Lola and the Boy Next Door

Perfect In Every Way - An Absolute Must!

Lola, oh Lola, you astound me with your ability to turn me into a puddle of emotion. Lola and the Boy Next Door is the most perfectly executed and excruciatingly anticipatory love story I've ever read. Lola Nolan is - as I've dubbed her - badass chic. She loves to wear a frilly dress, but rocks it with combat boots. She dresses in costumes, not to disguise anything, but to be herself. And boy is Lola one hot mess of a girl. She has a sexy, rocker boyfriend named Max, but a strange and torrid history with her old neighbors, the Bell twins, who just happen to move back in next door. Unwanted feelings, 'traumatic' memories, and the best romantic tension ensue.

Lola is one of those characters that are impossible not to love. Everything about her made me love her more. Her outfits, wigs, the way she thinks out loud - literally, she says it all out loud without realizing it - and the way she loves so completely. Her parents mean the world to her and she's not afraid to show it. Both of her dads are the kind of parents that YA is severely lacking and I loved their involvement in Lola's life. In fact, every single character is fleshed out and has purpose in the story.

Andy and Nathan - Lola's dads - a pie bakery owner (via the kitchen) and a lawyer, respectively, are like any other dads. They enforce called check-ins when Lola is out, make the 22 year old Max come over for Sunday brunch, and freak when boys are in Lola's room. Norah, Lola's birth mom, even plays a role, by forcing Lola to open her eyes to things she maybe isn't willing to see. Lola's best friend Lindsey is not nearly as sparkly and colorful as Lola, but she's her best friend and is there for her whenever she needs her. Anna and Etienne St. Clair make an appearance or two as well, so if you loved Anna and the French Kiss, be prepared for some more fun from them.

Then there are the Bell twins. Calliope comes off as very cold-shoulderish, but her years of being cut off from normal teen life as a world-class figure skater plays into that a great deal. Getting to know her and seeing her reasoning softens her a bit though. Now for Cricket. Yes, Cricket. Oh how I did not want to like him. Lola has a boyfriend and he's sexy and a budding rock star, who suffers through double dad interrogation, and I really liked him. But then I LOVED Cricket.

How do you love a boy named Cricket? Read Lola and try not to. It's impossible, what with his tight pants, enthusiastic nature, and constant smiles. He's insecure, but somehow confident; a little geeky, but completely sexy at the same time; intense and funny and intelligent and selfless. He has this pureness and innocence about him that makes him perfect. But he's perfect because he's imperfect. His flaws - like Lola's flaws - make him a great character.

The romance in Lola and the Boy Next Door is absolutely, stunningly, delectable. Never before have I read something that creates so much tension and anticipation and that 'pleasepleaseplease kiss' sensation so well. That's what Lola will do to you. You'll fall in love with these characters, with their lives, and their hopes and dreams. I know I did.

Stephanie Perkins has more than done it again with Lola. She has outdone herself, improved upon her previous writing, and given us a story that will resonate with every single person who reads it.

7 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door

I loved Anna and the French Kiss, so I really had high hopes for this one. I was keeping my fingers crossed that Stephanie's sophomore book would deliver. I'm happy to say it did!

At first, I wasn't sure what to think of Lola. She's so different from any other character I've read, and such a drastic change from Anna. I also didn't identify with her as much. I don't have that artistic flair and tend to prefer to go with the flow not stand out in the crowd. But, slowly that characteristic really began to grow on me. She's everything I'm not, and I really admired that about her. I also admired the fact that she's a typical teen. With things begin to snowball, she questions who she really is. But, she soon realized that being who you are doesn't always mean fitting to everyone else's standards. A nice change of pace is that Lola is being raised by her two dads, who are really her biological uncle and his partner. Her mother occasionally comes in and reeks havoc in her life.

I liked Cricket from the first time we meet him. I love how it seems like he just appears were ever Lola is. Some of it is coincidental, but other times you can tell he's making a valiant effort to reconnect with Lola. I enjoyed his personality. He's like a combination of nerdy mixed with a couple other "types", it's no wonder that Lola is so attracted to him. I found ironic that Lola never flat out told him that she had a boyfriend. It's not something I really faulted her on, because I could tell she was really struggling with her feeling concerning Cricket.


It's funny how a book can twist around how you feel about things. I was prepared to dislike Calliope (Cricket's sister) and I did for part of the book. But, she really comes through in the end. I admired how the how family has backed her in her dreams. I think the fact that Cricket has put some much of his life on hold for her shows a sense of who he is and what's important to him. I also really liked Max at first, despite their age difference. In the end, I couldn't believe that he acted that way he did to Lola. But, maybe he was really hurt by her actions and this was his only way of expressing it.

In the end, I decided that Lola was just as fantastic as Anna, but in an entirely different way. I'm amazed that Stephanie has managed to write two completely different heroines and their romances. I can't wait to read her next one!

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Ugh

Anna and the French Kiss was so much better ...in Paris, british boyfriend....compared to their story this one was borrrringg!

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Loved it

This book kept me hooked from beginning to end. it was as good as Anna&thefrench kiss.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Highly Recommended for those who adore a sweet romance!!!

Loved it :)

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A let-down after Anna

After reading Anna and the French Kiss, I highly anticipated Lola and the Boy Next Door. It was a good book, but after reading Anna, Lola fell short. I couldn't stand Max. The gay dads thing was weird. Cricket's pinstriped pants were the original reason she started liking him. Lola was not as funny as Anna, and San Francisco just isn't as romantic as Paris. Also, Lola was a bit more...erm, daring lets say with relationships which I feel most teenage girls can not relate to. I liked that Anna and St Clair were brought back though. Also, I didn't like having it on my shelf because the creepy stare of the purple hair girl freaked me out. I did not like it that much because the average reader can not relate to Lola, because Lola is not like the average girl. It was written well, but as mentioned previously, it can not compare to Anna. An okay read.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Lola is a 17-year-old free spirit who thinks costumes are meant

Lola is a 17-year-old free spirit who thinks costumes are meant to be worn every day, not just on special occasions; she creates interesting and out-there clothing in her bedroom. She spends as much time as possible with her rocker boyfriend, Max but her two dads don't approve of the five-year age difference between the two. When former neighbors return to the house next door, Lola sees both the twins--Calliope, a nationally-ranked figure skater, and Cricket, the boy Lola loved in their earlier years. The pull of the past romance is excruciating for both Lola and Cricket. The book works well as a stand-alone although Anna and St. Clair from Perkins' Anna and the French Kiss are minor players in this title. Recommended for grades 9+ due to references to drug use and sexual activity plus language. Thanks to Puget Sound Council for the review copy.

Love is in the air

I can't begin to say how much this story touched me. Lola was a breath of fresh air and Cricket is the love of my life. I wanted to hold him tight and NEVER let him go.

Read this book....if you don't enjoy it...you're a fool.

a book well worth checking out

Lola Nolan's New Year's resolution was to never wear the same outfit twice.

She wants to attend the winter formal dressed like Marie Antoinette, but not quite. She wants a wig so big a bird could live in it. She wants a dress so wide that she'll need to enter through a set of double doors. She also wants everyone to see that she's punk-rock tough under the frills when they notice her platform combat boots.

She wants her parents to approve of her boyfriend, Max. Sure, Max is twenty-two and Lola is seventeen. But so what? Her father Nathan was significantly younger than her other dad, Andy, when they started dating. Isn't that further proof that Max is the one. Not so much according to Nathan and Andy.

Lola also never ever ever wants to see the Bell twins ever again. Ever.

When a moving truck rolls up next door, Lola realizes she isn't going to get what she wants. Not where the Bell twins are concerned anyway.

After steamrolling through Lola's life two years ago, Cricket Bell--aspiring inventor and snappy dresser--is back along with his talented, figure-skating twin sister Calliope. While Calliope chases an elusive spot at the Olympics, Cricket is starting college and seems to be chasing . . . Lola.

But Lola doesn't care about Cricket anymore. She wants different things now. Things like her boyfriend Max and her Marie Antoinette dress. And that's enough.

Except it really isn't. After years spent wanting to never see the boy next door ever again, Lola is starting to wonder if she's been wanting all of the wrong things in Lola and the Boy Next Door (2011) by Stephanie Perkins.

Lola and the Boy Next Door is a companion to Perkins' debut novel Anna and the French Kiss.* (Readers of both books might recognize some characters from the first book in this one but it's most definitely a standalone if you want it to read this one first.)

As much as I enjoyed Anna and her story, I loved Lola so much more. With her vibrant outfits and quirky personality Lola is all win. With their witty banter (not to mention having style in spades), Lola and Cricket shine as a couple you'll want to root for--even when Lola's own feelings are mixed at best. Perkins vividly recreates San Francisco in the pages of Lola and the Boy Next Door with well-realized settings that complement her dimensional characters.

Without revealing too much, Perkins takes what could have been a conventional romantic story in a different direction with the pacing and structure of the story as well as some clever diversions with other characters. Combined with Lola's obvious transformation throughout the story all of that makes Lola and the Boy Next Door a book well worth checking out.

*The final companion ¿Isla and the Happily Ever After¿ is due out in 2013 and if it goes the way I think it's going to go--it is going to be soooooooo awesome!

Possible Pairings: North of Beautiful by Justina Chen, Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley, When It Happens by Susane Colasanti, Alice, I Think by Susan Juby, Don't Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough, After the Kiss by Terra Elan McVoy, Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, Vibes by Amy Kathleen Ryan, The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott

Great

Enjoyed it alot.but the parts i loved the most was when anna and st claire made an appearance. Not as good as anna and the french kiss but still worth the read

Whatever Lola wants is fine by me!

Holy fried butter on a stick, if THIS is what Stephanie Perkins brings to the table as second helpings, I don’t think my heart can survive a third attack with Isla later this year! Although it is not a direct sequel to Anna and The French Kiss, Lola and The Boy Next Door carries the same scorching intensity and introduces a whole new set of characters to fall in love with.

THE GOOD BITS
{Lola Nolan} Lovable to the power of love! She has the right balance of snark and sweet that makes her exactly my sort of people. I love that colorful wigs and costumes make up her closet - and she dreams of dressing like Marie Antoinette for winter prom. Lola is the very definition of unforgettable, and it is so very easy for readers to fall in love with her and want the absolute bestest of best lives for her.

{Cricket Bell} YUMZERS! Who knew a Cricket to be so scrumptious? I would dare to say that Cricket far outshines Etienne by a long shot. I am not sure if that is because he is definitely single when he declares his interest in Lola, but I know that was always the tricky part about Etienne in the beginning. Cricket was just the right sort of boy – adorable, smart, and quirky – and he fit just right with Lola that it was baffling to watch Lola try to resist and cling to her boyfriend Max. Especially when Cricket offers to help Lola with her tricky costume design!

{Cameos of Anna and Etienne} OMG, my heart nearly skipped a beat as these two came on scene. Their love sparkled with such sigh-worthy brightness to cause envy, but Anna and Etienne mostly kept to the sidelines unless called out to advise Lola with her relationship troubles. Stephanie Perkins did not have to include Anna and Etienne to make this story work, but I am always so THRILLED to see familiar characters make guest appearances (usually in romance series). It feels like they are giving a blessing or guidance to the new couple in the spotlight.

THE BAD BITS
{Nothing!} Are you crazy? Reading Lola and The Boy Next Door felt like inhaling the most heavenly slice of white chocolate raspberry cheesecake without any regrets whatsoever.

THE OVERALL
I thought it would be impossible to top Anna and The French Kiss, but apparently Stephanie Perkins was just getting warmed up with her debut. Without breaking a sweat, Lola and The Boy Next Door picks up the baton from its predecessor and ran seven leagues further with breathtaking delight. I cannot wait to see how much higher in the clouds this author takes us with her next book!

So Cute and Fun!!

I really want Lola to be my friend because:

1. I love Pushing Daisies so much, too, and own every episode. It's just so pretty and Kristen Chenowith is a-maz-ing!

2. Thanks to Lola, I totally have my Halloween costume idea for this year and I have been obsessing over it since I read this book.

3. I love wigs too! (See previous Halloween costume obsession...) I don't have the guts to wear one outside of socially accepted holidays, but I sure wish I did! I look great in an electric blue, bobbed wig!!

4. Lola has two wonderful dad's who live in San Francisco, have a great victorian house and hold amazing brunches. (One is also a pie-baker, yum!) I just know if Lola and I were friends I could come to Sunday Brunch!

5. Lola has a great BFF, works with Anna, hangs out with St. Clair and has a fun, quirky boy next door. I would hang out with Lindsey and have a Veronica Mars marathon every day of the week!

So, Lola has a great life, but it gets a little complicated (natch) when her former friends move back in town, right next door. She's dating an older, bad-boy, rocker and I loved the way this relationship played out. I have dated my share of borderline-jerky guys in the past and Perkins has spun this tale in a very realistic way.

Max is not overtly bad or abusive and (although you know how this is going to all play out) you can understand why Lola is dating him. Let me just say this: In my experience, if your family and friends hate the person you are dating (as long as they have concrete reasons), you should not be dating them. Your loved ones are right, you are love-struck and wrong. Every. Time.

Then... Cricket's back! Uh-oh! What's a girl to do?? Outside of the fact that he goes by "Cricket" (really?), he's a cute, nerdy boy who loves Lola just the way she is. Awww.

Lola and the Boy Next Door was a fun read with interesting characters. Although there are no big twists or surprises here, Lola's journey is charming.

Cute

Loved it....adorable innocent...def reccommend

Great YA romance

Didn't love it quite as much as Anna and the French Kiss but it was romantic without being overly dramatic or cheesy. Can't wait for her next book!

Greeeatt

Really good!! I love how it is in a different perspective but has some of the same characters from anna and the french kiss! This is a must read!

Amazing

The characters are so well developed and the story is engrossing. I highly reccomend it.

A good book

My summary:

Lola, short for Dolores, has a very unique style. Her goal is to never wear the same outfit twice. She is a genius at putting the vintage pieces with current trends, add a wig and call it a costume. Both her dads love her self-expression. Her rocker boyfriend thinks it's cute. As for her classmates, not so much. Then there's the twins who used to live next door. It was clear that Calliope didn't appreciate Lola's style and Cricket...well he's not there anymore so what does it matter. Until one day, he's back and Lola has to deal with the pain of seeing him again. Lola has loved Cricket Bell all her life. Now he's back. What will that mean to her unusual style, ordered life and older boyfriend?


My Thoughts:




3 stars - A good read

I absolutely love Anna and the French Kiss so it was a must that I read Lola and the Boy Next Door. But I was so over the costume descriptions by chapter 2. It's really a part of who Lola is and I understand why they were there, but they bored me to pieces. I guess I just couldn't get into the world that Lola lived in. She's so different from anything that I have or ever will be that I couldn't really connect with her. I did feel bad for her a few times. She had some hard growing pains that were unfair. I didn't like her rocker boyfriend at all. He was possessive, selfish, and angry. I think he was portrayed that way on purpose so I was okay with it. Her dads were interesting and I liked the strong family connection they had with Lola.


What I really, really, really liked about this book was Cricket. Unique for different reasons than Lola, he is tall, smart, and family centered. I couldn't get enough of him. He supported his twin sister even though Calliope hogged the family spotlight leaving Cricket unappreciated. He helped his older brother when things went bad for him. He helped Lola even when she tried to ignore him. He cared what Lola's dads thought of him and tried to follow their rules. He's this great guy that has a lot more struggles than anyone would notice from the outside looking in. Forced to move around a lot to support his twin, he was home-schooled and missed out on lots of things. But he wasn't angry or bitter. Cricket is why I keep reading costume descriptions because I really needed to know what happened to him.


I had hoped for more from this book because I loved Anna and the French Kiss so much, but I'm glad I read it for Cricket.

This is a fun contemporary read that you will love if you're into fashion or Cricket (like I was).

MUST READ

BY THE FIRST PAGE I FELL IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK. THIS BOOK IS GREAT FOR TEEN GIRL TO LIKE TO READ ABOUT FIRST LOVE, FINDING YOURSELF, AND GETTING ALONG WITH YOUR EX FRIEND. THIS IS NOW ONE OF MY FAVE BOOKS.





SO CHECK IT OUT!!!!!!!!

This was great

What a fun read

Compared to Anna...

I loved a lot of things about this book. I loved:
Cricket - who was adorable, if not St. Clair
Calliope - who was my favorite character for whatever reason. I liked her struggles but her love for her brother.
The Bell family in general - totally dysfunctional in a way not often presented in books.
Lola's growing relationship with her mom
Lola's dads - hilarious and utterly realistic
Anna and St. Clair cameos - especially St. Clair, who was amazing and funny and deep as usual.

There were moments that had me laughing out loud, and others that made me a puddle of giggly-cuteness.

So why 3.5 stars? To be honest, I don't know. I didn't feel the magic like in Anna. Maybe I was rooting for Anna and St. Clair more. I liked Lola, but I didn't love her. I just didn't like the book as much -- at all. That's what's wierd. I looooooooved AATFK and I only liked LATBND. Maybe it's just me.