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Lola, oh Lola, you astound me with your ability to turn me into a puddle of emotion. Lola and the Boy Next Door is the most perfectly executed and excruciatingly anticipatory love story I’ve ever read. Lola Nolan is � as I’ve dubbed her � badass chic. She loves to wear a frilly dress, but rocks it with combat boots. She dresses in costumes, not to disguise anything, but to be herself. And boy is Lola one hot mess of a girl. She has a sexy, rocker boyfriend named Max, but a strange and torrid history with her old neighbors, the Bell twins, who just happen to move back in next door. Unwanted feelings, ‘traumatic� memories, and the best romantic tension ensue.

Lola is one of those characters that are impossible not to love. Everything about her made me love her more. Her outfits, wigs, the way she thinks out loud � literally, she says it all out loud without realizing it � and the way she loves so completely. Her parents mean the world to her and she’s not afraid to show it. Both of her dads are the kind of parents that YA is severely lacking and I loved their involvement in Lola’s life. In fact, every single character is fleshed out and has purpose in the story.

Andy and Nathan � Lola’s dads � a pie bakery owner (via the kitchen) and a lawyer, respectively, are like any other dads. They enforce called check-ins when Lola is out, make the 22 year old Max come over for Sunday brunch, and freak when boys are in Lola’s room. Norah, Lola’s birth mom, even plays a role, by forcing Lola to open her eyes to things she maybe isn’t willing to see. Lola’s best friend Lindsey is not nearly as sparkly and colorful as Lola, but she’s her best friend and is there for her whenever she needs her. Anna and Etienne St. Clair make an appearance or two as well, so if you loved Anna and the French Kiss, be prepared for some more fun from them.

Then there are the Bell twins. Calliope comes off as very cold-shoulderish, but her years of being cut off from normal teen life as a world-class figure skater plays into that a great deal. Getting to know her and seeing her reasoning softens her a bit though. Now for Cricket. Yes, Cricket. Oh how I did not want to like him. Lola has a boyfriend and he’s sexy and a budding rock star, who suffers through double dad interrogation, and I really liked him. But then I LOVED Cricket.

How do you love a boy named Cricket? Read Lola and try not to. It’s impossible, what with his tight pants, enthusiastic nature, and constant smiles. He’s insecure, but somehow confident; a little geeky, but completely sexy at the same time; intense and funny and intelligent and selfless. He has this pureness and innocence about him that makes him perfect. But he’s perfect because he’s imperfect. His flaws � like Lola’s flaws � make him a great character.

There’s this part, towards the end, where Cricket tells a story and it killed me. KILLED ME DEAD. I loved it. I love him. I want to steal him away and keep him all to myself forever.

The romance in Lola and the Boy Next Door is absolutely, stunningly, delectable. Never before have I read something that creates so much tension and anticipation and that ‘pleasepleaseplease kiss� sensation so well. That’s what Lola will do to you. You’ll fall in love with these characters, with their lives, and their hopes and dreams. I know I did. The contrast in relationships between Lola and Max and Lola and Cricket is done so well. The two boys are polar opposites and have such different effects on Lola. The story unfolds with so much tension and so much longing that I was sitting on the edge of my seat the entire time. The journey that Lola takes to find ‘the one� isn’t easy, but the hardest things give us the biggest rewards, right?

Stephanie Perkins has more than done it again with Lola. She has outdone herself, improved upon her previous writing, and given us a story that will resonate with every single person who reads it. If you don’t love this story, then there’s something wrong with you because there is nothing not to love about it.

Lola and the Boy Next Door is a wondrously written book that will cause butterflies, squeals of excitement, sighs of delight/contentment/I’m in love, a heavy dose of pins and needles anticipation, then massive explosions of yesyesyesyesyesyesyes . . . with a little tearing up and anger thrown in for good measure. It’s easily one of my favorite books. Ever.