Welcome
back. So if you read my Favorite Books
of 2014 post then you may remember that Annaand the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins made the list. At the time I hadn’t read the two companions,
Lola and the Boy Next Door or Isla and the Happily Ever After. I had been holding off expecting to do one
big review of the series after finishing, but now that I have and each story
has its own unique story and couple, with some events from the previous ones
overlapping I decided they deserve their own reviews. I’m writing them all together so they should
post relatively close together, provided no technical issues.
Anna is simply adorable. I could gush over this book, this series
really, for hours and not be done. It
centers on Anna, go figure, who is perfectly happy with her life in
Atlanta. She has friends and a crush on
someone she works with that is starting to possibly go somewhere. Then her dad decides to ship her off to
boarding school in Paris for her senior year, even if she doesn’t speak any
French. With all that against her Anna
still meets some new friends, including the handsome Etienne St. Clair, whom
she bonds with instantly and is a total catch.
Only he’s taken…and Anna may be as well back home in the states. With a year of romantic hits and misses how
will the year end, in her fairytale French romance or heartache?
Aside
from being super cute, the characters were so relatable. Sure they are in Paris, which is a beautiful
backdrop full of amazing and colorful things to play off of. The city is a character in and of
itself. There is still the usual high
school type things happening in the story with school, friends, and boy drama. Being set in a location where the rules and
standards on some things are less strict than in the US, i.e. the drinking age,
pretty free reign on the campus/dorms for a high school. Overall students are treated more as adults,
or what you would find more on a college campus vs. high school.
You
watch as the year progresses as Anna deals with everything, but more than that
comes into her own and takes charge of her own life. It’s uplifting to see and can inspire the
reader to take a look at things in their own life and how they can take charge
instead of having excuses or letting things passively happen to them. I mean I wasn’t always a fan of Etienne. He seemed great and he was in parts but he
also had some serious flaws that he also had to grow as well. He seemed to lead one girl on while still
with another, and his redeeming quality in that situation was that he wasn’t
doing it maliciously. He’s kind of
adorkable that way. His being far from
perfect, despite some perfect aspects of him like being a combo
French/English/American, is probably why he won everyone over. He is good to his friends, and those friends
welcome Anna into their group and give her a place to feel welcome in an
unfamiliar place. The camaraderie and even tension in the group through the
story felt natural.
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| The original hardcover image, before the publishers made all the hardcovers match! Thank you! |
Not much else I can say
without totally spoiling the book for you and I refuse to do that. It’s too cute to ruin. I can’t say it enough, Anna and the French Kiss is ubber adorable. It made my heart get all flip floppy in the
best of ways. I felt that way will all 3
books honestly. I don’t read a ton of contemporary
books, no particular reason because I do enjoy them so much. This was such a sweet and fun read. I have already regulated this series to a
special re-read often spot on my shelf and put her as an auto buy author for
future works. If I’m in a slump or just
need a break from reading I feel picking up Anna,
Lola, or Isla will perk me right
up.
Rating: 5
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