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?
Anna and the French Kiss is one of those books where I’d seen so many rave reviews that I was sure it was impossible for it to live up to my expectations. How glad I was to be proven wrong! Anna and the French Kiss is a model example of the YA contemporary genre.
I loved how the book was so honest, real and down to earth. While I suppose not very many teens get to live in Paris, Anna’s reluctance to move halfway across the globe from her family and friends for her senior year felt very realistic. While some teens might embrace such an opportunity, I can see most teens reacting just as Anna had, with reluctance and trepidation.
I’m also a little biased toward this book to begin with because it is, essentially, a friends to “lovers” story and those are my favorite! The romance between Anna and St.Clair is so honest and sweet, complete with all the insecurities, miscommunication, and imperfections of real relationships.
Speaking of imperfections I love when characters have physical quirks, instead of being the image of perfection such as characters in a series like Gossip Girl. Anna has a gaped tooth smile and St. Clair, while very attractive, is short. Small details such as this made Anna that much more appealing to me!
Lastly, I loved the secondary characters. Anna’s family, friends from home, and her new friends. Perkins' secondary character development balanced with the developing relationship of Anna and St. Clair leaves readers satisfied with a well developed, character driven novel.
As more and more YA lit favors paranormal, fantasy, and speculative fiction, Perkins’ debut novel is a wonderful addition to the contemporary genre and I’ll be listing her among my favorite authors alongside the likes of Sarah Dessen and Elizabeth Scott. I am eagerly anticipating Anna’s companion book, Lola and the Boy Next Door available September 29, 2011 from Dutton Books.
Rating:
I'd originally given Anna and the French Kiss 4 chocolate covered strawberries but writing this review, I realized there really wasn't anything I disliked about the book, so I'm bumping it up to a 5 strawberries!
