Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins


Hardcover, 372 pages
Published December 2nd 2010 by Dutton

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?


5/5 stars!

I have a confession to make...I JUST read this book.  I don't know why I waited so long.  Clearly there's something wrong with me. Fail.


Okay, so if you're like me and have been wondering what all the fuss is about, please just give this book a chance.  I mainly read paranormal and dystopian YA titles (as that's what I'm interested in, and there's a huge selection right now) so I wasn't sure about picking up a contemporary (especially when most of the contemps these days aren't focused on being a love story; they're more likely to be about a tragedy) but when I heard all the rave reviews, I decided to pick it up from the library.


So I did.


And I didn't read it.


It went back.


Rave reviews continued.


So I ordered it again.


And I didn't read it.


I waited until the very last day before the book was due to give it a chance.


Needless to say, that thing has some fines on it now.  And you know what?  TOTALLY WORTH IT.  I was the saddest thing ever when I had to hand that book back to the librarian.  There may have been a little tug-of-war going on.  Maybe.


Things I Liked:
EVERYTHING!

Okay, seriously, I'll give you a list.

Anna.  She's such a great character and narrator.  She's not annoying or needy or perfect.  She's a fish out of water who just happens to fall in love with her new best friend.

St. Clair.  He's adorable.  He's going through a tough time and Anna has become his main support.  He's sweet and charming and cute, but nowhere near perfect.  (can you tell that I have an issue with perfect?  why?  because it doesn't exist.  so there).

Their Friends.  They're wacky and unique and flawed and make mistakes and are just so real.

Paris.  Ah, Paris.  The author made it come alive.  Paris was as much a character in the story as any of Anna's other friends.  Hated at first, but then slowly adored.  (and I absolutely adored the fact that the author made mention of the bread.  Trust me, if you've ever been to Paris, you know about the bread).






Things I Didn't Like.
Nothing!
Okay, that's lying.  I didn't like the fact that I had to give it back.  SADDEST THING EVER!


So, if you haven't read Anna and the French Kiss yet, I highly recommend you do.  Especially since it's soon to have a sister book.

Anna, meet Lola.

Such a great read!

Have you read it?  Tell me in the comments!

-geekgirl




Comments

  1. I've heard so much about this book and I haven't had a chance to read it yet, just because I've had so many others on my "To - Read" list also. I can't wait to though! It looks amazing!! Great review!!

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  2. @Cary Cheyenne - That was EXACTLY what took me so long too. Seriously though, read it! You won't regret it. Especially since Lola is coming out soon, and I've heard other bloggers say it's even better.

    thanks for commenting!

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  3. I LOVED Anna and the French Kiss! It was such a great book and the writing was awesome too! Great review! :)

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  4. I KNOW. I got it from the library and when I realized I would have to give it back... awful.

    Then I got it as a gift for RAK and it was amazing. I might pet the book sometimes. Maybe.

    The book itself was so amazing - cute and special and real. Paris was fabulous and I loved the characters - St. Claaaaaairrr!

    Great review! :)

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  5. I'm a massive fan of contemps, so with all the crazy good reviews for this one I actually pre-ordered it and then read it as soon as it came in the mail back in December. That's crazy rare for me, because I always get books from the library first. But with Anna I didn't and I don't regret it at all. I've actually re-read it 2 times already this year, and I promote it to practically everyone. I don't get that jealous of ARCs very often, but whenever I see a review for 'Lola' I swear I almost shed a tear, haha, because I'm so jealous that other people have been able to read it.

    Yah, needless to say I adore this book as well. =b

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  6. This is one of those books where I couldn't help but just swoon over everything! The writing seemed effortless and.... FLUID! I didn't feel like there were separate chapters or sections in the book that stuck out. There was just this flow that makes you want to finish the book without stopping.

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