Saturday, March 22, 2014

Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Publication Date: December 2010
Publisher: Speak
Goodreads

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. 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?





4.5 stars

Oh sweetness! Fluffy in a good way, Anna and the French Kiss is the ultimate book for anyone looking for light reading. It’s just the right amount of sweet, funny, and hot French-British guy in one book! Sprinkle it with the Parisian setting, and mmm! Simply delectable!

Set in the lovely setting of Paris, Anna and the French Kiss told the story of Anna, an American girl who is transferred to France in her senior year. Paris is a great city, but short visit and living for one year are obviously different matters. However, Anna’s homesickness quickly disappears as she meets some new friends in School of America, especially the French guy with British Accent and US nationality, Étienne St. Clair. Anna totally swoons over Étienne, but Étienne already has a gorgeous, older girlfriend. Surely Anna won’t be stupid as to fall for Étienne despite of knowing it’s impossible… right?

I’m not good at summarizing the story so let’s forget the kinda-summary above. I think Anna and the French Kiss lives up to its hype. It’s not just a simple story about a girl and a guy going in circle before they finally confess their undying love to each other. It’s MORE than that. It’s also about adapting in a new environment with new set of culture and language, a guy’s struggle with his oppressed father and his dying mother, and friendship above love. And those issues, tackled gently without any cliché at all.

You will love Anna when you meet her – she’s quirky, smart, and fun in the most possible way. Étienne, of course, is the guy you’re supposed to fall in love with (like it’s the hardest thing to do, duh!). Étienne. *le sigh* The gorgeous French guy with brilliant mind and polite British accent. Very good hair and kind personality as well. Oh Étienne please just be human already.

Reading this book made me wish I could get into the story and join Anna and her friends in School of America. I only worry that when I go to Paris, it wouldn’t be as lovely as it’s portrayed in the book. For one thing, Perkins seems to gloss everything in Paris – everything seems much lovelier. The cafeteria, the shops, the way people dresses, even the strangers’ attitude. I’m sure that Paris is a wonderful city, but it just seems unrealistic that everything is much better in that city. Another thing, I won’t have a gorgeous, kind, funny French-British-American guy like Étienne showing me Kilometer Zero Paris or Shakespearean bookshop. Obviously my experience later won’t match with Anna’s.

All in all, Anna and the French Kiss was a very entertaining book and I would recommend to it to anyone ready to get their heart strings tugged by this romantic story. I like how clever Perkins tackled issues like family and friendship, and even tough ones like cancer. I don’t want the book to end. We need more Anna, Étienne, and Paris! (Of course, there are cameo appearances of Anna and Étienne in the next book, Lola and the Boy Next Door, but no Paris! Boohoo.) I want so, so bad to book the next plane to Paris after I read this book. Anna and the French Kiss, with its great storyline, fun characters, and gorgeous setting, will definitely capture your heart.

Words are engraved around it: POINT ZÉRO DES ROUTES DE FRANCE.

“Mademoiselle Oliphant. It translates to ‘Point zero of the roads of France.’ In other words, it’s the point from which all other distances in Frances are measured.” St. Clair clears his throat. “It’s the beginning of everything.”

I look back up. He’s smiling.

“Welcome to Paris, Anna. I’m glad you’ve come.”




4.5 cups of tea!
A feel-good book that will cheer you up.



8 comments:

  1. Yay! I love it when books live up to their hype. Glad you enjoyed this one =) I still can't believe I haven't read it yet, European settings are my favorite.

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    1. You totally should read this! I was intimidated by this book at first, things like 'what if I don't like this book?' But then I found out that it's SO awesome. Please give it a go, Amanda! ;)

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  2. I'm thrilled to see you enjoyed this one, Hilda! I absolutely LOVED Anna's character, not to mention her slow friendship and romance with St. Clair who is 100% swoon-worthy. Most of all, though, the familial relationships and importance of other friendships in this book make it stand out. Anna's narration is spot-on and so relate-able that it's impossible to stop reading and small one-liners of truth from Perkins have made this a book I've re-read constantly. Wonderful review, dear! :)

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  3. I really loved this one too!! It was definitely more than a simple love story...if I hadn't read such good reviews, it wouldn't have been a book that stuck out to me to read, but I'm so happy I did.

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  4. This is a really lovely book, perfect for when you need a really good, happy read!

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  5. YES YES YES, HILDA! I'm so so glad you liked this one as much as I did. I love what you said about it being so much more than just a fluffy romance where all they do is run in circles. Etienne is amazing aaaaaah! <33 I love the way him and Anna just popped up in Lola and the Boy Next Door haha. ;) OMG! We should totally go to Paris together, chica! After reading Anna I too was really curious (and apprehensive) as to whether Paris is actually that great (the last time I went it seemed nice, but quite ordinary if I'm being honest). Lovely review as always, Hilda! x

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  6. YES. YES. YES! I am so happy when I see people reading Anna for the first time and loving it. It real is so much more than a fluffy contemporary romance, and Etienne? LOVE HIM.

    Fantastic review!

    - Tabitha @ Tabitha's Book Blog

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