Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Yay! I finally read this book! It was so amazing for about fifty different reasons. So this book is about a girl named Anna, duh, who goes to France for her senior year of high school because of her dad even though she doesn't really want to go. While she is there she meets Etienne St. Clair. He is a super attractive boy that she developed a crush on. the only problem is that he has a girlfriend. This book mainly focuses on their relationship and how they try to get together but there are some subplots that I also found super interesting.

Alright, first and foremost, this book was so adorable and just happy. The characters are all super fun and interesting, although we don't get to learn as much of them as I would have liked, I did enjoy the scenes they were in. So the relationship between Anna and St. Clair was the cutest thing ever. And for the most part of this book they aren't together but their friendship is just so genuine that you can tell they are friends first, love interests second. That is something that I love so much because it is refreshing and something that I. personally. would want in a relationship. It's also because of their strong friendship that their romance feels like real love when they get to that stage. It is by far the best developed romance book I have ever read, probably because the entire book is centered around their romance, but that's beside the point.

I also want to briefly discuss the theme of this book, which I know I don't do a lot because I think everyone should decide on what the theme is for themselves but in this case, I want to share my opinion. I just loved the idea that everyone will mess up, and everyone will mess up royally at one point or another in their life. It's something that I have come to embrace and just to see it play out in this way, it was just very gratifying to know that someone else, in my mind, agrees. It also plays into the flaws of every character, even Anna. I think flaws in characters are insanely important to them but I know that including them into a character in a subtle way can be tricky and, at times, it feels like it's not worth the effort but to see such clear flaws over time was refreshing.

The only mildly negative thing I will say is that the plot isn't all that impressive, in fact, there were a few things I was able to predict. However, this book isn't trying to be overly impressive in that area. The characters were entertaining enough for me to not get bored at all. I also prefer books that are character driven so I'm not the type of person that needs a complex and detailed plot to be satisfied.

I really loved this book. I physically couldn't put this book down. I tried to leave it for a while but after ten minutes, I had to pick it back up because I was desperate to know what happened next and how it ended. Needless to say, I finished this book within a day. 5 out of 5 stars.