Justine's Thoughts: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss
By Stephanie Perkins

Source: Bought. Like it was a total must-own. I just HAD to.
Pages:  372
Book Description:

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?

A quote:

The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you.

Thoughts:

Expectations: I knew it would be really good. But hell, I didn’t expect it to be THAT FREAKING GOOD. It’s crazy impossible! It’s super fantastic! This book is all the major good things combined. I am serious.

About Setting: (Mostly) The City of Light, the most romantic place in the world, *ahem*...Paris! Sigh, what a glorious place. The way Perkins described everything made it so vivid in my mind. It made me want to visit so badly. And meet an amazingly gorgeous English/American boy. Oh and Kilometre Zero at night? What a magical scene.

About Characters: We have Anna Oliphant, our lovely heroine. The way she narrates is gripping and entertaining. She’s hilarious and awesome. She even has a movie reviewing blog, where she posts about movies. So she’s left alone in a foreign school, which was very easy to relate to given that I was in the same situation years ago. Yes, language barrier included. But eventually she makes friends, who are a magnificent bunch. One of those is Etienne St. Clair. Oh my fudgy crepes, I don’t know where to start. He’s the perfect fictional guy EVER. The only problem is that he has a serious girlfriend, Ellie, who had already graduated from School of America in Paris (SOAP). Our Etienne is gorgeous, witty, and pretty hilarious. No wonder he’s such a big hit in school. He has a certain type of charisma that would make you instantly love him. Of course, that’s regardless of his height. He’s short, which buggered me a bit, I admit. But like Anna said, if he’s got such a flawless face and artsy hair and an English accent, you wouldn’t even notice his height. The other relationships also were really well explored, whether it was a friendship, a family or a romantic relationship.

About Plot: Who wouldn’t be afraid and upset when suddenly you’re shipped off to a foreign country? Not to mention leave your current life on hold in hopes that everything would go back to normal when you return. That’s Anna’s situation. She left her best friend, her mom and brother, and her almost boyfriend behind in Atlanta in exchange for a new life in Paris with new friends. For me, I would love for that chance, especially if Etienne is a part of that sensational package.

Some parts may be a little predictable, but that didn’t matter at all with wonderful characters and a remarkable setting. What I love about this book is that it has a little touch of everything, with the exception of romance, of course. There is a lot of romance, which I totally appreciated. There were family issues, betrayal, friendship,

Overall Rating: Y Y Y Y Y [Plus one if I could.]
Anna and the French Kiss is all the delicious things you hope it to be! I guarantee that you will not be disappointed and it is needless to say that this will be my ultimate recommendation. The end.

Stephanie Perkins, I must congratulate you on creating the hottest fictional boy. You’ve succeeded to make all the fans swoon at the thought of him and ache for his existence!