Lola and the Boy Next Door - Stephanie Perkins

Lola & the Boy Next Door - Stephanie Perkins ★★★★ 4.5

I'm giving this book 4.5 stars! Here's why:

• Lola = an exaggerated version of me
• Cricket
• Lola's parents are hilarious
• Anna and St. Clair are back!
• The outfits.
• Cute, predictable love story (we all like those sometimes)
• CRICKET.

This review is going to be pretty short because 1) it's my first, and 2) I actually don't have much to say about it. BUT, here I go, into more depth!

Now don't get me wrong, I REALLY enjoyed this story. Like, really. I actually think I liked it a bit more than Anna & the French Kiss. It just wasn't the most memorable story ever. But I'm not docking any stars for that. There are plenty of epic fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, etc. books in the YA world. Sometimes we just need a break! My go-to books when I need a break are generally cute, princessy books. But this time I chose Lola.

Lola is great. I love her. I read the first paragraph of the book & was like, OH MY. YES. She is me! A giant, frilly dress & combat boots! Story of my life! So I immediately loved Lola.

I also loved Max. I thought he was so patient and seemed caring enough. But the one thing - the absolute, 100% dealbreaker - was his temper. I don't do well with anger, EVER. So as soon as we saw that side of Max, I was converted. Cricket all the way.

Only Stephanie Perkins could give a character a name like Cricket & make me fall in love with him. Cricket creeped me out at first. I was unimpressed. He seemed awkward & not-so-attractive. Which is not usually what I expect from a love interest. But he was so smart and so sweet and his sense of humor wasn't blatantly obvious, but it won me over in the end. (:

I loved Lola's parents. Nathan and Andy were SO funny and I loved how I was able to picture everything they said and did and that made them even more entertaining! I also loved Lola's friends, particularly Anna & St. Clair. Obviously. I missed them. I was overjoyed to see them again.

Overall, I thought this book was wonderful. It was enjoyable & left me in a good mood. I took off a half star because Lola kind of got whiny and self-centered toward the end, and for some reason that really bothered me. But... she's a human. It's expected. I still love her. And I'm super excited to read Isla & the Happily Ever After!