Review - Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Picture from Chapters.ca

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Format: Hardcover (372 pages)

Publisher: Dutton

Publication Date:  December 2nd 2010

Rating: 5/5
Source: Library Loan
Get the book at: Chapters | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Summary from Goodreads:

 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?

What I Think:

Anna and The French Kiss was an adorable and cute novel. I felt so giddy and bubbly after finishing the book. Yes, it was THAT heartwarming.

The story start off with Anna being shipped to Paris, France for boarding school by her Nicholas Sparks-like father in hopes for her to acquire experience with other culture. On her first night at her new school, Anna was discovered by Meredith (dorm room neighbor) when she was having a homesick crisis/breakdown in her room. Later, she bumped into Étienne St-Clair, perfect “French” boy after leaving Meredith’s room and that’s when the all firework started.

Stephanie Perkins’s writing style definitely reminds me of Meg Cabot. It is charming, funny, clean and light. Each chapter were beautifully crafted and flowed really well. The characters were intriguing and realistic yet not too cliché and corny compared to most contemporary romance that I have read. I especially love the small drama that occurred with Anna and Étienne as it did not went overboard. The amount of teenage angst is the story is appropriate and carefully place in the right place.

I really enjoy how Stephanie Perkins described Étienne, such typical and stereotypical French boys. It is realistic in a way because most Parisians are dressed and act like that. I felt like the author did wonderful job in researching about the lifestyle of France. Anna's French teachers at her school totally reminds me of my teachers at my French elementary and high school. They act so similar! Also I can't help but relate Anna's father to Nicholas Sparks and his work such as The Notebook and A Walk To Remember. Is it only me?

Overall, Anna and the French Kiss was definetly a good and quick holiday read. I recommend to everyone that is interested in lifestyles of France.

Random Rambling (click below):

Review - Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (Stargirl #2)

Picture from Chapters.ca

Genre: Teen, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Contemporary

Format: Paperback (288 pages)

Publisher: Random House Teen

Publication Date: April 28th 2009

Rating: 5/5
Source: Library Loan

Get it at: Chapters | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Summary from Goodreads:

Love, Stargirl picks up a year after Stargirl ends and reveals the new life of the beloved character who moved away so suddenly at the end of Stargirl. The novel takes the form of "the world's longest letter," in diary form, going from date to date through a little more than a year's time. In her writing, Stargirl mixes memories of her bittersweet time in Mica, Arizona, with involvements with new people in her life.

In Love, Stargirl, we hear the voice of Stargirl herself as she reflects on time, life, Leo, and—of course—love.

What I think:


Oh my goodness. Words cannot describe how much I adore this book. I read the prequel, Stargirl, ten year ago in English Lit class back in elementary school. I didn't know there was a sequel until couple days ago, when I saw this book on the shelf at the local library. Anyways, Love, Stargirl continues where Stargirl left off, except with a year gap between the prequel. The layout of the book is in diary/letter format, similar to The Princess Diaries series. Over the course of a year, Stargirl (real name Susan Caraway) wrote about her adventures in her new town to her old boyfriend, Leo. It was a bit odd seeing everything in Stargirl's perspective to be honest (prequel was in Leo's perspective). In the prequel, Stargirl was an enigma, a bit mystery. However, in this book, she is just a normal girl which is a big contrast to her character in the previous book.

All the characters mentioned in the book is important and I felt that they each have an important role in the story. I loved every single one of them. To me, they were all real. The important message that Spinelli is conveying is that, no matter what age you are, it is perfectly acceptable to be to be different which a lot of us forgets. I can relate to this story based on personal experiences and I guess that is why I felt so connected with the protagonist. In a way, it is hard to be different in today's society because we are "programmed" by the media on how to act, think, and dress.

The thing I love about Spinelli's writing is that he shows, but not tell. Thus, it was very easy to imagine the scenes that Spinelli has painted with his words such as the "Enchanted Dessert" to the "Calendar Hill".
Everything in book was magical, enchanting and inspiring. The ending was extraordinary and everything wrapped up in a nice, big and shiny bow. Spinelli, you never ceased to amazed me with your words.

I wish I can write more about the book, but like I said, words cannot describe how breathtaking this story is. You just have to read it to feel the magic. I recommend everyone to read the first book, Stargirl, first before reading this book because it will certainly make your reading experience that much better.

Rating: ★★★★★