Book Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

SYNOPSIS: 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 Etienne St. Clair: 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?

REVIEW: This review is long overdue. I've been meaning to post a review of this book ever since I finished it, but haven't gotten around to actually writing it because my blog wasn't pretty then ("pretty"... yeah). Now I finally have this pink blog and I'm more than ready (and motivated) to write about this book.

My friend Janeen, who frequently gives me book suggestions, recommended this book 6 months ago. Back then we haven't really established our "book relationship" (the kind where we suggest books and force each other to read them... heh kidding about the latter) so it took me some time before I gave Anna and the French Kiss a go. And you know what? I'm so glad Janeen suggested and insisted I read this before anything else on my TBR pile. 

This book is one of the cutest books I've ever read. And I'm not using the word "cute" because it's a good story but not good enough to get a 5-star review. Because IT IS! It's one of those books that are easy to read because the characters (not just the main characters) contribute to the enjoyable reading experience and the overall flow of the story is great.

Anna is a very relatable character so it was easy to fall in love with her and to feel for her throughout the book. I love that she's a simple girl who's a bit of a nerd. She loves watching films (and she calls them "films" not "movies") and keeping things in order. She was annoying at some parts but the writing's so good, I didn't mind much. She's an overall likable character who's different from most female protagonists we read about in YA books.

On the one hand we have Etienne St. Clair who's just as easy to fall in love with. I fell in love with this character primarily because he's British and I'm not immune to British boys. A British boy... fluent in French. Damn. He's probably one of the most adorable male leads I've read about ever. He's sexy without being the hot guy in school. Even the name is sexy. (I could just keep going on and on about how Etienne is now my favorite male YA character ever *swoon*)

Honestly I just wanted to describe Etienne in length (because I'm an obsessive freak like that) but then it's ANNA and the French Kiss so I have to stop myself.

What exactly made me love this book? It gave me a hangover. Anna and Etienne's relationship progressed so naturally - and that's what I always look for in YA love stories. I often read about stories where the leads would suddenly fall in like/love with each other and I don't really like that, because I feel like I'm being hurried into liking a book. But this one took me along for the ride - and that's exactly how I became attached. I sympathized with the characters when all the drama happened, and I felt happy for everyone when the conflict was resolved. More importantly, Perkins showed a glimpse of Anna and Etienne's relationship after they kissed and made up. I appreciate that part the most because it sort of frustrates me when authors end love stories with the big kissing scene and then I'm left with nothing to obsess about. I actually want to feel hung up on a book - in a good way of course. 

I highly recommend Anna and the French Kiss. It's the kind of book that's so engaging that it will keep you reading continuously and will make you sad for finishing it so fast.

Come to think of it... I might read it again sometime. I seriously miss Etienne. Tee hee.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephanie Perkins

Well, hello! I'm Stephanie Perkins, and I write novels for teens (and for adults who aren't afraid to admit that teen books are awesome). I was born in South Carolina, raised in Arizona, attended universities in San Francisco and Atlanta, and now I live in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina.

My best friend is my husband Jarrod. Our house is almost a hundred years old, and every room is painted a different color of the rainbow. We share it with a cat named Mr. Tumnus.

I've always worked with books—first as a bookseller, then as a librarian, and now as a novelist. On weekdays, you'll find me at my desk, typing away, downing cups of coffee and tea. On the weekend, you'll find me at the movies, waiting for the actors to kiss. I believe all novels and films should have more kissing.