anna and the french kiss

this is the only novel i read for the month of march, but it's totally worth it!
book #14
Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins

Plot: Anna Oliphant has big plans for her senior year in Atlanta: hang out with her best friend, Bridgette, and flirt with her coworker at the Royal Midtown 14 multiplex. So she is none too happy when her father sends her off to boarding school in Paris. However, things begin to look up when she meets Étienne St. Clair, a gorgeous guy–with a girlfriend. As he and Anna become closer friends, things get infinitely more complicated. Will Anna get her French kiss? Or are some things just not meant to be?

Reading Level: Young Adult

Hardcover: 384 pages

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (December 10, 2010)

What's wonderful about this book is that even though it's about two teenagers in high school, everyone (young and old) can relate to their story at one point in their lives. you can put two adult characters in a different city doing different things but the plot -- about having feelings for someone who's taken -- can still be used to stir bittersweet feelings and memories from the readers. 


i love how perkins showed anna and etienne to be not-perfect and how she made their romance start slow (as friends) who develop their feelings gradually. obviously, this is not a light summer romance book but still despite the melodrama (which made me a bit teary eyed), the tone of the whole book was light enough that i easily finished the book in one sitting. i also love the secondary characters. the only person that was a bit one-dimensional was ellie - i wish the author gave her voice so that we can understand what she was going through (and not automatically peg her as the bad person and that there's no option but for anna and etienne to be together). 


i think overall, the best part of this novel is that everything felt and sounded so real - the characters, their emotions, their situations, their reactions -- it's like i've felt the same things and i know some friends who have gone through these situations too. i felt that i was there in paris.. with them as one of their classmates or a silent observer. beautiful story and a happy ending, i give this 4 1/2 stars and i'm looking forward to her next novel -- Lola and the Boy Next Door.