Probably one of the most cliché adages I could mention on this site, being a book blog, is:

Don't judge a book by its cover.

While this phrase is generally used in application to interpersonal relationships, I'd like to take a moment to examine its barebones meaning, as well: don't judge a book by its cover. I will admit that I am guilty of wandering idly through a bookshop, finger and eyes both trailing across a sea of spines and titles, and I tend to gravitate toward the aesthetically well done. Meaning, they have a nice design, well-chosen and placed typography. Sometimes a title can affect things, but personally the title is the last variable in the haphazard equation whose result ends in my either buying the book or leaving it on the shelf.

Occasionally I can bypass this by being intrigued enough to flip through and read the first chapter - it's my rule of thumb that if I go into a bookstore and leave with a book I didn't intend to buy, I read the first chapter there to see if I'm hooked - and if I like it, I pick it up. Otherwise if a friend has discussed the title on their blog, Twitter, or at work, I can circumvent ignoring a book that I might have never read of my own accord.

Why does this even matter? As many of you probably know by now, the new covers for Stephanie Perkins' books have been revealed and I find myself not-so-secretly pleased by the new look. For the longest time I held off on reading ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS on the basis of two factors: the pastel, curlicue font, and, in ANNA's case, its title. The ANNA I created in my head every time I looked at the book was far different than the reality that I know and adore. I couldn't get past it. And then I finally read the book, holed up under the covers during Hurricane Irene, and I got it. I loved this book, I love its characters. I understood its title and I was incredibly grateful for finally giving it the chance it deserved. 

Still, when it was announced not long ago that the series would be receiving a makeover I was part-thankful, part-hesitant. I believed that a cover change could be beneficial in helping draw in a crowd of readers that, unlike me, may not have a group of people surrounding them telling them to give it a chance. While I won't post the new covers for ANNA and LOLA, as EW has that exclusive, here is the similarly themed cover for LOLA from Goodreads:

It is everything I love. Simple, bold font choices. Even-spaced typography and a beautiful sky-colored ombre. The rose? Almost a harken back to the old design, most likely intrinsic (like the heart and star) to the main characters involved. The most important thing ANNA (and, perhaps more aptly, LOLA) taught me, though, was to look beyond the design. It is the words, the emotion bottled between sentences that make the story come to life. The cover is just the doorway to Narnia.

Author: Stephanie Perkins
Publication Date: 09/29/2011
Publisher: Dutton
Pages: 338
Source: Purchased

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.

Note: I've removed the last paragraph of the goodreads synopsis as I feel that's something better discovered while reading.

Lola Nolan has grown up amidst the colorful and personable background of San Francisco. Each day brings a new outfit, and new possibility. She has everything a 17 year-old could possibly need: supportive parents, a sassy and smart best friend, and a handsome, older rocker boyfriend. Very little could upset the balance, until her childhood neighbors move back in next door. Lola is left to reconcile the past with her present, and well as a journey to find which of her outfits is truly herself.

I have absolutely no idea how Stephanie Perkins does it. Every single one of her books is perfect and effortless, evoking such depth of feeling that each page is practically bursting with honesty and hope. My heart is continually broken with such bittersweet poignancy, and then picked up with delicate fingers and pieced back together like puzzle pieces that shouldn't fit in that way but do, and better. I can relate to Anna and the French Kiss on a situational level much better, but there's just something niggling about this story that feels more relatable and closer as a reader. And that's where the magic really lies.

Not everyone has as plentiful a wardrobe as Lola, but I think most people can understand what it is to assemble an outfit that makes you feel like you can do anything or be anyone. A carpe diem outfit. Lola lives every day not like it could be her last, but like each day should be her best. I loved Lola. And I loved with Lola. I lived vicariously with her through each page, working through my beginning confusion as I pieced everything together, to hoping with Lola as she did the same in order to figure out what choices she should make.

The choices weren't easy. They should never by easy. But they were so well described that I ended this book with tears in my eyes because that's how it really is. Cricket is the sort of boy that every girl wishes they could have: smart, sweet, incredibly kind, and with just enough awkward geekiness that sets him on a level where you have to crack a smile when you see him. Except for the fact that Cricket thinks nothing of that about himself, and instead loves to help and please others more than anything else. The development and realisation of their friendship over the course of the story is more than worth the amount of bookstores I went to in order to find this book.

I cannot recommend this book enough. If you like to read, then you should read this. If you like a book that perfectly encapsulates that fluttery feeling of first love, then this book is for you. If you like boys named Cricket, well, you've hit the jackpot. Stephanie Perkins has outdone herself in the best manner possible.