Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

I know, I know. This review is so belated! It's not like I haven't read this book five times since it came out. It's not like everybody and their mother has likely written this same review. The chances are you as a reader have probably read this book - maybe twice. But what better way to start than to do so with one of my favorite books as of recent? 

Most teenage girls would jump at the chance to visit Paris, France. Anna Oliphant, however, is more than reluctant when shipped there to a boarding school. Out of place in a foreign country with little experience in the native language and entirely out of her element around children of senators and Very Important People, Anna is able to adapt with the help of a close-knit group of friends, including the very gorgeous but very-taken Etienne St. Clair. Friendship is effortless, but quickly develops beyond that. St. Clair is off limits, though – even if he flirts with Anna and drops hints, which can’t possibly be hints. Complications, undoubtedly, arise, in a series of mixed signals, tender moments, and the sweet budding of possibility.

Told with impeccable pacing, the tension grows and leaves readers wondering: Will they ever?

I have made no secret my love of this book. I love the three-dimensional and realistic characters. I love the fantastic writing, the amazing descriptions, and the simplicity of the storytelling. I love authenticity and relatability of the plot. It’s humorous, it’s witty, it’s playful, and it’s delightful. 

You want some honesty? I never intended to read this book. I missed John Green raving about the brilliance of this book. I'd read about it, of course, and I cast it aside, under the inane premise that is one of those novels I hate - you know, the ones that take place on the beach and people fall in love in two months and the characters are so unfathomable I can't make it three pages in? I figured it would be stifling romance, and likely cliched at the same. And then my friend Michelle raved about it. Raved. I trust Michelle! She's never lead me wrong (see also: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour). If Michelle was in love, then I could surely try. So, I ordered the book and thought I'd give it a try.

And boy did I ever fall in love. I fell in mind whirling, toe-curling, butterflies in my stomach, I may puke I'm so delightfully in love love. 

From the opening, Stephanie Perkins had me wrapped around her creative little finger, and I wasn't keen on unraveling any time soon.

Perkins, while not an elaborate writer, is a fantastic writer all the same. She uses no gimmicks and doesn’t hide her story for what it is: it’s a love story and Anna and the French Kiss is proof that sometimes, simple does it best. There are no paranormal beasts to stand in the way of true love, there is no danger to their union, and that alone was so refreshing.

Anna is your everyday girl. All she wants is to spend her senior year with her friends and maybe finally get together with that hot guy at work. She loves film and cinema, she loses herself to fantasy, she’s quippy and quirky, and she’s especially consoling. And then she goes to Paris and falls for St. Claire – and who can blame her? Even jaded as the “everybody loves him” male love interest is, you can understand how Etienne St. Clair – with his English accent and puppy dog eyes, can wrap so many people effortlessly around his finger. He is charming, he is charismatic – and he is very far from perfect. And it was his flaws, perhaps more so than his charisma and puppy eyes, that made me love him even more.

But friendship is complicated when you can’t help but fall for your best friend, and though Anna spends quite a deal of time bemoaning her inability to be with the boy who’s captivated so many of thoughts, you can’t even resent her for it! Who hasn’t fallen for the wrong person before, or found themselves attracted to someone who already has a partner? It feels unfair, it drives you mad, and sometimes, it makes you sick to your stomach.

Beyond the perfectly developed and well-executed main characters, though, even the side characters felt rounded and real! Through numerous scenes, you get to see Anna one-on-one with the various supporting cast and see her interactions with them, rather than using them to speed along a plot. Josh’s humor and relationship with St. Clair was honest and reminded me of male friends of my own. Meredith was a brilliant display that a female can be both a tomboy and feminine. And Rashmi is razor sharp and brilliant. While I’d have loved to see more of Meredith, especially with Anna, and Rashmi and Josh’s fighting was sometimes petty, it also felt very real.

And how often do you find that in YA?

Of course, there were times I wanted to strangle everyone in the books. At times, Anna or St. Clair said something and set back their entire development, and there were moments where I wanted to open Anna’s eyes and remind her of everyone around her. In other moments, she threw tantrums and reminded me, shock shock, of a teenager! But it also rang true to my own adolescence: we are so often clouded by selfishness and desire that we don’t keep ourselves in check.

Even if romance isn’t your style, Anna and the French Kiss is a refreshing breath of YA writing and worth the try. If the tension and pacing doesn’t somehow hold your attention, then Perkins’s tour of Paris can do it. Even those of us (aka me, Writer Girl) jaded by the allure of Paris and exhausted by the romanticized city fall for the breathtaking locations depicted by Perkins: the pâtisseries (pastry shops), the panthéon, the very streets themselves! At no point in time did I even forget I was in Paris. Perkins certainly brought me to Paris, France.

Anna and the French Kiss is a fun read. It’s light, it’s playful, and most importantly, it is real. The writing conjures those familiar butterflies of falling in love, it curls your toes, and delights you.

And frankly, my dear, if Anna and the French Kiss doesn’t do it for you, I don’t know what will. Hurry! Save yourself!

★★★★★