Lola and the Boy Next Door

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Series: Companion books with Anna and the French Kiss and Isla and the Happily Ever After

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Realistic Fiction

Publisher: Dutton Books

Released: 29 September 2011

Summary courtesy of goodreads.com: 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

For Fans Of: Sarah Dessen, Flat Out Love, Anna and the French Kiss, and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

My Review: Lola, oh Lola.  How I have loved you.  Lola and the Boy Next Door is the companion novel to Anna and the French Kiss.  Although many have mentioned that they like Anna better, I have to disagree.  Lola was amazing!  Although maybe I wasn’t the biggest fan of Lola herself (although I did envy her wardrobe, and her awesome dads! < < not a typo) I was a MASSIVE fan of one Mr. Cricket Bell.

Holy crap can anyone say SWOOOOONNNN??  Because that’s what I did people! I freaking SWOONED.  As she did with Anna and Paris, with Lola Perkins set the stage of San Francisco (another one of my favorite cities) perfectly.  Right down to the houses that line the streets and the parks that seem to pop up out of no where.  She also wove her characters together perfectly.  The relationships in Lola felt somehow, more real, than they did in Anna.  Maybe it’s because it is Perkins' second novel and she is dealing with more adult aged characters instead of high school kids?  Who knows, but I know that the way Perkins voices her adults it perfect.  Especially the adults in Lola’s life. For me, Perkins has always been a master of dialogue, seriously guys.  It’s not heady like Veronica Mars or Brick, it’s just real.  The conversations that run through this book are conversations that I have had with my parents, or with people that I know.  She is such an incredible talent of an author.

There were a lot of points where I felt like, “this is Anna, from St. Clair’s point of view” St. Clair and Lola are so similar personality and life-situation wise.  It was so nice to see the story from Lola’s point of view, to see her struggle.  Lola is the kind of heroine that I can really get behind because she cares a lot about Cricket.  She cares more about him than she cares about herself.  I feel like, not only is Lola an incredibly enjoyable and practically perfect read, it is also sending out the right message (finally!) to girls every where: That relationships are about being there for each other and building things up together.  They’re about caring more about the other person than yourself.  That’s the message that I took away from Lola, and that is the reason that I truly love it so much. (though her outfits and family helped a lot too) However, I DO recommend that you read Anna and the French Kiss first (if not just so you can squeal when characters re-appear).

Anna and the French Kiss

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Series: Companion Books with Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After

Genres: Young Adult, Travel, Contemporary, Romance

Publisher: Dutton Books

Released: 2 December 2010

Summary: courtesy of goodreads.com Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home. As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

For Fans Of: Flat Out Love, Lola and the Boy Next Door, and Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour

My Review: This book was one of those books that, afterwards, my heart was a little overflowing.  It is completely one hundred percent romantic comedy fairytale.  Set in Paris.  So seriously, fairytale.  After reading this book I thought, “that was incredible, but not how love is at all.”  However, like Jane Eyre, and basically ever other YA book out there, I loved it.  Anna was sweet, Anna was the every girl.  Anna did some stupid things, but she made up for it by being awesome.  If I could have a fictional character come to life and be my friend, I’m pretty sure I would want that friend to be Anna.  She’s really patient, especially when it comes to St. Clair and she tries hard.

However, St. Clair I had a hard time with.  St. Clair does a lot of really stupid things, St. Clair makes a lot of ridiculous mistakes.  St. Clair is why this story can be so deliciously aggravating.   Just know, there are going to be moments when you want to punch St. Clair in the face.

My favorite thing about this book, besides Anna, is: Paris.  Ahhhhh, Paris.  Perkins does such an incredible job of creating the city of lights that I felt like I was back there again.  It made me want to go back there again! You could tell that Perkins definitely had an incredible knowledge of the city and Paris and Anna are what really made this story so great for me.

This book was a really wonderful feel-good, wish you could fall in love amongst the streets of Paris.  I recommend it for this summer, but I recommend Lola and the Boy Next Door (the companion novel) even more!