a sweetheart. 

ANNA AND ST CLAIR. You do not know how much I fangirled seeing them there. And they had such a large part in the story. I think part of the reason why I loved this book so much was because of them. I loved seeing where their relationship was at now, what they were doing, how they were seeing each other. Anna and the French Kiss is my favourite book and basically seeing an update of their relationship in Lola was the best thing ever (can you tell how much I loved this?) 

The Cons: For this novel, I didn't feel as though we really knew too much about the secondary characters, mainly her friend Lindsey. We didn't really get to know her too well, compared what we got to know with Anna's friends in Anna and the French Kiss. But with that being said, I did feel as though we knew her parents really well, which is an unusual thing for a young adult novel. Usually the parents are forgotten about. But it was so good to see some really good parents and a protagonist who loved them so much.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, definitely. Although this book is not a good as Anna and the French Kiss, it will still be very much enjoyed by those who loved Anna.