Book Rewind · Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
I read Stephanie’s debut novel, Anna and the French Kiss back in 2014 but I’m pretty sure I reread parts of it every year since. And since I feel like 2018 will be the year for rereads for me, I figured I would post this review I wrote for it back then. Hopefully I can convince some of y’all to read it if you haven’t yet. Or maybe you could join me, and we can do a reread together.
Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss #1) by Stephanie Perkins
Category: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publication: December 2nd, 2010; Dutton Juvenile
Purchase: Amazon, TBD
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. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all…including a serious girlfriend.
But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?
Review:
[book rating=5.0/5.0]I heard so many good things about this book, I was bound to read it finally. Had I known how perfect this story is, I would’ve read years ago. Beware, I may mention a hundred times how much I loved this.
Anna is a typical American girl, living in Atlanta with her mother and little brother, has a best friend, a possible boyfriend and a job in the local cinema. What she doesn’t need is a year in Paris, which her father arranged to her. But after a summer of crying and begging, the moving is inevitable, so this is how Anna finds herself in a dorm in Paris, crying for her life in Atlanta. But then she meets a group of friends that take her in and show her that living and studying in Paris isn’t as horrible as she first thought.
I cannot begin to tell you all how much I adored this book. Almost all the characters were perfect in their own, imperfect way. I couldn’t mention just one single thing that made the book this outstanding for me. It was a combination of everything. I loved the description of Paris and during reading, I often imagined I was there with Anna and her friends. I loved the characters, because each added something more to the story. This book made me want to visit Paris even more. I’m totally gonna do an “Anna tour” once I get the chance to go.
I loved Anna so much, she’s definitely one of my favorite characters. Although she acted a bit whiny and self-pitying at times, you could totally understand where she came from. I loved her passion for cinema and how she knew what she wanted to do with her life. She was very nice and funny, someone I could easily be friends with.
Anna’s group of friends were Meredith, Étienne, Rashmi and Josh. Of course, like everyone else’s favorite, mine was Étienne too. He’s a bit secretive, charming, kind, loving, lovable, compassionate and I could use a lot more words for him but I settle for perfect. I could see why everyone fell in love with him. I liked Meredith too, mostly because of how nice she was to Anna on her first night and day. There was a time when I was the new girl in school too and I would’ve truly appreciated a girl like her. Josh seemed a bit reckless to me, but he was as much of a part of their group as any of them. I found Rashmi unpleasant and bitter first, but later in the book, we find out why she acted that way, and I even liked her by the end.
I don’t now what I expected from Briget, Anna’s best friend in America, but probably not what actually happened. Also I didn’t expect the kind of kindness Anna got from her ex and his new girlfriend, when she’s back in America for the winter break.
There were some things I didn’t like of course. The guy, David, who Anna dated in Paris for a bit was a horrible person. Starting rumours just because you didn’t get what you wanted is nasty. I didn’t like Étienne’s father either, although he was only seen in one scene, other times there were only talks of him, but all those things made me hate him. He should treat his family as a diamond and not charcoal. Toph was a major a**hole, there are no other words for him.
then there’s Anna’s father. He reminded me so much of John Green, it was frightening. Reading about him made me realize that I don’t want to read cancer books ever again. They’re just too painful, especially that cancer didn’t miss my family and I had to see people I love suffer. Anna’s dad was one of those people who are blinded by the Hollywood sign and money, Which I didn’t understand. They had money to send Anna to a prestigious French school, which probably cost a pretty penny, but they couldn’t give her a bit more, Anna bought her clothes in Target and whatnot. It’s just a contradiction.
The angst part was something I didn’t like that much either, but it didn’t lessen the enjoy factor of this book. I generally don’t like angst and somehow I always find the books with a lot of that in them. It seemed a bit messy, but worth every second reading it afterward.
I liked the ending too, everything seemed finished. We got where everyone is going after graduation or at least how they plan their life. Although I wished for a bit more Anna and Étienne cuteness, but we hopefully get that in the second book.
I love love loved this book so much. It’s a bit cliché and sappy, but it’s sweet and romantic. I laughed and cried while reading it and let me tell you, it’ll worth all your time. With the perfect amount of drama, it’s a very good summer read. It will make you fall in love with Étienne and Paris too. If you’re a romance fan, this is a must read for you.
