April 6, 2014

Wicked Review: Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins


Published: August 4, 2011
Publisher: Speak
Acquired: Paperback






Anna Oliphant is shipped off to Paris, the City of Lights, because her best selling author father thinks it's a good idea. All alone in the City of Lights, she wants to go home. She then meets Meredith, a fellow American, who lives next door to her and offers her choco chaud or hot chocolate and it the homesickness becomes bearable.





Enter Étienne St. Clair (Eh-t-yen), the beautiful half American, half French with a French name and British accent. Only, he's a few inches shorter than her. And she has a gorgeous boyfriend.

Étienne takes her around the City of Lights on her first weekend. Anna is in love with the city. And with him too.





I stumbled upon this book on Goodreads because I miss reading a good romance with all the butterflies and cheese.

It's set in Paris, France. How can I not love it?



It reminds me of a book that I've read ages ago with the same context and plot. I forgot the title of the book though. TT_TT Paris is just a wonderful place rich in culture. The story is in the first person point of view so it was like I'm taken into Paris as well.

And then there's St. Clair...

As much as his accent is so dreamy and his name is so classy, he was such a jerk in this book. Harsh? But it's true.



“I cheated on her every day. In my mind, I thought of you in ways I shouldn’t have, again and again. She was nothing compared to you. I’ve never felt this way about anybody before—”

This line put me off. He said this to Anna as they were perched on top of Notre Dame. St. Clair is afraid of heights and I wanted to push him off the building. And I thought, if he really loved Anna when he first saw her, the first thing he would do is break up with her girlfriend and woo Anna.

HIS REASON?

He was afraid of being alone...



In a not so good way...

I wanted to hug Anna whenever things got effed up between St. Clair and her and he's off to his girlfriend, Ellie. That was just a dick move on St. Clair's side.



It even put a rift between their circle of friends.

Sure, you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend. But that's not reason enough to leave your friends behind. They're your friends for crying out loud. It sucks that I actually know people who are actually like this in real life. And then when things get rocky between their significant others, they run to their friends and cry and then leave once things are okay. DEAR GOD WHY ARE THEIR PEOPLE LIKE THAT



Okay, mini rant over there...sorry

The only redeeming factor about St. Clair is his accent. And that he's smart and knows his history and he's graceful and poised and sophisticated. Expected from a French guy~

And then there's Anna...

She's cute. She's clueless as to what love is. She thought she's in love with the poor rock star dude she left in Georgia. She thought he's in love with her too.

But along the way, she learns what love is about. And that boys turns girls into idiots. Not idiot like douche-y idiot but like idiot, I-just-have-a-lot-of-feelings-and-I-don't-know-what-to-d0-with-it kind of idiot...

I'm quite thankful that the book doesn't start of with Anna and St. Clair (I'm calling him this because typing his first name is hard...symbols and stuff) as like two single people who meet, fall in love, break up and make up unlike other stories.



There's a build up. Which is good. Always good.

Delayed gratification, I say.


Stephanie Perkins is the author of Anna and The French Kiss, Lola and The Boy Next Door and the upcoming Isla and The Happily Ever After. She was born in South Carolina, raised in Arizona, went to school in Atlanta and San Francisco and currently lives in Asheville, North Carolina with her husband, Jarrod.

Website || Tumblr || Twitter || Goodreads || 8tracks




No comments:

Post a Comment