Monday, December 15, 2014

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door

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

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance
Pages: 338
Rating: 3.4/5 
Goodreads summary: click here

My thoughts: I'm kinda conflicted with my thoughts on this one because a lot of people like this book and gave it like a 5 star rating on Goodreads and said this was their favorite out of all three of the companion novels. And here I am liking it, but not really liking it...
I was so excited to start this book after reading Anna and the French Kiss and I hate to say it, but I was kind of disappointed. It did make me wish I had a cute boy living next door who I could talk to, but I was expecting the same giddy feeling that I had while reading "Anna" and it didn't really happen.
It might have been because I didn't relate and connect to Lola the way I did with Anna. I did like that Lola had enough confidence in herself to wear outfits that are very over the top with sparkles and glitter and colors that pop in your face. I wish I could have that bit of Lola in me where she doesn't care how people will judge her costumes.

Now some dislikes: I was a little mad at Lola for being with her boyfriend, Max. He was a jerk, a creeper, and I did not like him at all. He seemed like one of those guys who only want to get one thing from a girl.
Now to talk about Cricket. Guys, I just felt really bad for Cricket. He was kind of like a sad little dog following Lola around and kept getting rejected. And while I did like him, I didn't find him swoon worthy or find myself gushing over him. But, that's just me.
I won't go into much detail, but there's this part at the end with Calliope and her costume that just doesn't make sense to me. It just didn't feel like it fit into the story and it really bugged me.

Something I like about Stephanie Perkins stories are the family issues. I really liked the issue in this story and how it tied up in the end.  

Now to my favorite parts of this book...
...Where her ridiculously attractive, English-accented boyfriend is perched.
                He’s the other thing I like about Anna. Wherever she goes, he follows. 
Yup, it's Anna and Etienne!! They make a few appearances in this book and it was the best thing ever. I was so happy to see how they were living their lives after graduating high school from SOAP.
They weren't just my favorite scenes because Etienne was in them {although that was a plus ;)}, but because they truly cared for Lola and gave her some pretty good advice, and they were good examples for her. I love this snippet of advice that Etienne gives Lola:
“How do you and Anna make it work? You make it seem easy.”
“Being with Anna [is] easy. She's the one.” 
As if there's another reason to love Etienne more and then he says something like that^^...I can't even!

Even though I didn't love this book, the ending was nice and cute and it did make me happy...and super excited for Isla and the Happily Ever After.

Favorite Quotes:
“It’s easy to talk about things we hate, but sometimes it’s hard to explain exactly why we like something.”
AND
“I know you aren't perfect. But it’s a persons imperfections that make them perfect for someone else.”

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