Isla and the Happily Ever After

Some weeks ago I posted my reviews on the first two books in a series by Stephanie Perkins. Those books were Anna and The French Kiss (Review) and Lola and the Boy Next Door (Review) but there's a third and last part and it's the book I read first in the series: Isla and The Happily Ever After. As I said in the review of Lola's story, yes you can read them as a standalone but both Lola and Isla contain spoilers that refer to or the story of Anna or Lola or Isla so I recommend reading them in the publishing order. That aside, let's just talk about this book because out of all three Isla and Anna share a spot on 'my fav in a series'

Remember the school Anna went on? School of America in Paris? We're back there but this time with Isla who has a crush on the young artist Josh. She had her eyes on him since day one but they never really talked for hours. Maybe a quick hello but even that was sometimes hard for the shy but hopeless romantic Isla. But things change over the summer when Isla sees Josh in a coffee shop in Manhattan and they have there first long interaction. They grow closer with every page you turn but what they didn't know about their relationship was that it is forced to face uncertainty about their futures, and the very real possibility of being apart. Next to that they get into fights over their past and that doesn't make anything easy for them. But every relationship has their ups and downs and many ups might follow outweighing the downs. It's a story set against the stunning backdrops of New York, Paris and even Barcelona. Don't forget it's the conclusion to Stephanie Perkins's beloved series.

I can't really place my finger on what exactly it was that I enjoyed the most in this book... But the romance was definitely there. Actually all the feels where there! Because as I said every relationship has it ups and it downs and I, as a reader, felt all those feelings when everything was up and when everything was down. 

I could identify with Isla because she is shy and a hopeless romantic but also with the actions she does. As for Josh I just loved him. I guess it was because he's an artist and we get to see more about what he does because it's something special he's doing, believe me! And we also get to see the environment of an artist in the book. Whereas, if I have to compare Josh to Cricket, we can see all the things that make Josh Josh. In Lola's review I said that I wished we saw more of Cricket's inventions and the author made sure we now saw more of Josh's art, which is a bonus point . It's not only his art that we get to 'see' but also museums, this because he's really interested in the whole art thing. I can't spill too much, I don't want to ruin the fun so I can't say how or why we see museums but it's pretty much worth the read!  

What I loved most were all the different places we saw. Well only three and through the story of Anna we also saw a lot of Paris so nothing's really 'new' there but we also saw Manhattan. I've been dreaming to go to Manhattan for a really long time so it's cool to see some of it, even though it's through the eyes of someone else. It does give the same effect as in the story of Anna, where you just want to go visit that city because it's explained so well in the book that you can visualize it. It really wants to make you go there and I had that feeling even more when the story went to Barcelona. Just the way they go there, how they do it all and what they do, it's absolutely adorable! Again, I can't spill anything but let's keep it at: I enjoyed this book so so much! Another reason that I loved this book is that it's more realistic than the others, I guess. The feelings in the book seemed more real to me, probably because I could relate a lot during the book. Might also be because it gave a realistic picture of what a relationship is.

So conclusion: if you haven't read the book, go read it! But beware as I said in the beginning of this review this book will contain spoilers about the other previous books. So if you plan on reading them all, please read them in order. I'm begging you, I just want you to have the full experience without being spoiled.

"Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last?"

Lola and the Boy Next Door

I think every girl dreams about a boy next door. A best friend, maybe even more than just a friend and that’s why I was so curious about: Lola and the boy next door by Stephanie Perkins. I wanted to know if it was just as pleasant as in my dreams. And I also read the book because it was the second book in the series of Stephanie Perkins. The first one is Anna and the French Kiss which I also wrote a review on. You kind find that one here: Anna and the French Kiss Review

So what it is about: Lola and a boy next door. It’s kind of obvious right? But there’s more to the story. Lola Nolan is the daughter of a gay couple and her life is pretty perfect. She loves designing but not in just a normal shirt or a normal dress. Lola likes it a little more... different. The more expressive the outfit, which basically means more sparkles, more wild, the better the outfit will be. This causes a lot of attention and comments from bystanders and not always the positive kind of comments. But Lola doesn’t care, her parents love her, she loves herself and her rocker boyfriend loves her just the way she is. Right? 

But the perfect life starts to shake when the Bell twins come back. There was a time that Cricket and Calliope lived in the neighborhood but they moved some years ago. It left Lola a broken heart and she thought she was over it until Cricket comes back into her life. Lola must finally face up to a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door. 

I liked the book. I didn’t love it like I loved Anna and the French Kiss but it was okay for me. I enjoyed that there was a gay couple. I haven’t read a book where the parents are two dads or two moms and I found it very refreshing. Also it’s not that the two dads their personality was the same. They each had their own strengths and weaknesses. 

Lola, I couldn’t really identify with her. I’ve had moments in the book where I was like wow! And where I was surprised and glad I was reading the book anyway but some parts with Lola were not necessarily boring but maybe a little bit dreadful. I did like that she has this expressive personality and that she doesn’t care about what others think. Stephanie does underline this multiple times which made it seem for me that there was a life lesson in it. And also that I find very refreshing!

As for Cricket, he wasn’t the Étienne from Anna and he wouldn’t be my best book boyfriend either but he wasn’t wrong. He is smart, thoughtful and funny but I think it could’ve been a much more interesting character if there was more about his inventions. 

The story line was interesting. It’s not pure romance and I did have some frustration with some parts but overall: it wasn’t that bad. I’m not saying I didn’t like it because I did. I enjoyed it but I just didn’t love it as much as I did Anna and the French Kiss. Personal tastes is what you can call it. It was harder for me to identify with this character than with Anna. Also I started to enjoy it even more when the end was near, there are also very thoughtful and nice passages! So I do recommend the book but if I had to choose between Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door: I’d choose Anna's story. I enjoyed that one just better. Now that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read it! Or that I think that you’re wrong when you like Lola better than Anna! It’s just personal thoughts. 

If you haven’t read these books and you want to read them but you can identify more with Lola or you just like the story better: You can read Lola first or only Lola. But mind that as well in this book as in the third (because yes there is a third book), there will be references to Anna and the French kiss. These references DO CONTAIN SPOILERS! So if you’re planning on reading all 3 books, I highly recommend reading them in the order they’ve been published. Unless you’re like ‘Hey, I don’t mind that. I just want to read this one first and then that one, as I please.’ I didn’t read them in the order they’ve been published. Simply because I wanted to read Anna in Paris so I started with the latter in the series because the story sounded more exciting than Lola's. So I’ve been spoiled for Anna. That kind of sucked but also didn’t because I love it that the writer makes the other characters reappear but if you didn’t read it in the ‘right’ order: you’ve been spoiled for the other books. So beware!

"Could the boy from Lola’s past be the love of her future?"