Anna And The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins: Review

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

When Was It Released?:  2nd Decemeber 2010
Where Did I Get It From?: The Library
Who Published It?: Dutton Publishing
   Number Of Pages: 372 Pages 

Anna and The French Kiss is a book that I have heard so much about. Everyone seems to love the novel and I have been recommended this book by so many people I have lost count. Many times when a book has so much hype surrounding it, I find that it is never able to live up to it and I end up disappointed., so, I put this book off until I could not take it anymore! Let me tell you this book did everything but disappoint.

Anna is sent to Paris to attend boarding school, which she is less than thrilled about. She loves her life in her hometown of Atlanta with her best friend and her almost-boyfriend. Anna feels lonely and an outcast in Paris, that is until she meets St Clair, an irresistible guy with a cute English accent. There’s just one problem St Clair is already taken and in a relationship with his long term girlfriend.

I’m unsure where to even begin with how much I love Anna and The French Kiss. This novel had everything I love to read about filling the pages. I picked this up and could not put it down, it literally had to be dragged out of my hand at one point just so I could go to sleep. This is such a beautifully written contemporary YA novel, I was swept away with the pages and Stephanie Perkin’s writing style. I loved the setting of Paris for this novel, it was almost like a character in itself. The description was so well done that at times I felt as though I really was in Paris along with Anna and her friends. I love Paris, so any novel that can transport me there within the pages gets major bonus points from me.

I loved Anna as a character, finding her to be so relatable. She is awkward yet surprisingly likeable at the same time. Many girls will be able to relate to her, and the feelings she has during her time in Paris, because she is just your average girl. She is also very intelligent, which I loved about her, as it shows girls can do well in school and still be interested in boys at the same time. She is hilarious yet far from perfect which makes her seem much more real as a character. I also fell in love with St Clair (Etienne), again for his flaws and imperfections. He is just a normal guy and does not pretend to be anything that he is not. Even though Anna and St Clair, are my favourite characters, all of the characters with in the novel are beautifully written and memorable in their own ways.

There was one thing above all else that I loved about Anna and The French Kiss and that was the romance. I felt as though Stephanie Perkins created the romance between Anna and St Clair perfectly. I truly believed in their feelings for one another and their relationship throughout the novel, without any sense of doubt at all. I was willing the two to get together the whole way through the novel. I just wish they had been able to show their true feelings to each other sooner. I believe that the romance was so good because it was built up and not rushed into, it was built on a friendship and that is what makes me swoon over it so much. I want a relationship like theirs!

I honestly do not think I have loved a novel as much as I love Anna and The French Kiss. I want to read this all over again, right now! It is such a cute, beautiful, feel good novel which will grip hold of you and not let go until long after you have finished the last page. Anna and The French Kiss is like a hot, frothy, comforting hot chocolate that you will want to curl up with and savour for hours. I will definatly be buying a copy for my bookshelf, as well as Stephanie Perkins latest novel Lola and the Boy Next Door, and reccomend that you do too!

French Lessons: A Review and Giveaway

Ellen Sussman - French Lessons

When Was It Released?: 5th July 2011
Where Did I Get It From?: From the library
Who Published it?: Ballantine Books

From the minute French Lessons by Ellen Sussman was released last month this has been at the top of my to-read pile and as soon as a copy came in at my local library I had to grab it. Once I arrived home I had to start reading this delectable novel, and I could not put it down. French Lessons is as inviting as the smell of fresh espresso and pain au chocolat wafting out of a French café in Paris. I delved into this novel and couldn’t stop reading, feeling almost as if I was right there on the river Seine along with the characters.

French lessons takes a look at the lives of three American’s exploring Paris with their respective French tutors. Along the way they will learn about not only language but also love and loss. The storyline is split into sections focusing on each character separately. First up is Josie with her tutor Nico, who desperately wants to heal her broken heart. Then there is Riley with her tutor Philippe, who feels lost and alone in her own city, and even more lonely with her husband. And last but not least Jeremy with his tutor Chantal, who is accompanying his wife while she is shooting a film, yet he struggles to feel connected with her. As the three American’s take their respective journeys through the winding streets of Paris they succumb to passion, romance and may even find a hidden truths about themselves along the way.

I have always had a love affair with France and Paris in particular, being fascinated by its elegance, romance, and language. I have always wanted to be able to speak French, and lets be honest who hasn’t? (If you tell me you haven't I will either think you are lying or don't know enough about France to want to!)  Well French Lessons brought all this back to me and much more. I am now desperate to return to Paris! I loved the descriptions of the landmarks, food and wine, and the city itself whitch are described in enticing detail. The novel is split into five sections, which I really liked as well, making it easy to read this novel savouring each story on their own. It is hard to choose which story I enjoyed the most, as each made me care about the characters in such a way, that I was wondering about what had happened to them all long after I had finished the novel . The character of Josie and her heartbreak will draw you in and have you feeling along with her through her entire story, while the character of Riley will have you laughing along with her charming wit and humour. And lets not forget Jeremy who you will grow to love too. Ellen Sussman deftly manages to change the tone and mood for each of these stories meaning there is no chance of you getting bored along the way.

French Lessons is a sexy and at times erotic novel, with an explicit sex scene around half way through the novel, which may not be to some readers tastes. If you are in any way offended by this, then maybe this is not the novel for you. Aside from this the only other thing I didn’t like about the novel was there was no real closure with any of the characters. Even though there is an ending with the tutors,  I was left wondering what had happened with Josie, Riley and Jeremey's lives. An epilogue for each was perhaps needed to really close out the story.

French Lessons is a luscious, charming, romantic novel, with sexual tension rife with every turn of the page. Ellen succeeds in bringing each of her characters to life with her joie de vivre, French Lessons should be savoured and is a real treat for any reader.

Giveaway

Giveaway has now ended

Thanks to the wonderful Leah Johanson from Ballantine Publishing, a section of Random House Publishing I have two copies of French Lessons to giveaway to my lucky readers. So what do you have to do to win? Well for this one you need to be a GFC follower. Once you are just leave me a nice comment with your email address and you will be entered into the giveaway.

For bonus entries (one additional entry per step completed):

1. Post this giveaway on Facebook - leave a link showing this
2. Post this giveaway on Twitter - leave a link showing this
3. Post this giveaway on your blog - leave a link showing this

You must have a US mailing address to enter this giveaway. Winners will be chosen at random.

Giveaway ends August 25th at 11.59PM