Life is a Masquerade, My Friend

Lola and the Boy Next Door

Written by: Stephanie Perkins

Released: September 29, 2011 by Dutton

Summary: 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 neighbourhood.

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.

I don’t think that I will ever be able to convey the amount of love that I have for this novel so I’m not even going to try because I’ll just end up talking in circles. Seriously, this is the type of book that I wanted to start reading all over again as soon as I finished the last page. I loved it even more than Anna and the French Kiss and I loved that book a lot!

Lola is such a strongly voiced character who you just can’t help but love. You follow her through this amazing journey of self discovery and first love and it’s so hard to tear your eyes away from the pages of her story.

And can I just quickly mention Cricket? Where can I find a Cricket of my own? I would love a guy who would let me paint his nails blue and who would cross between houses on a ladder just to get to me. Yeah, he’s also a genius and super beyond sweet. Please, someone find me a guy like this. It can be my Christmas gift, ok?

This is a novel that I’m going to be passing along for years to come, just like it was passed on to me (Thanks again Brenna!!!).

Lola is the type of novel that you really just have to experience for yourself so rush out and buy, borrow, or – well don’t steal it but you get what I mean. I give it a 10/10!

Love, love, love!