Book Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy Next Door
Stephanie Perkins
Young Adult Contemporary
Published 2011

High schooler Lola is happy with her older (age 22) musician boyfriend Max and her constantly evolving wardrobe, until the rental house next door changes over again and her former childhood friends return: Calliope, a figure skater-turned-Mean Girl, and her twin brother Cricket, Lola's first crush who ultimately rejected her.

Lola has rather extreme reactions to everything; she can hardly bear the twins are back, but what's most difficult is that Cricket wants to be friends again. He's even better looking and more charming than ever. Lola is confused whether to forgive him for breaking her heart and then moving away several years ago, a fact her friend Lindsay frequently reminds her of. But when she and Max start butting heads, and when Lola's birth mother - the sister of one of her adopted dads - comes back into her life, Cricket is the one who supports her. He always seems to be around instead of on campus at nearby Berkeley, and ready to talk through his window just feet away from hers between their San Francisco row homes.

Lola captures all the emotions of changing circumstances with a mix of maturity and age-appropriate reactions. She does dumb things, but she's trying her best. The supporting characters are great - no one feels wasted. This is mostly a story of friendship blossoming into something more, and it's filled with a lot of fun and genuine moments.

This is the author's second novel, which is somewhat of a companion to Anna and the French Kiss, since Lola is friends with Anna and her boyfriend who now attend college in San Fran. It's not a sequel, but it provides some payoff if you've read her other book. I listened to the audio book which was excellent as far as narration and pacing.