Title: Anna and the French Kiss
by Stephanie PerkinsPublishing Info: December 2, 2010 by Penguin
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: September 29, 2012
Related Posts: Lola and the Boy Next Door, Anna and the French Kiss, Isla and the Happily Ever After, My True Love Gave To Me
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. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend.
But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?
Why did I wait so long to read this!? ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS was adorable, moving, meaningful, and an overall great love story. After finishing, I immediately added it as one of my favorite books.
I was a bit hesitant about the book in general at first because I don’t do well with foreign countries that I have no grasp of. I was a Spanish student, all the way, down to picking that as my major (with no specific career in mind) so give me a Spanish-speaking country any day and I’ll follow along! For some reason I have some sort of unintentional apathy towards France. I didn’t know the language, didn’t really care for it, and the country itself didn’t have much appeal to me. Maybe because I knew so little about it and everyone else seemed to love it. ANYWAY (I’m rambling), I was unsure how I’d feel about this taking place in Paris. But that’s the beauty of it — so is Anna. She was a Spanish student as well (although I was more a Meredith as far as languages go — Anna didn’t really latch on to any foreign language) so she was so unsure of herself in Paris. The culture, the food, the people — none of it was familiar to her – and THAT’S where I made one of my stronger connections. I felt like I totally related to Anna! She was the perfect MC for me to hang onto, even down to the neatness/organization, the way she approached her crushes, and oh wait, she has a review blog? For movies, but still. I think if Anna were a real person, we were bound to be BFFs.
I absolutely fell in love with the love story as well. It’s SUCH a sticky situation when you have a crush on someone who’s taken — I mean, come on, I’m sure it’s happened to a lot of us! Where do you draw the line between friends and…. something more? No one likes cheating or helping someone cheat, but when you have the affection for someone, it’s hard to say no, and I loved seeing how Anna and Etienne handled the situation. They didn’t always do it in the best of ways, but that was part of the learning process, and really, that’s just how life works. We all work our way through tough spots the best that we can and it’s not always the best way, but it all works out in the end.
Anna Oliphant: Seriously, was she half based on me? Okay, so I never went to boarding school – or even a foreign country for that matter — but I saw SO much of my personality, traits, and habits matching up with Anna’s. It made the book so incredibly enjoyable when I related that much to the main character.
Etienne St. Clair: Hello, dream boat! I think part of the reason I liked St. Clair so much was that he really didn’t seem like a teenager haha. True, he didn’t always handle things maturely, but honestly we adults don’t either. He had such a great connection with Anna even as friends and I LOVE the boy/girl best friend relationship in books. And I especially love when that best friendship turns into romance. It was such a fun relationship to watch as it developed.
QUOTES
p16: French name, English accent, American school. Anna confused.
p37: I’m such a wuss. I’d rather starve than order in French. “Oui oui!” I’d say, pointing at random words on the chalkboard. The Chef Handlebar would present me with something revolting, and I’d have to buy it out of shame. Of course I mean to order the roasted pigeon! Mmm! Just like Nanna’s.
p85: “Huh?” I have such a way with words.
p246: This is how much I want to prove to my brother that I love him – I’ll sit through Jar Jar-freaking-Binks.
p250: Is it possible for home to be a person and not a place?
BUY IT… NOW!
Wow, I just loved this. This book felt like it was made for me and it was just so much fun to read. I absolutely fell in love.
BOOKS LIKE ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS
(click on the cover to see my reviews!)
20 thoughts on “Anna and the French Kiss – Stephanie Perkins”
Commenting here as it’s the book I’d choose if I win your big b-day giveaway! Such a great story and was my introduction to YA…so I pretty much HAVE to have a copy! 😉
I don’t know why I haven’t read this book yet!! (Or anything else by Stephanie Perkins for that matter….) Anyhow, all my book blogging buddies have read this, so I think it’s about time I did too! This books is on my Spring TBR list, so winning this book from your contest would really help!! :p Thanks for the great review, and those quotes you picked we’re so funny!
I can’t wait to hear what you think of it when you read it!!! It was an instant favorite of mine 🙂
I only see positive reviews of Anna and the French Kiss and I still haven’t picked it up! I’m with you on being hesitant about books in foreign countries! It makes it that much harder to really get into the story! Thanks for the lovely review 🙂
Can’t believe you just recently read this book! I loved it but I think I loved Lola more. They were both good though!
I agree, I LOVED this book! St. Clair? Yes please! This is definitely one of my favorite books and it is the one that really got me turned onto contemporaries. It was one of the funniest books I have ever read and Stephanie Perkins definitely won me over with this story. I can’t wait to read Lola and the Boy Next Door. Glad you enjoyed it!
SO MANY PEOPLE love this book and I haven’t picked it up yet because you know me, I am SOO into the historical fiction romances etc. I don’t really like contemps too much but now I WANT TO READ THIS!! I was thinking that I would but I have to say when you shared the quote, “Is it possible for home to be a person and not a place?” I got ALL THE FEELS because that is my life, really. Do you think I will like this one even though it isn’t one I would usually pick up?
Hi Brittany!
Im SO glad you loved this one! This is just the sweetest read I have ever come across! Beautiful review btw! THanks so much for stopping by 🙂
Happy reading ^___^
★Dazzling Reads★
Yay glad you loved Anna! I like the quotes you highlighted – Perkins has such a way with words and I love her sense of humor. Awesome review, Brittany!
Thank you!! Yes, I absolutely adored it, and there were so many laugh out loud moments! Stephanie Perkins is such a great writer.
I was a bit hesitant to read Anna because I did take French in high school and college. I had a few teachers/professors that pretty much made me hate French the language, and not a fan of the country. That is ridiculous, I know. I have been to France (Paris) and it is a beautiful country. But I can’t help thinking of my awful college professor when I think of France.
But despite my (irrational?) dislike of the French language, I loved Anna and the French Kiss. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. I really identified with Anna, too. I could picture myself being so nervous about not knowing the language, I would be terrible to walk around the city.
Funnily, I just reviewed Lola and the Boy Next Door on my blog today. I preferred Anna, but I did like Lola. I think Perkins is great and setting the stage. While reading Anna, I kind of wanted to visit Paris. And as I was reading Lola, I definitely wanted to visit San Francisco.
So glad you loved Anna and the French Kiss 🙂
Not ridiculous at all! I have an irrational dislike of the language too, and I really don’t know why!!
I absolutely LOVED Anna. i think it was nice because Anna didn’t know anything about the language or culture either so I could identify with her a lot better instead of me being lost in France.
I read Lola right after, and I agree! I liked Lola but I loved Anna so much more!
If I wasn’t at work I’d totally be doing a happy dance because you loved this book! It’s really one of my FAVORITES, despite me only having read it once. It’s quite honestly perfect, even down to the cheesy cover. Can’t wait to cast it!
YAY! I already have my post done hahaha
Ok, so I have seen TONS of positive reviews on this book. So why, pray tell, have I not picked this book up yet? This is definitely going on my list of books to pick up at my next library haul! Awesome review.
Yay, I hope you enjoy it!!! I don’t know why I waited so long either. It was phenom! 🙂
I love love loved this book! 🙂 I also loved Perkins’ follow up book, Lola and The Boy Next Door (Anna and St. Clair make cameos). 🙂
Me too!!! I read Lola right after it. I still liked Anna more but both are so cute!!