Title: Anna and the French KissAuthor: Stephanie Perkins
Series: none
Publisher: Dutton
Release Date: December 2 2010
My Source: Won
Goodreads 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?
My Review:
LOVED THIS BOOK! It was super hyped up, so I had high expectations for it, and usually those expectations aren't met. But that was not the case here. I understand why everybody loves it now. It made me like contemporary fiction which is not my favorite genre. So real, so funny, so cute, so laugh-out-loud, so perfect!
Little things bugged me here and there- but nothing that was really a big deal. For example, I actually didn't like St. Clair for awhile because he seemed stuck up. (Maybe I was the only one who thought that!) Paticuarly when he made fun of Anna's friend Dave who I couldn't help but think of one of my own friends when I was reading about him. Even so, but the end it worked out very well. Predictable, yes, but nice.
Anna was a brilliant, funny, and clever narrator but very real and human at the same time. Her obsession with movies was a neat plot element that gave her a lot of character and really contrasted with the types of stories/movies her Dad writes. You can see why they don't get along.
Unlike some contemps, the plot was not boring. It was driven by misunderstandings in relationships- a theme that worked very well and seemed almost Shakespeare-ish. I had to keep reading to see what would happen next with Anna and St. Clair!
If you're looking for a fun, unputdownable read this summer, go buy Anna and the French Kiss (yes- buy it! Don't check it out from the library or borrow it- you'll want to own it so you can read it over and over again!). It's a really, really fantastic read!
