Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Pages: 372

Summary: 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. Claire: 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?

omg you guise! I cannot tell you how excited and just…*swoony* I’m feeling about Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins!

When Caren asked me to do the FicBreak for it, I literally squeed! Then I got really nervous because I want every single one of you to read it. It’s a big responsibility *nods* I’ll try to do my best because this story–gah!

Okay, so let me tell you about this famazing book. Anna is a seventeen-year-old girl who loves film, hates germs, and has a happy life living with her mom and little brother. She fills her days spending time with her kick-ass best friend, Bridgette, and crushing on the guy she works with at the local theater. Her father is a cheesy tragic-romance Nicholas Sparksy-kind of writer, and, deciding that she needs some “culture” in her life, sends her to boarding school in Paris for her senior year.

Needless to say, Anna is not happy about that. But one of the things that I love most about her character is that she tries to make the best of things. She wants to be home with her friends and family, but she doesn’t whine and turn emo because things aren’t working out the way she wants. Pretty much as soon as she gets to school, she meets and becomes fast friends with Meredith, the quirky girl who lives next door in her dorm. Meredith introduces her to her friends Josh and Rashmi (who are a couple) and St. Clair (who has a girlfriend).

Ah, Étienne St. Clair. *swoonysigh* Where do I even begin? I’ll let Anna do the talking:

I’m so thrilled that I skip from her room and promptly slam into a wall.

Whoops. Not a wall. A boy.

“Oof.” He staggers backward.

“Sorry! I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you were there.”

He shakes his head, a little dazed.The first thing I notice is his hair—it’s the first thing I notice about everyone. It’s dark brown and messy and somehow both long and short at the same time. I think of the Beatles, since I’ve just seen them in Meredith’s room. It’s artist hair. Musician hair. I-pretend-I-don’t-care-but-I-really-do hair.

Beautiful hair.

“It’s okay, I didn’t see you either. Are you all right, then?”

Oh my. He’s English.

“Er. Does Mer live here?”

Seriously, I don’t know any American girl who can resist an English accent.

The boy clears his throat. “Meredith Chevalier? Tall girl? Big, curly hair?” Then he looks at me like I’m crazy or half deaf, like my Nanna Oliphant. Nanna just smiles and shakes her head whenever I ask, “What kind of salad dressing would you like?” or “Where did you put Granddad’s false teeth?”

“I’m sorry.” He takes the smallest step away from me. “You were going to bed.”

“Yes! Meredith lives there. I’ve just spent two hours with her.” I announce this proudly like my brother, Seany, whenever he finds something disgusting in the yard. “I’m Anna! I’m new here!” Oh God. What. Is with.The scary enthusiasm? My cheeks catch fire, and it’s all so humiliating.

The beautiful boy gives an amused grin. His teeth are lovely—straight on top and crooked on the bottom, with a touch of overbite. I’m a sucker for smiles like this, due to my own lack of orthodontia. I have a gap between my front teeth the size of a raisin.

“Étienne,” he says. “I live one floor up.”

“I live here.” I point dumbly at my room while my mind whirs: French name, English accent, American school. Anna confused.

He raps twice on Meredith’s door. “Well. I’ll see you around then, Anna.”

Eh-t-yen says my name like this: Ah-na.

My heart thump thump thumps in my chest.

In a word: Étienne is fuckinghot.

Anna is welcomed into the group pretty easily, and St. Clair (which is what pretty much everyone calls Étienne) guides her through her experience being in a new school in a foreign country. He has a serious girlfriend, she still likes someone back home, and Meredith is obviously is crushing on him, so she knows that he’s totally off-limits.

But she just can’t help herself. And he seems to like her, too, but, like I said, he has a girlfriend…

They spend time together as a group and just together, going to movies, seeing the city. I love how Perkins weaves Parisian sites and culture into everything without overwhelming or making it seem like a history lesson. We experience the lights, the sounds, and the tastes of Paris just like Anna does, and it’s sublime.

Of course, there’s a little drama. As Anna and Étienne become closer and are each other’s “best mates”, they each have things to deal with, both at school and back home. There are rumors and fights and detention and pretty much whatever you’d expect with a group of teenagers. It’s not over-the-top though, and the characters are all realistic.

Through it all, the electricity between Anna and Étienne is palpable. I mean, the UST is off the chain.

And, suddenly, I want to touch him.

Not a push, or a shove, or even a friendly hug. I want to feel the creases in his skin, connect his freckles with invisible lines, brush my fingers across the inside of his wrist. He shifts. I have the strangest feeling that he’s as aware of me as I am of him. I can’t concentrate.

There are so many times that I just want him to grab her and kiss her and tell her she’s “the one” or something. I’m not going to reveal anymore secrets, but I’m telling you–this is one of the best books ever!

“That guy. Sideburns.You like him?”

My back squirms. “You’ve asked me that before.”

“What I meant was,” he says, flustered. “Your feelings haven’t changed? Since you’ve been here?”

It takes a moment to consider the question. “It’s not a matter of how I feel,” I say at last. “I’m interested, but . . . I don’t know if he’s still interested in me.”

St. Clair edges closer. “Does he still call?”

“Yeah. I mean, not often. But yes.”

“Right. Right, well,” he says, blinking. “There’s your answer.”

I look away. “I should go. I’m sure you have plans with Ellie.”

“Yes. I mean, no. I mean, I don’t know. If you aren’t doing any—”

*groan*

Let’s talk characters. You know that I find Étienne totally endearing–he’s sweet and swoonworthy and says things like “wanker” and I love him. I love Anna, too. She’s quirky and witty and is a good person. She stands up for what she believes in and isn’t afraid to admit when she’s wrong. I love the way that girl thinks, and not just when she’s thinking about Étienne’s lips.

It’s the same way with the other characters. You want to be friends with them. I love their relationships and their witty, realistic dialogue. The creeps are creeptacular and the slores are slorish. If by some insane chance you aren’t instantly head-over-heels in love with Étienne (which omg what is wrong with you?), then I promise you’ll be smitten with Josh. He’s an artist. Mer and Rashmi are awesome, too. Even the minor characters have such depth, I totally felt like I was right there with them.

And isn’t that sets a book apart from the rest? Characters you can identify with? A setting that you can transport yourself into? Anna and the French Kiss might sound like some cutesy, fluffy foray into teenagerdom, but it’s so much more. It’s authentic without being overly dramatic, and that’s hard to come by.

Perfect book is perfect.

At less than 400 pages, this book is a quick read and is highly entertaining from start to finish. I’m not kidding when I say that I literally couldn’t put it down. My only regret is that I didn’t read it sooner. There are two companion books planned: Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After, and I personally can’t wait for them.

Seriously, ya’ll. With swoonworthy characters and a gripping storyline that will stay with you long after you’re finished, Anna and the French Kiss is required reading. C’est magnifique!

You can read Anna and the French Kiss now! Also, check out other reviews over on Goodreads!

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