Author: Stephanie Perkins
Pages: 384
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Source: Library
Synopsis (from Goodreads): Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.
As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?
What a wonderful book. *sighs* I don't know whether to be happy because I read it or cry because it's over. I've decided instead that everyone must read this book.
I'm a bit late reading this so yeah, I've seen all the positive gushing reviews. This book had huge hype and when I first read it, I wondered why's it so special? The overall storyline is simple. Girl moves to Paris and meets gorgeous boy who she can't have for various reasons. It's not the story but how it's told. In between that story are amazing scenes that hit a little too close to home. Anna and the French Kiss isn't a love story. It's THE love story.
Anna herself is a great character. She loves to review movies and has her own website (kinda like blogging for us booknerds!) and she's devastated to move to Paris. It took her a while to get comfortable with Josh, Rashmi, Mer, and Étienne. Her relationships are true. She acts rashly sometimes but as a reader I'm totally with her. I can relate to her so much. Plus her romance with Étienne isn't love at first sight. It takes time to develop.
God, Étienne. He's not perfect. He makes mistakes, but he's the guy for Anna. He has beautiful hair and I wish I knew a guy like him. The way he loves his mother adorable.
Obviously, Anna and the French Kiss is set in Paris. I loved that! I actually felt like Anna discovering the differences between Americans and Parisians (and Canadians). I felt a bit of Anna's culture shock (but I've been learning French for 5 years now so not as much). Reading about places like Notre Dame was beautiful. I would love to visit Paris.
Overall, Anna and the French Kiss is awesome because of all the small stuff which sum up to a new favourite. I'm not sure at which point I fell in love with the book- it happened so naturally. It's the kind of story that makes you want to live life to the fullest. Anna kept me sane when I was having two of the worst days of my life in a row and for that I'm forever dreadful. 5 stars,
*****
I've not read this and I only heard about it recently but it sounds kinda cool. Great review!
ReplyDeleteIt's awesome. Read it Cait!
ReplyDelete"I'm not sure at which point I fell in love with the book- it happened so naturally."
ReplyDeleteKind of like Anna and Etienne, hehe! ;) Glad you liked ANNA, b/c it's one of our faves. And great review. You write so well!
Btw, we are four YA writers and avid readers, and we just started a new blog to talk about YA literature. It's not so much book reviews as talking about different issues, trends, etc. We are hoping to connect with real teen readers, and we would love to see you there!
Their stolen glances, their undeniable attraction to one another, even though they both deny it. Etinne, known as St. Clair is a modern day Mr Darcy. He's the hot guy, with a great accent, has silly quirks and completely grounded. Plus he loves history, which I loved about him. It was so unexpected. Who wouldn't want to fall for him? Anna is the more reserved, quiet type, who dreams of being a film critic. Together the two of them have such a realistic chemistry that I just wanted to shove the two of them together and tell them to live happily ever after. Like life, their friendship and relationship isn't forced, but one that continues to grow and isn't without doubt, fear, love and insecurities.
ReplyDelete