Anna and the French Kiss
by Stephanie Perkins
Series: Anna and the French Kiss #1
Published: December 2, 2010
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Format: Paperback (372 pages)
Source: Purchased
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?
Anna and the French Kiss was a cute teen romance with delightful writing. There was lots of drama which is very realistic to what teen relationships are really like. So what are teen relationships really like? Hint: they lack communication and have lots of drama. The couple in this book fights a lot which I found kind of funny and adorable. The thing that kept me from completely loving this book was I felt like there was a little too much drama. It gave me mild anxiety while reading it.
I couldn’t get enough of the cast of characters. Anna’s father is a an author who is more or less Nicholas Sparks but with the personality of Gilderoy Lockhart – complete with fake white smile, purple shirt, and hair that blows dramatically in the wind. Anna is sent to a boarding school in Paris that has “suspiciously fresh (pg 21)” food. That made me laugh since American schools have food that looks suspiciously not like food at all. Anna has a best friend who loves obscure words and I think she needs to be my best friend, too.
My favorite thing about this book was that Anna wanted to be a professional movie critic so she wrote a movie review blog. She didn’t want to be a director or a screen writer. I loved the way she described what it’s like to write a movie review.
“Why do you need to practice [writing movie reviews]? It’s not like it’s hard or something.” [said Dave.]
“Yeah? I’d like to see you write a six-hundred-word review about one. ‘I liked it. It was cool. There were explosions.'” [Anna said.]
– Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss pg 122
I relate to her so much! It IS hard to write reviews. I want to be just like Anna but a professional book reviewer. I also found that quote ironic since I knew I was going to review this book the way Anna reviews movies.
I really enjoyed the writing in Anna and the French Kiss. The dialogue is fun. We get to know Anna’s backstory when touring her room and looking at interesting photos. Here is an example of some awesome writing right here.
Bin after bin of macarons in every flavor and color imaginable. … And then I notice cinnamon and hazelnut praline, and I just want to die right there. Crawl over the counter and crunch my fingers through their delicate crusts and lick out the fragrant fillings until I can no longer breathe.
– Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss, pg 158
Overall, it was a cute teen romance with great characters. I just wish there had been less drama.
Content Rating: Medium, for strong language (about 3 or 4 f-words) and teen drinking (although it isn’t glamorized)
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About Stephanie Perkins
Well, hello! I'm Stephanie Perkins, and I write novels for teens (and for adults who aren't afraid to admit that teen books are awesome). I was born in South Carolina, raised in Arizona, attended universities in San Francisco and Atlanta, and now I live in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina.
My best friend is my husband Jarrod. Our house is almost a hundred years old, and every room is painted a different color of the rainbow. We share it with a cat named Mr. Tumnus.
I've always worked with books—first as a bookseller, then as a librarian, and now as a novelist. On weekdays, you'll find me at my desk, typing away, downing cups of coffee and tea. On the weekend, you'll find me at the movies, waiting for the actors to kiss. I believe all novels and films should have more kissing.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
My name is Jessica. I love to read Young Adult and classic literature. I’ve been a book blogger for six years and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. I’m a very curious reader. Writing about all the questions and thoughts I had while reading a book is the best hobby ever.
Hehe well I rated this one about the same as you. Good but a bit too much drama for me too. Maybe I’m getting old. :)
I really, really liked Anna and the French Kiss. It’s been a few years since I read it, though. I do understand what you mean about the drama. I felt similarily with Ilsa and the Happily Ever After. I really loved the book, but some of the issues were a little too dramatic for me.
I nominated you for the Liebster Award!
http://kamislibrarythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/11/liebster-award.html
I liked this one ok but Lola and the Boy Next Door was my favorite. I can’t remember the drama in this one bugging me but I don’t really remember the drama.