Review: Lola and the Boy next door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy next door

                                         By Stephanie Perkins

This is the book that follows Anna and the French Kiss also by Stephanie Perkins. This story talks about Lola or Dolores who is a really extravagant person. She never wears the same outfit twice, she dresses all sorts of wigs and make up styles and colorful outfits (which I really like about her).She has a twenty-two year old boyfriend named Max who she is deeply in love with but starts to wonder if he is really the one once her former neighbor Calliope who she did not get along with comes back. And she is back with her twin brother Cricket.

This book might be my least favorite out of the three just because it was hard for me to relate to a character like Lola, she is just so outgoing and rebellious, which I am definitely not. I loved Lola’s craziness and how she expressed her feelings in her eccentric outfits and that was kind of the only way I could relate to her (though I do not dress in crazy outfits but I am kind of crazy when I am in my comfort zone) otherwise I didn’t really understand her feelings of rebellion and it didn’t help that I really didn’t like her rocker twenty-two year old boyfriend (which I start strongly –disliking at the end). I still really enjoyed the book nonetheless and it was pretty sweet and showed how messed up but united her family actually is.

Talking about her family I loved Lola’s dads, yes dads. Her fathers are gay and it just makes the story so much more different from others. Some people might find it shocking but I really didn’t mind, plus her fathers were so supportive of her and so protective of her as well which was really adorable. I also really like how Stephanie Perkins didn’t discriminate homosexual people in any way because now a days a lot of people judge gays and lesbians which I find really rude and I am so grateful she didn’t do.

It was nice to see how in the end her problems with her family seemed to have almost vanished and I loved to see her relationship problems with her mom seemed to go as well and they were still not on the best terms but they were much more attached and friendly towards each other than at the beginning. Also at the end Lola changes a bit and learns things about herself that make her feel more confident and it’s just so nice and heartwarming to see (or read in that case).

Also Cricket, He is just such a cute character his describe as extremely tall and thin and just like Lola he dressed differently, maybe a tiny bit less extravagant then her but still pretty different then what most people in the streets wear. He is also so supportive of her as well and doesn’t really mind her crazy outfits or if she is just dressed in her less eccentric outfits. Plus he doesn’t pressure her into anything he doesn’t tell her to leave her boyfriend he lets Lola do the thing she thinks is right and I found that twenty times sweeter than her jerk of a boyfriend Max who doesn’t even acknowledge Lola’s friends.

Overall this book was all kinds of awesome even though I didn’t agree with Lola’s opinion and sometimes actions I still found her to be an awesome character with lots of personality who was part of a lovely story.