Author: Stephanie Perkins
Publication: August 4th 2011 by Speak
Series: Anna and the French Kiss #1
Pages: 372
Genre: YA Contemporary
Copy: Bought from BookOutlet.com
Summary: 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 not too pleased 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 friends, 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 been waiting for?
After finishing Water's Wrath by Elise Kova, I could feel myself being pulled straight into a reading slump. I knew I needed something light and fun to get me back on track, and this book was absolutely perfect for that. Anna and the French Kiss is the classic cute, fluffy YA contemporary, and while it is pretty basic as far as plot & storyline goes, I enjoyed reading it all the same.
The characters in this book are just too adorable. Anna is funny and awkward and likable and everything in between. I love how she wants to be a film credit, and how her dad writes cheesy romance novels. Étienne, while agreeably very swoonworthy, I had some issues with (to be discussed later). There are also some pretty awesome side-characters in there, too, and I really like how each of the characters in this book have such different personalities. Sometimes in YA, characters (especially minor ones) start to blend together because of how similar they are. That was definitely not the case here, and it made it easy to connect with all of them, instead of just Anna.
I love love love the setting of this book. I've been studying French for a little while now, and while I don't know a whole lot, I loved learning about Paris and the culture there. It was also pretty fun that I didn't have to look up the translation of certain parts that were in French (and yes, I have done that with a book before). I fell in love with France right along with Anna, and it made me really want to visit someday.
Okay, now for the reason that there are only 4 stars up there instead of 5. This is mainly because of St. Clair. Don't get me wrong, I'm still definitely in love with him. I just couldn't get over some of the things he did. He was honestly being a douche until the very end, and for some reason I just can't forgive him completely...
Other than the small problems I had with the romance, I really did thoroughly enjoy reading this book. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a fun YA contemporary, especially if you are in a reading slump like I was!
Let me know in the comments if you've read this book, and your thoughts on it!
I feel the same way! This book is fun and great to get out of a reading slump, but St.Clair was such a jerk by the end!
ReplyDeleteIkr! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who questioned his character hahaha.
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