Lola and the Boy Next Door: Review

Title: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Release Date: September 2011

Published By: Dutton

Pages: 338

Goodreads Rating: 4.23 stars

Review: Anna and the French Kiss was one of the most hotly anticipated books of last year and certainly lived up to the high expectations; now here's it's sequel. Budding designer Lola lives and breaths costumes, and her life is pretty much perfect, what with her rock star boyfriend - that is, until the Bell twins, Cricket and Calliope move back to town. Suddenly everything changes and she must reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

Well, I mean, it is Stephanie Perkins, so of course LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR was absolutely incredible. Somehow she manages to slap words on a page and they become ridiculously addicting, weaving a gorgeous story that has you satisfied and entertained with quite a bit of depth to go along with it. I had such a hard time putting this book down, and I was always looking forward to picking it up again.

One aspect I especially loved was just how realistic the romance felt. Usually in books when the girl has to dump the current boyfriend for the shiny new (or in this case, old) boy, it's painfully obvious to everyone but the protagonist just how awful the boyfriend is. However, here, while it was still clear that Max was a jerk, I could definitely understand why she still felt lingering emotions for him for part of the book.

As for Cricket, well, he's no St. Clair. He was still sweet and adorable, but I wasn't feeling it for him that much, which may be due in part to the name and the pin-striped pants. (Sorry, but I don't dig a guy in circus pants.) He's still better than most love interests, but just didn't live up to the expectations I had set up after meeting St. Clair in the companion novel. However, I will say that by the end of the book, the romance was just so freaking adorable that I even teared up a little in a certain scene.

And speaking of St. Clair, he and Anna made a cameo appearance that was totally welcome. It was interesting to see them through the eyes of a new set of characters, and it added that little extra fun element the novel. And really, that's how I would describe this book: fun. There was, of course, plenty of emotional happenings to beef up the plot and depth, but this is the kind of book you enjoy so much that you wait forever in line get your hands on the next companion novel - and that's exactly what I'll be doing.

Anna and the French Kiss: Review

Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Release Date: December 2nd, 2010

Publisher: Dutton

Genre: Contemporary

Pages: 372 pages

Goodreads Rating: 4.55 stars

Review: Anna, unlike most teenage girls, isn't happy about being sent to Paris for boarding school. After all, things were finally turning around for her back in Atlanta, since she had a great job, a great best friend, and a great crush who was about to a little more than that. But soon, everything looks up when she meets some good friends, particularly the British-American St. Clair. St. Clair has a girlfriend, and Anna has a sort-of-boyfriend, so of course he's off limits. Except it soon becomes apparent that it's difficult to stick to those limits...

If you follow a fair amount of book blogs, you've probably seen a great deal of hype over this book. I haven't read a single negative review for ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS, and I'm not surprised. Despite the chick-lit title and cover, this is a book with more substance than that, a book with real situations and themes that a lot of people can actually relate to. 

The humor is incredible. I found myself grinning like a crazy person while reading this. Stephanie Perkins is a master at balancing humor with sadness and happiness and romance. And speaking of the romance, there was a lot of that and it was well done. I don't mean just kissing (although those scenes were quite good, too!), but other scenes full of romantic tension, like when St. Clair and Anna were sitting in the dark theater together with their legs almost touching.

The characters in this book were brilliant. While St. Clair was still definitely attractive, I love that Stephanie Perkins didn't make him absolutely perfect (physically and emotionally). Too many YA books have love interests that are completely beautiful in every way, but St. Clair, for example, was short. That actually added to his charm. Anna, too, was strong and honest but still flawed. While I was reading this, I wanted to be with St. Clair and Anna and all the rest and be their friends, too.

And one undeniably great aspect of this book? Paris. I've never met a person who hasn't wanted to visit Paris, and it's obvious the author did her research. This story was bursting with details about the city, from the food to the arts to the landmarks, and this only made me want to go there even more!

All in all, this was a fantastic book. I don't think it's something I'll remember very well months from now, but I loved reading it and I immediately recommended it to all my friends when I finished it. ANNA is more than just chick lit, as the title or cover may suggest - it deals with deeper themes and imperfect characters and, of course, Paris. I can't wait for the companion books!

Grade: A