Title: Lola and the Boy Next DoorPublication Date: September 29, 2011 by Dutton
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Format: Trade Paperback
Plot 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 negihborhood. 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.
The Actual Review:
Lola and the Boy Next Door is the second book in the series, and my review for the first book, Anna and the French Kiss can be found here.
In Lola and the Boy Next Door, Stephanie Perkins gives us a new and fresh set of character protagonists. Of course, we still see a lot of cameos from Anna Oliphant and Etienne St. Clair, the former protagonists of the first book, just enough for the fans of the old book and couple to make that transition between the new set of leads, because the book now revolves around the romantic story of Cricket Bell and Lola Nolan.
The two books are almost completely opposites (in a good way) of each other. While Anna and the French Kiss will totally hook you and make you fall immediately in love with its characters, this book needs more time before you fall for its characters. I don’t know whether it’s because I'm still hung over with Etienne and Anna, but this one will slowly ensnare the reader into its trap and you won't realize it until it’s too late! You'll only notice it when you’re in the last hundred or so pages and the FEELS are suddenly catching up to you.
The story may seem to quite drag a bit at the start because I felt that I’m being left in the dark about what happened. Why did the trepidation suddenly boom up inside of her ever since the Bells came? How exactly did Cricket break Lola’s heart? And during that entire wait for the revelation, I can’t help but be aggravated because I don’t understand what Lola was going through, and one it was revealed in page 130, the story picks up from there.
Cricket and Lola, aside from needing time to fall for them, I found that they are much complex than our former to protagonists. You see that there is this deeper, inner turmoil that surrounds the two of them, and that being compared with Etienne and Anna, you realize that they have their work cut out more for them because of the things going on with Lola and Max, and then with Lola and herself after the Lola and Max incident.
Aside from Lola, there were also some characters that I didn’t expect to love. In the case of Calliope Bell, you get to the reason behind her hostility and affront, and once the book had shed some light on her character, you can’t help but to take pity on her. Another character that I have loved was Norah. At first I can’t help but o dislike her for being wasting her life but as the story progresses, you see that there’s more to than just being a total mess. We see that she is actually one of the wisest characters in the book, and that even though she left Lola to the care of her uncles, we see that she still cares for her. I just loved the development of her relationship with her daughter.
Overall, I think that the book is amazing, albeit the characters need some time to be getting used to, but once you do, you’ll realize that you can’t make yourself to put down the book. And once you’ve finished it in one seating, you’ll find yourself craving for stories about the characters, and that this is a book work being hung-over.
My Rating:
The Actual Review:
Lola and the Boy Next Door is the second book in the series, and my review for the first book, Anna and the French Kiss can be found here.
In Lola and the Boy Next Door, Stephanie Perkins gives us a new and fresh set of character protagonists. Of course, we still see a lot of cameos from Anna Oliphant and Etienne St. Clair, the former protagonists of the first book, just enough for the fans of the old book and couple to make that transition between the new set of leads, because the book now revolves around the romantic story of Cricket Bell and Lola Nolan.
The two books are almost completely opposites (in a good way) of each other. While Anna and the French Kiss will totally hook you and make you fall immediately in love with its characters, this book needs more time before you fall for its characters. I don’t know whether it’s because I'm still hung over with Etienne and Anna, but this one will slowly ensnare the reader into its trap and you won't realize it until it’s too late! You'll only notice it when you’re in the last hundred or so pages and the FEELS are suddenly catching up to you.
The story may seem to quite drag a bit at the start because I felt that I’m being left in the dark about what happened. Why did the trepidation suddenly boom up inside of her ever since the Bells came? How exactly did Cricket break Lola’s heart? And during that entire wait for the revelation, I can’t help but be aggravated because I don’t understand what Lola was going through, and one it was revealed in page 130, the story picks up from there.
Cricket and Lola, aside from needing time to fall for them, I found that they are much complex than our former to protagonists. You see that there is this deeper, inner turmoil that surrounds the two of them, and that being compared with Etienne and Anna, you realize that they have their work cut out more for them because of the things going on with Lola and Max, and then with Lola and herself after the Lola and Max incident.
Aside from Lola, there were also some characters that I didn’t expect to love. In the case of Calliope Bell, you get to the reason behind her hostility and affront, and once the book had shed some light on her character, you can’t help but to take pity on her. Another character that I have loved was Norah. At first I can’t help but o dislike her for being wasting her life but as the story progresses, you see that there’s more to than just being a total mess. We see that she is actually one of the wisest characters in the book, and that even though she left Lola to the care of her uncles, we see that she still cares for her. I just loved the development of her relationship with her daughter.
Overall, I think that the book is amazing, albeit the characters need some time to be getting used to, but once you do, you’ll realize that you can’t make yourself to put down the book. And once you’ve finished it in one seating, you’ll find yourself craving for stories about the characters, and that this is a book work being hung-over.
My Rating:
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I just reread this one to get a new perspective. I have a new appreciate of what Lola was going through. I have the same feeling of sort the first time I read this right after Anna's story.
ReplyDeleteCharacter development! :) You were the only one who I talked about it and actually thought the same!
ReplyDelete