Monday, June 11, 2012

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Pages: 372
Publisher: Dutton
My rating: 5 stars
Goodreads rating: 4.28 stars
Published: December 2, 2010

Description:

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?


This was a perfect read for me.  I know what you're thinking: seriously?  How could it just be perfect?  It was.  I think this is going to be the book that I always suggest.  I'm not the biggest contemporary fiction reader, and Stephanie Perkins makes me crave it!  I was sucked into this book quick, and by the end I was daydreaming of going to Paris with my husband to see old movies at even older theaters, wanting to go stand at kilometre zero and see the Eiffel Tower {finally!}... *sigh* someday, right?  Back to the book!


Anna is pretty relatable as a character.  She's sweet, but not so much so that its overwhelming and unrealistic, but she's insecure too.  She's never had a "great love", so what better place than Paris, right?  She's got an interesting family dynamic going on, but that just adds to her character.  As do her friends.  She's got some interesting friends back home that we here and see a little of in the book, but its her friends at the American academy in Paris that are so interesting and add so much to her.  And St. Clair... wow.  Stephanie Perkins knows how to write 'em!  His character has so much depth, its fascinating to see how everything plays out, and to see Anna and St. Clair's friendship blossom.  He sounds like someone I would love to be friends with {I'm married, so nothing more ;-)}, and in the book there are a lot of characters who feel the same way.  Anna kind of happens upon his circle of friends by straight chance, and that makes it even better.


After reading Anna and the French Kiss I wanted to pack my bags {and her other book Lola and the Boy Next Door} and travel... and I still do.  Oh, and did anyone else notice Anna's author father's books seem to have a theme that another author's books do?  {Hint, his name starts with an "N" and ends with "icholas Sparks".}




*Sorry this review is so short!  I read this book a few weeks ago, and had to return it to the library, so I don't have a copy here to reference =(*

3 comments:

Unknown said...

haha yes, it is totally reminiscent of Nicholas Sparks. I enjoyed Anna and The French Kiss, but I think the hype of the book, made me anticipate it TOO much and then I was underwhelmed cause I built it up so much.

Kari said...

I didn't really get too caught up in the hype of either this or Lola and the Boy Next Door. I knew people liked it, but that was pretty much it. It was a very pleasant surprise, especially since I'm much more of a paranormal fan!

Jennifer said...

I loved this book SO much. It was a perfect read. I want to re-read it. I loved Lola & the boy Next Door, too. It was awesome as well!

Jennifer @ Dream Reads