Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins, YA, 2011, audio CDs, 9hrs, Rating=2
Source: library

"You're going to fall in love with Lola and the Boy Next Door. Madly in love!"
--Sarah Mlynowski, author of Bras & Broomsticks and Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have)
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. (Goodreads)

According to Goodreads stats, over 23,000 people rated this book and currently ending up with the average total of 4 stars (really like it).  Looks like I'm in the minority. 

I was quickly annoyed by Lola's character.  Her reminiscent days with dear handsome Cricket turned into a whining song throughout the book.  She was definitely different from others all right.  It seemed like she tried so hard to be out of the box that she ended up being a wishy washy and unfaithful person.  Bummer!

The love triangle story here just didn't click for me.  Also, I'm not sure how accurate of a depiction of a teenage spirit this was.  Perhaps, I'm just hoping this isn't what I have to look forward to when my six year old daughter turns 16.  She'll be an angel, right?  But seriously, the flaw in the book was character quality and not Ms Perkins's writing style.  There was fine writing that outfitted each character with adequate depth.  That's why I'm able to be critical of Lola. 

Overall, this companion book didn't measure up to it's predecessor Anna and the French Kiss in quality story.

"Anna and the French Kiss"

by Stephanie Perkins, YA, 2010, 372p, rating=4

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.  (Goodreads)

The characters made this story work.  The setting in Paris France didn't hurt either.  After all, it's the capitol city of romance, right?  Well, finding romance in Anna's new SOAP (School of America in Paris) was far from her mind.  She had Toph at home in Atlanta that was ripe for a sure thing ... they kissed after all.

Anna's assimilation to a different culture was understandably frustrating.  New language, new classmates, new everything.  Then slowly she meets Meredith, Rashmi, Josh, and St. Clair aka Etienne.  Anna discovers that Meredith has a crush on St. Clair, Rashmi and Josh are together, and St. Clair has a girlfriend, the effervescent Ellie.  Of course, Anna livens up the group and becomes best friends with St. Clair.  No harm, no foul ... St. Clair was spoken for and so was Anna ..almost, remember Toph? 

Again it was the characters that made this book great.  They were portrayed so true to life.  Many of my emotions was exercised.  I wanted to smack so and so, I adored so and so, so and so got my dander up, I aww-ed so and so because aww, how romantic! , I cheered for so and so, and so on.  The believable characters made for a flowing read.  I was involved.

In summary:  in the beginning, there was a lot of pain and hurt, in the middle there was a lot of drama, and in the end there was a lot of friendship.  Awesome recipe for a lovely romance novel!