Anna and the French Kiss :)

It seems only fitting that my first post for my bookish blog be a review on my favorite book of all time: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins :)

Description from Goodreads :"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. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend. "

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

Last January, I had the misfortune of developing an awful respiratory infection that required me to stay indoors out of the cold, and miss quite a bit of work. I burned through many, many books during those days, and had just finished Dreamland by Sarah Dessen and Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, both of which I absolutely loved.

I was browsing through the online library looking for my next book, when Anna and the French Kiss caught my eye. After having just finished an extremely emotional novel, and a paranormal novel, the idea of a light and adorable contemporary seemed to be just what I needed, and it most definitely was.

Anna and the French Kiss follows the main character Anna Oliphant, known to her best friend as "Banana Elephant" during her senior year of high school, as she studies abroad at the "School of American in Paris."

Stephanie Perkins created Anna as a highly likeable and adorable main character, and also creates an amazing supporting cast in the circle of friends that she soon makes at said school. The interaction between this group of friends was one of my favorite parts of the novel. Josh, Meredith, Etienne, Anna, and Rashmi have an adorable chemistry, and their interactions are entertaining, and often highly amusing. 

I loved getting to watch the friendship between Anna and Etienne evolve from strangers to best friends to both wanting something more, and was thrilled that this was no the type of contemporary where the relationship is a "I just met you, you're my soulmate" type of explanation. And the book is full of quotes that are uplifting, hilarious, and meaningful.

While definitely a light read, I fell completely in love with this story, and a year and a half after the first time I read it, it remains my absolute favorite book, and I've read quite a few books between then and now. Anna and the French Kiss gets five stars from me, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a young adult contemporary, or just anyone looking for a book guaranteed to put a smile on your face. And by all means, don't stop with Anna, continue on with the series as both Lola and the Boy Next Door, and Isla and the Happily Ever After are definitely worth a read as well.

Thanks for reading. And I will be back with more bookish ramblings in my next post.