Anna and the French Kiss

I'll admit that I have a wall up when it comes to books that revolve around romance. Too often I find that the relationship is the book is wholly unbelievable and it hampers my appreciation of the story. However sometimes I find a book that completely changes my mind, and makes me question my stance. Anna and the French Kiss was one of the few romantic books I've read that drew me in and stole my heart. That alone earns it my seal of approval.

Anna was initially a bit difficult for me to relate to, since she seemed to be so set on being bitter about her situation. I understood where she was coming from, but I really wanted to see her realization that she had been given a completely amazing opportunity! Once that happened, I saw the real Anna underneath and I fell in love with her. A sweet girl, Anna's open minded thought process and introspective personality really spoke to me. I think I saw a little bit of myself in her.

St. Clair is the type of swoon-worthy guy that many will fall in love with. His British side shines off the page, and his overall goofiness is a sweet addition to some otherwise awkward situations he seems to get himself into. My favorite part about St. Clair's character was his ability to see things in such a positive light. Even when he made a poor decision, which then in a true to life manner was blown out of proportion by Anna, he was able to look at the problem with positivity. He is the type of friend everyone wishes they had, always willing to talk things out before jumping to conclusions.

What really struck me most about this story, besides the gorgeous Paris setting, was the relatively small cast of characters presented. The story revolves around Anna and St. Clair mostly, with St. Clair's three original friends supporting. As a person who reads a lot of fantasy books, with huge amounts of characters, this was a refreshing change for me. The small cast allowed the characters to come to life and the reader to really get to know them. Stephanie Perkin's writing created a feeling of belonging. I felt as though I was a part of Anna's group from the moment they were introduced. It's a nice feeling to have while reading.

As I'm sure you can tell, I absolutely adored this book! In terms of a romance, it was perfection for me. The delicious tension between Anna and St. Clair, the beautiful setting, the sweet storyline, it all melded together into a stunning debut for Stephanie Perkins! I'm in love.

I must say, Stephanie Perkins has seriously outdone herself here. This book was absolutely amazing. I'm not one to read a teen romance without any magic involved. I picked up this book because of all the rave it was receiving from fellow YA bloggers. After getting into the first few chapters, I set the book aside saying "Why do people even write this crap?". But, that was when I thought this would be you're average 'girl-loves-boy', 'boy-likes-girl', 'boy-breaks-girls-heart' story. After really getting into it, I realized it was that plus so much more. I found I couldn't put the book down! I laughed at Anna's experiences, I cried at her heartache. Along with the romance, I actually felt like I was in Paris! Perkins packed in so many facts about the city along with some French language. After reading this, I felt like I could have an easy conversation in French. This book was excellently written and left me wanting more of Etienne St. Clair. Ohh-la-laa!

I am going to do the unthinkable and say that I have mixed feelings about this review. Ack. Go ahead and gasp and tell me how horrid I am. I’m ready for it. Now, don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy this book; however, there were some things that keep me from proclaiming my undying love for it.
First off, I’m one of those pesky people that want all lose ends wrapped up. So when I didn’t find out what happened with the Dave and Amanda situation, it left me a little disappointed. Of course, this was such a minor element in the story that it didn’t take away from the overall book, but still. There were a few other minor things, but they aren’t really worth mentioning. Besides, I’m pretty sure it’s just me. I honestly think it’s my lack of interest in contemporary novels that kept me from proclaiming the utter and complete awesomeness of this book. For me to say that a contemporary read is phenomenal, slap yourself wonderful, it has to leave me speechless. Anna and the French Kiss did not leave me speechless, but it did make me smile at times.
What did I love about this book? Many, many things! First off, the setting. OMG. The author did such an amazing job with the setting. It was like I was back in France. Every little detail was so wonderfully descriptive. I could picture everything in my mind as I read. Instant love. In fact, it made me wish I was catching a flight to Paris right now so I could relive everything Anna and Etienne experienced. The way the catacombs in Notre Dame were described was perfect. The author was spot on… the entire time. I think I can safely say that Stephanie Jenkins did one of the best jobs EVER in setting the stage for a novel.
She did an equally amazing job with the characters. Seriously, what is there not to adore about Anna and her crew? Anna was witty and self-conscious. She was great. I loved her and her raisin sized front tooth gap. Then there is Etienne St. Clair. Le sigh. Simply charming. I swear he makes me want to go around calling everyone “mate” and “bloke” while I wear knickers and stare at wankers. So much fun! He is a perfect book boyfriend. The remainder of the crew is also fun… very Joyluck Club-ish. They were a perfect complement to one another.
I also think it’s worth mentioning that there is a subtle theme in this story. It was a little unclear at first, but it became clear by the end of the story. I also loved that the English Literature teacher helped deliver this theme. Her lectures on translated works helped Anna discover a huge secret about herself, which translates beautifully to real life.
This was a great contemporary read. I’m not a huge fan of contemporary works, but I did enjoy Anna and the French Kiss. It’s a well-developed story with fantastic characters. A perfect beach read.

This was such a fun book to read! It only took me a few hours to get through it. This is a coming of age story that's full of fun, humor, romance and hot boys with accents...with ACCENTS! Doesn't get much hotter than that?!

Anna Oliphant is our main character and she gets sent to Paris for her senior year of high school by her dad. Dad is a novelist whose books (which have been made into movies) make women swoon and who left Anna and her brother Sean when he was a baby. She and Dad don't have the best relationship but the one thing they do share is their OCD for cleanliness. Besides her OCD, Anna is a HUGE movie buff and an aspiring movie critic, writing reviews on her blog. Anna is not too happy about having to leave behind her best friend, Bridgette and a budding relationship with hot boy #1, Topher. Topher works with Anna at the local cinema and she's had a major crush on him forever and just when he starts to show interest, Dad springs the Paris thing on her. Way to go Dad!

Topher is a rocker boy (rocker = automatic hotboyness) and is in his own band. He has that bad boy attitude too which makes him all the more appealing to Anna but he's in America and she's in Paris. Kinda gives new meaning to "long distance relationship", huh? He e-mails and calls her reassures her that he can't wait to see her at Christmas.

Bridgette is Anna's BFF! She's bold, brassy and an awesome drummer and she's also taken over as babysitter for Anna's 7yr old brother Seany while she's in Paris. She makes some interesting choices that affect their friendship in a way neither ever expected.

When Anna lands in Pairs at her new school, the first person she meets is Meredith, another senior. They meet when Meredith hears Anna sobbing after her parents leave her and head back home to Atlanta. Meredith is kind and selfless, putting others first. She's big into sports and spending time with her small group of friends which she readily introduces Anna too.

Upon leaving Meredith's room that first night, Anna runs into, like literally runs into, Etienne...hot boy #2 (w/an accent!) Beautiful, British, brown eyed, perfect haired, Etienne St. Clair...sigh. He's funny, charming, beautiful, kind, has a girlfriend, is fluent in French and, you caught that, didn't you? Yeah, I thought so...he has a girlfriend - boo! Even so, he and Anna become fast friends, he helping her find her way around Paris and she with his family stuff. They quickly realize that they have a lot in common and they also have feelings for each other that go beyond friendship. They ARE in the city of love, but there's Topher and Ellie (Etienne's gf) to consider.

Anna also meets Rashmi and Josh who all part of the her new circle of friends and a couple too. (I enjoyed these two even if I don't agree with what they're up to all the time) Josh (hot boy #3) is an artist and Etienne's BFF. He has a great sense of humor but is also a tortured soul (criteria for hotness). Rashmi appears to be cold and only interested in playing tonsil hockey with Josh all the time but once we get to know her, we see that she puts up a wall to protect herself.

During her jet setting journey through her senior year, Anna learns some hard lessons about love, friendship, trust and betrayal, forcing her to take a good look at herself and the hot boys. It wouldn't be high school without the teenage angst, secret crushes, unrequited love, nasty rumor mills, budding romances, break-ups and make-ups and talks of sex. There's also the occasional bad word yelled out of frustration or anger and they're in Paris where the legal drinking age is under 21 so some of the characters have an unpleasant experience with alcohol. Been there. Done that. Blech!

There was a sweetness to this story which is what I enjoyed the most. That and all the details of Paris which really make me want to go!

I know that nearly everyone has read and reviewed this book for me, but I am just getting off of the sweeping tour of Paris, and the anticipation rush from Anna and St Clair (I'll call him that not because I didn't feel effection for him, but because I'm not the fondest of E name.)
I've seen so many positive reviews, I tried to wipe my slate clean before reading so that I could just enjoy (or not) the story before me. And enjoy it I did. It was a fast, fun, and romantic story that surprised me with the emotional depth at times. There aren't just cute and fun issues here, there are some hard ones--sickness, barriers to friendship, and just raw emotions from events playing out.
I do sympathize with St Clair's reasonings behind Ellie, but I still have to say that it still didn't sit right with me. Sure, she's not there and his feelings for Anna are strong, but why drag it on? It would've been hard as a girl seeing it from Ellie's eyes, but I think that would've been the right thing to do.... I guess I just had to mention that because that's the one thing in the book that still nags at me.
That is not to say that I thought negatively of the book, I loved it. Anna grows and learns so much, and she has a great (and wonderfully written) group of friends, and the tension between her and St Clair kept me on the edge of my seat.

a review by Courtney

This is a hard book review to write because there were some things I just loved about this story and other things that drove me crazy!! To sum up what goes on in this story; Anna is forced to spend her senior year at a school in Paris for Americans. She is not thrilled to leave behind her best friend or her possible boyfriend. She soon begins to love Paris though when she meets a couple of new friends and a hunky English American St.Clair. Unfortunately he has a girlfriend though so she only idolizes him from a far!

What I liked about Anna and the French Kiss; I liked the characters and the plot a lot!! Anna was a lovable character and so were all her friend she made in Paris. They reminded me of the group of friends I always hung out with in high school and we did everything together! Very genuine and believable.

The plot was pretty unique and I although I could guess the ending pretty much from the beginning I never knew what was going to happen next. It had a very satisfying ending which is always a make-or-break for me and this ending sold the book!

What I didn't like about it; I did not like the annoying romantic tension. Usually that doesn't bother me but in this book it did. I was getting a bit frustrated with the way things were progressing SO SLOWLY!!

CONTENT ALERT: This is more of a PG-13 book for me!! There was no sex scenes but sometimes the language was pure filthy, for example there was a few cuss words and the word slut was used repeatedly! It didn't really bother me a whole lot but I definitely wouldn't want my young teenager reading it.

I will be looking to see what else Stephanie Perkins wrote because even though I was annoyed at times, this really was one of a few contemporary books I actually enjoyed!

Reader reviewed by Kayla

Wow. This was a roller coaster ride of a read (try saying that 10x fast).

There are times when I'll become so invested in a character that I will experience her emotions right along with her, and with nearly the same intensity. This is what happened with me and Anna. A big reason for this may be that we were so alike. If I were in her situation (attending a boarding school for the first time in a country where I didn't know the language), I would be thinking and acting exactly like she did. And I have the same insecure thoughts when I'm trying to make new friends-I guess we all do. There were times I actually cried while reading because I felt so frustrated and upset over Anna's escalating problems near the end of the book. Needless to say, the happy ending left me breathless and ecstatic. Anna and St. Clair's relationship developed so naturally. I love how true to life the whole story was and how real all of the characters seemed. This was an incredible book.

Side Note: A small problem I had with the book was that Anna's father was described a lot like Nicholas Sparks (a Southern author who writes love stories with depressing endings and has a very large and loyal following, as well as a good number of movie deals). This wouldn't have been so bad except that Anna's father was written up to be a real jerk. He was even greatly criticized and called insensitive (by Anna) for making a profit by "exploiting" those situations, which she was especially upset about after learning that a friend of hers had a mother that was suffering from cancer. It kind of felt like a slap at Sparks, though I'm sure this was unintentional on the author's part. I don't mean to judge. I just thought I'd mention it.