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Last summer, I was told that I
needed to read Anna and the
French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.
Everyone said it was an amazing YA romance, but I was skeptical. How was it so
different from every other “girl meets boy, girl and boy have complications,
girl and boy live happily ever after” story? But it was. There was something
unique about the characters, and Perkins’ writing style made the story feel
real. She’s like a quirky Sarah Dessen. Her stories are relatable and leave the
reader with a happy feeling, but she also creates characters and situations
that shy away from the ordinary. So I was thrilled when I found out Perkins
wrote a second book called Lola
and the Boy Next Door.
Lola is a stand alone book, but two of the main
characters from Anna do play a big part in Lola’s
plot. Anna and St. Clair work with Lola at a movie theater, but nothing from Anna’s
plot is spoiled (unless you didn’t know that the girl got the boy in the end,
but I assume you figured that out from reading the title). While the two novels
share two of the same characters, its Lola’s turn to tell her story.
Published in September 2011 by
Dutton (an imprint of Penguin Group), Lola
and the Boy Next Door is about budding
fashion designer Lola Nolan. Cricket Bell grew up next door to her, but he
moved away when he was sixteen to support his twin sister Calliope’s Olympic
dreams. But now he’s back, and Lola is not happy about it. All Lola wants is to
date her cool, older boyfriend, to wear a crazy dress to winter formal, and to
never see Calliope and Cricket Bell again.
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To the reader, Cricket seems
like quite the catch. He’s tall, cute, smart, considerate, and knows how
special Lola is. But Lola doesn’t care about any of that. Cricket was Lola’s
first love, and his return adds a lot of stress to her relationship with Max
(the cool, older guy), putting her designs for a crazy dress on hold. Lola has
a flair for the dramatic, and occasionally that made it hard for me to root for
her. She has two loving fathers (she lives in San Francisco, what else would
you expect?), a rockstar boyfriend, a fun best friend, and a boy pining for
her. And not only is that boy pining for her, but their bedroom windows face
each other! Lola is living the kind of life Taylor Swift sings songs about! For
the majority of the book, I felt as though Lola had nothing to complain about.
If it weren’t for her birth mother’s unwelcome presence, I would argue that
Lola has a perfect life.
Despite her tendency to be
overly dramatic, I did feel bad for Lola. I couldn’t help but feel like she was
my little sister. I just wanted to shake some sense into her and give her a big
hug. Lola is the classic only child: she believes she is very special, and she
is a little immature from years of being coddled. She clearly needs an older
sibling, and I’m probably not the only reader who will feel the need to fill
that role.
Like Lola, this book isn’t
perfect. It doesn’t have the same magic that Anna had, but there
is still some spark. Lola and Cricket are clearly meant to be, but the timing
has never been right for them. Perkins takes the reader on a fun and emotional
journey as these two star-crossed lovers try to make things work. It’s funny,
and at times it is heartbreaking. But it’s not just about the relationship
between Lola and Cricket; the book explores the complicated relationship the
two have with their families. Cricket spent years putting his twin sister
before himself, and Lola must deal with the reappearance of her birth mother.
Lola doesn’t know what she
wants, and it’s hard for her to admit what everyone else already knows. There
were definitely parts of the story that could use more drama, such as the
reveal of why Lola hated the Bells, but Lola
and the Boy Next Door felt just as
realistic and magical as Anna
and the French Kiss.
Lola gets to have the one
thing that I, and I’m sure countless other girls, only ever dreamed about. She
has a cute boy next door who is in love with her. Any reader who loves YA
romance or fun, light reads will love Lola
and the Boy Next Door. Lola
is available in hardcover for $16.99 wherever books are sold or as an e-book
for $10.99.
Written by Chelsey Falco
