Anna and the French Kiss

Anna's father decides he's going to send Anna to a international boarding school in Paris. It's her senior year and she wants nothing more than to stay at her high school with her best friend and her crush that works at the local movie theater. Which means stays in Atlanta and not moving to Paris.

Her father (a famous author), won't take no for an answer and her parents fly out with her to the School of America in Paris. Then they leave her. They just leave, it's rather sad actually. Her neighbor -Meredith- from the next room in the dorm welcomes her warmly and they click nicely though Anna still feels lonely without her friends. Though on the way back to her room she meets St. Clair. Little does she know but everything will change for her because of him.

She grows closer to her new group of friends but naturally, to St. Clair more than anyone. It doesn't take her very long to develop a crush on him, even though she still claims to like Toph, the guy from her hometown. We, the readers, can see where this is going though.

When she finally gets to go home for Christmas break (she had to stay in Paris for thanksgiving and that's when she got super close to him), Anna finds out that her best friend is dating her crush. She's brokenhearted and leans more on St. Clair. She figures out she loves him when she comes back from the break and sees him. But, lots of other drama keeps them from getting together, like St Clair has a girlfriend he won't dump and Meredith is in love with him as well.

It's such a fun and cute book. It has it's moments where you just want to scream and tell them to together already! I read this book in very little time, finding I simply couldn't put it down. This is huge for me as I really, really don't like many young adult contemporary novels. I loved this book so much I already ordered the second one and can't wait till it gets here.

I love how these characters, the way they talk, isn't all clean and fake like some authors do. They are real teenagers, there is cussing and they talk about sex. It's refreshing to see as real teenagers act this way. There are no sex scenes so if that's not your thing don't worry.

If you like cute romance with lots of drama this is for you. I would even recommend it to the people like me who don't like young adult contemporary. It's just that good and it's so nice to see glimpses of Paris as I've always wanted to visit.

I don't even know where to start. This book was amazingly sweet and wonderful. First of all it takes place in Paris which is a city I have been dying to see and after reading this book I want to go there even more. I loved the descriptions of the city.

I loved all the characters in this book. St Clair is just dreamy, sweet and romantic with a sexy BRITISH accent!! What's not to like? Anna is a little insecure and is upset with her father about having to leave her friends at home to attend a boarding school in Paris.

I would trade places with Anna in a heartbeat. I could not put this book down I just had to find out what was going to happen next. Even though at times St Clair and Anna irritated the heck out of me!

If you have not read this one yet pick up and get started you will not be disappointed!

Review originally posted at my blog: http://www.ramblingsofabooknerd.com/2013/02/review-anna-and-french-kiss-by.html

I really love Stephanies two books. She write amazing yet unique stories and wonderful characters.

When i began to read Anna and the french kiss, i thought it would be lame and borring. But i was SO wrong!

Anna and the French Kiss has been hyped beyond belief in the book blogging community. Sometimes hype turns out to be really right, and sometimes it ends up letting me down. Either way, I knew I had to buy Anna and the French Kiss the day it came out. There was no way I could not.

And luckily – Anna and the French Kiss more than impressed me. In fact, I would go so far as to say it was my favourite book of 2010. Really. I really, truly mean that. There was such an awesome combination of various elements in Anna and the French Kiss that really worked and made it what it was. Separately, I don’t know that I would have liked it as much, but the way everything in the story came together rocked.

I am a sucker for boarding schools. And books that take place in foreign countries. And books that deal with issues other than just getting the guy. Anna and the French Kiss had several other issues – friend problems, parent problems, etc. I’m also a fan of sexy guys. And you know what? Not only was the love interest in this book totally sexy, he was British. Do you guys see how all these elements are starting to add up?

And Anna? I loved her. And I love Stephanie Perkins. I AM SUCH A FILM GEEK. So add into the melting pot of awesome elements Anna’s film geekiness that rivaled my own. Seriously. I want her to be my best friend. Anna is my version of Anna and Jen’s Jessica Darling.

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Etienne St. Clair. I have no other words. Isn’t his name enough?

What really, really gets me about Anna and the French Kiss, though, is that Stephanie Perkins is a debut author. And she is phenomenal. Her characters, her story – her writing. She is phenomenal. Here, see for yourself -

If this were vacation, I’m sure I’d be charmed. I’d buy an Eiffel Tower key chain, take pictures of the cobblestones, and order a platter of escargot. But I’m not on vacation. I am here to live, and I feel small. – Anna and the French Kiss, page 19

I just don’t know what else to say about Anna and the French Kiss. It is SO FREAKING GOOD. Stephanie Perkins has another book coming out, Lola and the Boy Next Door (2011), and recently announced the sale of her third book, Isla and the Happily Ever After (2013). Both are companion novels to Anna and I am so freaking ecstatic. Stephanie Perkins has wormed her way up my “will read anything by” list and I am so pleased she did!

Review originally posted on my blog http://hobbitsies.net/2010/12/anna-and-the-french-kiss-by-stephanie-perkins/

I really love Stephanie Perkins. She knows just how to write amazing contemporary love stories that will leave you smiling.

Anna and the French Kiss is stunning--a poignant portrayal of the pains and triumphs true love must conquer.

I love the setting of this novel--Paris! And even though I have never been there, when I closed my eyes, I felt like I was there! I could hear the people walking around me chatting, taste the buttery croissants, and feel the cool air rushing off the river. Perkins knows exactly how to set up a scene, and I fell straight into her world.

I loved Anna and Etienne. Their friendship was sweet and innocent, and it broke my heart about their circumstances. But that didn't keep me from falling for the humorous with a touch of bad Etienne. While I still like Cricket (from Lola) better, Etienne is definitely on my list of great YA book boyfriends!

A brilliant and fun read, I recommend this to anyone looking for a sweet romance that won't leave you in tears.

Reasons I wasn't sure if this book would appeal to me:

1) It sounds like a cheating book. I hate cheating books.

2) It takes place in Paris. I don't like Paris. I know, I'm weird, but when I visited Paris, I just didn't like it. For whatever reason. I don't know. I just don't like it.

3) The summary uses the phrase "swoon-worthy," which makes me cringe.

HOWEVER.

None of my problems with this book turned out to actually be problems with this book. Which was a pleasant surprise.

I loved Anna. First off, Anna also kind of hates Paris, and thus I felt a kinship with her. She also is socially awkward and goes to painstaking and impractical lengths to keep from coming in contact with other humans, and I was like, YES. I can relate to this!

And then I also liked her friends. So often in books, I wind up liking the protagonist and then hating their friends, and then wondering why they're friends in the first place. Not so in this book. They had a natural friend dynamic, where every member of the group had a distinct personality and role to play, and you could see why they would all have gravitated toward each other.

Of course, the majority of the plot circles around her relationship with Etienne St. Clair, and her struggle to determine how she feels when she knows he has a girlfriend and she has a maybe-something-or-other back in Atlanta. I was prepared for this to be extremely irritating, either because their friendship wouldn't feel like a real friendship, or because one of them was going to cheat. And I just can't root for cheaters. Period.

But. It wasn't irritating. Or at least, not irritating in a way that kept me from enjoying the book. I was irritated alongside Anna. She berated herself for looking for hidden meaning in his actions, and I could completely sympathize. And while there were a few times I just wanted to throttle St. Clair (who, while not a cheater, was a monumentally crappy boyfriend on several occasions), he never crossed that point-of-no-return line where I simply would not be able to hold out hope for him and Anna anymore, because I'd be too busy thinking he was scum.

I liked that their friendship was real. They were comfortable, their personalities were complementary, and they just worked well together. One of my favorite chapters was their back-and-forth holiday email exchanges, which is normally one of my least favorite book gimmicks. But their banter seemed natural and easy, and I enjoyed it.

Anyway. I could keep talking about this book and how much fun it was and how I loved Anna's snarky yet awkwardly endearing inner monologue and how happy it made me to read about friendships that felt real and a friendship-turned-romance that didn't feel forced. Or I could stop talking and you could just go read it. Which you should.

I simply adored this from the very first words of the book to the very last-- and yes, I'm including her acknowledgements in this.(Said last note of acknowledgement: "I am deeply in love with you. Thank you for being you, because you are my favorite." Gah, so sweet!) This book held so many spectacular moments, & I felt transported to a place I've never been (although I have longed to go to Paris, who wouldn't?), yet by the end, it felt absolutely familiar. Anna's character was completely adorable, and I fell in love with the voice that Stephanie gave her. So much of her lingo was mine; maybe we were separated a birth-- supposing it were a fictional birth because of course she isn't real. She has a slight flare for dramatics, but it endeared me to her so much.

Then, there's Étienne St. Clair. *girly sigh* Honestly, where can I find one of him for my own? I became one of *those* girls. You know, the ones that make goo-goo eyes, sighs dreamily at everything he says, laughs at every jokes he makes, & desperately searches for any way possible to relate to anything he stands for... Ugh, gag me. He's too incredible for an adequate description; words truly fail me. I'll just say this: a French boy that was born in America and grew up in London, how can you possibly go wrong with that? (Someone, quick, bottle up his brand and sell it!) In all seriousness, though, I was smitten with him from his and Anna's very first interaction.

I'm trying to remember if there was much in the way of plot, and I can't recall any-- probably because I was too busy being a *girl* and swooning over St. Clair to see through the fog-- but don't let that deter you from reading it. It's a super-quick and enjoyable read meant for days that you just need to giggle and act like a girl in love.

I'll admit that I have a wall up when it comes to books that revolve around romance. Too often I find that the relationship is the book is wholly unbelievable and it hampers my appreciation of the story. However sometimes I find a book that completely changes my mind, and makes me question my stance. Anna and the French Kiss was one of the few romantic books I've read that drew me in and stole my heart. That alone earns it my seal of approval.

Anna was initially a bit difficult for me to relate to, since she seemed to be so set on being bitter about her situation. I understood where she was coming from, but I really wanted to see her realization that she had been given a completely amazing opportunity! Once that happened, I saw the real Anna underneath and I fell in love with her. A sweet girl, Anna's open minded thought process and introspective personality really spoke to me. I think I saw a little bit of myself in her.

St. Clair is the type of swoon-worthy guy that many will fall in love with. His British side shines off the page, and his overall goofiness is a sweet addition to some otherwise awkward situations he seems to get himself into. My favorite part about St. Clair's character was his ability to see things in such a positive light. Even when he made a poor decision, which then in a true to life manner was blown out of proportion by Anna, he was able to look at the problem with positivity. He is the type of friend everyone wishes they had, always willing to talk things out before jumping to conclusions.

What really struck me most about this story, besides the gorgeous Paris setting, was the relatively small cast of characters presented. The story revolves around Anna and St. Clair mostly, with St. Clair's three original friends supporting. As a person who reads a lot of fantasy books, with huge amounts of characters, this was a refreshing change for me. The small cast allowed the characters to come to life and the reader to really get to know them. Stephanie Perkin's writing created a feeling of belonging. I felt as though I was a part of Anna's group from the moment they were introduced. It's a nice feeling to have while reading.

As I'm sure you can tell, I absolutely adored this book! In terms of a romance, it was perfection for me. The delicious tension between Anna and St. Clair, the beautiful setting, the sweet storyline, it all melded together into a stunning debut for Stephanie Perkins! I'm in love.

What can I say about this book aside from the fact that I LOVE IT.

I started reading the book because I felt like I had been under a rock, having not already read it. They hype over the book is well deserved. Anna Oliphant is a brilliant character. Shes one of the most realistic female leads I've read in a long time. The relationship between her and her male love interest is one to die for. Not only is he dreamy and foreign, but he's a great friend to her and they're both great together. I was a bit unsure about this novel in the first couple of chapters, but just as Anna slowly falls in love with her love interest, I fell in love with this book. It was both sickeningly sweet and heart breaking.

St. Clair has ruined my chance of finding a boy who will fit my standards. (A French-American guy with an English accent? To DIE for.)

LOVE IT!