Book Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Release Date: December 2, 2010

Publisher: Dutton

Pages: 372

Received: Bought

Star Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆








Summary:
                  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?

My Thoughts:

This was my 2nd reread of Anna and I loved it even more. Stephanie Perkins will always, in my heart, be an auto buy. (Especially her new novel about gory zombies?!). I fell in love with the plot, characters, and Paris. I've seen the beauty of flaws in her characters and the undeniable desire to study abroad. I've witnessed real struggles and lack of communication. This book was more relateable since my first read through it. I've fallen in love with films and books the past few months. This book showed me the humor in it, and also the real truths behind it. 

Anna is a senior in high school and was so excited to finish up her year in Atlanta. All of that changes when she is shipped to a boarding school in Paris by her dad. She must face hardships, but she finds love along the way. Etienne St. Clair was everything a girl wanted. Beautiful, smart, beautiful, beautiful, and smart. But he has a "serious" girlfriend. Anna must work around that and make friends with a boy she had no chance with. That doesn't stop her.

With the second time around, I've noticed many things that changed my opinion on the novel. I've fallen in love with the, oh so flawed, characters. But that's why I love them. They are so perfectly flawed. Stephanie has written the characters as if they were real and had their own souls. Genuine like no other. 

"For the two of us, home isn't a place. It is a person. And we are finally home."

The humor was definitely spot on. All the references to books, films, British ways, etc. got me uncontrollably laughing. Stephanie Perkins's humor was a fresh appeal and would please all readers. The plot was laid out so simple, but the way she crafted it, made it seem more complex. You feel as if you ARE in Paris. 

The relationships.. It would be an understatement to call it "complicated". The characters ABSOLUTELY LACKED COMMUNICATION. It was a big struggle me to follow these characters. But the affectionate and humor moments made up for it. But their lack of communication decreased throughout the end. So I didn't end up throwing the book across the room.

ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is so much more than it's credited for. The authentic characters, page-turning plot, and countless flaws are what make this book REAL. There ARE some moments you envy the characters and you just want to break down. That's what Stephanie Perkins has written us. A story with paper characters in reality. We dream to live their lives, but that dream is unfulfilled. We are taken on this ride that we never want to end.


4.5/5 STARS