stephanie perkins does it again! i loved this book and i read it in a day since i couldn't put it down. i'm still not sure if i liked this more than anna and the french kiss, but i really, really liked this book.

ok, so the characters: lola was refreshing to read about since she was so different. she was really quirky and fun and she was also flawed, too, which was nice. some of her costumes were a bit problematic for me, but whatever. also, there were a bunch of times where lola was all like "i'm not like other girls" and that kind of threw me off a bit because hearing/seeing that phrase makes me cringe. it's true that lola does sometimes think of herself as a special snowflake, but, all in all, i really enjoyed her as a protagonist even if she made bad decisions sometimes, because she still owned up to them.

and then there's cricket. can i just say: I LOVED CRICKET. i think i loved him more than etienne even. i just really loved him, i loved how he was always so fun, and he was so so so interesting. like, if i knew him in real life, he'd be the coolest person i know. i just really love him, even if he did say the phrase "nice guys finish last."

and then...max. for the record, i hated max since the very beginning, and not just because he was way too old for lola. there was just something off about him. as the story progresses, i hated him even more. he was so vindictive and acted rashly, he was rude to lindsey, lola's bestfriend, and he was just wrong.

also! i really liked lola's dads, and i was very grateful for them since the parents from anna and the french kiss kinda sucked, so i was glad we had actual good parenting in this book. i also really liked calliope even though she was kind of intense sometimes, but that's understandable considering the pressure she's under. aaaaaand i also really liked lindsey!! she was just the perfect friend and i loved that there was at least a little racial diversity in this book, since she was korean.

overall, this book was amazing and i can't wait to read the next one!