Edition: 2014 by Usbourne Publishing
Goodreads description: Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion… she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit – the more sparkly, more wild – the better. And life is pretty close to perfect for Lola, especially with her hot rocker boyfriend.
That is, until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket return to the neighbourhood and unearth a past of hurt that Lola thought was long buried. So when talented inventor Cricket steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally face up to a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door. Could the boy from Lola’s past be the love of her future?
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I’m not going to lie, it took quite a while for me to get into this book and completely connect with the characters. I found the first two chapters confusing and found I had a lot of questions for Lola about her childhood, which were later answered, luckily.

But even saying that, I still found the first 50 pages or so quite badly structured. If I wasn’t determined to carry on reading, I could have easily put down this book and just forgotten about it, as I didn’t really want to read on.

Cricket.
His name explodes inside of me like cannon fire. I move towards our windows. His curtains are open. The bags he brought home are still on his floor, but there’s no sign of him. What am I supposed to say the next time we see each other? Why won’t he stop ruining my life?
Why does he have to ask me out now?

But after that, it really picked up. As you can see, even though I didn’t enjoy the first part, I am still rewarding this lovely book with four stars.

Because after learning who Cricket Bell actually is, and why Lola is adopted by two gay men, I could finally focus on the actual story.

And I really did lose myself in this book. I forgot I had a hospital appointment, which is always a good thing!

I found Lola intruiging, to say the least. I have to admit, at first I didn’t really get the costume thing. But now, I completely do. I really grew to admire her. I’ve done a bit of sewing, myself, so I can really see how much work Lola puts into her designs and outfits.

I also love the way Stephanie weaves difficult subjects into her writing, giving them a neutral viewpoint. I completely agree with her view of home education, as it did help Cricket, and put across the point that sometimes, school just isn’t for everyone, all the time.

Other things, such as age-gap love, long distance relationships and same-sex relationships are also portrayed in what I believe is the right way. That’s the main thing that made me fall in love with this book.

But still, even though I did really enjoy the story, even going as far to say I am completely bessotted by Lola and Cricket, something is holding me back from that big 5 stars. Maybe it was just the start of the book, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. So, even though I have a feeling I will be giving this series as a whole the big 5, this one has been given….

☽☽☽☽

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽