Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Dutton

Published: September 29, 2011

Pages: 338

My Rating: 4.5/5

Misc.: Contemporary, companion novel to Anna and the French Kiss

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.

Summary taken from goodreads.

My Review:
Stephanie Perkins is pure genius. Seriously. She is the sole reason I even read contemporary romance-y type books.  This was the perfect companion novel to Anna and the French Kiss.


Let's start with the plot. This book's main character, Lola Nolan, loves to create crazy costumes and just be herself, which some people have a hard time grasping. In the summer, her old next door neighbors, with whom she's had problems with in the past, move back to San Francisco. Their return brings back a stir of mixed feelings for Lola, and the book takes off from there. Stephanie Perkins' writing was amazing, as usual. Everything flowed together so well, and the pacing of the book was pretty fast. Everything worked together well.


I think my favorite part of the book would have to be the characters. Aside from the amazing love interest (and oh my, he was amazing. The chemistry between him and Lola was written beautifully), I loved the family dynamic in this book. When we first started reading, Lola and her dads seemed like a perfectly happy family. But like most families, nothing is perfect. There were twists, and I love how Stephanie Perkins was able to weave together the romance and the more serious issues. Aside from family, the Bells were my other favorite characters. Their entire family was so interesting and so well developed that I couldn't help loving their characters. And then I absolutely loved how Anna and St. Clair were more than just side characters. They played a crucial role in the story. The way all of the characters interacted with each other was just so well done that I can't get over it.


This was an amazing companion novel to Anna, but I can't really compare the two. Each were their own separate story, though they both shared Stephanie Perkins' writing style. I can't wait to see what Perkins has in store for us with the final companion novel!