Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (Review)

Series: Anna and the French Kiss #1
Genre: Contemporary
Book Length: 372 pages
Publication Date: July 16th, 2013 (Original Publication: December 2nd, 2010)
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Format: Paperback

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Synopsis:

Can Anna find love in the City of Light?

Anna is happy in Atlanta. She has a loyal best friend and a crush on her coworker at the movie theater, who is just starting to return her affection. So she's less than thrilled when her father decides to send her to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year.

But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna meets some cool new people, including the handsome Étienne St. Clair, who quickly becomes her best friend. Unfortunately, he's taken —and Anna might be, too. Will a year of romantic near misses end with the French kiss she's waiting for?

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Oh my god, this book. I am kind of ashamed to admit that I can't believe I waited to long to read this book. It was...all of the positive adjectives. It may have taken me some time to get into it, especially with the craziness of the last couple of the days, but today, as I am writing this review, I started on page 144 at the beginning of the day. And I just flew through the rest of the book without intending too. But I am sure glad that I did.

 

Let me take this one step at a time. First off, the setting, the fact it takes place in Paris. Stephanie Perkins did a great job with the setting of this story, because I felt like I was in Paris, that Paris was a character and not exactly a setting, that Paris had so much life in it. I swear I don't think that I've ever loved being in a setting more than the main setting in Anna and the French Kiss.

Next, the characters. We follow Anna, who was a unique character that I loved to read about, especially when she talking about doing the film reviews. She was really passionate about those and I really feel her when it comes to those personally because I love film a lot myself. She was also paranoid about being clean and was conscientious about pretty much everything. Especially in the middle/latter third of the book, I was annoyed by this, but I still really liked Anna as a protagonist.

And don't get me started on Étienne St. Clair. God, I loved Étienne, St. Clair, whatever you want to call him. St. Clair was just so funny and charming and was so incredibly nice to Anna and to a majority of the characters in this first book. And I must say that I wouldn't mind if me and St. Clair dated personally because...I really love St. Clair. However, I feel like Anna and him are just perfect for each other. But I will get into their relationship in a second, but I want to talk about the other characters for a second.

Depending on who they sided with, I either liked or disliked them; or loved them or hated them. Like the characters who are obviously the bad guys, I hated; and characters who sided with the hero I liked more. I would have to say my favorite of the other characters was Rashmi, she was awesome especially for all that she's been through in the course of the book. Another thing I want to point out is how I love that Isla and Josh are mentioned in this book when they do have their on story later on in this companion series.

Now, the relationships. I just adored them. Especially Anna and St. Clair's. They had an adorable relationship and it developed nicely throughout the novel. HOWEVER, I was annoyed at how frustrated I got when they assumed one thing because one of them did something or another (I'm looking at you Anna...). It was cleared up by the end though and they have a great relationship starting and they are now one of my new OTPs.

Lastly, the writing. I absolutely loved it. It was very easy to read, and like I mentioned earlier once you get engrossed in the book, it is very easy to lose track of time and you realize how much progress you've made in a single sitting. So, if you are getting into contemporary, or you are a new reader/getting something for someone that isn't just to reading much (I know I'm like a week late to the game because Christmas was yesterday at the time I am writing this...), this is the perfect book to get.

So, I would give Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins a full 5/5 stars. It was fun and light-hearted and adorable and it was very easy to fly through once I got into it. This has easily made a spot on my favorite books of all time shelf, and I can't wait to read Lola and the Boy Next Door next time I need a pick-me-up.