Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss

Synopsis:

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?

Review:

At first Anna really annoyed me. She just complained about how she had to spend a year in Paris. Paris. Poor her. On her first day there she makes a friend and the following day is accepted into the friend group. She has a hot guy she crushes as part of that group and they all keep taking her out and trying to help her fit in. I feel sorry for her that she has such a rough life. If she were all alone and had a hard time making friends and such I would have felt worse for her. As St. Clair said at the end of the first week she needed to get over her fear of sticking out and just get out and do stuff. I understand it can be a bit overwhelming, but geez. You are in Paris - go do and see things! And she is so into movies she never once looked up if there were any English language theaters in Paris? Really?

As the book progressed she didn't annoy me as much. It was obvious Anna and St. Clair both liked each other, but neither would really do anything about it. I kind of get that they don't want to be alone and being the first to say something to the other, especially when they both have someone else, is a little scary. After a while though it is like get on with it! Someone say something! St. Clair break up with your girlfriend who you obviously don't want to be with anymore. It is really not fair to them to be wanting to be with someone else so much. And Anna...stop thinking of only yourself and be a better friend to those people who took you in when you had no one! She was still annoying throughout the book, but I could deal with her better by the end. Really by the end I was enjoying the story.

Rating: ★ ★ ★