Review of Lola and the Boy Next Door

My review of Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins is based on an ARC that I won in a giveaway from Angela of Reading Angel. The following review is my honest opinion.

Goodreads Summary: "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."

Lola, Lola, Lola...what can I say about Lola? I wish I had half this girl's confidence, just half! She's not afraid to be herself, to dress however she feels, to be whoever she feels like being that day all the while being Lola. She's fun, clever, and adorable.

Oh, Cricket. He was absolutely adorable. He was smart, shy, and just a tad bit awkward. Cricket was the kind of YA boy that you could really see moving into the house beside you, perfectly attainable. I adored him.

One thing about this novel that might bother certain readers is the fact that Lola has two Dads, and I don't mean this in the sense that her parents divorced and remarried, I mean she literally has two fathers. Her Dad is G-A-Y. I haven't seen this before in any of the YA that I've read and I love that Stephanie Perkins was able to work this in and make it so normal. Because it is normal. And love is love. Rather David Levithan of her. So...BRAVO!

Though Lola and the Boy Next Door might come across as a romance, an absolutely lovely romance, it's also a coming of age story of Lola...of a girl finding herself and staying true to herself. I'm giving Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins a five out of five stars review. This was an amazing read, just as wonderful in all the right ways as Anna...and in some ways better. I'm thrilled to discover that there's a third companion novel coming out next year, I can't wait to read it!