Stephanie Perkins' Lola and The Boy Next Door

Title: Lola and The Boy Next Door
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Publisher: Dutton Books
Pages: 338 p.

Summary:

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:

Love, looooove it! I love Lola, I love Cricket, I love the storyline, and I love the cover! Especially I even love it because it’s contemporary YA! (Yes, I am sort of bored reading fantasy, but somehow, that doesn’t stop me to borrow/buy them. Ha.)

Reasons:

So here it is: Reasons Why Will You Love Lola and The Boy Next Door (I think I won’t give 3 reasons if give the book 3 stars, et cetera… it’s more complicated for me…)

• .       If you love Anna and The French Kiss, then you’ll love Lola. Sure, both Anna and Lola had different voices, but Lola is just as nice and witty as Anna is! And you’ll find Anna in this book (Lola worked in the same cinema Anna worked at), you’ll see Anna’s relationship with St. Clair and it’s just nice to see them and read what people (in this case, Lola) think about them together, not just what Anna thought.
• .       If you love fashion, but Lola didn’t believe in fashion. She believed in costume. She just could wear pink wig, stripes shirt, and rain coat even though it’s not raining! Well, you can see her on the cover. It’s clear enough. But that’s what I love about Lola; she was never scared of looking different than yesterday. 
• .       If you dislike love-triangle… then you should read this. Sure, there was a love triangle between Max (Lola’s boyfriend)-Lola-Cricket, but that’s what I love about contemporary romance—the relationship is just realistic and not insta-love in the way fantasy books always do!

“I know you aren’t perfect. But it’s a person’s imperfections that make them perfect for someone else.”

“Being with Anna is easy. She’s the one.” (YES GUESS YOU KNOW WHO SAID THAT.)

“I don't believe in fashion. I believe in costume. Life is too short to be same person every day.” 

Closing:

I know, I know, some of you who have read this must be wondering why didn’t I mention Cricket’s name. I mean, I knowww I said I love him too. But I just felt like he’s nothing compared to St. Clair (sorry, Cricket’s fans out there!) So I’ll just say that Cricket is funny and even taller than Lola (but I don’t know why I think St. Clair is more attractive than Cricket perhaps it’s his height, remember that I have a crush on a boy who’s even shorter than me sigh.)

If you want to find out what happened to Anna and St. Clair, you should read this one and probably being in love with Lola, too, like I did.

Rating: 4 of 5 owls.