Began reading: 6.7.2016
Completed reading: 13.7.2016
Overall rating: 4 stars
Here is everything I know about France: Amélie and Moulin Rouge. The Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe... And, I'm moving to Paris for a year. To boarding school. Alone.
Anna had everything figured out - she was about to start senior year with her best friend, she had a great weekend job, and her huge work crush looked as if it might finally be going somewhere... Until her dad decides to send her 4383 miles away to Paris. On her own.
But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna finds herself making new friends, including Étienne St. Clair, the smart, beautiful boy from the floor above. But 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?
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins is a contemporary young adult novel that contains romance. I purchased this book after the hype for the series, and I have been waiting for the right time to get into it. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t think it was outstanding – so I didn’t really understand the excitement.
Perkins’ writing style was appealing and flawless. There were no errors, and was almost perfectly structured. The only issue I came across in terms of structure was that the plot went up and down a few too many times, which made the complications feel like they were snowballing. Aside from this, I thought Perkins did an ideal job of portraying a foreign student in Paris. There were some great quotes scattered throughout the novel, including:
I don’t want to feel this way around him. I want things to be normal. I want to be his friend, not another stupid girl holding out for something that will never happen (p. 77).
The dialogue is translated across the bottom of the screen in yellow. The theatre is silent, respectful, until the first gag. The Parisians and I laugh together. Two hours speed by, and then I’m blinking in a street lamp, lost in a comfortable daze, thinking about what I might see tomorrow (p. 131).
…we’ll talk about everything BUT our parents… or perhaps we won’t talk at all. We’ll just walk. And we’ll keep walking until the rest of the world ceases to exist (p. 263).
I’ve spent my entire senior year suffocating between lust and heartache, ecstasy and betrayal, and it’s only getting harder to see the truth. How many times can our emotions be tied to someone else’s – be pulled and stretched and twisted – before they snap? Before they can never be mended again? (p. 361).
‘I love you as certain dark things are loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul’ (p. 391).
For the two of us, home isn’t a place. It’s a person.
And we’re finally home (p. 401).
More quotes from the book can be found here.
I thought the plot was interesting – a girl attending a boarding school in a foreign city. I enjoyed being able to travel around Paris with the characters, visiting famous tourist attractions, as well as some not-so-famous locations. All of the settings in the novel were described in detail, which demonstrated the benefit of imagery in writing. I really liked the way the Pantheon was described, especially when Anna and Étienne were going down the stairs and they were holding up the rest of the line because of Étienne’s fear of falling.
There was a good amount of characters in the novel – not a lot that would cause confusion, but more than a few, eliminating boredom. Each of the characters had their own, unique personalities which made the plot more interesting. They each reacted to situations in different ways, making their friendships realistic. *WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILER* The most obvious example was when Anna and Étienne were caught making out by Meredith. Meredith reacted in an upset, heartbroken way, while Anna felt embarrassed and betrayed by Étienne. Étienne felt guilty, while Rashmi and Josh did their best to support Anna.
In my opinion, I believed that the novel was a little fluffy for my liking, but I expected that. I didn’t mind most of the romance throughout the book, but I did cringe a couple of times. For example, when Anna emailed Étienne: some of the stuff they discussed seemed a bit unrealistic. Also, when Étienne contacted Anna via her home phone. When Anna asked him how he found this number, he said that he found it in the phone book – isn’t that just a little weird? Couldn’t he have just asked over email? *WARNING: SPOILER* Another example was when Anna realised that she was in love with him. I don’t know about you, but someone falls in love or realises they have feelings for someone, I’m pretty sure we don’t stumble around in a daze, knocking things over.
There was some humour in the book, too, which made me laugh. Mind you, it’s probably not meant to be as funny as I thought it was. I just have a bad sense of humour. It was pretty late at night when I was reading this section, but as soon as I read it, I laughed and shared it with my sister (who didn’t find it funny):
Étienne: ‘Would you rather be at the Lambert bash? I hear Dave Higgenbottom is bringing his beer bong’.
Anna: ‘Higgenbaum’.
Étienne: ‘That’s what I said. Higgenbum’ (p. 142).
As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, I didn’t really understand the hype surrounding this book or Étienne. To be honest, I had higher expectations, but I guess you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. I was hoping it would focus on being at a boarding school in Paris; however, I found that it focused more on the relationship between Anna and Étienne. Speaking of, what is so great about this guy? He started off well, but as the plot progressed, he grew more secretive and clingy. How is that attractive? Not to mention that he led more than one girl on…
My favourite character was Rashmi, as she was relatable, studious, supportive, loyal and admirable. I found her relatable, as she has a pet rabbit and her sister has friends who have a negative influence on her. My sister was in a similar situation, where her friends took advantage of her interest in studies, made her feel stupid, and betrayed her. Anyway, Rashmi appeared to be a true friend, which is why she was my favourite character. I think we could really get along!
I really wanted Anna to be my favourite character, but sadly that didn’t happen. She was sweet and naive, but turned into a massive hypocrite and contradicted herself. She was upset because her best friend betrayed her, yet betrayed another friend in the same way. What the heck? She began as the girl who didn’t want to become a sappy girl, longing for the guy who was too good for her, yet she did.
I have a list of characters that are on my hate list: Bridgette, Dave, Mike, Amanda, Nicole and Sanjita. They’re on my hate list, enough said.
Also, shout-out to Isla – she is so adorable and I can’t wait to read about her in the final book (is she in Lola and the Boy Next Door?)!
My favourite part of this novel was when Anna travelled around Paris, sometimes with friends and sometimes alone. I especially liked her visits to the various theatres, and reading about how much she enjoys the atmosphere in them. Her love for films makes me want to travel to Paris just to watch movies in different theatres!
Recommendation time! If you like Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik, the Confessions of Georgia Nicholson series by Louise Rennison, and Looking For Alaska by John Green, you will love this book. Also, I recommend this book to anyone who likes Wild Child, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, LOL, and What A Girl Wants.
I will also be reviewing the rest of the Anna and the French Kiss series, including Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After. Keep an eye out for those!
Happy reading!
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