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A review by amyedreger
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
5.0
I LOVED this book. I had read wonderful reviews of it and was anxious to read it for myself. It did not disappoint! The cover looks like there is the possibility that it is cheesy but the story itself is a gem.
In a nutshell, Anna is sent by her materialistic father to spend her final year of high school studying at the American School in Paris. Anna is not excited about this at all - having to leave her mom, her brother and her best friends behind to an unknown world where she will be all alone. It certainly takes some getting used to, especially since she doesn't speak a lick of French. Anna quickly falls in with a small group of friends and becomes particularly close with St. Clair, an astonishingly handsome boy with whom she develops an amazing friendship. I'm not going to say much more about the plot. Anna grows as a person and her friendship with St. Clair evolves into something more . . . or so she hopes. The problem is, St. Clair has a girlfriend.
So that doesn't sound like that exciting of a story really, does it? The story is simplistic and there are not any exciting twists and turns. What kept me wanting more of this book was how well it was written and how I just wanted to crawl into the pages of the book and be there with Anna in Paris. I have read a lot of YA fluff lately that has left me kind of unfulfilled at the end. This was the opposite. The characters are so fully developed, even though the book is written from Anna's point of view. The dialogue is realistic, which is refreshing (think John Green here).
The best part of this book for me was that I could completely relate with Anna's relationship issues. Her internal dialogue is spot on - saying something kind of stupid to St. Clair and thinking "oh, god, did I really just say that?" How many of us have been there? The whole being good friends with someone and wanting something more but not being 100% sure if the other person feels the same way and being scared that you will make the jump and regret it is so realistic. I love how their relationship grows stronger as the story progressed and you could just feel Anna's love for St. Clair developing into something real. So many YA books seem to focus on love-at-first-sight but Perkins presents it more realistically - as something that might have been there all along but it takes you a while to see it.
This review is not doing this book justice. READ IT. This is one of those rare stories that you don't want to end . . . I could have kept reading about Anna and St. Clair for another 500 pages.
I cannot wait for Perkins' next book. I am only sad that Anna and St. Clair will not be a part of it!
In a nutshell, Anna is sent by her materialistic father to spend her final year of high school studying at the American School in Paris. Anna is not excited about this at all - having to leave her mom, her brother and her best friends behind to an unknown world where she will be all alone. It certainly takes some getting used to, especially since she doesn't speak a lick of French. Anna quickly falls in with a small group of friends and becomes particularly close with St. Clair, an astonishingly handsome boy with whom she develops an amazing friendship. I'm not going to say much more about the plot. Anna grows as a person and her friendship with St. Clair evolves into something more . . . or so she hopes. The problem is, St. Clair has a girlfriend.
So that doesn't sound like that exciting of a story really, does it? The story is simplistic and there are not any exciting twists and turns. What kept me wanting more of this book was how well it was written and how I just wanted to crawl into the pages of the book and be there with Anna in Paris. I have read a lot of YA fluff lately that has left me kind of unfulfilled at the end. This was the opposite. The characters are so fully developed, even though the book is written from Anna's point of view. The dialogue is realistic, which is refreshing (think John Green here).
The best part of this book for me was that I could completely relate with Anna's relationship issues. Her internal dialogue is spot on - saying something kind of stupid to St. Clair and thinking "oh, god, did I really just say that?" How many of us have been there? The whole being good friends with someone and wanting something more but not being 100% sure if the other person feels the same way and being scared that you will make the jump and regret it is so realistic. I love how their relationship grows stronger as the story progressed and you could just feel Anna's love for St. Clair developing into something real. So many YA books seem to focus on love-at-first-sight but Perkins presents it more realistically - as something that might have been there all along but it takes you a while to see it.
This review is not doing this book justice. READ IT. This is one of those rare stories that you don't want to end . . . I could have kept reading about Anna and St. Clair for another 500 pages.
I cannot wait for Perkins' next book. I am only sad that Anna and St. Clair will not be a part of it!