I really enjoyed reading this, just as much if not more than Anna and the French Kiss.
Lola was complicated and though I didn't immediately take a liking to her, I grew to think she was interesting and I connected to her.
Some of the best elements in this book for me were:

- Cricket. I mean, I did have flashbacks to Levi from Fangirl for unclear reasons, but I still really liked Cricket. I thought it was interesting to have a guy that liked the girl from the start/forever, instead of them falling in love over the course of the story. He was a little too perfect, but I'll let it slide because he's supposed to be perfect from Lola's perspective and the whole book is her perspective.

- the sexual tension. Okay, I felt this way too about Anna--this was done really well! There were multiple times of me rooting for the scene and then it changes JUST at the moment when things were getting good! I think this was handled really well throughout and it propelled me through and made it a page-turner.

- the 'how do I feel' inner monologue. Maybe was a little excessive, but I felt like this was what was happening in my head at the same age: constant evaluation of everybody and of myself. And in large part, questioning my judgments on what I saw going on and battling my own feelings. So this was realistic to me and a big empathy point personally.

- the setting (including parents). Haven't read much with San Francisco as the setting, and not a contemporary view either. And I've not been there so I don't know how true anything was, but the location was great! I hear people say how books about New York city really make NYC a presence like it was also a character, and I felt that way about SF here. Along a similar vein, I've not read much with gay primary characters and I liked that the dads in this book were handled as people instead of caricatures (on the whole).

Overall, I liked this book: it was fun and chick-lit-y and adorable and I enjoyed the lightning fast reading experience.

A couple of things that could have made the book more complete would have been more growth/resolution with Norah, how Calliope performed and how her storyline/life was changing, and also the older brother Aleck's life. I think a fun epilogue rounding out and tying up some of those things that were left hanging would have been a cute and perfect way to do that. (Picture Lola and Cricket on a double date/hang out with Lindsey and her guy, and Cricket just casually mentions stuff about his brother and Lola is thankful that things with her mom are x, y, z, and Calliope is there too also at least doing something even if she's not totally happy.)

After reading other people's reviews:
- I agree that Max was sort of vilified at the end so it would make sense for Lola to break it off. There were signs earlier on that he wasn't the best guy ever (like hating Sunday brunch and blowing off Anna and St. Claire when they came to his show) and it was obvious from the start that Lola was supposed to be with Cricket so Max would have to go, but I rather liked Max at the beginning. His slide downhill could have been more gradual/he could have been not such a jerk.

- I don't care for fashion, but I felt it was odd for Lola to be dressing up in costumes day in and day out. I think that a similar effect could have been achieved for her making her own clothes and interesting outfits without wigs and so much glitter. Maybe it's not as weird in San Francisco? I'd think that high schoolers would be pretty much the same across the board...

- Despite having Lola have sex and describing her as being somewhat grown up, I felt a number of times that she wasn't as mature as I thought she should be. Maybe this is a reflection of how things really are (I certainly wasn't as mature as I thought I was in high school), but when I realized that she had just turned 17 at the start of the book/recently, I was surprised. Also, I thought her friend Lindsey's obsession with Nancy Drew and solving crimes made her sound super young too.