Isla and the Happily Ever After

4.5.

I am hard on myself. But isn't it better to be honest about these things before someone else can use them against you? Before someone else can break your heart? Isn't it better to break it yourself? I thought honesty made people strong.

I have been waiting for Isla and the Happily Ever After for the longest time and I was so excited when it finally showed up on my doorstep after pre-ordering the lovely signed copy with all the cute goodies. I drove straight into it and every time I would get interrupted, I wish I didn't have to stop. I've always loved Stephanie Perkins books and I have read all three of the books now. The one thing I love is how all the books have intertwined with each other and how your beloved old characters would show up in the next book you read. Isla was no different.

Isla and the Happily Ever After follows the seniors Isla and Josh at the academy that you know and love where Anna went from Anna and the French Kiss. The book is about their adventure of their last year in high school, their future, and of course their love. Isla is a red head freckled cute girl that has had a crush on Josh since freshman year. The summer of their senior year, Isla runs into josh at a local shop in Manhattan where they both are from. They finally get to talk and spend some time together where they flirt. Isla hopes to see him again there the next day or later in the summer but there is no luck so she goes back to school in the fall wondering what she did wrong.

Josh comes from a family of well behaved people. His father is running to be a senator and Josh has to seem like a well put together child. Josh goes to the academy in Paris as well as Isla and he tends to act out a little. He is a wonderful artist that will go anywhere to doodle people, work on his art, and write his memoir.

I really enjoyed the entire book and I thought the relationship between Isla and Josh was really cute and realistic. I enjoyed reading about the happy moments as a couple and also the struggles they had to experience. I think Stephanie Perkins did a really good job of wrapping up this series and I think she probably made everyone happy with how it ended. I don't want to give anything away because I think this is a book that should be read without spoilers because you will enjoy it more. I just loved the ending and also how everyone from the pervious books that were important ended up together at the end. It was a lovely thing to read.

Thank you Stephanie Perkins for all that you do and I couldn't help but want to cry when I read your acknowledgments! I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys contemporary reads that make you attached to all the characters. I would say that you should read all of them in order though to get the full affect and get that same enjoyment of seeing all of the characters grow through each book and end up together.