I do have to say that I liked the ending way more than the beginning, but really only because I had a hard time getting one the same page as Lola. Obviously, the whole point of the story is that Lola is unique: the costumes, jewelry, bright colors and wigs....... So basically my antithesis were I to have one! It didn't make me dislike her, but it took me a while to really see her as a character with depth - which again, I guess is half of the purpose of the story! 
 I loved Cricket the whole time, but seriously. Cricket? I hate when books have really bizarre names. Calliope, ehhh not so bad. And I know Lola chose her name herself. But Lola and Cricket? Yes, these stupid tiny things do bother me! 
 Really liked seeing Anna & Etienne again! That was fun. 
 My heart melted in the end! A great Stephanie Perkins ending :) 
 Book review originally posted on The Book Addict's Guide: I had a right to be a bit reserved when I picked up Lola and the Boy Next Door. I absolutely FELL IN LOVE with ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS. There was no way this could be better. And at least for me, I was a little right. Anna was me. I was Anna. I just got her and then throw in a European romance and hellooooo. Heaven! 
 But Lola is a character. She's kind of my antithesis -- Not in a bad way. Just everything I'm not. Outgoing, into fashion, noticeably unique, bold. She lives on the other side of the country, she has two dads who adopted her from her irresponsible birth parents. She's dating an older guy who's also a rock star. Just none of that was really easy for me to relate to. It wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy. Don't get me wrong - Lola is a lot of fun! It just took me a while to warm up to her and figure out the depth of her actual character, a lot of which I don't think really came out until we got more involved with Cricket. 
 Small complaint #2: I don't like unusual character names. Lola. Cricket. Calliope (although that one's not as bad). It just really takes away from the story feeling as "real" as it could be and puts me farther from connecting with a character. 
 Okay, that being settled -- I loved Cricket. I felt so bad for him in the beginning where he's clearly still into Lola and she's clearly not in a healthy relationship with Max and the whole time I'm like, "Come ON just dump your stupid boyfriend and go be with Cricket!!!" He's so cute and quirky in a more relatable way to me than Lola was (although I really did warm up to her - especially when we got to see her "natural" side on a few occasions). 
 I think the beginning was a little bit slower for me than the second half of the book. We got a little more tension and it really took off for me and the ending was SO cute. Another great Stephanie Perkins book! I can't wait until she has more books coming out!