Title: Anna and the French Kiss Author: Stephanie Perkins Published on: December 2 2010 Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance Author's Website I Author's Blog Part of a series?: Anna and the French Kiss #1 Get a copy: Amazon I Barnes & Noble |
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?
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?
WARNING: MILD SPOILERS AHEAD
I finished Anna and the French Kiss on the first day of the #IslaIsComing Read-along, and boy, was this an easy read! It was nice, it was fluffy, and I can see why tons of people looooved it! (Do you feel the inevitable "BUT" coming?)
However, while I was enjoying the ride with Anna at Paris, a part of me was scrunching up my face at the pages (well, screen. I was reading on my iPad). A lot of "WHAT"s and "OMGOMGOMG" and "WHOPEE"s and "...." were going on in my head. I feel like a such a party pooper to say this, but (UGH) I think Anna and the French Kiss was overrated.
BEFORE YOU LOB YOUR HARDCOVER COPIES OF ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS AT ME PLEASE LET ME EXPLAIN
I felt like Anna and the French Kiss was too cliched. Gorgeous English boy? Girl who pretended to be Oblivious-To-Beautiful-Boy? Love at first sight? Boy choosing to break up with girlfriend because 'I'm sorry, but I love this other girl more!' From the first page to the last, I was expecting some kind of dramatic plot twist to happen, but...let's just say I was vaguely disappointed.
As for the characters, I would like to say that if I met Anna in real life, I would...probably stay away from her. And keep my gorgeous friend-who's-a-boy and who-I'm-also-in-love-with away from her too. I still don't think that what she did to Mer was justified. Yes, love can be unpredictable, but poor Mer! Anna needs to take her friend's feelings into account and not just blame it on "love"!
We were also led to believe that Anna reviews movies and dreams of being a renowned movie critic one day. Well, excuuuuuse me, Anna! I don't see any real investment in your website! If you're that passionate about writing movie reviews why do you only speak briefly of your website? And how could you not know that Paris has the most cinemas in the world?!
I would be kidding myself if I said I didn't love Etienne St. Clair. For Pete's sake, he has a British accent.
However, while I was enjoying the ride with Anna at Paris, a part of me was scrunching up my face at the pages (well, screen. I was reading on my iPad). A lot of "WHAT"s and "OMGOMGOMG" and "WHOPEE"s and "...." were going on in my head. I feel like a such a party pooper to say this, but (UGH) I think Anna and the French Kiss was overrated.
BEFORE YOU LOB YOUR HARDCOVER COPIES OF ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS AT ME PLEASE LET ME EXPLAIN
I felt like Anna and the French Kiss was too cliched. Gorgeous English boy? Girl who pretended to be Oblivious-To-Beautiful-Boy? Love at first sight? Boy choosing to break up with girlfriend because 'I'm sorry, but I love this other girl more!' From the first page to the last, I was expecting some kind of dramatic plot twist to happen, but...let's just say I was vaguely disappointed.
As for the characters, I would like to say that if I met Anna in real life, I would...probably stay away from her. And keep my gorgeous friend-who's-a-boy and who-I'm-also-in-love-with away from her too. I still don't think that what she did to Mer was justified. Yes, love can be unpredictable, but poor Mer! Anna needs to take her friend's feelings into account and not just blame it on "love"!
We were also led to believe that Anna reviews movies and dreams of being a renowned movie critic one day. Well, excuuuuuse me, Anna! I don't see any real investment in your website! If you're that passionate about writing movie reviews why do you only speak briefly of your website? And how could you not know that Paris has the most cinemas in the world?!
I would be kidding myself if I said I didn't love Etienne St. Clair. For Pete's sake, he has a British accent.
The main reason why I didn't like Anna and the French Kiss that much is due to the fact that this book was so glamoured up by reviews, recommendations, I was sort of hoping for some huuuuuuge plot twist that would drop down on my head like a bombshell and send me into an euphoric state or perhaps cause big, fat tears rolling down my face. Instead, what happened was "Mm. Mm. Okay. Great. (nods head) Yep. Well, good." and the occasional 'OMG. OMG. I WANT THEM TOGETHER. SOMETHING MUST HAPPEN. NOW.' I was hoping for a massive explosion of plot twists.
But I had my fair share of fangirling too, as you can see.
But I had my fair share of fangirling too, as you can see.
Logical part of me shoved aside now, my inner fangirl says that she's so happy for Anna! Yes, it was cliched. Yes, I totally saw the ending coming. But we all need these cutesy contemporary books to bring out our giggly, girly sides now and then! What would we do without them?
- People who have this craving for contemporary reads that are half girlish, half sad, and all cutesy-romance!
- People who are looking for an easy read. (And by easy read, I mean reeaaaally easy. Don't get too serious on this book or anything.)
Read a vicious (and humorous) review on Anna and the French Kiss (readers who loved this book, stay away!), or read a positive and detailed one!
my rating for Anna and the French Kiss
There were a few plot holes, but I cannot deny how cute and fluffy this was! 3.5 - 4 stars!