Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 Stars)
Hardcover, 372 Pages
Published December 2010

Summary: 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 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?


I've been hearing good things about this book for a very long time, but I haven't had a chance to get around to reading Anna and the French Kiss until last week. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect at first--I felt like it was going to be a so-so, super cliche and tacky romance novel. However, Perkins proved me wrong! 

Anna and the French Kiss is one of the best chick-lit stories I've read in a long time, and I definitely plan on recommending it to everyone else that hasn't read it yet, either. (Again, I'm sorry for my slacking. Sometimes I just can't help it. There are soooo many books on my TBR list and I can only tackle so many at a time!)

As the summary explains, Anna is from Atlanta, Georgia, and her rich, novelist father James Ashley decides to send her to an American boarding school in Paris. At first, Anna's devastated--going to Paris means leaving behind her best friend, Bridge, her mom, her brother, her senior year of high school with her friends, and most of all, leaving Toph, the guy that she kissed after hours at work on the last night before she left and hasn't heard from since.

Great start to a new school year, huh?

At first, I wanted to give Anna a good smack upside the head for being all "Waah, my parents forced me to spend my senior year in Paris, waahh wahh," because I seriously wish I could have a dilemma like that one. Oh NO, not Paris! Not Europe! Not gorgeous architecture and gorgeous guys and awesome food in a foreign country! What a NIGHTMARE. But as the story went on, I began to sympathize with Anna in certain aspects--still not big on her whining about being in Paris, but I understood how hard it could be to leave everything you know behind for a foreign country.

And then we met St. Clair.

Daarnnn, he's cute. A dream boy. Good looks, English accent, good hair, English accent, gorgeous eyes, English accent, sense of sympathy and humor, and an English accent. Did I mention that he had an English accent? *major heart eyes*

Predictably, as all sane teenage girls would, Anna fell head over heels in love with St. Clair. And, if she hadn't mistaken, St. Clair was dropping some signs that he felt something for Anna, too. There was only one problem--he had a girlfriend. Not just any girlfriend, though--a college girlfriend. Yikes.

So what's a girl to do? What happens between Anna and St. Clair, and St. Clair and his college girlfriend, Ellie? Read the book to find out!

This was an adorable chick-lit read that I fell in love with, and I really liked it. Anna started off as a bit awkward and whiny and cliche and a crybaby, but as the novel progressed, you get to see Anna grow and mature and come to terms with the situation she was stuck in. (And by situation, I mean being hauled off to a boarding school in Paris. Not her rocky relationship with St. Clair...)

All in all, Anna and the French Kiss was a bubbly, satisfying read that was a good break from all of the dystopian and sad books I've been reading lately. Thoroughly enjoyed it, loved the characters and Perkins' writing style, and everyone should definitely give this book a try.

Perkins won my heart with this adorable romance,which is also the first book of hers that I've ever read. Can't wait to get my hands on a copy of Lola and the Boy Next Door!