Sunday, July 10, 2016

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

As I mentioned in my post about Where Things Come Back, I was looking for something fairly easy and fun to read after finishing Morning Star.  While Where Things Come Back didn't turn out to be that book, Anna and the French Kiss was. 

Anna is starting her senior year of high school in Paris.  While that sounds cool and all, it was not her choice.  It was her father's.  And she's not real happy about it.  She's attending an American school in Paris, so most classes are in English, but that's not to say that she doesn't need to learn French.  She is living in Paris, after all.  Having not done great in Spanish for the last few years, this is a challenge.  So is being in a whole new school where she is the single new student in her very small senior class.  There are new classes, new friends, and a new romantic interest (although there shouldn't be - he's taken).  We follow Anna through her year during which she has a fair bit of growth.  And, of course, an angsty bit of will we/won't we romance. 

While I'm not always a fan of the angst and that part was the part that I liked the least, I did really enjoy this book.  I found it extremely readable and, in fact, stayed up later than I should have two nights in a row reading because it just flowed so nicely for me.  I didn't love Anna from the start, but I could also tell I would like her by the end and I did.  I liked the process of learning to live in a different country, figuring out boarding school, trying to reconcile life before and after the move and Anna figuring out what type of friend she wanted to be. 

Overall I do recommend Anna and the French Kiss.  It was a fast, fun read but not without some depth.  I could have done with a little less angst in the romance department, but with a title like Anna and the French Kiss, I suppose that's to be expected.

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