YA

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Anna and the French Kiss #2

lola and the boy next door -stephanie perkinsLola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better.

And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the 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.

3 Drink Me Potions

I came in really wanting to love-love-love it like I did with Anna and the French Kiss, but I just…couldn’t. I’m not saying I didn’t like it, it just wasn’t as great.

Lola is a VERY unique protagonist. She never wears the same thing twice, always having on a different costume each day. They’re wracked with bright colours, wigs of all shapes and sizes, and combined in such interesting ways. She’s not afraid to be who she is. And for Cricket, her love interest, he sounded very sweet and cute. He’s that kind of nice guy who would do anything for the girl he loves. But Stephanie Perkins didn’t leave him that boring sounding. He’s extremely tall, at 6’4″, and invents little automatons for fun. Oh, and he has a great sense of style. Not your typical boy with T-shirt and shorts/jeans. No, siree. His wardrobe includes wearing (tight) pinstripe pants.

Anyway, with these 2 very interesting characters, why couldn’t I love it? The pacing just wasn’t right for me. I hated Lola’s relationship with her rocker boyfriend, Max. He was a total tool. Yeah, he never cheated on her or anything, and he seemingly cared, but he was so jealous and possessive. We all knew he was totally wrong for her, but no! The story had to drag on with him in it. I couldn’t wait until the page they broke up. Honestly. Second best page ever.

I guess I wished there was more to their romance. Cricket and Lola’s, I mean. I just didn’t feel the chemistry between them as strongly as I did with Etienne and Anna. For most of the book, Lola was practically dragging her feet into admitting that she still had feelings for Cricket. Like, come on! Stop going back to Max and get your head together! I really wanted to scream that at her sometimes. It was frustrating, to say the least.

The ending was nicely wrapped up, of course. I felt that I had just finally gotten to the good stuff…and then it had to end. Sigh. At least Anna and Etienne were amazing secondary characters here. It did feel a little weird seeing them from a 3rd person perspective, though. All in all, it wasn’t a bad read. The chemistry was just lacking, and I wanted to slap Lola awake occasionally. But it was still romantic! (for the last twenty pages or so)

Overall Recommendations:
Lola and the Boy Next Door seemed to lack the essential parts of its predecessor, Anna and the French Kiss that made it so successful. Both protagonists were defined and unique in character, but the book felt like it was dragging its feet through the mud, waiting it out for Lola to figure out who was the right person for her. It sounds a lot like the underlying plot for the first book, but it was executed way better there.
This isn’t to say it sucked as the romance still had that Perkins touch, but I guess it could’ve been better. Having an amazing predecessor to live up to sets a high standard.

YA

Review: Free to Fall by Lauren Miller

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

free to fall -lauren millerWhat if there was an app that told you what song to listen to, what coffee to order, who to date, even what to do with your life—an app that could ensure your complete and utter happiness?

What if you never had to fail or make a wrong choice?

What if you never had to fall?

Fast-forward to a time when Apple and Google have been replaced by Gnosis, a monolith corporation that has developed the most life-changing technology to ever hit the market: Lux, an app that flawlessly optimizes decision making for the best personal results.

Just like everyone else, sixteen-year-old Rory Vaughn knows the key to a happy, healthy life is following what Lux recommends. When she’s accepted to the elite boarding school Theden Academy, her future happiness seems all the more assured. But once on campus, something feels wrong beneath the polished surface of her prestigious dream school.

Then she meets North, a handsome townie who doesn’t use Lux, and begins to fall for him and his outsider way of life. Soon, Rory is going against Lux’s recommendations, listening instead to the inner voice that everyone has been taught to ignore — a choice that leads her to uncover a truth neither she nor the world ever saw coming.

4.5 Drink Me Potions

Free to Fall has one of those plots that are commonly found in sci-fi/dystopian novels. Protagonist lives in a world that is (very) different from present day. The system that governs their every day is corrupt in some way, and the protagonist has to find a way to fix this in order to save society. This book has that theme running through it. However, unlike anything I have ever come across before, Lauren Miller added many thought-provoking themes within this central plotline.

In this society in the year 2030, set not too far off from our day in age, an app guides people’s decisions in everything they do. From small things like what to eat; what to wear; when to leave the house, and all the way to big decisions like applying for which schools to attend, the app Lux collects the data on each individual and provides the “best” opportunities for them. People no longer listen to their own little voice in their head that occasionally tell them to do irrational things that are sometimes against all reason. What do they call it instead? A psychological disorder called The Doubt.

The Doubt is a very unique aspect of this book. This concept is a pretty real one. Some people call it intuition, others call it the voice of God or even yet, a conscience or moral compass. Throughout the story, Milton’s Paradise Lost was referenced. Yes, religious undertones were definitely heavily weaved into the core of the story, but I think no matter what personal religious backgrounds you may have or not, this is the kind of book that really makes you think. In present day, how often do we go about and allow media and internet stories guide our every day decisions? It may not be as drastic as following an app, but the idea isn’t totally out of the realm of possibility.

From the synopsis of the novel, it could have gone in so many directions, but I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong in all my expectations coming into this. With secret societies, a prestigious school as the setting, a Mohawk-tatted love interest, and a school course that conducts real-life simulation scenarios that make me wonder whether or not I would have gone for a reasonable or irrational response, following Rory in Free to Fall left me thinking in ways not many books have ever done. It is definitely a very powerful read.

Overall Recommendation:
This was a deep and thought-provoking novel about our freedom to choose for ourselves. One can choose themselves and self-gratification (and hence, choose for their eventual fall), or they can make the decision to be self-sacrificing and listen to that inner voice in their head. With intense scenarios essentially allowing you to play God, Free to Fall leaves behind questions about ourselves and how we make our every day choices. This is nothing like anything else out there. Romance, secret societies, hacking and the next-level iPhone-like technology, I guarantee that this book would surprise you in ways you may not be able to predict.

YA

Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Anna and the French Kiss #1

anna and the french kiss -stephanie perkinsAnna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris – until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he’s taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near – misses end with the French kiss Anna – and readers – have long awaited?

5 Drink Me Potions

Romance, romance, romance galore!

I put off reading Anna and the French Kiss for a long time. I’m not sure why. Hype I guess? And even though there are a number of cliches in this story, and of course, a predictable plot line, the path of Anna and Etienne’s romance was unique and extremely adorable.

Anna isn’t quite like any girl I’ve read before. She’s not necessarily a shy girl, but she isn’t in the popular group at school. She’s not afraid to put herself out there when need be, loyal to her friends, and apparently quite attractive (so not the cliche of extremely handsome boy falling for a plain girl). Etienne is probably the most unique male counterpart I have yet to see. He’s American, yet has a British accent and a French name. He’s not very tall (there goes that cliche) but his presence and inner charisma is what draws others to him. Oh, and yes, can’t forget about his gorgeous hair!

The protagonists fit well together. I just didn’t love how long it took for their confused feelings to get it together and realize they had something special right in front of them. However, through their struggles, it brought out the emotions and strength of their friendship, which quite frankly is more important at times than the initial physical attraction which made fade.

And the setting was in Paris! Oh la la. What better place to have a beautiful romantic story in? It was depicted so well that it made me long to go back to the City of Lights. I could picture many of the attractions they visited, and could clearly imagine myself doing it with Anna and Etienne.

Overall, a job well done, Stephanie Perkins! She took an ageless plot line and made it into something of her own.

Overall Recommendations:
Anna and the French Kiss may have high expectations but the romance and friendship of the 2 protagonists are worth the ride as they navigate the budding feelings they have for each other. Through the highs and lows of their senior year, and set in the gorgeous City of Lights, what more could a romance story have? It is a whole deal package that no one should miss out on! A definite 5 stars!