Lola and the Boy Next Door [Book Review & Giveaway!]

Hey there, everyone!

Title: Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss #2)

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Dutton Books

Published Date: 28^th September 2011

Rating: 4 Stars

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Synopsis: Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the 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.

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Review: I was so excited to start reading this book! You can read all about how much I read and loved the first book in the series, Anna and the French Kiss here. After that fabulous book I strongly believed that Stephanie Perkins could do no wrong and that I would love this one just as much as the other. I did enjoy this one almost as much, but I had quite a few issues with the beginning. Let’s cover those before we get onto the wonderful rest of the book.

In the beginning we are gradually introduced to four things that were thrown in my face a lot. The first is that Lola’s parents are both dads who are gay. We learn that her boyfriend is Max who is twenty two while she is seventeen, which isn’t usually supposed to happen for legal reasons. Then there is the fact that they are sleeping together (a sex positive book!). And lastly we meet Lola in more detail and learn about her costumes and very eccentric clothing.

Now I am not saying I agree or disagree with any of those things. But the reason I didn’t like this was because in the first fifty pages we are learning all of this in such a ‘preachy’ way. It wasn’t as if it was part of the novel, but more so the author is saying, “These are my opinions and because I can I am writing them into this book and making them okay. Perhaps it was because there were so many "controversial" topics jumbled together in the beginning, instead of spaced out throughout the novel. That might have made it seem a bit less preachy to me, and more a natural part of the novel. I'm not sure whether my issue is with it sounding preachy or just how it was factored into the novel...

As well as that, in the first fifty pages we also have a build up to something which fell entirely flat for me. Lola keeps going on about the boy next door (Cricket) who she really hopes isn’t moving in. But she seems him. And at that current moment in the novel we don’t know what has happened in the past between them that is such a big deal which gets her to react so strongly in such a negative way. However, within the first fifty pages (I am SO thankful this wasn’t dragged out any longer. I was afraid it would be...) we get to see what happened in their past. It was a great big… nothing. Well, it was a bit of an ordeal but it was nothing as huge as I was imagining from the way Lola was acting and it made it all seem like a mighty exaggeration.

Anyway, now it is time to get onto the good stuff! Because once you get through the beginning this novel turns out to be WONDERFUL.

We have the lovely Cricket who is the boy next door. He is science-y, geeky and definitely a shy and awkward person. He was one of those people who are just filled with so much energy their body is buzzing with it. And he was a good person; as in good-natured, supportive and generally kind. I don’t think he is the kind of person who is harmful to anyone who hasn’t deserved it. I loved him!

When it comes to the romance element in this novel, Stephanie Perkins has it down. There are plenty of cute and adorable moments with romance involved. There are a lot of awkward and funny ones too that had me cracking up out loud. There is only one word for this kind of romance novel: perfection.

Another thing which surprised me quite a bit was how much Anna and St. Clair who were the main characters of the previous novel were featured. I knew that they made cameo appearances from reading other reviews, but I didn’t know they would be so present. I really did love having them around and it was so interesting to see Anna when we weren’t in her point of view, and likewise for St. Clair. Loved their involvement completely ^.^

There are a lot more themes in this novel too. Stephanie Perkins is the master of having a hard running romance and yet touching on other themes along the way, such as finding your own identity, coming of age, family history, drugs and drinking as well. It was an interesting book, a great continuation to the series and I can’t wait to read more. I just hope final book and I get off to a better start!

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Gif Summary:

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Quote: It’s a person’s imperfections that make them perfect for someone else.

Links: Goodreads and Amazon!

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Giveaway! A review chain company I run is having a giveaway at the moment... and I thought it might be sneaky cool if I shared it with you too! So enter for a chance to win a $20 Amazon Giftcard :)

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Olivia’s Questions: Have you ever read a preachy novel? How did it affect you?

Olivia-Savannah x