When I Play With Doll-Makers: Lola Nolan

(from Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins)
Hey Blogger Buds,
New weekly (hopefully) meme (hopefully) time! I have no idea what to call it, so PLEASE leave me any name suggestions!

"When I Play With Doll-Makers" is a weekly meme here at Riv Reads every Thursday. Doll-making websites, like elouai, are my guilty pleasure, and I figured that while I'm on them, I might as well fan-girl a bit! And while I'm doing that, why not share some of my creations on the blog?
Please don't use this meme without express permission from myself first.
Unless otherwise stated, all dolls are made with elouai.

There you go! A virtual doll every Thursday, special for YOU my blog readers. I ask that you do NOT claim these as your own, or alter them in any way (of course, you can make your own, and if you do I'd love for you to link them in the comments!) that they can pass as your own while still being mine.
Please don't use my pictures without my permission either. If you want to share some of the dolls, you can link here, or you can ask and I'll be happy to let you share them. If I allow the latter, I ask that you do NOT cut off the "elouai" label-thingy.

Now, on to the fun part!

This week's doll is Lola Nolan from Lola and the Boy Next Door.

My review is here.

The Goodreads page is here.

(drumroll please)

*drumroll*

My thought-process as I designed Lola:

Instead of starting with the face, like I usually do, I started with hair. I knew that I wanted Lola to look different, original, I wanted her mostly to stand out. I wanted her features to be very plain, as well.

1)So I began with hair. I found some big stuff, some loud things. The whole time I thought: wig, wig, wig. Big wig. Big wig. Big wig. Man, that's a tongue-twister...

And then I went on to clothes.

2)I found a handful of shirts that were far from normal, and I kept those at the side, to go back to later. That's what I usually do.

3)When I moved on to bottoms, I knew I wanted either (A) A long skirt to go with a "regular" top (B) Normal jeans with an outrageous top or (C) leggings with a long top.

As you can see, I chose the third option. And it matches the wig, too!

4) At this point, I had gotten bored of my faceless Lola and took a break from clothes. I chose understated eyes, nose and mouth, and I think I wanted a "heart-shaped" face.

5) Shoes. I knew I wanted something loud, of course. And then it hit me: red boots. It matches the sweater-thing, goes up to the leggings, and is loud to perfectly off-set the black of the dress. When I realized I wanted red boots, I refused to settle for anything less. And I found something perfect.

I'm overall very happy with how Lola came out. Looking her over, I can't think of anything I wish I had done differently.

So any ideas on what I can officially call this meme? I'm clueless.

And if you've read Lola and the Boy Next Door, what do you think of my depiction of Lola?

Peace and costumes,

Riv

Lola and the Boy Next Door Review

Hey Blogger Buds,
I hate opening up blog posts with apologies. It feels like such a negative way to start a post, especially a post about a book you didn't actually like. But...
I'm sorry.
My school has this production thing that's kind of a Big Deal. It involves A Lot of Practice. And one of my house computers broke. And I've been pushing myself to finally finish my first draft, after three years.
All in all, I'm a bad person blogger.
BUT, today I have a review for you.
And on Thursday I have a new meme planned, and I really hope this one works out.
Let's get to the review, shall we?

Add Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins on Goodreads!
Bonus: Even though, as you're about to see, I didn't like the book, I have something extra-special and Lola related coming on Thursday!

Blurby:
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.

Review:
Preface: I'm not someone who went into Lola expecting a bad book. And my expectations weren't through the roof. But I know that Stephanie can write really well, and I expected this book to nearly live up to the standards set with Anna. This isn't a review by someone who hates/loves anything and everything Stephanie Perkins.
Anna and the French Kiss was one of the best contemporary romances I read in 2011. The characters were all real, hysterical, adorable, and the chemistry between Anna and Etienne was amazing. I was scared to touch their names with my fingertips, in case touching both at the same time would electrocute me. Perkins even had one of Anna's cutest lines in this book, as well, as a treat for fans, I guess. :)
Unfortunately, Anna and Etienne were the best part of this sequel.
I wasn't feeling the romance in this one. I didn't even like the love interest. And both boys were really poorly written.
But I'm jumping ahead a bit.
San Francisco. Awesome setting, definitely.
Lola. Cute, spunky, quirky, and original. Great main character, though sometimes annoying.
[Rant ahead.]
Parents. Well, Dads. I have absolutely no problem with Lola being brought up by two gay men. I think it's a pretty interesting twist and, being a Gleek, it's very Berry-esque. And Stephanie Perkins, as Lola of course, keeps on saying that just because they're gay doesn't mean one of them is the "woman." Lola/Stephanie says that they're very equal.
Except: Nathan is the lawyer, who "brings home the bacon" and cracks down on Lola about rules, the "bad cop." Meanwhile, Andy bakes pie, and is always on Lola's side, telling her he'll go talk to Nathan when something happens. He calls Nathan "honey." Although Lola is trying to phrase it not in a negative light, with a really frank view ("and I don't use this expression lightly") she admits that ice-skating is "the gayest thing about him."
You want equality? Make Nathan the one who likes figure-skating. I've met gay men; some are gayer than others. I know someone who looks and acts like a completely normal, decent person (no, I'm NOT saying that gay people aren't "decent") who could be straight.
Perkins took a perfectly nice trope and messed it up royally.
[/End rant]

I really like Max at first. He started out sweet and sensitive. Perkins deliberately changed his character in middle of the book. If how he acted in the beginning is anything to go by, he's a good person. He must have hit his head, or become bipolar or something... And you know me, I always root for the underdog.
Cricket really, really annoyed me at first.  As much as I liked Max I disliked Cricket. And then, like Max, he underwent a completely change into a less-annoying person. And yes, I understand that he was smitten, but he was such a push-over. There was ZERO chemistry.

(And notice how I just used a sentence in all-caps? The book has that too. Sure, it's a writing style, but it comes across as incredibly unprofessional.)

Besides for Max (at first) and Anna-Etienne, the only good part was...
Um...
Wait. Scratch that. Anna-Etienne was the only good part that lasted the entire book. They're just cuteness times infinity.

Rating: 2 stars It was a bad book. I don't recommend it.

Peace,
Riv

If you've read Anna and/or Lola, what did you think of them?

A Ton Of Awesomesauceness

Hey Blogger Buds,
Four things on the agenda today. Well, five. Let's start with number five:
School is killing me slowly.
Aaaaaaaaand back to the beginning. I've got some squeeing, some Paying It Forward, and some Early Thanksgiving.

1) This is me gloating. I got some awesome books in the mail in the past week:

• The Dragon's Tooth (Ashtown Burials #1) by N. D. Wilson (thanks to the editor for the gift!)
• Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins (won from Read It, See It. Thanks, Megan!)

And, just today, two of my Top Books of 2011. (These babies were up there with The Iron Queen, Angelfire, and Forever.)

• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (won from Big Honcho Media, through Books Over Boys. Thanks Momo!)(Yay!!)
• The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa (bought from B&N. Ecstatic.) (Does anyone know why the book has deckled edges? Is that on purpose?)(Deckled edge is when the sides of the pages aren't even, and look like they were torn out or something.)(Google told me that.)

Okay. I got some awesome books this week. First though, I'm in middle of Hourglass. And then my copy of Inheritance should be coming, and I want to return Hourglass the same day I take out Paolini's. (It's a long story.) I'm really surprised about the lack of buzz there is for this book. A whole 20 hours after the book was released, there were still no reviews on Goodreads. (How long is this book, anyway?)

2) Anyway, that was supposed to be the quickest point. BUT, if you've been TL;DR-ing, pay attention here. This is the important part. You guys know about The Dark Divine, right? Of course you do. It's about werewolves. It's awesome. So Bree Despain has a short eBook story, THE LOST LETTERS OF BROTHER GABRIEL, which is $1.99!!! And that's not even the best part.

If you order The Lost Letter (under 2 bucks!) before June 2012, all proceeds will be donated to "Kids Need To Read." More info on Ms. Despain's blog.

3) You know Beth Revis? Of course you know Beth Revis. And I bet you also know the latest awesomeness of Beth Revis.

AND, I'm here to tell you of one book that I'm thankful for. This book inspired me to start writing. Of course, I could get more specific and credit (read: blame) my fifth grade English teacher for my love of writing. FC, you rock.

BUT, I'm not here to tell you about my teacher. I'm here to tell you about the book that made me write a short story, and then a "novel" about cats. (I quit when I got writer's block, and moved on to "adult" book ideas, like teenage girls running around trying to kill bad guys with old daggers.) I was a little girl who liked animals, and "kitties!!" so I picked up this book (well, I actually picked up the third book. I read out of order. 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 6). And I followed the series obsessively for several years. I still read the series, but not as much. I've kind of grown out of MG.

Do I recommend this book for the majority of my blog readers? No. Do I recommend it for the younger kids in my Blogger Buds life that love animals? Oh yes.

So. What book is this that I'm talking about?

Warriors by Erin Hunter

Rusty starts out as an ordinary house kitten, but his travels deep into the forest involve him in the epic battles of the cat warrior clans who roam (and rule) the wild.
With a new name -- Firepaw -- and a position as a Thunderclan apprentice, our feline hero faces his destiny, struggles with issues of friendship, honor, courage, and betrayal, and learns what it truly means to be a warrior. (Goodreads)

These books are absolutely brilliant. I think meeting one of the authors (the series is a collab, but you can't tell. One person plots, the other two take turns putting pen to paper.

The saga is made up of sets of 6 books. Each book has it's own plot, of course, with a big plot solved at the end of book 6. (But, except for the first series, a new plot is opened up in the end of the last book.)

There are 22 books out, another out in a few weeks, and the final book in the current set (Ome of the Stars) out in 2012 (according to Goodreads.)

There are also companion novels to the series. :)

These books used to be my absolute favorite series. And I blame them for making me write.

So. Now you're wondering why I just raved about this series. I blame (read: credit) Beth Revis. This is why:

4) It's no secret that I love the Iron Fey (see #1). One of my favorite sites to kill time when I should be writing is eLouai.com, specifically their main game. I'm a girl, I admit I like dress-up games. Instead of writing, I spend hours designing my characters. Maybe I'll show you some day.
Anyways. I love the Iron Fey. I was bored.
The product of these two can't be a good thing.
But I love Puck. And...

Two things to note:

~I couldn't find a black bird.

~The wings are there to be ironic.

Okay, that post was way too long. And school will now proceed to kill me even slower. Soooo.......

Peace, Fey, Werewolves, and Cats,

Riv