First love and second chances || Lola and the boy next door by Stephanie Perkins

Title:Lola and the Boy Next Door

Author:Stephanie Perkins

Release Date:September 29th 2011

Publisher:Dutton Books

Synopsis:
Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the 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.

One of the main reasons why I took this book up,is because I really wanted to like a Stephanie Perkins book.She is a favourite among contemporary fans,so I thought I'll love her when I took up Anna and the French Kiss about an year ago.But unfortunately,*looks around and whispers*I ended up DNF-ing it.

I can literally hear your gasps.

And it sucked being the black sheep,so in my attempt to give Perkins a second chance,I wanted to read Lola and the Boy Next Door,and to my surprise I actually liked the book a lot despite not liking Anna and the French Kiss.

Just like I said in my post title,Lola and the Boy Next Door is about first crushes and second chances.We all have that first crush who we can't forget no matter how much time has passed.First love is a beautiful thing that will always have a special place in our heart,and Lola gets a second chance with her first crush,and this story is about how she uses that chance.

I really liked Lola's personality. I've always admired people who are daring in their wardrobe choices,and have a unique style for themselves.Though I myself would never even dream of being like Lola,I loved her costumes and wigs and desire to go to prom in a Marie Antoinette dress.

“I don't believe in fashion. I believe in costume. Life is too short to be same person every day.” 

But that doesn't mean that I was totally happy with Lola either.At times she behaved quite stupidly and immature and I couldn't help but be irritated by her.I know that it's normal to make mistakes and bad decisions,but when a better choice is just hanging in front of your face,why choose the other one?At times I just wanted to shake her and give her a piece of mind.

I mean come on,there's a wonderful,cute guy who obviously likes you a lot and you still choose  someone who doesn't even respect you for who you are?

Btw,why am I only using Santana gifs?

Whatever,let's get back to the topic.

Cricket Bell was adorable,cute and you can't help but fall in love with this guy.I have a huge soft spot to geeky guys,and Cricket is the ideal nerdy love interest.His love towards Lola was so sweet and I really adored how he was waiting for her with so much patience.I think that Stephanie Perkins just ruined all real guys for me and all readers because I am dead sure that no real guy can be this sweet as Cricket.

“And if I'm the stars, Cricket Bell is entire galaxies.” 

And their love story was cute and adorable.Normally I am not a huge fan of sweet romances as I prerfer my love stories more intense,complicated,raw,heartbreaking and emotional.But looks like Lola and the Boy Next Door is my exception,as I enjoyed the cute romance a lot as well.It's mostly because the story is about second chances-which is a concept I really love in book romances.

“So do you believe in second chances?" I bite my lip.
"Second, third, fourth. Whatever it takes. However long it takes. If the person is right," he adds.
"If the person is... Lola?"
This time, he holds my gaze. "Only if the other person is Cricket.” 

Overall,Lola and the Boy Next Door is a cute,sweet love story with quirky and wonderful characters which will appeal to any reader who loves fluffy and sweet romance stories.At the same time,I won't recommend it to anyone who likes more emotional stuff like me,because even though I myself ended up liking it surprisingly,I don't think it will work for everyone who have similar tastes as me.