Publisher: Dutton
Publication Date: December 2, 2010
Source/Format: Library book!
Page count: 372
Goodreads & Amazon
I am probably the last book blogger in the universe to have read this book. I don't know what took me so long. It was even a book that I could've read for my Young Adult writing class last semester, but something about the cover, and the name put me off. It sounded too fluffy, too girly, too nothing-I-would-ever-read. I was so wrong. I regret not picking up this book sooner.
Anna Oliphant, a movie critic wannabe, is in a strained relationship with her father. He is a best-selling author that middle-aged women tend to love, he walked away from her family, and now he is sending her to School of America in Paris (SOAP) for her senior year of high school. Anna doesn't know French, she has no desire to go to Paris, and she's got a boy in Atlanta who she was just starting to like. Basically for her, France sucks.
Until she meets her neighbor, Meredith, and with Meredith comes a gang of other American transplants. Included in the gang is the sort-of-American-sort-of-British Etienne St. Clair. St. Clair is everything: attractive, charming, charismatic, and in a relationship. Insert record scratch. Of course, Anna falls for him, but she also must navigate her feelings for the boy at home, this foreign country, and St. Clair's commitment to his girlfriend.
This book was sooo cute, without ever falling on the too-fluffy side that I was worried about. Stephanie Perkins created such a strong, realistic voice for Anna. She was funny and had her fair share of awkward moments. She also wasn't a cliche, which seems to be really hard to avoid in the YA genre. Anna also had an interesting hobby and sarcasm that made me laugh out loud at certain parts of the book.
Anna and the French Kiss was a pretty quick read for me, though that could have been that I couldn't put it down! I was sucked in from the start and there was enough tension, drama, and swoon-worthy moments to keep me reading this book obsessively. Have I raved enough yet?
Rating: 5 / 5 (who is surprised?)
Would you be mad about spending a year in Paris? Have you read this book?
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