REVIEW! Lola and the Boy Next Door.

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 rating: 3 stars.

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.

In My Mailbox (23).

The Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor.
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins.

LOLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Ahem. Sorry. I made it my mission to get Lola while on my Fall Break, and I succeeded. I cannot wait to read it. How long have I been waiting now? Oh, right. Forever.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is another story. I just kind of stumbled upon it on my quest to get Lola, and I remembered all of the good things you've all said of it, so I decided to take it with me to scope out while I enjoyed my Pumpkin Spice latte.  And I discovered it is just as good as everyone has said. I'm actually reading it before Lola. I never thought that would happen.

Hope you all were just as excited with your hauls!

New ANNA & THE FRENCH KISS scene!

You know that story we all know and love? Of course you do. And if you don't, that means you haven't yet read Anna and the French Kiss.

So this beloved story has a newly released scene, thanks to the wonderful Stephanie Perkins. Also, there will be another new scene next month, too. How awesome is that? (I'll tell you: REALLY RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME!)

Trust me: you want to go read it. It's nerdy. It's cute. It's so Anna and Étienne.

You can find the scene here.

REVIEW! Anna and the French Kiss.

ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS by Stephanie Perkins

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?

My rating: 5 stars.

MY THOUGHTS:

Anna and the French Kiss? It's just going to be another cliche, right? WRONG! Despite the cutesy title and summary, Anna and the French Kiss has depth. Lots of depth - specifically the relationship/friendship kind. It's a whirlwind of wonderful.

The story's progression immediately caught me by surprise; it doesn't transpire in a short amount of time. Instead, it paces itself over roughly a year of time. Sounds crazy slow, but it isn't. It actually works like a big puzzle in which you can't wait to find the next piece to plug into place. It's this pacing that gives the plot sustenance. Without it, and in a much shorter timespan, the plot would come off cliche.

But the characters are supporting that long timeframe. Without them, the story would drag. The relations between Anna and her friends just work, to put it simply; their actions aren't forced or unflattering or awkward - although they are a tad predictable. They merely mesh together, and they're all imperfect. In fact, they seem real. What they say to one another is not unlike what you'd hear you or your friends saying (except maybe minus the French and British slang).

So essentially Anna and the French Kiss provides both good story and believability. And a charming love interest: Etienne St. Clair. (Warning: You won't be able to keep yourself from swooning just from seeing his name. He's that special.) What's best about him is that he's so unlike other male characters. He's not simply the Knight in Shining Armor or the Bad Boy or anything inbetween. He's a collaboration - really well-rounded.

My advice? Don't knock it for the romance-y premise. At all. Go read it!

Waiting On Wednesday (17).

Waiting On Wednesday is from Jill, at Breaking the Spine.

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.

You're going to think I'm crazy for not having read Anna and the French Kiss, but oh well. Bloggers seem to be RAVING about this one almost as much as Anna, so I'm going read Anna now, and impatiently wait for Lola. (Assuming I'll love it as much as everyone else!)