Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Review by Lauren
bought a copy
Official Summary: Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she’s less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all . . . including a serious girlfriend.
But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss? Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt.
Review: I think this title is misleading…and by title, I literally mean the words Anna and the French Kiss. It makes it sound like a cutesy romance, perfect for the pool and not much more. But Anna is a lot more than that. Yes, it’s about romance, but within that, there are issues with communication, moving past what’s comfortable, and learning to listen to your own heart. Apart from the love, Perkins touches on family issues, school problems, and everything that comes with being an American abroad.
I’d read many rave reviews for this book before finally picking up my own copy, and boy, am I glad that I did! It was romantic, hilarious, frustrating, and lovely. It was fantastic following Anna as she explored Paris and it makes me want to go even more! I loved meeting a boy like St. Clair, who might be adorable and sweet…but who is also just a regular teenage boy in many ways. That was a refreshing change from most YA love interests.
If you love Anna, then you get two companion novels (Lola and the Boy Next Door and the soon-to-be-released Isla and the Happily Ever After). I’m excited to read more by Perkins and I hope the rest of you give her a shot, whether the title works for you or not! You just might be surprised.
Music Pick for this Novel
The song that I felt was a good fit for Anna and the French Kiss was Paris (Ooh La La) by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.
I feel like it sums up Anna’s frustrations and enjoyments when finding herself falling for St. Clair quite nicely…especially with the reference to Paris!
Loved this book, so it was great to read this review! I need to check out Stephanie Perkins other books as well! I didn't realize "Lola" was a companion book!
Oh man, I've had this book for two years and still haven't read it. I'm happy you found it to be a deeper story than implied. I like your music pick, too. Great review!
I loved this book too. So sweet and good. Lola isn't quite as good but still I enjoyed it. So looking forward to Isla!
I have always wanted to read this one but I never liked the title, may try to put it higher on my TBR now!
FAb review and music choice, lovely! <33
The absolute perfect song to accompany this book – love it! 🙂
I really enjoyed this one too and agree it was so much more than title
I've had this saved on my Goodreads for awhile but haven't gone ahead and read it because I thought it was more of a cutesy romance. Your review tells me I should totally check it out!
P.S. I'm giving away a $50 gift card to Albion Fit. Come enter!
Great song and I loved this book.
Yay I'm so happy you enjoyed this one I thought it was such a great read and yes definitely more than just a floofy romance story! Great review! 🙂
So glad you liked this one! Yeah, the title threw me off before I read it too. Very cutesy. 🙂
Yay! So happy to hear you enjoyed this. I love this book so much, and I adore St. Clair. Great song choice! 🙂
Not a book that appealed to me until you mentioned it was so much more than a cutesy romance. Great review, thanks for the recommendation.
I agree, the title and the original cover make it seem a lot younger and will probably put some readers off. I do remember enjoying this a lot!
It took me a while to pick this up too, but I'm so glad I eventually gave into peer pressure! I read Lola straight afterwards and loved it too. I'm thrilled you enjoyed this. Brilliant review! 🙂
This was a very angsty, squeeze your heart read! I felt bad for Anna so many times and wanted to shake Etienne on several occasions. Nice to see you enjoyed this. Great review. 🙂
Oh I'm glad you finally read this one! I love this book! I actually am about ready for a re-read…
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Love this book, and I love St. Claire. It's the only YA lit book that I went in thinking it was going to be super girly and found it to be deep and relatable.
Ugh, I know, it took me so long to read this book because the title, cover, and back cover blurb were just so unappealing to me because I don't do cutesy romances. So glad that I was able to look past the cover in the end or else I would have missed out on this gem! So glad you loved it too, Lauren. Great thoughts!
I loved this book!
Cool-love the sound pick. I have a Grace Potter CD but this does not appear on it so looks like I have some more research to do to get it for myself.