Review - Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title and Author: Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Dutton

Publication Date: December 2, 2010

Paperback/Hardcover: 372 Pages

Genre: Young Adult, Romance

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. 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?

Review:

There’s a certain je ne sais quoi to this book that makes it an amazingly cute and romantic read.

Anna, an all-American girl is shipped off to School of America in Paris by her father. She doesn’t speak French and she feels completely lost until she meets a group of friends who immediately welcome her. They drag her out of her dorm room so she can see Paris and she slowly starts to feel comfortable.

As the main character Anna is extremely relatable and reliable. She's definitely not perfect and I like that in a character. Her emotions are real and so are the ways in which she expresses them.

Etienne St Clair is a great character as well. He’s adorable, loyal, sensitive, fun and irresistible in his own way. He has this British accent but he’s actually American and a little French as well. One thing I really liked about him is that he’s not described as being perfect like so many other main male characters. He’s short, he is afraid of heights and he bites his nail. All of his faults only make him more adorable, though. He’s caring and attentive, plus he clearly loves his mother. How cute is that? I simple feel in love with Etienne.

All the secondary characters were very well written as well and added something to the story.

I loved the way Anna and Etienne’s relationship developed. They didn’t immediately fell in love. They started out as friends. They talked, they flirted and eventually, they realized they were in love. There was no rushing and it was all very realistic.

Anna did realize Etienne was good looking right from the start but she also quickly realized he was much more than just another pretty face.

This book isn’t all about romance, though. There’s also some drama thrown in there to make things more interesting.

The whole book is very well written and I especially love the way Stephanie Perkins managed to describe several famous places in Paris.

All in all, Anna and The French Kiss is a very well written and realistic romance. The characters and their emotions feel real and it’s easy to relate to them.

I was afraid this book wouldn’t live up to the hype surrounding it but it definitely did. Anna and The French Kiss is a wonderful read.

Rating: Must Read