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May 24, 2015artemishi rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Lola and the Boy Next Door is kind of a sequel to Anna and the French Kiss. Kind of, because while Anna plays a small part in it and it's written by the same author, it has no true continuation of the initial story. It's adorable, and very typically contemporary YA romance. But I didn't care for it. I loved, and related to, Anna. A lot. Lola, though....I love the costuming, and I totally understand her teen pettiness. I just don't feel connected to her at all. I'm also starting to get weary of the 'special names' thing that contemporary YA is so enamored of. Cricket? Calliope? Lola? What happened to the Bobs, Matts, Megans and Jennys of the world? But mostly, it annoyed me because it revolves entirely around a love triangle. And I HATE triangles. Especially when the author clearly makes one of the love interests into a villain, and the other one isn't flawed at all. A) people, and life, don't work like that B) it's boring C) the main character looks even more idiotic because she can't choose which one, given this easy-choice setup Anna and the French Kiss has a love triangle, but it was muted, and more realistic (and everyone was flawed, and there was no clear good-choice/bad-choice, just Protagonist and Other.) So I know Perkins can write this better. And if she phoned it in with this novel, which should I read her third (Isla and the Happily Ever After)? Just to see more quirky characters? I dunno, if you've read Isla, please tell me if it's worth my time. I was so let down by Lola, given my expectations after Anna, and I don't want to go through that frustration again. If, unlike me, you like a contemporary YA romance love triangle that is fairly shallow and has quirky/cute characters, you might enjoy it. But read Anna and the French Kiss, which is (in my opinion) better. If you read Anna, you do not need to read this one. Move along, folks, nothing to see here.