Lola and the Boy Next Door
Ratings91
Average rating3.8
Book 3 for the #booktubeathon
Initial Thoughts:This definitely had a more important message to me than Anna and the French Kiss did, however, I prefer Anna and Etienne. Lola and Cricket are important though because their story focuses on finding and believing in yourself regardless of what other people think or believe.
I loved seeing Anna and Etienne in this and definitely picked up on the foreshadowing for everyone being present for Isla and the Happily Ever After.
Review:
Even though I had only ever read Anna and the French Kiss, I knew when I picked this up I was picking up a book I would fly through and really enjoy. I got more than I expected with this book. I loved Anna and the French Kiss, especially Anna and Etienne and I loved seeing them in this book. They had a much larger role int he story than I thought they would which was a pleasant surprise.
For me, Lola and the Boy Next Door definitely had a more important message to me than Anna and the French Kiss did, however, I still prefer Anna and Etienne, as a couple. Lola and Cricket are important though because their story focuses on finding and believing in yourself regardless of what other people think or believe. I loved how both Lola and Cricket had their quirks that made them different and unique.
My one issue with this book that was also somewhat present in Anna is the borderline cheating that goes on. When Lola and Cricket start to get close, Lola has a boyfriend and I'm still slightly bothered by this because it is not fair to the boyfriend when Lola suddenly falls for someone else. While this may be realistic with regard to what really happens, I do not care for it in the book.
I also definitely picked up on the foreshadowing for everyone being present for Isla and the Happily Ever After. This book was exactly what I needed at the time due to its cute story and ease of reading. There is something about reading a book where you know the characters end up together that really lets me fly through the book.
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*4.5 STARS
(Oh, this is going to be difficult to get out in any sort of fashion similar to coherence, but I will try.)
I know what you are thinking. Average summary. Average cover. Less than average title. BUT DO NOT LET THAT DISSUADE YOU.
THIS BOOK. It has been quite a while since I read a book that grabbed me in this fashion. In fact, I think the last one that did was Anna and the French Kiss back in August, which was the preceding book that was linked to this one very loosely. I adored Anna, and I really wanted to do a review but never got around to actually doing it.
Let's take a quick break and talk about Anna for just a moment. I was afraid it would not live up to the hype, but it did. It was awesome. There was a little too much drama for my taste toward the end; the author relied on a common Big Misunderstanding trope I think she totally could have avoided. Regardless, I loved the book. It made me laugh and tear up; I could not put it down. The story was good, I really liked Anna, and St. Clair (The Boy) was absolutely wonderful. He really made the book.
Back to Lola now. My love for Anna set up confusing expectations for Lola. I wanted Lola to live up to the high standard set by Anna. However, with the Can't Stand the Heat to On the Steamy Side fall in quality and enjoyability (How is enjoyability not a real word? It should be.) fresh in my mind, I was hesitant about this.
I needn't have worried. Lola did not meet the expectations set by Anna; it surpassed them.
I really do not know if I can explain what it was about this book that made me enjoy it so much because I am not sure I understand it myself. It just possessed that quality. If a book has ever had that effect on you, you know what I mean. I was just so drawn in. And when a book has that element, it makes so much more of an impact; everything I feel about it tends to be more intense because I had such an intense connection with it. LOL, THAT SOUNDS RIDICULOUS. But seriously. Anyone who has run into that before, try to explain it to me in better words, and I will use that in the future. Anyway, as for Lola, I connected to the characters, I was involved in the storyline, and I never wanted the book to be pried from my hands. I read it in 3 sittings: I read the first chapter on the way down to the Interpreters Conference, read about 30 more pages in the break before the first session, and then that night, Sarah (name changed for anonymity's sake) and I went out on our little private deck overlooking the lake to read. I intended to maybe read half the book or so? Three hundred pages later, at almost 1 in the morning, wide awake, long abandoned by Sarah, I came back into the room (attempting – and probably failing – to quell my flailish grin) after finishing the book and just sitting there for a couple minutes, letting it resonate.
This paragraph has slight spoilers in it, so skip if you're so inclined. But I loved that for once, Lola was not oblivious to Cricket's feelings. Almost from the beginning of his return, it was clear as day. And she knows it, to an extent. I like that the struggle in this book was different from most books. Perkins did not need that crutch of “Oh, I like him so much, but I can't say anything because I don't know how he feels, and what if I look like an idiot...etc.” She could easily have dropped some of his later indications of feelings and used that – in fact, I expected it, because that is probably what a lesser author would have done. And I feel like the book was stronger because she didn't; it stayed truer to the characters the way it was.
ST. CLAIR AND ANNA. I don't want to ruin anything for you from this book or the last, but at least know that we meet them again. And it makes me super happy because I kind of adore them. St. Clair in particular. Ahem.
I loved (loved, loved, loved) that Alexander Graham Bell (Cricket's namesake) was not represented as this super awesome, amazing man like he always seems to be. The guy was messed up. He was all about Eugenics, particularly relating to the deaf community, and he was not the first to invent the telephone. Look it up. But I digress. Again.
Lola. She was a unique character, and I enjoyed reading about her. I very rarely have anything to say about The Girl in books unless she is particularly annoying or really significant to me/really awesome (which is rare). Neither was the case with Lola, although she was closer to the awesome side on the spectrum, if that matters.
Lola's outfits. I loved how Perkins did this. With the crazy outfits that Lola wore, it could have been easy to go over the top with descriptions and get boring. She didn't. I like how the costumes worked into Lola's character, as well.
Cricket. He was so freaking awesome. I loved all his little traits, his intelligence, the way he treated Lola, everything. I also like how he was really tall, which was a fun change from St. Clair in Anna, who was a self-proclaimed shorty.
Lola's dads. They were great! Andy was definitely my favorite, though; it certainly didn't hurt that he owned his own pie business, LOL. But really, I just loved his character. Lola's birth mother was also an interesting character. I did not think I would like her at all toward the beginning, but she grew on me.
As for the negatives? There were not many. I did not really like Max (Lola's boyfriend at the beginning of the story), but it wasn't to the point where it seemed like Lola was just with him for the story. There was, of course, a bit of unnecessary drama here and there, and Lola cried a little too much for my taste. But, really? This is YA. There's going to be drama. And a lot of 17-year-old girls cry. And neither of those things were to the extreme that they bothered me. They were simply the only things I could come up with that were particularly negative.
This book left me grinning like crazy. I even teared up a little bit during parts. I can't wait for the next book! It is supposed to be the last set in this...verse, for lack of a better word, because it does not really seem to be a series. This makes me sad because I would have liked to see Calliope get her own book. I was really interested in learning more about her. And you never know – the brat in one book can make a pretty darn good heroine in the next (see Something Borrowed and Something Blue by Emily Giffin. Both good. I personally think Darcy's book >>> Rachel's book, though I know most people do not agree with me.)
Now, for probably my favorite part: Perkins is the QUEEN of YA build-up (and I do not say this lightly – see Sarah Dessen, particularly The Truth About Forever, which itself is better, but it is also my favorite YA book). It is probably why I enjoy her books so much. She is really quite wonderful overall. Depending on how her third book goes, she might find herself up with Dessen and Deb Caletti, who are pretty much the reigning queens of YA, as far as I'm concerned.
If you enjoy YA at all (and even if you don't, really), I would highly recommend this book.
Loved it. Lola was such a great character, full of passion and flaws. Cricket was so thoughtful and sweet and all the minor characters were perfect. The writing was funny and I recommend this book.
This book was amazing. How will I describe this feeling? Let's start with Cricket. I love everything about Cricket. He is the perfect description of my dream guy. Sweet, tall, intelligent and he's not the type of guy who screams ‘heartbreaker' and he's definitely the boy-next-door type. He's not afraid of telling Lola what he feels. And I love a whole lot of other things about him.
Oh, and Lola, I love that she's a costume girl. I bet it's fun to do your own clothes and dress up and everything. But I'm definitely not like her, I'm too lazy to design my own clothes let alone sew and make them for 6 months.
3.5 I loved Cricket so much, he's too adorable for words. Overall though I couldn't mesh with Lola as a character.
This was totally absolutely really wonderfully fantastic.
This was just exactly what I needed when I didn't even know I needed it.
I couldn't put it down
The descriptions sound average, but Stephanie Perkins somehow manages to create characters you really love and care about, and relationship drama that you can't turn away from. Anna and St. Clair from Anna and the French kiss were featured in this book a little bit, and now even though I have no idea if any of the characters that I've grown to love will be in it I can't wait for the next book. Because I feel confident that there will be fresh characters that I will love.
I didn't like this book as much as the first book in the series/companionship but I still really liked it. I feel like the books follow about the same plot but I like the different characters and I like how the Anna couple was in this book. Can't wait to read Isla.
Audio Book
Lola and the Boy Next Door was SUCH a CUTE story! I really liked this read better than Anna and the French Kiss. I have fallen in love with Stephanie Perkins' writing. It's always light, funny, easy and realistic. All of the characters were likable. I loved the family dynamic that was created in this book. I haven't read anything like this yet. It was refreshing and executed in such a great way. Lola was such an interesting character and it took me a bit to realize that she had a totally new look every single day. Anna and Etienne make an appearance in this read. The reader was able to catch up with them enough to still appreciate their relationship yet still understand that Lola and her story was on the front burner.
The narrator was pretty awesome and she did a great English accent when creating Etienne's voice.
This has been great all the way around. Great world building, great characters, great story, great ending!
My only regret is not standing in line at RT to buy these books and get Stephanie Perkins' personalized signature! UGH! Maybe next time...
*This is a stand alone read. You DO NOT have to read Anna and the French Kiss prior to this one to follow along.
I loved Lola so much I ended up dyeing my hair purple and I still have such a big crush on Cricket I keep comparing him to my boyfriend. This is the book that makes me keep coming back to Stephanie Perkins. I will keep coming back to her even if she churns out a dozen [b:Anna 6936382 Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss, #1) Stephanie Perkins https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358271931s/6936382.jpg 7168450]s and [b:Isla 9627755 Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss, #3) Stephanie Perkins https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362064564s/9627755.jpg 14515040]s before she throws out another Lola.
Although I still enjoyed Stephanie Perkins' writing even her Acknowledgements are cute and adorable, I didn't like this one as much as Anna and the French Kiss. I was interested enough to finish this in one sitting but I just couldn't like Lola. That made it difficult to root for her but the story is really cute and just what I needed.
St. Clair continues to be awesome and the man of my dreams, closely followed by Cricket. Damn you, Perkins and your ability to create perfect gorgeous male characters!
Adorable, light-hearted romance is kind of my guilty pleasure so I'm sure I'll be reading whatever Stephanie Perkins decides to write.
These are really tooooo cute. I can't handle it. They're perfect for an easy, sweet read and they just give me a happy, tingly, and warm feeling inside.
Totally recommend.