Lola and the Boy Next Door

Lola and the Boy Next Door
By Stephanie Perkins
338 pages
Published on September 29th, 2011
By Dutton Books (My Copy is Speak though)
4 Stars

Warning- After reading this over for the third time I realized that there are spoilers. Proceed with caution. 

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.

Opening Thoughts

I did not like this book as much as Anna and the French Kiss.  I also read this book during a reading slump. I think that made me not like it as much as I could have. I didn't put it on my good reads so it didn't track how long it took for me to read it. In an estimation it took me about a month to finish it. I want to re-read it later when I'm not on a reading slump and see if I like it better. It did take me out of my slump though. I read 100 pages or so strait from when I got up to noon. (Which means only about an hour and thirty minutes.) I plan to read it again next summer. I was a nice romance for the summer. 

Characters

Another reason I think I didn't like it that much is that I didn't have that much in common with Lola. I am an artist and I sew but I do't think we would have gotten along very well. I did find her motto interesting though. “I don't believe in fashion. I believe in costume. Life is too short to be same person every day.” It made me think and I admire that she could walk around like that all day. I could never do that. The main part that irritated me though was how attached and dependent she was on Max. Kill me if I ever do that. He was a lying manipulative jerk. I have a feeling he was cheating on her too. A piece of advice, never care what your boyfriend thinks of you. If he doesn't like the way you dress, the way you talk, or your friends he is not for you. Never change for anyone but yourself. NEVER! So yes that threw me off a cliff with Lola. 

Cricket, OK. Who names their child Cricket? It is like Ponyboy and Sodapop. Calliope is weird too but Cricket. Name aside, I like him. He had the classic boy next door, nice guy atmosphere but a engineering twist. I liked how she would always describe him as tall and he wore short pants to show off his socks. That is a good description. I can see that. The rubber bands are a good touch too. I could always picture him picture perfect.  Cricket was sweetest guy ever. It was like 20 tons of milk chocolate sweet. He was so sweet it was almost revolting. Cricket Bell showed the world that the nice guys shouldn't always be last.

Max can go die in a hole. Enough said. 

In the beginning I had a problem with Calliope. When she was jealous of Lola because Cricket liked her my dirty and perverted brain, thanks to my awesome friends, was shouting incest. Then I realized that she was being protective and I  could relate. I love her line, "Break his heart. I break your face." She was a pretty skater but, she knew she had the strength to kick some butt!  It was sweet that she looked after her brother I felt that she did have a little bit of a girly and stuck up aura though. Her name to me though sounds like a dish you would order at my dad's friend's french restaurant. "I would like the Calliope please."  I think I liked her a little more than Lola. 

I found Lola's dads supper funny. They cracked me up half the time with Gay jokes(Not the insulting kind.)and the best awkward parent situations, always walking in on the wrong moment. Lindsey was an awesome BFF. I liked her detective dream and red converse. Norah was a little different then how she was described in the beginning. I though of her as a drunk, smelly, rude, cranky lady but, she turned out to give very good advice to Lola and helped her along her path. 


Plot

Yes, this did remind of the classic boy next door thing. I think that another reason I did not like it as much is that is was very cliche. I was your classic boy next door story and I knew from the beginning what the ending would be. I found it too predictable. I knew they were going to get together in Anna and the French Kiss but I did not know exactly. In this book I knew she was going to the winter formal, I knew she was going to get together with Cricket, I knew she would be heart broken about Max. I predicted everything that was going to happen, but there were some twist that I liked. One thing I never saw coming was that Calliope's costume was going to get ripped. I thought that was clever. The baby was a good touch too. I also didn't see that she would completely drop color because of Max. I know she really thought a lot of him but I did not see that coming. I cracked me up when her parents found Cricket in her bed. That was unpredictable. Another thing I liked was, it was a happy ending but, it was some what more realistic than other happy endings. Speaking of happy endings I stared jumping up and down when I saw Anna and St. Clair. It was just amazing. The bead and the left handed notebook too. It was just to much. 

Well it is not my favorite Stephanie Perkins book but, it was a good one. I can't wait to read Isla and the Happily Ever After. These books make me feel like happy endings are possible. I hope I fine mine and everyone else can find theirs. 

Hope you keep reading
Grace