February 15, 2016 – Book Snacks

Guess what book I FINALLY read?? Yep, Anna and the French Kiss! I kind of put down the book I was reading the other day, and was just like, okay, yep, Valentine’s Day is coming and so I’m just going to read it. I wasn’t planning on reading much of it, just start it, but… I kind of ended up finishing it within a day?? Whoops! And I know I’m behind on several other reviews of previous books I’ve read but since Valentine’s Day was yesterday I thought it’s only fitting to do a review on a book whose cover and synopsis literally screams romance. 😉

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Publication Date: July 16th 2013
Publisher: Speak
Genre(s): Contemporary Romance, Young-Adult
Series Status: Anna and the French Kiss #1
Page Count: 372
Source & Format: Owned, Paperback
Critical Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Can Anna find love in the City of Light?

Anna is happy in Atlanta. She has a loyal best friend and a crush on her coworker at the movie theater, who is just starting to return her affection. So she’s less than thrilled when her father decides to send her to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year.

But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna meets some cool new people, including the handsome Étienne St. Clair, who quickly becomes her best friend. Unfortunately, he’s taken —and Anna might be, too. Will a year of romantic near misses end with the French kiss she’s waiting for?

So basically, the gist of my thoughts for the majority of this book comprised of me going ‘Ohmygodthisbookissoadorable!!!’ after which I kind of die of cuteness overload. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows though; there were some parts where I was incredibly put off by the characters, but entertainment-wise, this was really good! Let me go into more detail, though, because I think that might be helpful. Right…On to it!

Things I loved

Omg Étienne…I finally see what everyone has been squealing about. He’s so adorable!! Where can I find a guy like this?? Cute accent, check. Sweet and thoughtful, check. Funny, check. Seriously, it’s these bookish characters which makes a girl like me mourn for the fact that in real life I have no chance of finding a guy like this… XD
Also did I mention Étienne??
Oh, and pro-friendship, anybody? I loved the friendship thing between Meredith, Rashmi, Josh, Étienne and, Anna. Loved it! It was so positive and showed the ups and downs and obstacles that a friend group has to deal with, you know?
Ehhh, what else… oh! Anna was delightfully perfect for this book. I mean, yes, to be honest, I was SO DONE with her near 80% through the book, because kshfklsdhnfo, ugh no spoilers, but seriously. I just was turned off by the fact that she refused to LISTEN before making judgements (among other things). Gah, I already had to deal with that in another book I read previously, and.. just no. Also there was the fact that so much heart-ache could’ve been prevented if she had only been more perceptive! Ughh that was annoying, but I don’t begrudge her too much, because I do realize that without it all, the story would’ve been concluded much faster. XD And in the end, I appreciated how Perkins kept Anna’s character consistent; she was a high school girl, with flaws and occasional lack of judgement—what else to say? She was a very well-written character, in my opinion.
Aaaaaand, no insta-love! I’ll admit, I was on the fence for quite some time, unable to decide if it was a case of insta-love or not, but, I have deduced that it’s more of a case of attracted-at-first-sight instead of love at first sight, if you know what I mean. Anna and Étienne started off as friends, and it simply progressed from there, I guess. There was development to their romance and friendship, you know? So YAY.
I got to visit PARIS!!! Okay, not literally (duh) but oh how I wish it was! It would’ve been so amazing… but as it is, reading Anna and the French Kiss was lovely in the sense that I got to visit and tour Paris along with Anna as she visited many landmarks and touristic spots. The writing was fabulous for this aspect. Plus, it was with Étienne too, so…. Another positive, haha.
Also, the cover looks so pretty on my shelves! Eep! I wish I had it in hardcover though. Oh well. And yes, this is a pro. Because #bookwormreasoning

Things I DIDN’T love

Despite what I mentioned of Anna being well-written, she still managed to get on my nerves. I mentioned why a little up in the pros; her decisions and attitude could really be a turn-off. It didn’t get so bad, that I had to, say, throw the book and stomp around angrily, but it was bothersome all the same.
Useless characters?? Okay, ‘useless’ might be too strong of a word, but… I wasn’t the biggest fan of Dave—or Toph, for that matter. At times it just felt like they were there to add more drama and ansgt… and perhaps maybe that’s why they were there, but.. meh. I didn’t care about them that much, especially Dave.
The storyline kind of dragged on a bit more than was needed. I suppose this isn’t such a big deal, really, but to some it might definitely be a bigger issue. It’s just that with all the drama surrounding Anna and Étienne as they go back and forth between figuring out the lines between friendship and love interests and whatnot, the plot was (deliberately?) extended. You choose if that’s a good thing or not!

Overall…

I’m so glad I decided to pick this up! It was the perfect read for Valentine’s Day, and what’s more, it was totally adorable! If you’ve been procrastinating reading this book for whatever reason, I definitely recommend you give this a shot, unless you’re completely against contemporary romance. Though I will warn you all; although I personally enjoyed Anna, she’s not going to be everyone’s favourite! But chances are you’ll fall for Étienne, so I guess it’s even. But that’s besides the point. 😉 Anna and the French Kiss was an incredibly entertaining read and I can’t wait to read the next books! Although from what I understand the other two are companion novels… not quite sure how that’ll turn out, but fingers crossed!