Here's to Old Friends, Old Cars, and New Loves

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



There is something about Stephanie Perkins' writing that is so darn addicting. She writes these characters in a way where you can't help but care about them and soon she has them wrapped around your little finger.

Lola is a budding costume designer. She has a different wig for every occasion. She lives in San Francisco with her 2 gay fathers. She has a bad-ass rock'n'roll boyfriend, Max. A best friends who aspires to be Nancy Drew, Lindsey. And a dog named Heavens to Betsy. Despite her parents disapproval of her boyfriend, life it going alright for Lola.
Until the Terrible Bell Twins move back next door. Calliope, the self entitled figure skating goddess. And Cricket, her handsome(in a geek chic kinda way), shy, mechanical genius brother. The Nice Guy. Lola decided 2 years ago when they moved away that she hates both their guts and has spent most of those 2 years trying to forget about them. With their return come the arousing of all those old feeling Lola has tried to suppress. But she has a boy friend now.
With the help of her new friends and co-workers Anna and St.Clair (!!!) along with her parents, Lindsey and her embarrassment of a birth mother, Norah, Lola tries to make sense of her emotions and seek what is real.

Lets start with the obvious plus here: Anna and St.Clair are back!! that's right everyone's favorite Parisian couple is back for more. This time Anna and St.Clair are both working at the movie theater that Lola works at. Etienne also lives in the same dorm as Cricket at Berkeley.
Another thing that i feel i most mention is Max's car. Max drives a '67 Chevy Impala. To some this may sound extremely unimportant and stupid that this effected me so much, but im a geek like that. Because any self respecting, Dean Loving, Castiel Crazy, yellow eyed demon hating, Moosekateer who watch Supernatural know that the Winchester's (mainly Dean) are famous for their '67 Chevy Impala. I mean you can google it. so the mention of this amazing vehicle really sealed the deal that i was gonna love this book.
And while i think that Anna's book was more up my alley with the school in paris and her story, Cricket definitely gave St.Clair a run for his money. They are complete opposites, and so I love them both in different ways. Overall it was a great companion novel. I loved the reoccurring themes in both books. Perkins has a way with dialog. ANd her characters are so real you want to hug them.
So if your an Anna fan or just a fan of great realistic YA check this book out!!
I also just wanted to mention, has anyone noticed how incredible detailed this cover is? You can tell it was made just for this story. From crickets pinstriped pants, to his rainbow rubber bans, to the star on his hand. The fact that they are sitting on a windowsill with a lavender house behind them, and Crickets hair is standing up. I mean every little detail is right on the money with this. I don't think I have ever seen a book cover so greatly accurate with its book. Bravo, person in charge of cover art, brava.

View all my reviews