BOOK REVIEW: Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss #1) by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss #1) by Stephanie Perkins

Publication: December 2nd 2010 by Dutton

Pages: 372

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. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

Rate: 5 out of 5 stars

 

My thoughts:

 

     There are 2 reasons why I LOVED this book. But your gonna have to read on, to find out.

     In Stephanie Perkins Anna and the French Kiss, 17 year old Anna, is sent away to Paris, for her senior year. Anybody else would be ecstatic to go...But Anna sure isn't. On top of the fact that she doesn't speak a lick of french, she's absolutely homesick, lost, and knows no one. It doesn't take long before she's befriended by a group of friends. Meredith, Rashmi, Josh, and St. Clair (Etienne). She finally found friends in Paris, when she starts having feelings for St. Clair. There's just one problem. He has a girlfriend. Anna is falling in love with someone who she can't have. Will Anna end up with the guy she likes, or not? It is, after all, The City of Lights...and Love.

     First off, I went into this book a little incredulously. There was tons of great reviews on goodreads, and I got super excited when I bought Anna and the French Kiss, But I knew it wasn't such a good idea, because a good majority of the contemporary books I read turn out to be too corny, or too cliche. So my standards for this book were set a bit low. After a few chapters, I was happily surprised that I was really liking it.

    Second: the characters. Stephanie's characters are just so likable. You instantly fall in love with St. Clair, and Anna. Even though they are far from perfect. It's stated in the book, that Anna has a gap in between her teeth, and she has a white bleached strand in her hair, that make her look like a skunk. And St. Clair has crooked bottom teeth, and is actually shorter then Anna. ( I found this really funny!!)

     The writing in this book is really good. It has a sort of cutesy ting to it, which makes it such a great boy crush book. She writes about the characters so nicely, and does a great job at getting every little detail about a crush down. The angst, the awkwardness, the total cheese fest. It was so awesome.

     I fell for this book so much, that I even went to my parents, asking to go study in Paris. I mean, who wouldn't want? Sadly, by family is rational (and broke) and said no.

     I loved the good-natured humor. It will have you smiling way after finishing it. Looking forward to buying Lola and the Boy Next Door.

 

Quotes:

 

“French name, English accent, American school. Anna confused.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

 

“Soap?"
"School of America in Paris" he explains. "SOAP".
Nice. My father sent me here to be cleansed.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

 

“Most people in Atlanta don't have an accent. It's pretty urban. A lot of people speak gangsta, though," I add jokingly.
"Fo' shiz," he replies in his polite English accent.
I spurt orangey-red soup across the table. St. Clair gives a surprised ha-HA kind of laugh, and I'm laughing too, the painful kind like abdominal crunches. He hands me a napkin to wipe my chin. "Fo'. Shiz." He repeats it solemnly.
Cough cough. "Please don't ever stop saying that. It's too-" I gasp. "Much."
"You oughtn't to have said that. Now I shall have to save it for special occasions."
"My birthday is in February." Cough choke wheeze. "Please don't forget.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

 

“Madame Guillotine gets mad at me. Not because I told them to shove it, but because I didn’t say it in French. What is wrong with this school?”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

 

“The only French word I know is oui, which means “yes,” and only recently did I learn it’s spelled o-​u-​i and not w-​e-​e.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss