Waiting on Wednesday (46): Isla and the Happily Ever After

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. Visit Breaking The Spine to see more entries!

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins 

Release Date: September 17th 2013 by Dutton

Format: Hardcover

 Goodreads Summary:

From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever.

Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.

 Reasons I want to read & own this book:

1. The author. Stephanie Perkins. Thanks to her, I learned to appreciate young adult contemporary/realistic fiction. I completely fell in love with Anna and the French Kiss & Lola and the Boy Next Door. Her novels always have the perfect mix of realness and romance AND despite having a lot of depth, they tend to feel light. They are like magic on paper.

2. The settings. Paris and NYC. 'Nuff said. Stephanie Perkins has the amazing talent of making the cities in her novels a total character of their own. She did it in Anna and Lola. I know she will in Isla.

3. The secondary characters. Cricket Bell and Étienne St. Clair are in this novel. Two of my all time favorite male characters in books EVER. Made famous of course in Anna and the French Kiss & Lola and the Boy Next Door. I can't wait to read more of Cricket and his adorably sweet ways and about the hilarious, sophisticated and witty Étienne St. Clair and... his British accent. Le sigh ;)

What do you guys think? :)

Dreamcasting: From books to film!

I am a very visual person and when I read a book I like to envision in my head what each book character would look like in actuality and who could play their roles if they ever adapted that particular book into a film.

What is a dreamcast? Well, it's the cast of actors that you think would be perfect to interpret a character on screen. Today I will dreamcast four of my favorite book characters and explain why I think each actor would be perfect for the role of said character.

Dreamcast for Adrian Ivashkov; Lenah Beaudonte; Jem Carstairs; & Cricket Bell:

Douglas Booth as Adrian Ivashkov from Bloodlines

Currently Douglas Booth can be seen in the BBC One adaptation of Great Expectations as Pip. I think that Douglas would be perfect to play Adrian Ivashkov -the charming/bad boy with a secret heart of gold who comes from a Royal  vampire bloodline in the book series, Bloodlines by Richelle Mead- because Douglas definitely exudes charm onscreen and has a lot of sensibility but mischievous eyes when you pay close attention to him. Adrian is nothing but a charming character and on the outside he seems like a careless guy who only wants to have fun but inwardly he actually is quite conflicted and a little lost. Douglas definitely would be a perfect Adrian for me, he even looks quite regal, in my opinion. And for those who have read Vampire Academy and Bloodlines can assure you, for a Moroi vampire, you definitely need an actor who has charms but the looks to encompass what a Moroi vampire is and Douglas has both. 

Emily Browning as Lenah Beaudonte from Infinte Days

I think that Emily Browning would be a perfect Lenah Beaudonte from the book Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel because she has the ethereal beauty that is required of Lenah a former Vampire Queen who becomes a human again. Not only that, but Emily has a great sensibility and strength on screen that would be perfect for Lenah, a person that even though changed, still retains a sense of authority and regality from her vamp queen days but a sweet innocence all at the same time due to her newly regained humanity. I've seen Emily Browning in the films: A Series of Unfortunate Events and Sucker Punch and she is definitely an actress that can be both badass and vulnerable, all at the same time, just as Lenah is.

Harry Shum Jr. as Jem Carstairs from Clockwork Angel

Harry Shum Jr. can currently be seen as the charming and talented Mike Chang on Glee. As of Late, I have seen a new range of emotional depth from his character that has shown me that Mr. Shum is not only a great dancer but possesses a genuine vulnerability that could be perfect for Jem Carstairs from the book Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. Jem Cartsairs is young man of British and Chinese descent that lives in Victorian England as a shadowhunter (a warrior of angel blood who fights demons). He is intelligent, charming, sweet, loving and also has a tormented past that makes his story even more compelling. I think Harry definitely has a gentlemanly air to him, he is tall and has great stature, like Jem does and as an actor I think he could definitely be very endearing and portray the quiet confidence that Jem possesses to a T. All that would be needed is for Harry to dye his hair a silverish color and to wear contacts as Jem has silver eyes and then we would be good.

Matthew Atkinson as Cricket Bell from Lola and the boy Next Door 

So I recently discovered Matthew Atkinson because he plays Nick the charming jock who makes all the girls heart go pitter patter on the ABC Family show Jane by Design. This guy oozes charm and sweetness just as the adorable character Cricket Bell does in the pages of the amazing book: Lola and the boy next Door by Stephanie Perkins. Matthew even resembles the Cricket on the Lola and the boy Next door cover. He is tall, has a great smile, kind eyes and cute pointy dark hair that sticks up just as Cricket Bell's does. When I see Jane by Design and his character Nick comes on screen all I can think about is, "OMG it's Cricket, Cricket is on my screen, he is soo Cricket"!

Have you ever dreamcasted your favorite book characters? If you have, let me know about it. Also, if any of you have different dreamcasting ideas for the characters I've mentioned in this post, I would love to hear about them, as well. Thanks for reading :)

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Dutton

Release: September 29th 2011

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Pages: 338

Source: Bought

Goodreads 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 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.

My Review:

Favorite quote from this book: "It's easy to talk about things we hate, but sometimes it's hard to explain why we like something." - pg. 55

To say that I liked this book would be an understatement. I LOVED it. Lola and the Boy Next Door is the companion novel to Anna and The French Kiss (which was a superb book) so I had high expectations for Lola and I am glad to say that my expectations were exceeded.

Lola and The Boy Next Door was a magical read for me. It just evokes in the reader all of the feelings that come from falling in love. You literally feel like you have entered a relationship when you read this book. It just whisks you away on a pink cloud of awesomeness without you even knowing it. The highs. The lows. The misunderstandings. Everything that you would expect when establishing a relationship, you feel while reading this book. What's even more interesting is that this book covers really heavy issues (family drama, alcoholism, extreme perfectionism, abusive relationships, bullying, stereotypes, insecurity, drug addiction, etc) but you never feel like the book is dark or depressing or too raw. It always remains quite charming and adorable and I just don't know how Stephanie Perkins manages that but it's quite an amazing feat.

The main characters of this book are quite amazing. I loved Lola and Cricket. I know that some people might feel like Lola is an unrealistic character because of how extravagant and unique she is when it comes to dressing but I have to say that she is not that at all. Stephanie Perkins truly captured the essence of a person who has a true love of costume and design and a knack for art and creativity. I loved that Lola's wardrobe was so eccentric and expressive. The wigs, outfits and makeup Lola would use sounded like so much fun. She totally reminded me of a younger Lady Gaga. I thought she was a very brave and unique character. I just loved how she didn't want to be the same person everyday, that she experimented with her style. Cricket on the other hand was such an adorable character. I loved how he knew so much about inventing new things and was such an amazing brother, friend, and son. Overall he was just a charming guy.

The secondary characters in this book were also very fun to read. I really love how Stephanie Perkins creates such well rounded and fleshed out secondary characters in her books. They always have a unique talent or interest and I just think that it's great that her secondary characters never fall flat or feel boring. We also have guest appearances from two of our favorite characters from Stephanie Perkins' first book, Anna and Étienne, who are always so cute and adorable and fun (Étienne is hilarious and witty).

The romance in this book. Wow. Stephanie Perkins is a master at YA contemporary romance. I just love that her characters never fall in love in perfect conditions. That you always meet her characters in other relationships or confused or in denial about their feelings. It's as if you know that these characters are meant to fall in love but you never are quite sure if it will happen. It creeps up on you and Lola and Cricket were just such sweet people. They had what I would call, a refined sensibility. The really cared for what their loved ones thought about them and what they thought of each other. There were just some scenes between them that were beautifully written because they just evoked such genuine love. Such sweetness. Lola and the Boy Next Door is just a really lovely lovely book and the setting of San Francisco was so much fun to read about. San Francisco felt like a character of it's own in this book.

My advice: Read this book. You will fall in love with it.

Rating: 5/5