Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Publisher: Dutton
Age Group: Young Adult
Category: Contemporary
Release date: December 2nd, 2010
Pages: 372 (Hardcover)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Source: Bought

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 Etienne St. Clair: 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 makes my heart thump, thump, thump.

Stephanie Perkins did a perfect job creating this sweet- yet slightly sticky- romance.  The story is filled with so much emotion.  One minute your heart is content, your stomach is starting to feel little wings fluttering against your insides and the next your eyebrows are furrowed in confusion, trying to figure out why one of the characters would do such a thing.  The anticipation fills you up until you think you're just about to burst, when finally, there's relief.  But wait, it's not over yet.  There's that turn you were expecting.  Then everything is okay again.  Poor Anna and St. Clair and the emotional roller coaster they're trapped on.

As previously stated, St. Clair and I have a love/hate relationship.  I love him, I really do, but there are just things about him that irk me.  Throughout the book, he barely seems to make the decisions I'm begging him to make.  I know it's not always his fault, but come on, dude!  I've never, ever felt this way about any other book character.  The moments where the author showed the intimate feelings between St. Clair and Anna were breathtaking and I can relate to that feeling, so it made the experience even better.

Before reading, I barely knew anything about Paris, and now I feel like I've lived there with Anna for nine months.  I feel like I've watched this girl blossom from an insecure teenager into a confident young woman, battling heartbreak and forgotten friendships.

I believe that most people who pick up this book will realize that these characters are definitely relatable, making it easier to become attached to the story.  I'm a hopeless romantic and I always love a happy ending.  This book sure gave me what I wanted.  Stephanie Perkins has created a charming, witty, and brilliant treasure that I will make sure to pass on.