Review Detail

LOLA is definitely another amazingly addictive novel by Stephanie Perkins. But If I'm honest, I didn't like it as much as I liked Anna and the French Kiss. I think it's because I read ANNA first - the writing styles between the two books are very similar, and I think ANNA has a bit more humor than LOLA did.


Lola Nolan is a frustrating character. Most of the time, I love her, because she has her own hobbies, she's different, she wears whatever she wants and doesn't care what people think most of the time. But she's also realistic, because there are times when she does care, when she gets just as insecure as the rest of us. But the rest of the time, I was just angry with her. I don't understand what sees in Max. At all. And it's not just because I liked Cricket. I wouldn't have understood even if Cricket hadn't existed. And then there was the fact that Lola was stringing Cricket along a little too much for me. She knew he liked her. She knew she had a boyfriend. She practically encouraged Cricket half the time. It was just a disaster.


Another thing I had a problem with was the writing. In some parts, the emotions were amazing. In others, they were . . . lacking. And I think Perkins has to work on the whole "Show-not-tell" thing. Saying things like "I start to get angry" made me angry. It's okay to do that sometimes, but Perkins did it a few too many times for me.


AND NOW, ONTO THE GOOD THINGS. Cricket being the obvious one. I loved Cricket. He was adorable and didn't come with a bagful of drama. (I suppose I could argue that Calliope, his twin, is that bagful of drama, but I won't, because she didn't really cause a bunch of problems, except for a certain thing she did two years ago.) And he also had an awesome hobby, he was very realistic, and I LOVED HIM.


Another thing I loved is how Stephanie Perkins manages to write books that I can't stop reading. I stayed up until almost two in the morning reading this, and I don't even care. I'm glad I did it.


Another thing: ANNA AND ST. CLAIR! They were in this more than I was expecting. And St. Clair-who-I-can't-call-Etienne was still adorable.


Overall: Although I enjoyed Anna and the French Kiss more, (and am probably going to go reread that now) Lola and the Boy Next Door was still an adorable book that I couldn't put down. 4 stars.