Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Published: December 2nd, 2010
Pages: 372
Genres: YA, Contemporary
Goodreads Blurb:
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. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend.
But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?
I think this was really cute! It’s a fun, easy read that didn’t require much deep thought analysis. I consider this the perfect beach read or book to help aid a book hangover. The best part of this book was the lack of insta-love trope! This was a subtle build-up with a friendship first. I’m also like the last person to read this at this point. This book is not ground breaking or different, which is fine because not every book needs to do this.
The characters all felt relatable and real. Anna felt like a typical teenager and talked like a real teenager. She also had a real hobby (video critic), which I feel like is rather unusual in YA novels. All of their hobbies are either reading or demon hunting it seems. Anna also had some growth throughout the book and gained some self-awareness. Her friends, a little underdeveloped but still felt realistic. St. Clair was cute and obviously perfect, right down to the sexy British accents. He’s actually not a douche and treats his friends well. I totally had a bit of a book crush on St. Clair.
My own complaint, is why would anyone not want to go to boarding school? I asked my dad once to go to a British boarding school and I got told that we weren’t rich. I’d be jumping up and down if my dad were going to send me to a French boarding school. At least I went to university and lived in residence and had a lot of international friends, so I guess I kind of got my boarding school experience. Overall, I think the real appeal is Anna going through Grade 12 was very relatable. We all want to hang out with our friends, kiss that cute boy that we like, get into university and our first experience being drunk. I felt like hers was relatively accurate.
I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a book with a happy ending and all the problems resolved by the end or if you’re just looking for a simple read. This is just fun and simple. It’s kind of like the IHOP of books (I have compared books to restaurants for a long time, not sure why). It’s tasty, comforting but nothing extravagant. Perfect for YA readers.
4 wine glasses out of 5.
Cheers,
Jen