Anna and the French Kiss

I don't want to feel this way around him. I want things to be normal. I want to be his friend, not another stupid girl holding out for something that will never happen.

I had avoided this book for over a year, despite all the glowing reviews, just because I despise aaanything French. And also because I did not like the old cover at all. Based on that cover I was expecting something very cheesy and just not for me. But, once I finally decided to let go of those facts and just start reading it, I could not put it down.

I get both the people that are extremely excited about it and the ones that were disappointed because the main characters were so incredibly flawed. To me, they just seemed real. Like I was actually following a real story. I also found them endearing, no matter how immature they were behaving. Because I get where they're coming from and why they behaved like that.

Anna, is one of the most relatable fictional character I have read. And perhaps even Étienne. I am totally opposed to leading someone on when you're in a relationship and not ending that relationship despite being in love with someone that's not your partner just because you are too scared to be alone, but I understand why a teenager with Étienne's self esteem issue would do that.

The way they handled their love and basically just any relationship with the people around them was obviously so wrong, on so many levels, but so natural at that age. I'm older now and I know better, but when you're a teenager that grew up in a family where one of the parents is such a dominant and controlling figure, life can be pretty confusing. And you end up doing questionable stupid things, like these two. They were just barely starting to learn about making decisions, take responsibility for their actions and just figure out what they want.

And even though, deep inside, I was hoping the plot would take a different course, in the end, I was not disappointed because what happened was actually more realistic than what I had in mind.

There was one point where there was so much drama, drama, drama that my enthusiasm was dying like deflated balloon. But then I though about the first serious crush I had and how the world seemed to be crumbling around me because he seemed to like me, but he didn't confess his feelings either. And then every other non-love related issues I had during that time seemed to be unbearable. Now, when I look back I can hardly understand how I could be such a silly, naive girl. But all that “drama” and all the things I used to overreact when I was younger were amongst the things that helped shape who I am.

I looove Stephanie Perkins' writing, and I especially enjoyed the cute humor. At one point my boyfriend was watching me amused because I was giggling like crazy from under the blanket, barely able hold on to my Kindle. Overall, this was a great book for me.

I added Anna and the French Kiss because almost everyone I knew had loved the book and had given it five stars. I was certainly surprised by this because if you read the title, look at the cover and read the synopsis it comes off as a light chick-lit read. Something to put you in a good mood for a bit but not something that would garner the amount of positive response from readers that it had received, so I picked it up.

It didn't take me long to finish Anna and the French Kiss, it really was a quick read filled with humour, romance and charm. The main character Anna has been shipped off to boarding school in Paris for her senior year without her consent and at first she's upset about this because she's being pulled from the only life she knows and being forced to adapt to a new culture and make friends. However, it doesn't take very long for Anna to find a group of friends to tag along after and soon after that it takes her even less time to become one of them especially when she instantly clicks with the beautiful Étienne St. Clair.

This novel was very much a romance and I knew that going in but I wasn't really that much invested in it. I certainly think that both Ann and Étienne have great chemistry, the way their dialogue just flows naturally back and forth between them and the way they both just seem to understand each other but I didn't really care if they got together and only wanted them to be together so that Anna could stop fawning over Étienne. What I really enjoyed was that the story wasn't just about the romance; it was about Anna coming to terms with herself. Like any other normal teenage girl Anna makes mistakes and she has flaws and dreams and it was great watching her make mistakes and learn from them and grow. It was also fun to read about her new group of friends in Paris, they were all unique individuals that stood out very fresh in mind and who I wouldn't have mind learning more about.

So I will be picking up Stephanie Perkins' next book (Lola and the Boy next Door) which is a companion piece to this novel about a different set of characters, because I did enjoy her story even if I didn't love it as much as everyone else.

TOTALLY lives up to the hype.

I knew this book was good when I was so engrossed that I almost missed my train stop last night.

It started off a little bit slowly–but that's just because I am impatient with descriptions and things. A personal thing of mine, nothing wrong the author did. In fact, when I go to reread it, I know I'll be glad to read the descriptions of Paris. The beauty of this book is that it can be read quickly, then reread for savoring purposes.

Lots of funny things, complicated and complex relationships. Nothing was easy or simple. I liked that. I did feel like Amanda the Villain was a bit cliched, but the author acknowledged it and kind of made fun of that. I can respect an author who pokes fun at herself and her works.

I loved that the St. Clair/Etienne wasn't this one dimensional perfect boy. He had a temper. He was also super kind. He made dumb decisions. But he was loveable just the same. He was REAL and 3-dimensional without being a total jerk. Plus, he was British. Yum!

Anna is the kind of girl I'd love to hang out with. She just seems super cool. And definitely not a Mary Sue.

I was satisfied with the book. Contemporary, thick, and complex. :) I look forward to reading more from this author.

There is a big amount of cheating in this book It's problematic, most the book is about St. Clair cheating on his girlfriend . I did enjoy it , I thought that it was entertaining but I had a big problem it.
love is simply if you love someone just tell that person about your feelings and if you're with someone that you don't love that much anymore just tell that person about your feelings then break up cause it isn't fair for either of you.
Anna is a character that I didn't like much but she is okay , St. Clair in the other hand is a character that I loved with his many flaws.

It's melodramatic teen drama, if you like that then you'd like this. I didn't.

I probably wouldn't have read this if it wasn't on the list of a hundred YA books (that are suppose to be great) that I'm trying to read through, so take from that what you will.

I honestly think if I'd of read it when I was 13/14 I would've liked it but now... I'm just not in the demographic for this book and I think this book didn't age all that well, it feels very early 2000's to me; even though it's from 2010 it feels like 2005...

Two stars for the bits that did actually entertain me, otherwise would've been one.

3 stars.
This was quite enjoyable altough I had my problems with the book.

- Anna was naive and judging. All. the. fucking. time! She assumed things about her friends and family (or more like Étiennes family) without asking or knowing them a bit. This combines with the next point drived me nuts and I put the book down for the last 50 pages.
- Show don't tell. Despite a few conversations there wasn't much ‘evil' doing from his father. He was mean but not as mean as told.
- Miscommunication of doom.
- The bullying aspect was unnessesary and not resolved at all. The little help Lola gave wasn't really a good measurement to give a good lesson except ‘bullying is bad'.


The cheating aspect wasn't my issue. Since we only saw Ellie like.... 10 pages? For me, it felt like Ellie wasn't even there (despite the fact that Anna lost her own head over her like every third page).

Lowering my rating to 2 stars because in contrast to Lola and Isla, Anna had a serious case of double standards (slutshaming, I'm not like other girls syndrome, egocentric behaviour towards her own friends, etc.).

⭐️⭐️⭐️3.5/5🌟

It's was a really fun, light and fast read. It wasn't the best book i've ever read but i still had a really good time reading it. It had bad moments for me like the exaggerating in some scenes, the fact that she loves his hair wayyyy to much and 1 or 2 unrealistic scenes.
It was a good book and I recommend it 😊

This is just so super cute that you cannot finish reading it and not have a huge smile on your face!

I liked the characters, the witty banter, the way the relationships progressed and had their moments. I also really loved the setting of Paris which is a gorgeous city.

It was just a load of enjoyable fluffy romance and exactly what I was after!