Anna and the French Kiss (edition 2011)

Wow, what a fantastic read! The setting was richly detailed, and I loved the plot (especially since once upon a time I studied abroad in Europe with a school full of American students and developed a huge crush on a classmate who had a girlfriend-true story!). The characters were well drawn and realistic. I identified with Anna because she reminded me a lot of myself. At times I became frustrated with how she acted, but I know I would have made the same mistakes she did! Angst, humor, romance - this book has it all. I love that Etienne and Anna's friendship was realistically developed before it blossomed into a romance. And while I've grown a bit tired of love triangles in YA novels, it didn't bother me in this novel at all since it was so well done. Etienne had me swooning when he gave Anna a book of Pablo Neruda poetry (Neruda is my favorite Spanish-language poet, and I have even visited 3 of his homes in Chile). While Etienne was swoon-worthy, he wasn't perfect, but his flaws made him an even more realistic and lovable character. This is one of those books I just couldn't put down. I don't re-read books very often, but I'm sure I will revisit this one in the future.

If you're looking for a smart, funny, and sweet romance, look no further than Anna and the French Kiss. ( )

I'm out of the objective audience range for this book by like a gazillion years (that didn't stop me from enjoying both Maureen Johnson and John Green, though, so I don't know what's wrong here). What I'm saying is, don't take the rating personal, GoodReads. It's just that I thought it was only OK. ( )

"Étienne lowers his hand from his mouth. His expression is serious, maybe even defensive. “I like your smile.”
I like yours, too.
But I don’t have the courage to say it aloud."
—Anna

Anna and the French Kiss had been on my TBR list for quite a long time. It took me tons and tons of sparkling review and recommendation before I finally decided to give it a try. For some reasons, I just can't brought myself to read it, because I thought that this would be just another cheesy lovey dovey story that ended with a happily ever after. It was not. At all.

This book told us about Anna Oliphant as she left all of her life in her hometown Atlanta and struggled with her new life at France. Having a bestseller romance author as a father, Anna was transferred to a boarding school in Paris against her will. Normally, any girl would be thrilled to find herself at Paris. But not Anna. Not the girl who just wanted her normal life and her normal school and normal best friend at Atlanta. Definitely not her. But when she finally found some friends at her new school, and met the charming Etienne St. Clair, could Anna stay true to her Atlanta, or would she found home at Paris?

The plot of Anna and the French Kiss was captivating and interesting right from the first page, with Anna being the main character, as well as the book's narrator. I love how it was fast-paced, but still gave the reader the right amount of information here and there. The tension building was great, and the moment when it was all exploded was placed perfectly too. The main thing that kept me glued to this book was especially Anna's voice. It was strong, funny, and distinct. I really like it when she was being sarcastic, and not being the-nice-girl-next-door all the time, but could show her harsh side as well, even when sometimes it was only on her heart.

Apart from her strong narration, Anna as the main character was quite interesting as well. She was not that all-perfect kind of girl. She had flaw, and that made her pretty much flesh and blood. And she had that determination that made her stood out from the other character, as well as a balanced personality between her nice side and her mean side. It made her believable, but at the same time, the reader could still love her and hate her and sympathize with her.
Etienne St. Clair, as Anna's counterpart, was swoon-worthy all right. And what made him unique was especially his character's development. He was perfect and lovable at first, but as the story goes, reader got to know the real him, the broken him that was buried deep within his perfect facade. The him only Anna knew. And I really like how he was invicible outside but actually so fragile and vulnerable inside.
The other character that caught my interest was Etienne's and Anna's friend, Rashmi. She was strong and outspoken, and she spoke the harsh, plain truth. Her word could hurt sometimes, but she would still say it and that what made her unique. I also love how she would support her friend, even if she didn't do it in a straightforward way.

One thing I'm not quite fond of this book was how the bad guy turned out to be not so bad after all. Like Etienne's father. He talked like his father was the evil of all evil, the cruelest person on earth, and so on and so on. But when the reader finally got to meet him, he wasn't nice all right, but he wasn't THAT cruel either.

Overall, if you love a contemporary romance, or if you want to read something light and full of sweet, aww-ie romance, you should definitely try this book. Totally recommended. ( )

I'm not attracted to a story where romance seems to be the main point. I also can't allow myself to avoid an entire genre of books indefinitely. Every indication is that this one is a good one to try.

Anna's life is pretty great. She's got an awesome best friend in Bridgette, a great job working at a movie theater in Atlanta, and a super-cute almost-boyfriend. When her popular-fiction-writer father announces that she's being shipped off to boarding school in Paris for her senior year, she's pretty devastated. Anna knows nothing about Paris or France, and her reluctance to leave her world behind is strong. Then she meets Etienne St. Clair and a group of other quirky people at SOAP, and things start to change. Anna feels like she's on the verge of something great in the wonderful city of Paris, but she has to allow herself to take the leap.

Over the course of a year, Anna experiences Paris, love, heartbreak, and the growing pains that sometimes accompany a changing friendship. What could be a story that gets bogged down by the almost-romance that blossoms between Anna and the gorgeous Etienne doesn't in the capable hands of Perkins, who keeps the pace quick and the wit sharp. Perkins is especially skilled at building and maintaining the tension between the two, which is essential to the story working.

Anna herself is an engaging and realistic heroine who is both funny and flawed. She's accessible and has genuine interests that add dimension to her personality. What is so great about Anna is that she seems like a normal teenage girl: both confident and insecure, self-aware and oblivious, a know-it-all and yet totally naive. Perkins crafts her in a way that is authentic and refreshing.

What makes this novel stand out from much of the other contemporary YA offered today is that it tackles complex social issues without becoming preachy. Within the year, Anna deals with parental separation, crappy friends, forbidden attraction, homesickness, and culture shock. All of this is dealt with in a way that seems natural and never over-the-top. Throughout it all, Perkins keeps the overall tone light enough that the reader doesn't feel bogged down by the material.

Also worth mentioning is the characterization of Etienne St. Clair, who might be the most incredible YA love interest I've ever come across. Perkins created a romantic interest that's as fully-formed as the book's heroine, and he's just as flawed as Anna is. The benefit of setting their love story over the course of an entire year is that Perkins didn't have to rush their romance; it's established through trust and lots of experiences that make it seem organic and never forced. The layers of their relationship drive the story and make it a more interesting read.

Anna and the French Kiss is the kind of book that transports a readers into its pages and doesn't let them go until they reach the last word. It's the kind of book that I savored, reading more slowly as I neared the end because I didn't want it to be over. It's one that I will revisit in the future and will recommend to nearly everyone. It is that good, you guys. Go and read it. ( )