Thursday, May 10, 2012

Book Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins




Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publishing Date: December 2010
Length: 372 pages
Keywords: YA contemporary romance, Paris
Source: Won

Anna is 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. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

Summary by Goodreads  




ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS was one of those novels that was very popular around its pub date. So although I never had it on my wishlist, I immediately wanted to read it. And the blogosphere was right about the awesomeness of this book! Once I started I was glued to ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS and I wanted to spend all of my spare time with Anna and Etienne, well mostly Etienne.

This novel generated the strong desire to travel to Paris and to saunter its streets. Yep, ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is set in Paris. Heavenly, huh? And because Stephanie Perkins found just the right way of writing, there is a lot of flair and love in the city of lights. After finishing Stephanie’s debut novel I was left melancholic and content at the same time.

Anna is awesome, because she’s so funky and lovely. Etienne is a true treat. He’s the guy every girl dreams about meeting someday. Their romance is awesome, awesome, awesome. Of course there are obstacles to overcome!!

Everything that happens, leads to another event, all of them following and fitting so seamlessly. Just as natural Stephanie Perkins builds the connection between Anna and Etienne, she includes the reader in her wonderful story. It’s written in a fantastic casual way, too. I loved everything about it and totally felt like sighing and swooning all the time.

Imagine you are in a really exclusive bakery with the most delicious cakes and you are supposed to choose one to take home with you. The shelves are stacked, but the only thing you see is this perfect cake. It’s round, has like fifteen different layers of sweet sins and a divine frosting. That would be ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS. Don’t hesitate to take it home with you!
So ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is like that grand and super sweet cake. You are supposed to savour it and only consume in small doses. I swallowed Stephanie Perkins fine bakery in one piece and it was so worth the sugar coma (thanks to sweet Etienne St. Clair) I fell into afterwards.

I loved that ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS not only convinces with its super sweet and romantic moments, the extremely awesome setting and story flow, but also with topics and concerns of our characters that add a depth to an already incredible story.





1) of the way to finding home
2) school books are very important
3) of an atmospheric setting
4) it has our next destination set on Point Zéro Paris
5) of the many emails included which make ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS an even more vivid and funny read





5/5 ***** ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS - A Parisian delightfulness, just the right choice for book worms with a sweet tooth searching for a sugary and romantic read!  

ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is that chic and utterly romantic and cute and yet so real and casual love story that probably is one of my most favourite contemporary romance novels. This is a book that every fan of contemporary romances should get his hands on ASAP! 





* Already read ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS? Then you shouldn’t miss its companion, LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR

* Read an excerpt of ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS here

* Check out the ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS playlist here

* Read the first bonus scene here

* For further information visit www.stephanieperkins.com


7 comments:

  1. Amazing review, my dear! I'm so happy you enjoyed it so much. ♥ ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is definitely my all-time-favorite book and I could spend the rest of my life reading it. :D

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  2. What a brilliant review, Sarah! I'll admit I've been a bit wary about this one because it's so hyped up by reviewers that I'm afraid of being let down! I'll definitely be checking it out soon though. :D

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  3. Anna and the French Kiss is one of my favorite contemporary romances. The characters were believable and the setting, oh Paris!, was such a great asset of this book. I think it's the setting and characters that made this book pure awesome. As we swoon with the romance we also learn about Paris. I never had been in Paris before but reading the book is like a glimpse of Parisian life. This book totally rocks!

    -Ivan
    Rumpelstiltskin and Co.

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  4. Anna and the French Kiss is book perfection - one of my all time faves! LOLA didn't work quite as well for me but I'm hoping that with ISLA which will be set in Paris, Perkins will recapture the magic of her debut!

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  5. Anna and the French Kiss is seriously one of my favorite books ever! It's like that cake you described :) I also saw everyone gushing about this book... and then I read the first sample chapters, and I liked it! I mostly liked the main character. She seemed just like a fangirl, so much like myself.

    And I actually won the book from your contest! <3 I'm really thankful I chose it.

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  6. I absolutely loved this book!!!! It really made me miss Paris and want to go back immediately. Perkins has the best characters!!

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  7. Where do I start??!??!!! Hands down the vest romantic novel because....ST.CLAIR haha Jk but because it's more realistic than Once upon a time..... It has true emotions and it is realistic because his mom... how she likes a guy but he has a girlfriend... before I read it I thought people exaggerated on the "my heart melts part.." but omg thankyou Stephanie for writing this it's is the best book ever!!

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