Anna and the French Kiss
author stephanie perkins
pages [hardcover] : 372
memorable quote : “Is it possible for home to be a person and not a place?”
favorite characters : etienne & anna
summary:
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 :
I took a while to read this book because . . . Well, I think I heard so many fantastic things about it that I wasn’t certain it could live up to my expectations. I’ve literally heard nothing but good things about this novel and though I usually don’t go for this sort of book, the premise was interesting and I needed to read it all for myself. I ended up falling in love with most of the characters and I think I’ll definitely be recommending this one.
Anna was awesome. She didn’t want to go off to a boarding school in France because it was her senior year of high school and, really, who wants to leave all of their friends that year? She isn’t sure of how she’ll fit in or make friends or even make her way around the city. She can’t even speak French. I loved how awkward Anna was with some things because it really made her relatable. She didn’t immediately adjust herself to her surroundings, had flaws, and didn’t know how to handle every situation. I think a lot of girls would have acted the same way she did, being thrust into this situation.
Etienne. Oh, Etienne. Now I can definitely see why everyone has been raving about this boy. If I was dragged off to France, I’d definitely want a guy like that to make things seem much better. And, amazingly, he has his own problems, too, which Anna recognizes and tries to deal with. All of these characters have their own shortcomings, some more obvious than others, and great redeeming qualities as well.
I don’t normally read contemporary literature so I’d recommend this even for people who usually avoid that sort of thing. This novel is sweet, funny, and I ended up enjoying every minute of it. I’ll definitely need to go and get the companion book. Check this one out!
5/5 stars
Nice review! I feel all the same way as you are. I definitely love every tids of bits of this!