Book Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss is one of those books that I’ve heard so many people say they loved, yet I never really made time to read it. My pen pal Jen finally convinced me, and I finallly read this popular contemporary book.

And, I’m so glad I did!!

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anna and the french kiss stephanie perkins

Title & Author: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Genre: Young Adult Fiction – Contemporary

Release Date: December 2, 2010

Series: Standalone

Publisher: Dutton

How I Got the Book: Bought

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 Etienne St. Clair: 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?”

Funny, Sweet & Adorable

I loved everything about Anna and the French Kiss. It was sweet yet serious and funny yet deep. The characters are what really made this book.

Anna is witty and loves cinema, and St. Clair has great hair and is short. There are so many details and intricacies to everyone’s personality that they feel so real. I would be BFF’s with Anna in a heartbeat.

Even though Anna and the French Kiss focuses on romance, there is a huge coming of age element mixed in. Anna (like the rest of her friends at school) got shipped off to Paris for her senior year. That’s a huge adjustment, and not only does Anna have to cope with all new people, but she also has to cope with a whole new country and culture. It was awesome to see her development with those things throughout the novel.

Is This a Kissing Book?

The setting of this book cannot be matched – Paris in the springtime (and other seasons too). Très magnifique!

To help you visualize Anna traipsing through France, tomorrow I’m going to post my pictures of France (I went there two years ago) along with Anna’s comments on the places mentioned. Reading Anna and the French Kiss was like getting to relive my time there all over again.

To answer the question in this section title (asked by dear Fred Savage in The Princess Bride): HECK YES! There is so much romantic tension in this book – almost too much for me. But, it was totally worth it.

I was yelling things like, “SERIOUSLY?!” and “What now??” through the book, but I loved how Perkins wrapped everything up. Not everything is ideal (with other characters), but I liked that Perkins didn’t make the ending “too perfect.”

OVERALL:

I don’t read a ton of contemporary YA, so when I do I want the books to really wow me. I couldn’t have asked for a better example of that in this novel. With its gorgeous setting, rich characters and coming of age story, Anna and the French Kiss is a perfect book to escape with.

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TAGS: anna and the french kiss, contemporary fiction, stephanie perkins

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http://profiles.google.com/lisaschensted Lisa Schensted

Yes. To all of the things, yes.

So glad you fell in love with this one!
http://www.readbreatherelax.com/a-visual-tour-of-anna-and-the-french-kiss-in-france/ A Visual Tour of Anna and the French Kiss in France | Read. Breathe. Relax. | Ya book reviews and fantasy book reviews

[...] I said in my review, I went to France about two years ago, and it was absolutely amazing. So, I took quotes from Anna [...]
http://ems-reviews-books.blogspot.com/ Ems

This is one of my favorite books ever. I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Have you read Lola yet? I found it even better than Anna.
http://readthisinstead.blogspot.com/ kathy

I’m so happy you liked it! I read a good amount of YA contemporary and this is one of my absolute favorites. This book totally made me want to visit France. I’ll have to go check out your pictures.
Bookishlilly

Loved loved loved the setting and Perkins’ writing. Didn’t really like Anna and her friends. I have an aversion to bratty rich kids sitting around and bitching about how awful their lives are and the daddy issues were a bit much. I pretty much know I’m alone with my feelings. Everybody but me loved pretty much everything about the book….
NC
Truly Bookish