{Review} Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

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?

Title : Anna and the French Kiss 

Author : Stephanie Perkins

Publication : 02nd December 2011

Publisher : Dutton

368 pages

Two companion novels will be published: Lola and the Boy Next Door (29th septembre 2011) and Isla and the Happily Ever After (Fall 2012).

My review

First of all, I must say that the cover of this book is really gorgeous and stunning, I totally love it. As I'd read a lot of positive reviews, I was afraid to be disappointed but Anna and the French Kiss totally deserves it. It has met my expectations and even surpassed it.

Anna and the French Kiss is a brilliant book, it's light, funny and delightful. It's the kind of book that gives you butterflies in your stomach and put you in a good mood. It's one of the loveliest stories I've ever read. It's intense, romantic, sometimes a bit sad but always full of hope.

The characters are really appealing, you can easily relate to them and you'll enjoy following their story. Anna has a lot to cope with, she has to move to a new country, she doesn't know the customs or even the language. As to boys, she's also a bit shy and she'd rather be friend with them than confess her feelings. In fact, she's quite young but also really cute and she reminds me of me a  little.

As for the other characters, yeah I must admit it, I'm adult and happily married but gosh, Etienne made me swoon and I wanted to be 18 years old again and to go to a boarding school just to meet him. He's so charming and sexy and hot. At the end of the book, in the acknowledgments, Stephanie Perkins writes that she frequently asked her husband during writing it : Is the boy hot enough ? My only answer will be Yes, yes and yes again. Etienne is so utterly and freaking hot, sexy and you'll love him.

It's true that for French people there're some clichés but it didn't matter because I was so in the story that I didn't care. Moreover, I'm sure that if I had to write a story in the US there'd certainly be some clichés on American people. But, no, not all Parisians swing by the markets every day to buy fresh fruit and meat and dogs are not that common in stores in France, they're forbidden in the vast majority. As for alcohol we don't have the right anymore to buy alcohol -even wine before 18 years old, but it was true a few years ago, in fact a new law has been made. But it's true that there's no legal age for the consumption (if the alcohol is bought by the parents for instance) and it's still earlier than in the States. However as I said I didn't care because the story was so compelling, perfect and dreamy.

Stephanie Perkins's writing is really smooth and pleasant. It's full of humor, funny and I often laughed. It's not a book full of suspense or mysteries but I nonetheless stayed awake until 3 o'clock in the morning (3:05 AM to be precise) because I wanted to finish it and to know the end. Anna and the French Kiss is also full of touching moments, Stephanie Perkins doesn't avoid more serious themes as illness or difficult family relationships.

To sum up, besides falling in love with St. Clair I really really loved this book which was freaking awesome. It was such a wonderful and delightful read. The feelings are so well described and Anna and the French Kiss made me smile like crazy, laugh a lot and also cry -a little. Now I really can't wait for the next book of Stephanie Perkins. I will definitively preorder Lola and the Boy Next Door and I'm totally looking forward to reading it.

I accept the tissue.
"I'm here." St. Clair is angry. "I'm just sorry I'm not there. With you. I wish there was something I could do."
"Wanna come beat her up for me?"
"I'm packing my throwing stars right now."