Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss #2)
By Stephanie Perkins
Publisher: Dutton Books

To Sum It Up: Lola Nolan’s life is pretty sweet. She does well in school, stays out of trouble, and dreams of becoming a costume designer one day. With her unique fashion sense, there’s no question that this is her destined career path. Completing this picture of near perfection is Lola’s rocker boyfriend, Max, who she knows is the one. Things become complicated, though, when Lola’s former neighbors, Cricket and Calliope Bell, return to their old home. At first Lola tells herself that she’s completely over her former feelings for Cricket, but as his presence in her life grows steadily, Lola finds herself questioning who the one for her really is.

Review: I’m not a big fan of chick flicks. Occasionally I’ll read chick lit, but too many bad experiences have made me a bit wary of the genre. I’d heard so many glowing things about Stephanie Perkins’s Anna and the French Kiss, though, that I decided to give it a go. I’m so glad that I did. I loved Anna and was very eager to read Lola and the Boy Next Door. What I didn’t expect was that I would love Lola even more. It was simply a perfect read for me. The tone is a little more serious at times, but Perkins maintains her breezy, effortless writing style throughout.

Lola is such a free spirit. I love how she expresses herself through her outfits. I’d never have the guts to go to a school dance in a Marie Antoinette gown complete with towering hairdo. Like Anna, Lola is extremely likable. She has enough faults, though, to make her human and easy to relate to.

I didn’t like Lola’s boyfriend, Max, from the get-go. I found him kind of arrogant in an I’m-too-cool-for-you sort of way, and he just didn’t seem right for Lola. Once Cricket appeared on the scene, I got annoyed every time Max’s name showed up.

My attempts to write coherent, insightful paragraphs on male characters from Stephanie Perkins’s books inevitably devolve into gushing swoon-a-thons, so I’ll just give up the pretense right now. I. LOVE. CRICKET! Smart guys rock! (So sorry, Max.) Cricket possesses all of the qualities that you could ask for in a boyfriend; in addition to his genius-like intelligence, he’s kind, sensitive, sincere, and devoted to his family. There’s also an endearing kind of awkwardness about him that makes you love him even more, if that’s possible. Yet at the same time, Cricket always seems real and not like some prince who’s just walked out of a fairytale.

Like Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door is a character-driven novel, and Stephanie Perkins knows how to create truly memorable characters. You become completely absorbed in their lives, laughing along with them during the good times and wishing you could cheer them up during the bad times. I can’t wait to meet the new faces (and probably greet some familiar ones, too) in the upcoming Isla and the Happily Ever After.

All in All: I think that you can get away with reading this if you haven’t read Anna and the French Kiss first, but do yourself a favor and read Anna if you haven’t done so already. You won’t regret it. Then go ahead and read Lola. I need to add copies of both books to my shelves.

Cover Reveal: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

After a tweeting frenzy, it's finally here!

Why isn't it March 19 yet?

Top Ten Tuesday (9): Characters Who Should Get Their Own Spin-Off Series

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

It's a freebie week where you pick your own topic, and we thought it would be fun to do:
Top Ten Characters Who Should Get Their Own Spin-Off Series

1. The Marauders from J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter: Prongs, Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail. Who wouldn’t want to read a prequel series about them and their adventures? Of course you’d get to see Lily and Snape, too!
2. Abe Mazur from Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series: Abe’s a sketchy guy. We’d love to get an in-depth look at his day-to-day “business” transactions. Plus, it’d be interesting to see him charming Janine Hathaway.
3. Magnus Bane from Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices: He’s lived such a long life, he’d have plenty of stories to tell. We’d love to know more about his background and early life.
4. Puck from Julie Kagawa's The Iron Fey series: This cunning trickster is hilarious. It’s got to be hard sharing the spotlight with Ash, so why not give Puck a series of his own ?
5. Jasper Hale from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight: We enjoyed reading his backstory in Eclipse, and we would like to read more about his life before becoming a vampire.
6. Bubba Burdette & Mark Fingerman from Sherrilyn Kenyon's Chronicles of Nick series: These two zombie hunters may make you laugh with some of their antics, but they’re dead serious about their jobs. They'd be the perfect protagonists for a book series that takes place during a zombie apocalypse.
7. Jaime Lannister & Brienne of Tarth from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire: We have never wanted two characters to become a couple as much as we want these two to get together. Jaime and Brienne. Enough said.
8. Perri the Savage from Melina Marchetta's Finnikin of the Rock: There's something a little mysterious about him, and that’s what makes him such a compelling character.
9. Finnick Odair & Annie Cresta from Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games: Not only would we like to learn more about their time in the Games, but we’d also like to read about their love story from the beginning.
10. Ari & Janco from Maria V. Snyder's Study and Glass series: They’re one of our favorite duos ever. Despite the difference in their personalities, they seem like the best of pals. We’d like a glimpse into Janco’s troubled past and how Ari came into the picture.

What topic did you choose for your Top Ten this week? Let us know by leaving your link below!

Review: A Temptation of Angels by Michelle Zink

A Temptation of Angels
By Michelle Zink
Publisher: Dial Books

To Sum It Up: In a single night, Helen Cartwright loses her family and her home and is thrown into a world that she has unknowingly been preparing all her life to enter. Helen discovers that she is a Keeper, a descendant of angels who watches over Earth. With the assistance of fellow Keepers Darius and Griffin Channing, Helen must begin fulfilling her new obligations and find whoever is hunting down the Keepers.

Review: I don’t seem to be having much luck with angel novels lately. The plot synopses sound really interesting, but in the end, the books fall short of expectations. A Temptation of Angels gets off to an exciting start, with our protagonist, Helen, being ushered by her mother to a secret passageway in the middle of the night with instructions to flee their home and go to the address that her mother has given her. With such a promising opening, it was disappointing when the plot and characters turned out to be rather run-of-the-mill.

I think that Helen had the potential to be a dynamic heroine. She’s pretty accepting of the news that she’s a Keeper, applies herself to training as one of them, and, realizing the kind of situations that she’ll be dealing with now, has clothes more befitting her new responsibilities tailored for her (this story takes place in Victorian London). My problem was that Helen never seemed to display all of the depth that there actually was to her character. I felt as though the book skimmed the surface of her personality, thus leaving the character kind of flat. The same goes for the other characters; I didn’t find any of them especially memorable.

Normally I love novels which take place in Victorian England, but this one seemed detached from its setting. If London hadn’t been mentioned explicitly as the location, I wouldn’t have guessed what it was. If it hadn’t been for the descriptions of people’s clothing and the references to streetlamps and horse-drawn carriages, I wouldn’t have guessed the book’s time period easily, either.

Although the pacing is solid, the plot doesn’t stray far from your typical good vs. evil face-off. In general, this book had some great ideas, but they weren’t explored in enough depth to pull me into its world.

All in All: If you like books about angels, you might want to give this one a try. Personally, I needed more details about the world and more dimension to the characters. If these things had been better fleshed out, they would have greatly enhanced my reading experience.

Review: Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

Finnikin of the Rock (The Lumatere Chronicles #1)
By Melina Marchetta
Publisher: Candlewick Press

To Sum It Up: At the young age of nine, Finnikin and his two closest friends, Lucian and Prince Balthazar, draw their blood, pledging themselves to their kingdom, Lumatere. Despite their blood oath, during the five days of the unspeakable, the royal family is massacred, leaving Lumatere under the mercy of a false king. Lumatere’s despair crescendos when a powerful witch, Seranonna, curses Lumatere as she is burned at the stake under the false king’s orders. The curse leaves those inside Lumatere’s walls trapped within, while those who managed to escape are locked outside of their beloved kingdom. They are left to wander as exiles, with no land or property to their name. Finnikin manages to escape just before the curse steals over the kingdom.

Years later, after giving up the hope of ever returning to his precious homeland, Finnikin is confronted by a silent novice named Evanjalin. She swears that Prince Balthazar is alive and insists that with the Prince’s help, they can finally break the curse that has bound Lumatere for all those years. Finnikin and his trusted mentor, Sir Topher, decide to follow the mysterious novice on her quest to find the lost prince and restore Lumatere to its former state. Finnikin once made a pledge to his kingdom, and now, after all this time, he still holds himself to it.

Review: The thing I most enjoyed about Finnikin of the Rock was the setting of the book. I’m a huge fan of the whole fantasy and Middle Ages kind of setting, and Finnikin of the Rock morphed both of these into one! Marchetta is truly creative; I give her props for creating Lumatere and its people! Everything just sounds so cool; I’d give my left leg to be able to live in Marchetta’s world. Not only is the setting realistic in the whole knights and kingdoms sort of way, but there is also a great dose of witches and magic mixed in. The book is just that cool!

Besides my love for the setting, I also loved the characters and the storyline. I really liked Finnikin; I admired his loyalty and perseverance. Sir Topher was also pretty cool. But my favorite characters hands down were Finnikin’s father, Trevanion, and the Lumateran Guard. One moment they would be poking fun at one another, and in the next, they were defending each other in battle. The soldiers were like one big happy family, and I wanted to be a part of it! I also really enjoyed the dialogue between all the characters. It was just so easy and realistic, not to mention funny at times.

The one thing, or should I say person, I did not like about Finnikin of the Rock was Evanjalin. Evanjalin was all right at first. She was mysterious, strong, and a tad bit sketchy. But that was how she was supposed to be. I even respected her and looked forward to her biting comments. Near the end of the book, however, she started to change. In my opinion, under the circumstances, I thought that Evanjalin should have been getting stronger when in actuality she was getting weaker. She was turning wimpy and whiny on me and I did not like it! This annoyed me to no end. I felt as if Evanjalin had let me down.

In the end, I did enjoy reading Finnikin of the Rock quite a bit. I loved the setting and most of the characters. Marchetta really did a fine job creating this book. The reading was fast paced—a real page turner. Finnikin of the Rock has it all: action, sarcasm, mystery, romance, you name it! This is one of those books that almost everyone can enjoy.

All in All: I have to thank Lee for recommending this book. I’m glad that I read it, and I won’t be shy when it comes to me asking her if I can borrow the sequel, Froi of the Exiles! Go Froi! :D