Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Release Date – Dec 2, 2010
Publisher – Dutton
Pages - 372
My Rating- 10/10

Here is the GoodReads synopsis -

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: 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?

Have you ever finished a book and wanted to hug it? That’s what happened after I read Anna and the French Kiss. This is a book that will leave you giddy. Stephanie Perkins has created a world that I would gladly live in. The school Anna goes to, and Paris itself seem like an ideal place to be…especially if it comes with cute boys that have sexy accents.

All of the characters seemed real. They were well developed, complex and drew you in. Anna is someone I would hang out with. She is someone I would want to be friends with. I liked that she was quirky, a little shy, and had some family issues. She was very relatable. Étienne St Clair is my new book boyfriend. I kept picturing Jonathan Groff while I was reading. I liked that he was funny, and sweet. I also liked that he had issues too. It is what drew him and Anna together.

The other characters in the book were also great. I really liked Josh and Rashmi a lot. A certain girl named Isla also makes a brief appearance but she seems like someone we will love when we read Isla and the Happily Ever After.

I didn’t expect to laugh as much as I did while reading this book. I think I spent most of the book either laughing, smiling, or swooning. The humour is perfectly timed and you will find yourself laughing out loud. There is a scene with Étienne talking to Anna while drunk. The reason he is drunk is definitely not funny but him as a drunk mess actually is. It just one example of how Stephanie Perkins is able to fuse a little humour into some sad situations.

I really loved that Étienne and Anna became friends first. Yes, there was an immediate attraction but they really did get to know each other and become friends before anything. The emails they exchange over Christmas was one of my favourite parts of the book. It showed how close they had gotten as friends. I have read so many novels where the two main characters fall in love right away. This seemed gradual and real.

As anyone who has ever had a crush knows there is nothing more excruciating or thrilling as that period of “he likes me, he likes me not”. We’ve all been there. Stephanie Perkins captures that feeling perfectly in this novel. Anna is confused and spends most of the novel trying to figure out what Étienne’s actions/words/etc might mean. It was adorable and brought me back to many late night conversations with my best friends.

I was expecting the end chapter or so to take place at the Eiffel Tower (for reasons you will discover by reading the book) but was pleasantly surprised when it actually happened at another location. I love that it was able to surprise me and not go with what one would normally expect.

This novel was the perfect mix of romance, humour and sweetness. If you haven’t read it, do so immediately. You will be swept way by the cute boy with the accent, and Paris itself.