Lola and the Boy Next Door

So happy all my hardcovers match!

                So when I joked that I should post again the next day provided nothing major happens…well I jinxed myself.  I came home to no internet and a tech can't come out until Wednesday.  It's miserable.  I'm posting from work, my first internet access since Thursday.  So continuing on with my Stephanie Perkins companion series today I’ll share my thoughts on Lola and the Boy Next Door.  Yesterday Thursday, I reviewed the first book in the companion series, Anna and the French Kiss, here and plan to post my Isla and the Happily Ever After review tomorrow, provided the internet at work continues to function.  Shot response, I LOVED this book and its companions.  Here’s why.

                Lola and the Boy Next Door, follows our eccentric designer Lola who lives her life in costume.  She is way way out there were her outfits, wigs, makeup, the works.  The wilder the better.  Outrageous to say the least.  She’s a good daughter and friend and has high dreams for her future, she even has an older hot rock star boyfriend.  Things seem to be going well until her neighbors move back in, twins Calliope and Cricket.  The problem being her past with the twins and all the feelings they stir up in her when they return after a couple years. 

                Lola is super quirky and easy to love.  I’ve heard a few call her whinny, yeah she does whine some but I was also a teenage girl and I whined. It’s practically a requirement.  Plus she has some serious things to deal with.  Young heart break, SUPER OVERPROTECTIVE dads, and a mom who I don’t have words for at the moment.  You feel for her as she has to face  the one who broke her heart for the first time, someone she never truly got over.  Her dads hate her older boyfriend and are CRAZY with restrictions to do anything.  As someone who never had any real restrictions, curfew, or anything growing up it boggles my mind how she kept sane.  I didn’t always agree with Lola and her actions, not just her costume, though they always made me smile, but I still enjoyed her.  I also had a bit of a connection to her for some personal reasons, which my friend and I discussed while I read.

My visual of one of her outfits!

                 My biggest complaint about the book, which didn’t affect my 5 star rating at all was at the end.  It’s kind of a spoiler so I can’t go into it in depth but to say that there is a sudden character personality shift that felt came out of left field and more to drive home a point than I felt was necessary.  Cricket was this sweet boy next door, haha the title.  He has his own issues and is sexy and such but also comes off a tad bit bashful and unsure at times, which only endeared him to me more.  After a certain point where I was willing to forgive him.  Max, the older rocker boyfriend, their relationship wasn’t perfect by any means wrought with its own issues but I liked him for the most part.  My biggest issues with him were in the conflict he brought to Lola’s other relationships, and I liked Cricket more, duh.  Then the tension between all the characters just builds as there is many misunderstandings and assumptions and such.  Everyone has to deal with certain things in order to move forward. 

                Anna and Etienne were in it!  I was super excited to see that Anna and Lola work together and we get to keep up with some of what is happening with them still, after we left them at the end of senior year in Paris.  They only got together at the very end so clearly we needed more of them.  And we get it, kind of like a where are they now glimpse but nothing from their POV. 

                So not much else I can saw without spoiling it for you.  But Lola and the Boy Next Door is beyond adorable and it has a lot of cuteness, drama, romance, and tension in it.  It was a super quick read and easy to lose yourself in and just find a happy place.  I can't wait to re-read it again when I'm feeling down.  As always share your thoughts in the comments, I love to hear what you think and how I can make my blog better! 

5 Crazy Costumes!