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.
The Paper Ship 