Anna and the French Kiss (Review)

Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Edition: Hardcover, 384 pages
Author(s): Stephanie Perkins
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publication Date: December 2, 2010
Source: NCTE (ARC)
Buy: Amazon, Barnes & Noble









  

The Summary

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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. Claire: 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?
(Goodreads)

 My Opinion

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 Stephanie Perkins has a fantastic novel in Anna and the French Kiss.  It was one of the best contemporary novels I've read in a while, and while it is predominantly a romance story it has everything.  Anna goes through life just as a real teen does; she deals with moving to a new country, keeping up in a new school, making new friends, trying to keep her old friends, having a crush, and staying in touch with her family.

Perkins depicts Anna so realistically that she could jump off the page.  Anna doesn’t take advantage of being in a new country, especially one like Paris and she keeps her passion, film, alive! Staying true to yourself is one of the hidden lessons within the book.

I think that's what makes this book so great.  Yes, the characters are developed and the plot is believable, but Perkins doesn’t purposefully throw “life lessons” in the readers face as other contemporary works can, turning them into an after-school special.  Also, as a reader, I was satisfied even when the characters acted in a way opposite from what I wanted because I could see it happening that way in real life.

Overall, a fantastic, fantastic book.  I would recommend it to boys and girls because of the strong themes presented turn it from a contemporary romance to a contemporary life novel.  I’m looking forward to future books by Stephanie Perkins. I bet they’ll be just as great!

 Final Rating

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Book Cover: 4/5
Book Title: 4/5
Plot: 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Writing: 10/10
Ending: 9/10 
Overall: 46/50 - A

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