Isla and the Happily Ever After -Stephanie Perkins

Another massive ramble live-tweet thing. I warned you. And Stephanie Perkins’ writing is, as ever, amazing.

• P.6. Well we seem to be getting straight into it. Here’s for holding out for no love triangles.

• P.12. I like Isla. Even if if she is loopy. Especially because she is loopy.

• P.26. Ok, this obsession thing is actually a bit much now. This can’t be healthy.

• P.27. Oh thank god we’re not going to end up with Kurt being ‘friend zoned’.

• P.62. He spends a lot of time looking at her cleavage.

• P.81. Good. He’s honest. I’m glad we finally got something less complicated.

• P.90. I feel sorry for Josh. All his friends upped and left him. No wonder he doesn’t like school. It must be lonely.

• P.94. I like Isla. For someone who acts like a lovesick puppy every other page she asks the right questions and is actually very much herself with him. It’s good. Good for you Isla.

• P.98. Sometimes Stephanie Perkins’ writing is just spot on.

• P.106. Well this is a refreshing approach to sex. I like Isla more and more as this book goes on. And Josh too. I’m actually liking both the main characters – shocker.

• P.114. ‘It’s the afternoon. Tell him he’s wrong.’ I love Kurt. Kurt is the best.

• P.132. Isla is me. I am Isla. That is basically my thought process in life.

• P.141. I am really enjoying the fact hat it’s not taking the entire book for their romance to be solidified. There’s not hundreds of pages of conflicting feelings and confusion and pining.

• P.167. Josh is a good guy. I like how he recognises how important Isla’s friendship with Kurt is. Because friendship is really important and shouldn’t ever take a back seat to romance. You go Josh.

• P.186. This whole Barcelona thing seems like a bad idea and they’re going to get caught and it will all end in tears.

• P.195. I like how sure of herself Isla is. To begin with she’s portrayed as shy and innocent and nervous but she’s just not. She’s shy definitely but she also has a security and a confidence in who she is and what she wants in any particular moment. I also appreciate that there is sex in this book which isn’t complicated or awkward or momentous. It’s just sex.

• P.197. Too true. It is wonderful.

• P.204. Called it. I’d say I was good at this but I think these books are just really predictable. I don’t care though. They’re amaze.

• P.246. I feel so sorry for Josh. Poor Josh. I just want to give him a hug.

• P.279. The temple of Dendur is pretty damn cool

• P.295. Oh god he’s crying. Oh no. Oh baby. I want to hug them all. This is the most upsetting to read so far. I am actually kinda upset by this.

• P.301. This is all very ridiculous.

• P.306. Isla’s kinda a selfish idiot and I feel sorry for Josh.

• P.307. Yes. Go fix it moron. Good.

• P.310. Well this is all going horribly wrong.

• P.330. I’m liking how despite the annoying and unnecessary breakup thing, the focus is on Isla and her making decisions for her and deciding who she is regardless of Josh. That’s good. That’s more important.

• P.347. Yesssss! Anna and Etienne! Yes! I like how their story is happily concluded in and amongst the others.

• P.362. Awwwwwwww

• Well that was adorable. And I actually think I like that more than the other two, which appears to be a controversial opinion. All of the reviews said that I&THEA was disappointing and didn’t live up to expectation but for me it did. It was just… sweeter I think. There were no love triangles. Both of the characters felt realer and more likeable. And yes there was that ridiculous fight thing. And yes there is only a token amount of Anna and Etienne and Lola and Cricket thrown in at the end. But I was so invested in Josh and Isla that I was okay with it. I love all three. They are all great. But I think I like Isla the most. Maybe I see the most of me in it. I’m sad to see them go.

• Okay, I’ve had a couple of hours to think it over and I will admit yes there are problems with this book. Obsessing over someone and then following it up with instalove is both weird and unhealthy. True. But I kinda don’t care? (And I really hate instalove). I feel like that’s why I liked the book so much. It started out as instalove and they barely knew each other and they didn’t really know what love meant or even who they were themselves. But the whole point of the book was that they were finding out. And when you’re 17 that’s kinda how relationships work- you don’t get an epic romance where you overcome all of your problems and somehow you two star crossed lovers are just meant to be together. No. Basically no one gets that. It starts out with infatuation and you build this ideal of someone and when that ideal is shattered it’s heartbreaking. And a lot of times it doesn’t work out. But where most people condemn Isla for bigging up instalove and idealisation, to me it’s the opposite. Yes that’s the first part of the book and there are some adorable parts to it, but by the end of the book is that they’ve broken through that ideal and worked out who they really are and who the other person is. They learnt that about each other, even if it’s not verbal. Communication can go beyond just the verbal (although, y’know, just having an actual conversation is usually quicker and a hell lot more straight forwards). And it’s only because they’ve got past her obsession that they will actually work. And that’s what you learn about relationships when you’re 17. You don’t learn how to fall in love. Anyone can fall in love – that’s the easy part You have to learn how to work on a relationship and make it what it needs to be. Build upon that love when it already exists and a relationship is already there. With Anna and Lola they only get together once they have already done the working out. But sometimes things go backwards. And I like how Isla shows that there are different ways to get to the right kind of love. And to me it feels like less of an ideal, as a story at least. It feels more like, at 17, you might actually be able to attain it.

Lola and the Boy Next Door – Stephanie Perkins

Continuing with the landslide of contemporary I have acquired this summer, we have Lola and the Boy Next Door. Because yes it has taken me this long to finish this series. And they were great (I’ve also read Isla, which I will report on next week). I love Stephanie Perkins’ writing. I’ve opted to repeat the process I used for To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before for these two books and created a rambly-live-feed-style-thing as I read it. I like doing certain books this way as it lets me see how my opinions change and develop whilst I’m reading and it’s also something a bit different. I also remembered to include page numbers this time around (well, apart from the first one…).

• ’64 Chevy Impala – very Supernatural. Not entirely sure I’m on board with this Max guy though. I can kinda see her parents’ point. There’s a surprisingly big difference between 17 and 22 in my experience, not so much because of years as because of experience and maturity. I see the world very differently now than I did when I was 17 and I feel like my time at university and after has shaped my viewpoint in a huge way. And I don’t think it’s just me. While I’m not saying that no 17 year old is mature or that a relationship like that could never work, I think it’s important to remember that 22 is adult while 17 is still technically a child, and in most cases there’s still a lot of naivity that comes with it. Rightly so. So just yeah… Not there with Max I’m afraid.

• P.26. I’m glad sex isn’t being made out as a big thing. It can be whatever the hell you want it to be.

• p.30. Yay Anna and Etienne!

• P.33. What on earth is going on? What’s the problem with Cricket? (What kind of a name is Cricket anyway?) TELL ME ALREADY.

• P.78. Calliope is bitch. And also has a name that is unfairly hard to pronounce for anyone who hasn’t studied Greek mythology.

• P.96. While I understand Lola’s dislike of the new van I actually think this is the most sensible decision he has made so far and is actually very logical and grown up. Now hopefully he’ll bugger off in said van. I’m not even sure if I actually dislike him or not. Like, he seems like a caring, thoughtful boyfriend who listens to her and accommodates her parents. But something about him sill irks me. Maybe it’s Lola that I don’t like.

• P.97. Starting to like Max. He becomes less of a dick every page. And seems fairly grounded for a rockstar. Lola slowly dropping in my estimations.

• P.100. Eurgh. When are we going to get something without a love triangle.

• P.102. Oh Cricket. Cricket is adorable. Even though I’m meant to like Cricket. Even though his name is Cricket. Lola is kinda cruel though. In a very passive way but she did effectively tell him to meet her there and yeah… Not team Lola.

• P.103. I feel like Lola likes the idea of Max more than she actually likes Max.

• P.146. Cricket’s bluntness is refreshing

• P.169. Who doesn’t approve of drinking coffee?!

• P.190. Eurgh Lola.

• P.259. Will you just break up with Max already. He has clearly had enough of your shit and I am fed up of you moping around all the time.

• P.265. Bloody. Finally.

• P.270. The cuteness is battling against my (very personal) objection to going to uni with a boyfriend. Although he’s already at uni so does it count?

• P.280. Taking back the Max being an okay guy thing. Max can join the jerk list. So far I only actually like Cricket, the dads and Lindsey. Which come to think of it is almost half the character list. There are not many characters in this book.

• P.292. Oh dear. Poor Cricket.

• P.292. I love Andy

• P.292. I definitely love Andy.

• P.315. While I definitely really enjoy Stephanie Perkins’ books I’m starting to realise that I rarely morally agree with them.

• P.320. What. A. Jerk.

• P.322. It’s the wrench. The tiny thing from her sock drawer. It’s definitely gonna be the wrench. I wondered what she’d done with it.

• P.327. Called it.

• P.360. His story is beautiful. Sickening but beautiful. Although I really like her response. That’s important too.

• P.362. Alright then. Easy on.

• P.373. For pretty much the entirety of this book I was thinking that it was not as good as Anna and the French kiss. But that ending is just… Yeah. Yeeeeeeahh.

• The acknowledgements are great.

Okay, so maybe these things make more sense if you actually have the book in front of you. But I don’t care – I like doing them, and it’s nice to be able to look at a book/review a bit differently when I feel like it. Hopefully at least some of you enjoyed it!

~ Becca x

The Physical Haul

I got more books. No excuse needed IMO. (And my father bought them for me because I am very lucky).

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han – Because To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before was just the cutest and I needed the next one. I am now fighting the temptation to re-buy the first one in physical copy because the covers are just so darn adorable.

Cross My Heart and Hope To Spy by Ally Carter – Because Gallagher Girls is my new guilty pleasure and even though they are kinda semi-awful/sickening/cringeworthy I now have to read them all. y review of the first one is coming next week but for now, just know that I read the first one (which was in my last haul) in about a day and am apparently now going to be reading the rest of them. No wonder my father looked at me weirdly when I told him what I wanted. But I care not because a fun book is a fun book no matter who it’s imbed at!

Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter – See above. I told you it was a problem.

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins – Summer is the perfect time for contemporary (even if it is currently raining outside my window and has been miserably grey for the last few days). Since reading Anna and the French Kiss last summer I knew I wanted to finish the series. They’ve been super cheap on kindle all summer but I’ve been putting it off because the covers are so pretty that I wanted the physical set for my shelves. The pink cover is still my favourite though. (The picture for this one is different because I am currently reading it – hence the Egyptian hippo sticking out the top – and it was downstairs when I was taking photos. Yes I was too lazy to go get it.)

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins – Because I had to finish the set. Duh.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel – I’ve been really intrigued by this one for a long time because it seems like a really interesting and fun take on post-apocalyptic dystopian. I have basically no clue what it’s about other than a theatre troupe in the apocalypse but tbh I’m not sure I need to know anymore to be interested. Also there’s a deer on the front. It will be something different to the rather large pile of contemporary I’ve accumulated so I’ll be reading it when I want a break. I did have a peak inside though and the writing is tiny so that will be interesting.

Having rearranged and tidied up my bookshelves (they no longer look tidy at all) at the start of the summer (read: crammed all my uni books that I no longer need onto one shelf so that I had more room for books I actually want) this is the last shelf I have to fill up. I was really proud of myself for managing to make a whole empty shelf and that lasted all of about a month and a half. But books!

                    ~ Becca x

Anna and the French Kiss – Stephanie Perkins

Awwwwwwwwwwww. Awwwwwwwwwww pretty much says it all. I genuinely contemplated just typing aw for 500 characters but that probably doesn’t improve anyone’s day. Except maybe mine. Seriously though, this book it cute. It somehow manages to be a pretty damn good portrayal of teenage relationships, at least in my experience. Anna and the French Kiss follows Anna, a 17 year old from Atlanta, who has been sent to boarding school in Paris for her senior year, alone. Leaving behind her best friend Bridge, and her potential love interest Toph, she is initially reluctant to open up to the most romantic city in the world, but after making friends and developing a connection to heartthrob, Etienne St Clair, she begins to feel at home. Unfortunately for Anna, St Clair is taken.

This book basically reminds me of watching the romantic lives of a lot of my friends at Sixth Form. People fight, they confuse lust with love, characters are underhanded, Anna likes St Clair, who is dating Ellie, but likes Anna, but won’t bloody do anything about it. Anna’s new best friend likes St Clair. Frankly everyone likes St Clair. It’s just St Clair who has no bloody clue what he’s doing. It is a complete and total mess for most of the book. But the thing is, that’s why it’s so believable. 17, 18 year olds who have no clue what they’re doing, are full of hormones, and are still working out who they are make mistakes. This book is full of mistakes. But it’s also endearing. It’s cute, and funny, and it makes you squeal. I particularly liked the fact that, even when they do make mistakes, there’s no real animosity. As friends, after the initial reaction, they forgive each other and move on. They support each other. Which is healthy. And which more people need to read about, because I’ve seen, and unfortunately read about, enough friendship groups (thankfully not my own) where arguments mean taking sides, and rumour spreading, and not talking ever again because of some petty disagreement. Eurgh. The only thing I wasn’t really down with was the whole cheating thing. It was mild, and cleared up pretty quick, but it still wasn’t really okay. The not okayness was at least addressed by pretty much every character aside from Anna herself though, which for me was important. Because yes, teenagers make mistakes, but I’m glad Stephanie Perkins isn’t outright condoning it.

Which brings me on to Anna herself – I can’t say I’m her biggest fan. Frankly, she’s irritating and self-centred and whiny. But that doesn’t mean that I found her a bad character. She’s not always irritating and self-centred and whiny. I don’t think her character really changes throughout the book, but she does have other traits which appear at various points. She’s funny, smart, persistent, dedicated to her schoolwork, hardworking, she supports her friends, and she tries to be the best person she can be. She even realises when she’s being whiny and self-centred and usually goes to apologise eventually. So she’s definitely a nice, well rounded character. Just if we met in person, I don’t think I could cope…

I also loved the setting. And whilst I imagine that the Parisian location is a draw for a lot of people, it was actually quite a surprise for me. I visited Paris when I was about 12, and I hated it. I am not a city person. And Paris was just, burgh – people were rude, it was busy and dirty and so many pigeons and it smelt weird, and I didn’t much like the food (which might actually say more about where we ate than French food as a whole – I have nothing against French food. it rocks). But I did not enjoy it at all. I often find that books make me open up to places, they make me aware of another side of a place, see it’s beauty in a new way, see it’s magic. Daughter of Smoke and Bone made me desperate to go to Prague; The Chalet School to Vienna, and Anna and the French Kiss has started to make me re-evaluate Paris.

~ Becca x

P.S – I absolutely adore the current covers for this series. I have no clue why, I just think they’re absolutely gorgeous.

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