Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss, #1) in The Wide Web of Friends in YA Books

Jun 11, 2012 Booknut 101 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: can-t-get-enough-of, favorites, romance, forever-re-read, books-i-love-dearly, down-to-earth-stories, british-references

Labelling this book: BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ AND WILL EVER READ. I got this bubbly, slightly-teary feeling that I associate with awesome chick-flicks whilst reading this book. It literally had everything - humour, romance, the magic of Paris, school shenanigans, heartbreak, friendship, culture problems (like ordering soup instead of bread and grapes - oh, and that oui (yes) is spelt o-u-i and not w-e-e!) and of course sorting out the muddled, tangled feelings of a quirky film-and-disinfectant Labelling this book: BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ AND WILL EVER READ. I got this bubbly, slightly-teary feeling that I associate with awesome chick-flicks whilst reading this book. It literally had everything - humour, romance, the magic of Paris, school shenanigans, heartbreak, friendship, culture problems (like ordering soup instead of bread and grapes - oh, and that oui (yes) is spelt o-u-i and not w-e-e!) and of course sorting out the muddled, tangled feelings of a quirky film-and-disinfectant-crazed girl named Anna.

Anna's dad is kinda like a cheesy version of Nicholas Sparks - a writer of books to do with three things. 1.) Soppy romance, 2.) Heartbreak and 3.) Cancer or heart disease. He decides to send her away from Alabama and to the City of Love - to France - to the School of America in Paris (SOAP).

Needless to say, Anna is horrified.

She is horrid at languages, scared of being alone and a clean freak on top of it all. But when she meet Etienne St Clair (a British-American-French masterpiece :D) Anna's French-catastrohpy starts to sunny up.

Touring the beautiful sights, nibbling on croissants, downing many cups of coffee and sneaking into movie theatres as well as laughing a whole lot, Anna finally feels like something is turning out right in her messed-up life. But it will take a lot more than a wish made on a star to help Anna keep close to her what matters most. Can she balance her family, her friends and her confusing relationship with St Clair? And will she ever get her kiss in the most romantic city in the world?

A real treat of a book that will have you laughing hard at the cute friendship between Anna (Banana) and St Clair, crying when Anna's heart breaks and feeling full of happiness in those moments where she feels that sense of belonging in her loveable group of mix-mashed friends. France and Stephanie Perkin's story-writing magic will have you caught and in awe of this tantalising tale of a girl named Anna who attend the French non-magical equivalent of Hogwarts and found herself a Darcy! ...more

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Apr 10, 2013 ♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle) rated it really liked it

Shelves: cute-like-a-bunny, liked-it, ya-romance

You can read this review and more on my blog:

This is another book I read a while ago so I will try to remember as much as I can.

I know that I laughed and smiled a lot while reading this. The interactions between Anna and Étienne were adorable. I always enjoy reading books about best friends falling in love, and I think that's why I read this. There is just something about finding out that the right person for you is also someone you have some history with, that appeals to me.

I am You can read this review and more on my blog:

This is another book I read a while ago so I will try to remember as much as I can.

I know that I laughed and smiled a lot while reading this. The interactions between Anna and Étienne were adorable. I always enjoy reading books about best friends falling in love, and I think that's why I read this. There is just something about finding out that the right person for you is also someone you have some history with, that appeals to me.

I am sure that the fact that Étienne had a girlfriend when he and Anna met annoyed me, but I don't remember being frustrated a lot. Anna fell for him while he was still in a relationship, but that didn't keep them from connecting and developing a great friendship. It was a little annoying when she realized that her feelings for him were romantic and he was still with his girlfriend. I'm sorry, but Anna was awesome, and I wanted him to ditch his dead weight girlfriend as soon as Anna realized she wanted him. I know that's wrong, but it's a book so give me a break!

It is pretty obvious that Anna's feelings are returned by Étienne too, but of course he spends a lot of time fighting the attraction because of that same darn girlfriend, but again, I don't remember this bothering me that much. Anna and Étienne don't spend a lot of time fighting their attraction and they also don't sneak around like a couple of cheaters. The author handles this very delicate situation well, and mostly this is just a cute book about a young woman who falls in love in Paris, and who doesn't love reading about that?

The book is clean, but there are a couple of "French kisses" that will make you swoon. I usually hate reading books about Americans who travel to another country and fall in love/find themselves. It is difficult for me to imagine all of the landmarks that are described and all that detail takes me right out of the story. But somehow this author really made Paris come alive in my imagination. I felt like I was walking through the streets of Paris with Anna. I saw the twinkle lights, visited the Eiffel Tower, went to midnight movies, and ate my weight in baguettes right along side her. I enjoyed the moments when Anna was exploring the city on her own as much as the moments when she was exploring with Étienne. This was a really well written, fun book that no Young Adult Romance fan will regret reading.

Sorry, I don't remember if this book had harsh language. I know there were no sexually explicit scenes though so I would recommend it for ages 13 and up. ...more

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Sep 21, 2014 Parmida Reads rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

This book is so wonderful. I want to date this book.

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Jun 06, 2013 Danae rated it liked it

Shelves: 2013

one word people : Paris
Was too teenage-drama for me? yes! I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was 16-18. Anyway It's a good story.
The heroine is a typical seventeen year old caught in love triangles and backstabing friendships. The usual staff when you are eighteen, ok , the typical staff in ur whole life. :P What I hate about her is the fact that she was whining because her father send her to Paris, COME ON , nobody in the world would ever whine about Paris, anyway I liked her after that ...more

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Apr 25, 2012 Chester rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2010-down-pub

Okay...

I am not entirely sure how to start this review. I rarely read realistic contemporary romance fiction that I don’t know how to measure the book and my feelings and my thoughts about it exactly. But I’ll try.

As mentioned above, I am not a huge reader of realistic fiction. Either it lost its appeal as I read tons of them growing up or the fantasy fictions are getting more of my attention, I’ll never know. I do know that I still tend to add the highly recommended ones on my tbr with the inte Okay...

I am not entirely sure how to start this review. I rarely read realistic contemporary romance fiction that I don’t know how to measure the book and my feelings and my thoughts about it exactly. But I’ll try.

As mentioned above, I am not a huge reader of realistic fiction. Either it lost its appeal as I read tons of them growing up or the fantasy fictions are getting more of my attention, I’ll never know. I do know that I still tend to add the highly recommended ones on my tbr with the intention of giving them a try. The Fault in Our Stars, Eleanor & Park, Paper Towns… which I ended up liking a lot.

I remember buying the physical copy of this book at a book fair last year, and it has been sitting in my shelf ever since. After reading a highly suspenseful fantasy fiction ending, my mind can’t focus on any YA fantasy book I pick up, so I decided to give another genre a try. And alas, I finally picked up this wonderful book.

I guess most of the stars I gave to this book were due to the fact that I was completely and entirely hooked all throughout the book. Once I started reading, I can’t stop. So much so that I even steal a few pages while working. Yes, not while on break. While working. Okay, on with the story.

Anna was sent by her big-shot fiction writer dad to Paris for her senior year. She is to study at SOAP, or the School of America in Paris, a prestigious school for, well, Americans in Paris. Anna didn’t want to go, so it was a shaky start for us. She cried a lot, she was scared to go out on her own, and would rather starve herself than try to order food. At another time I would have found that annoying, but I was actually amused with her. And I figured it’s a good start for what could be a good character arc for our protagonist.

And I wasn’t entirely wrong. Anna is smart, kind, funny, a little neat freak at times but I enjoyed being inside her head. The only downside is that it sometimes annoyed me when she can’t stop thinking about guys and how cute they are. I mean, seriously. And how could a movie buff like her don’t know how huge films are in Paris? I am baffled. Still, I love how she developed from a girl who won’t step out of her school to someone who knows what she wants and would do anything for it.

And then there’s Étienne St. Clair. Our idiotic friend. Oops. I love him but he was such a bloody idiot throughout the whole book. I understand the whole I-don’t-want-to-be-alone thing especially with what happened but Anna was right. He was never alone. He was just such a stupid (yet adorable and cute and funny) guy that can’t see what’s in front of him. Who wouldn’t go for what he wants. Sigh. Boys. And while I hated him for that, and for dragging Ellie and Meredith too, I still love how it was written. His character was initially portrayed as perfect. The perfect face, good grades, everyone’s friend. And let’s not forget the British accent. But perfect is boring, not to mention overrated. There’s no redeeming someone who’s already perfect. And I like me some redeeming. *wink*

I guess the only thing lacking on this book is character depth. Maybe I just got used to the fantasy fiction ones with complex character background but I feel like there should be more to these characters than meet the eyes. It was a feel good book, but at the end it was just that. I loved everyone, but I wasn’t able to establish a connection with any of them. Then again, what do I know?

This review also appeared on Amazon. ...more

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May 01, 2013 Angele | adominiquereads rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary, young-adult, owned-books

This is probably the only chick/contemporary novel that didn't make me want to throw it away. At first I was reluctant to read it, because I thought it was another one of those kinds of chick novels that just irritate the crap out of me.

Boy was I wrong! I love it! I really loved it! It's probably because the whole storyline isn't that too complicated and over-the-top, and that the characters are very easy to relate to. Anna's the model character, and I just loved her. How she dealt with her pro ...more

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Jan 13, 2015 Michelle rated it it was amazing

So, so cute. I picked this up as a light read after the heavier series I'd been immersed in, and it was exactly what I needed. Light, funny, and totally refreshing, I read the entire book in one sitting. I can't wait to start Perkins' second book in this series. ...more

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