LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR by Stephanie Perkins
For budding costume designer Lola Nolan, the more outrageous, 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 move back into the house next door.
When the family returns and Cricket - a gifted inventor and engineer - 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.
MY THOUGHTS:
I can't believe I'm saying this, but Lola just didn't do it for me. Sure, I had very, very high expectations for it, after my book crush on Anna and the French Kiss (thanks to St. Clair). But high expectations aside, Lola and the Boy Next Door simply lacks the Stephanie Perkins magic I grew to love.
Lola herself is the biggest problem to me. Not only could I not relate to her in any way, I also wasn't fond of her choices. I prefer stronger characters, especially concerning girls. The lovesick puppy routine gets old really quickly for me. Plus, she just didn't add up to me - not in any aspect. It's okay if your boyfriend smokes pot, but it's a tragedy that your birth mother gets drunk? Sorry, but I don't get it. To me, Lola seemed to be many things, but none of these things added up to a whole, to an entire being. Her personality is lost on me, and her immaturity acted as a death sentence.
That being said, the remaining characters aren't any better. I actually dislike her fathers, despite loving the concept of two dads, since that's rarely ever seen in YA novels. One's bitter, the other's a pushover - that's all I know about them. However, I like that they are involved within the story. But Lola's best friend, Lindsey? She may as well not exist, because all I got from her is she's a little Nancy Drew obsessed. As for Cricket, well. I don't dislike him. I just feel like there's so much more that he could've been. A relentlessly happy, non-complex love interest gets to be boring after a while. Don't get me wrong - he's absolutely adorable and totally sweet. I just wish he hadn't been as lackluster as Lola. I so badly wanted one of them to shine.
The true stars in all of this, for me, were Anna and Etienne. They were hilarious and genuine and true to themselves as we saw them in Anna. Every time they appeared, I wished a little of their realness would rub off on Lola and Cricket.
I know my ramblings make Lola seem like a terrible book, but that's not at all the case. Lola is a good book - it's got its good writing, love interests, solid plot, etc. It just wasn't for me (for reasons stated above). I expected more depth, and it didn't deliver.
