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A review by rallythereaders
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
5.0
Also posted on Rally The Readers.
I’m not a big fan of chick flicks. Occasionally I’ll read chick lit, but too many bad experiences have made me a bit wary of the genre. I’d heard so many glowing things about Stephanie Perkins’s [b:Anna and the French Kiss|9754815|Anna and the French Kiss|Stephanie Perkins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327889591s/9754815.jpg|7168450], though, that I decided to give it a go. I’m so glad that I did. I loved Anna and was very eager to read Lola and the Boy Next Door. What I didn’t expect was that I would love Lola even more. It was simply a perfect read for me. The tone is a little more serious at times, but Perkins maintains her breezy, effortless writing style throughout.
Lola is such a free spirit. I love how she expresses herself through her outfits. I’d never have the guts to go to a school dance in a Marie Antoinette gown complete with towering hairdo. Like Anna, Lola is extremely likable. She has enough faults, though, to make her human and easy to relate to.
I didn’t like Lola’s boyfriend, Max, from the get-go. I found him kind of arrogant in an I’m-too-cool-for-you sort of way, and he just didn’t seem right for Lola. Once Cricket appeared on the scene, I got annoyed every time Max’s name showed up.
My attempts to write coherent, insightful paragraphs on male characters from Stephanie Perkins’s books inevitably devolve into gushing swoon-a-thons, so I’ll just give up the pretense right now. I. LOVE. CRICKET! Smart guys rock! (So sorry, Max.) Cricket possesses all of the qualities that you could ask for in a boyfriend; in addition to his genius-like intelligence, he’s kind, sensitive, sincere, and devoted to his family. There’s also an endearing kind of awkwardness about him that makes you love him even more, if that’s possible. Yet at the same time, Cricket always seems real and not like some prince who’s just walked out of a fairytale.
Like Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door is a character-driven novel, and Stephanie Perkins knows how to create truly memorable characters. You become completely absorbed in their lives, laughing along with them during the good times and wishing you could cheer them up during the bad times. I can’t wait to meet the new faces (and probably greet some familiar ones, too) in the upcoming [b:Isla and the Happily Ever After|9627755|Isla and the Happily Ever After|Stephanie Perkins|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nocover/60x80.png|14515040].
I’m not a big fan of chick flicks. Occasionally I’ll read chick lit, but too many bad experiences have made me a bit wary of the genre. I’d heard so many glowing things about Stephanie Perkins’s [b:Anna and the French Kiss|9754815|Anna and the French Kiss|Stephanie Perkins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327889591s/9754815.jpg|7168450], though, that I decided to give it a go. I’m so glad that I did. I loved Anna and was very eager to read Lola and the Boy Next Door. What I didn’t expect was that I would love Lola even more. It was simply a perfect read for me. The tone is a little more serious at times, but Perkins maintains her breezy, effortless writing style throughout.
Lola is such a free spirit. I love how she expresses herself through her outfits. I’d never have the guts to go to a school dance in a Marie Antoinette gown complete with towering hairdo. Like Anna, Lola is extremely likable. She has enough faults, though, to make her human and easy to relate to.
I didn’t like Lola’s boyfriend, Max, from the get-go. I found him kind of arrogant in an I’m-too-cool-for-you sort of way, and he just didn’t seem right for Lola. Once Cricket appeared on the scene, I got annoyed every time Max’s name showed up.
My attempts to write coherent, insightful paragraphs on male characters from Stephanie Perkins’s books inevitably devolve into gushing swoon-a-thons, so I’ll just give up the pretense right now. I. LOVE. CRICKET! Smart guys rock! (So sorry, Max.) Cricket possesses all of the qualities that you could ask for in a boyfriend; in addition to his genius-like intelligence, he’s kind, sensitive, sincere, and devoted to his family. There’s also an endearing kind of awkwardness about him that makes you love him even more, if that’s possible. Yet at the same time, Cricket always seems real and not like some prince who’s just walked out of a fairytale.
Like Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door is a character-driven novel, and Stephanie Perkins knows how to create truly memorable characters. You become completely absorbed in their lives, laughing along with them during the good times and wishing you could cheer them up during the bad times. I can’t wait to meet the new faces (and probably greet some familiar ones, too) in the upcoming [b:Isla and the Happily Ever After|9627755|Isla and the Happily Ever After|Stephanie Perkins|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nocover/60x80.png|14515040].