Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy Next Door is the second book in the companion series Anna and the French Kiss. Lola is a somewhat quirky 17 year old, who doesn't wear the same outfit twice and loves to dress up in costumes. She has a boyfriend, Max, who is 5 years older than her, and plays in a band. And even though Lola thinks she is very much in love with him, things start to change when the boy she used to like moves back to the house next door.

I think my feelings for Anna and the French Kiss pretty also apply here. This is the same story basically, only reversed. Now, the girl has a boyfriend and she can't gather the courage to breakup with him, even though it's pretty obvious that she like Cricket, her neighbor. So once again, the story is quite generic and predictable, and again, Lola and Cricket dance around each other, have a lot of awkward moments, but somehow Lola doubts her feelings. I feel that the whole premise of the first book is the same. 

Lola can be pretty annoying sometimes. She can be childish and overly-dramatic, but I prefer her to Anna, because Anna really pushes my buttons for some reason. Also, Lola's whole quirkiness was a bit too much at times, it seemed pushed and came off as trying-too-hard.

Then Cricket. Oh boy, Cricket. I loooved Cricket. He really made me like this book so much more than I would if he wasn't in it. He is this cute, tall, geeky, smart and sometimes a little bit awkward boy. So yes, I did like him, even though he didn't really seem quite real, honestly.

Also, I felt the whole thing with Max was so obvious, as in how it will end. I mean, it's constantly stressed that he is this older, tattooed, jealous person, who hates Lola's friends and who always gets mad at her. And it's quite predictable how that relationship will end. 

Again, this book is quite stereotypical, like the first one, but again, it's CUTE. It's as every bit cute and fluffy as Anna, or even more (CRICKET). So once again, I have fallen under the spell of teenage drama and so called true love. But it's okay because I enjoyed it. And it made me feel nice and fuzzy when I read it. This book won't change the world, I know, but that's fine because it's...guess what? Frickin' cute.