ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS by Stephanie Perkins
From Goodreads: 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 Étienne St. Claire: 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.
Plot: I loved the story line of ANNA. Perkins was able to weave a simple love story into an intense story that held me on the edge of my seat hoping for something to happen. Perkins has mastered the art of writing suspense. ANNA tells the story of Anna, a girl who is thrust into a Paris school her senior year. She's stuck in a world where she doesn't know anyone, doesn't really understand the language and has to get along. But good thing there's Étienne St. Claire, who is just as swoon-worthy as the blurb promises, who steals her heart without her knowledge, and although she tries to deny it, she's drawn to him.
Characters: Oh wow. Where can I get my Étienne, please? Perkins wrote the kind of guy that every girl wants, but he has his quarks. Unlike some other love interests, he has traits that make him real. For instance, he's short. I love the fact he's not that super tall, lanky guy. He also has fears, flaws and family trouble, making him even more real.
Anna is a sweet narrator and MC. She's nice and sensible and has great voice. She also has her quarks, like near-OCD, but she's caring. I love how attracted she is to movies and the little things she notices about those around her. I also really liked how she can take something and rationalize about it and still be completely wrong. It makes for an interesting character.
Writing: I mostly liked Perkins' writing style. She is very descriptive without it being annoying or being too detailed for readers to lose interest. Although, I was fairly disappointed by the descriptions of food that I'd been so excited for. I guess when you've had the food in France, descriptions are just not going to cut it. Oh well. Everything else is well done, I thought.
Overall: I'm going to give ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS FOUR OF FIVE stars. It was a fantastic story that I immensely enjoyed. There were moments in this that made me swoon, made me jump, made me cry. Perkins took me on an emotional roller coaster, and I can't wait to get on again. A good read, to be sure.
Stephanie Perkins: Goodreads ~ Website ~ Twitter
From Goodreads: 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 Étienne St. Claire: 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?
Hardcover, 372 pages
Published December 2nd 2010 by Dutton
Plot: I loved the story line of ANNA. Perkins was able to weave a simple love story into an intense story that held me on the edge of my seat hoping for something to happen. Perkins has mastered the art of writing suspense. ANNA tells the story of Anna, a girl who is thrust into a Paris school her senior year. She's stuck in a world where she doesn't know anyone, doesn't really understand the language and has to get along. But good thing there's Étienne St. Claire, who is just as swoon-worthy as the blurb promises, who steals her heart without her knowledge, and although she tries to deny it, she's drawn to him.
Characters: Oh wow. Where can I get my Étienne, please? Perkins wrote the kind of guy that every girl wants, but he has his quarks. Unlike some other love interests, he has traits that make him real. For instance, he's short. I love the fact he's not that super tall, lanky guy. He also has fears, flaws and family trouble, making him even more real.
Anna is a sweet narrator and MC. She's nice and sensible and has great voice. She also has her quarks, like near-OCD, but she's caring. I love how attracted she is to movies and the little things she notices about those around her. I also really liked how she can take something and rationalize about it and still be completely wrong. It makes for an interesting character.
Writing: I mostly liked Perkins' writing style. She is very descriptive without it being annoying or being too detailed for readers to lose interest. Although, I was fairly disappointed by the descriptions of food that I'd been so excited for. I guess when you've had the food in France, descriptions are just not going to cut it. Oh well. Everything else is well done, I thought.
Overall: I'm going to give ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS FOUR OF FIVE stars. It was a fantastic story that I immensely enjoyed. There were moments in this that made me swoon, made me jump, made me cry. Perkins took me on an emotional roller coaster, and I can't wait to get on again. A good read, to be sure.
Stephanie Perkins: Goodreads ~ Website ~ Twitter
Great review! This sounds like a really fun book. I also love the fact that she doesn't make her characters perfect. Good for her! Sounds like something I'd enjoy. Thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDelete@Alyssa - Thanks! I do really enjoy it when characters are flawed. And I think it takes a very good writer to remember to write in those flaws and quirks. If you read it, I hope you'll let me know what you thought!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading this! :)
ReplyDeleteLOVED this book - definitely swoon-worthy!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a good read.
ReplyDeleteAnn