Contemporary March #8: Lola and the Boy Next Door

*CONTAINS SPOILERS

 

Goodreads: 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.

 

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door has a classic plot to it with a twist.

Plot:

• Girl's dating a boy.
• Girl's best guy friend likes her likes her.
• Girl starts returning the feelings.
• Girl is torn between the boys.
• Girl breaks up with boyfriend.
• Girl gets together with bgf.
• Happy Ending

The twist:

• Boyfriend is 5 years older than the girl.
• Girl's virginity isn't precious. She already lost it to the boyfriend.
• B.G.F. was once a 'boyfriend' to the girl, but then had to move, again.
• In my opinion, boyfriend is looking for a good time instead of commitment (even though he says he loves her).
• Sex plays a decent role in the book.
• Girl is into making costumes.
• Parents are gay.

This book was okay. I liked it, but I didn't love it. It wasn't one of those book that instantly clicked with me. Maybe it was because I was reading one book for English that took up most of my time (The Grapes of Wrath--horrible book), or that I was reading another book on the side. I don't know, but don't get me wrong, I did like it.

I want to say it was the classic plot. Girl getting through high school with an extremely close friend and a talent most people think is weird. I've several books like this. The only differences were the ones I listed above. I mean, how many books like this have you read with gay awesome parents? Not many.

One thing I did really like about this book was the way they protrayed sex. In the book, Lola does lose her virginity prior to the book to her boyfriend, and then has sex at least twice more afterward. So, instead of that "Oh, I'm going to wait until marriage to have sex!", Perkins shows what really happens these days with high schoolers/young people dating. More and more teens are having sex these days. I'm surprised that the sales of birth-control haven't spiked yet. But at least it isn't innocent love.

Cricket. Loved him. I feel sorry for him though. According to him, his great-great-great grandfather, Alexander Graham Bell, stole the idea of the telephone from someone else and took all the credit. And hates that the money the family has comes from the stolen idea. Plus, he feeling that his genius in engineering is a bit bad because of who he got it from. Though he does like his talent too.

Cricket isn't like most boys in YA. He's a tall, lanky, cute nerd. Not a hunk. It's different and I like it. Plus, he has cool pimp-stripped pants. :D And he's only a year older than Lola. It's better than five.

Lola is a different heroine from most YA heroines. Instead of being a paranormal fighter or some soft sweet girl or a girl trying to find her life, she's just a regular girl wanting to get through life with her mother bothering her family and having fun with her boyfriend while working at the local theather. A lot, but she's pretty normal, except the fact she wears costumes she creates and wiggs. Now, most people would view this as weird and she trying to hide who is actually is, like what her jackass (pardon my French, but it's true) boyfriend thinks, but it's the way she expresses herself. Plus, it shows off what she can do. The only thing I didn't like was her choice of a boyfriend. She could do so much better. Her boyfriend, Max, screams bad boy/gang member/pot head, which he is 2/3 of it. Thank God....let's leave it at that.

Calliope is a brat. From a young age, she's been a competitive figureskater. And with that, her schedule and coaches have made the family move constantly to the point where both were homeschooled. Cricket hates it, but no one really cares. And because they were always traveling, Cricket was her only friend. And she got protective of him, and because she didn't want to be lonely or be left behind when he went to college, she tried to push Lola away from him. What a brat! I really hate people like this. I wish they would stop thinking of themselves and see that keeping that sibling close to them is doing damage.

Future: Standalone.

Quotes:

"No. You're delightfully screwy, and I wouldn't have you any other way. Drink your tea." Max (unfortunately) pg. 17

Despite the fact that I didn't love this book, I still recommend it to anyone who loves contemporary. It's a cute read filled with costumes and gadgets made by our colorful characters.

Rating:

Cover:

Ending:

*I won this book. No review necessitary.

 

Keep On Reading!

 

Up Next:

Actually, the review for this will be up soon. I finished this one Thursday. :D