Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Goodreads Summary: Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood. 

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

Why I Read This Book: Since I loved Anna so much, it only seemed natural to check this book out as well.


Review: I really liked this book, a lot. It was cute, and completely unputdownable (not a word, so what). Perkins writes in a way that even though you know it`s going to happen, you are dying to know when, and how so badly that you just. can`t. stop. reading! The story is similar to your average YA contemporary love story, but it just feel so genuine, that it is also different in a way. The character Lola is very eccentric in the way that she portrays herself to the world, but she is still just a teenage girl, and she acts like one as well. It seems Perkins has been criticized in some reviews for the "zany" way Lola acts, but I didn't think it took away form the story, it actually added to it. As much as I can't picture someone dressing like that in real life, I think this side of Lola was done for a reason that was very much an integral part of the story. Overall, there was only one small problem I had with the book, and it was that the characters Anna and St. Clair were in this book (not my problem, I was happy to see them!) but the problem was that in this book they didn't really act the way I would have pictured from their characters in Anna and the French Kiss, it seemed they were just written in to this one to call it a sequel of sorts, but they actions fit whatever Lola needed from them, and not necessarily what I could picture from them as developed characters from another book. Minor peeve, but nonetheless, I didn't really like that.
Overall, great book, full of all the necessary warm-fuzzies I read these type of books for!


Rating:

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Goodreads Summary: Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home. As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

Why I Read This Book: The one is so popular around the blogosphere, and has such great reviews, I couldn't not pick it up. Also, I love me a little teen contemporary romance :)

Review: Oh Anna and the French Kiss, how did I love thee, let me count the ways! No particular order:

• The setting! Paris, I love it! I took a school trip to Paris when I was 17 (Anna's age in the first half of the book) and the nostalgia for the places she visited was overwhelming. I could just picture me and my best pal Anna (yes, that is the real name of my real life friend who I went with!!) exploring the places described in the book. I love reading books set in places I have traveled.
• Short chapters! This propels you in to reading longer than you had planned! You get hooked in a book, and since the chapters as short, you keep going "I'll just read one more, then go do whatever I'm supposed to be doing"
• The characters felt very real, I mean, there was drama a plenty, but it wasn't just for entertainment, I could picture myself and people I know making those exact decision when we were that age. Sometimes the "he-said-this-but-means-this-so-she-did-that-when-she-should-have-done-this" seems fake, and you groan at the poor choices authors make, but here I could see myself ignoring some situations and then blowing up in others just the way Anna did, because she's 17-18 and that's how 17-18 year old's act! I also liked the realistic teen drinking scenes, because yes, that is exactly what happens when high school students drink!

Overall, I really really liked this book, and I totally understand all the hype surrounding it. It was quick, fun, and charming to read, I loved it!

Rating: