Anna and the French Kiss

January 01, 2017

"Another review?" you cry, scrunching your nose. "But it's the New Year!"

"Yes," I reply. "Another one." 

~


Author: Stephanie Perkins

Genre: YA, Romance, Contemporary

Blurb: 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 a 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 Lights, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long awaited French kiss?
(From Goodreads)

Intermission: First things first. This quote: "I don't understand why he couldn't send me to Australia or Ireland or anywhere else where English is the native language." 

Not gonna lie, I only added this quote because it mentioned Ireland. IRELAND! Patriotism! *snorts*

This book contains a lot of things and I'm just glad the romance wasn't the main part.

We have the protagonist, Anna Oliphant who struggled to fit in when she started living in France. She could barely speak French and believed in a bunch of nonsensical stereotypes.

"An American with an English accent. Isn't that, like, twice as much for the French to hate?"
St Clair rolls his eyes. "You ought to stop listening to stereotypes and start forming your own opinions."

I was very proud of him at that moment.

Speaking of him, St. Clair (or Étienne) was a pretty interesting guy. I know many girls would swoon over a guy like this but I WILL HAVE NO PART IN THAT! *shakes fist*

Yes, he was intelligent. Yes, he was charming and interesting. Yes, he was GORGEOUS. But I'd only want to be friends with him. He is not my style. I'm glad he wasn't a super tall guy for once! And I found it hilarious when he kept saying 'I'm American' in his English accent. I'm glad he wasn't too much of a stereotype.

POC Representation! Ayy! Rashmi would've been one of my favourite characters if she weren't always making out with Josh! Heck, their whole squad had the potential to be awesome. It could've conquered the world! Anna, Meredith, St. Clair, Josh, Rashmi... why were you all so scattered? *cries*

Also, not enough Meredith in this book. So I'm bitter.


source

Also, why do the girls in this book have such bad taste in boys?! What is with this talk of Toph? And that nickname sucks and spoiler: (I knew he was trash. Also, why did you have to date Dave when you were angry with St. Clair, Anna?!)

I was glad that Anna wasn't so eager to start a relationship with St. Clair at the beginning.

"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."

However, spoiler: at the middle she went craazy when St. Clair wouldn't break up with Ellie. I know he should've broken up with Ellie and he was being stupid but SHUT YER MOUTH, ANNA. He was going through so much with his mum and her cancer and his dad who wouldn't let him see her, okay? And why wouldn't you just let him go if it made you so mad?

I wanted the romance to happen but when it did I wanted it to end and spoiler: it did near the end. Yay! But I wasn't too happy about the cheating that went on between St. Clair and Anna before it happened. Boo! 👎

And you cannot learn advanced French that fast. Especially with Anna's linguistic skills (or the lack thereof). You know which scene I'm talking about if you have read this book (hopefully).

Last thing to complain about: the writing. It was good at the beginning but later on the author went crazy with the capslock and even italicised sigh in Anna's inner monologue instead of saying 'I sigh'. *sigh*

Can we have more Matts in this book? Anna's ex is awesome.

Recommendation: For those who like drama and romance.

Content: Swearing, drinking, innuendo, strange behaviour  *gives Josh the side eye* I remember that statue scene *shivers*


~
Sorry for the random pink font at certain places. Blogger can be so annoying sometimes. 

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6 comments

  1. I read this a few years ago and liked it! I'm always happy when there's POC representation in books, especially when the people are Indian (like me). I also agree that Etiene isn't my type (though what is my type? Well, the only answer I know is boys. Do I have a type? I don't think so) ANYWAY I love your little conversation with the hypothetical people accusing you of reviewing too much! Go away, haters!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Yeah, I was pretty happy when I saw an Indian character. It's annoying when American books don't have racial diversity.

      Haha! That made me smile a bit.

      Yeah haters, go away! (Though I would like to make different types of posts)

      Delete
  2. I remember reading this book about a year ago and I was so disappointed with it! I think I gave it two stars. I just thought it was awful. I hated the romance and the terrible characters. But I loved the setting and getting to learn more about Paris. The book was too cringey for me alas.

    Great review, I agree with a lot of what you said. Book reviews are fantastic, don't stop! ^_^

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    1. Aw, I'm sorry you didn't like it but I do understand

      Go raibh maith agat! xD

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  3. I am just not sure about this one. I know so many people love it, and I probably should give it a try one of these days (I swear, I am like, the last person to read it at this point haha) but... I don't know, I like romance but the drama? Not so much. Still on the fence, I think haha. Thanks for the great review!

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    1. Aw, thanks!

      It's okay if you don't read it but it wasn't a terrible experience though you mightn't be missing anything if you don't read it xD

      Delete

Keep it all clean, man. Well, if you really wanna curse, use minor swear words. And I mean the minorest of minor ones.

"Or what?" you ask in indignation.

"Or else."