Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Dutton

Published: December 2, 2010

Pages: 372

My Rating: 4.8/5

Misc.: Contemporary, two companion novels coming soon

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 Etienne 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?

Synopsis taken from goodreads.

My Review: 
I don't really have that much experience reading contemporary romance novels, but omg this was absolutely amazing! I think Stephanie Perkins may have opened me up to a new genre in YA. Yay.

At first, looking at the cover and the title, I was like "no way". It seemed way too cheesy and predictable. And parts of it were. But there were parts that were so unexpected and serious and beautifully written that they made me fall in love with this book. Stephanie Perkins knows how to blend funny with serious to create the perfect balance between the two. Her writing is fast paced and flows wonderfully.

Aside from the writing, the characters were another reason that made me fall in love with this book. The main character, Anna, was not the only character developed so well. In fact, I think some characters like St. Clair were even more developed than her. And the side characters each had their own back-story which really made me care about them too. I wasn't just rooting for Anna. I was rooting for Anna, St. Clair, Rashmi, Josh, and Meredith. Another thing I loved was that all of the characters had their flaws. Nobody was perfect, not even the love interest. They had fears, they had breakdowns, they were real. That was another thing Stephanie Perkins did a great job on.

Lastly, the plot. It took me a little while to figure out what the plot was, but when I did, the book really fell together for me. Throughout the book, she's just trying to survive life in Paris when all she really wants to do is go back home to Atlanta. And the readers are right there along with her. The descriptions are so clear, you really feel like you're in Paris with Anna.

So basically, this book was amazing and I urge you guys to read it if you haven't already (I think I was one of the last people to read this book, actually lol). I can't wait to get Lola, which I already ordered. It should be here in a week, yay! I think after reading this, I'm going to try to read some more contemporary novels. :)