Review- Anna and the French Kiss

Title: Anna and the French Kiss

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Dutton

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Source: R.A.K. (Random Acts of Kindness)

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?

My thoughts:

I loved Anna and the French Kiss from the very first chapter! I remember what it was like being wrapped in high school with everything that's going on and all that you hope to accomplish before high school is over. I would have been pretty upset too if I was pulled out of my life to complete the last year of high school in a foreign country. Anger, frustration, betrayal and loneliness is what you get from the main character in the beginning and rightly so.

The relationship between St. Clair and Anna is so intense right from the beginning so it becomes a little frustrating that they remain just friends for so long. But the writing is exquisite and Perkins describes every little flirty detail between the two of them; every slight touch of the hand, all the phone calls and emails and every small and meaningful look. Even Anna's tone changes when their relationship changes. Instead of calling him St. Clair she, more intimately, calls him Etienne.

Stephanie Perkins writes teenagers so perfectly from both the male and the female perspective. Anna over analyzes every look and every word that passes between her and St. Clair. He likes me but he doesn't; he wants to be my friend, well maybe he wants more. St. Clair is struggling over reasons why he should and shouldn't break up with his current girlfriend. Neither are sure if the other one likes them so there's constant flirting and unspoken words.

I really loved Anna and the French Kiss and Stephanie Perkins really knows how to weave a story of love and heartbreak; making cry in one chapter and completely bringing me back up in the next. I just hope that Lola and the Boy Next Door is just as good!