Anna and the French Kiss

Instead of sleeping, I just finished reading Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. It was every bit as awesome as John Green (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gep4QH6U27M&cc=1#t=14s) and Alex Carpenter (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo64tDej4RI) said it would be.

Summary time: A girl named Anna Oliphant is forced to move to Paris by her super-cliché novel-writing sell-out father. Once there, she meets a group of friends, including the one and only Étienne St. Clair. Romance ensues, as well as heartbreak, loneliness, contentment, and friendship.

Ok, enough with the summary. Stop here if you don't want any spoilers. Turn back now. Gushing review to follow.

FRENCH THE LLAMA, that book was awesome! I'm a teenage girl; I love the occasional sugar-sweet fluffy romance. But this book is so much more. It's about how Anna grows into herself and finally becomes content with just being alone with only herself. Stephanie Perkins did an amazing job of interweaving the characterization, plot, and themes. I never felt like she was ever making an obvious statement, but that she was allowing me to read about Anna's year is Paris. In so many words, this is a book that shows and doesn't tell. This, in my humble opinion, makes for the best novels.

To start off, the characterization. Anna is perfectly believable. She's the girl that every girl wants to be: not flirty, fits in with the guys, but still is completely herself. But that doesn't mean that she has her faults. More often than not, she says or does the wrong thing. She tends to just skip situations that she would rather not deal with. It's these faults that add up to the credibility of her character. Also, Étienne St. Clair, teenage-boy extraordinaire. He's the perfect boy that every girl wants to date. He's charming, funny, gorgeous, and just a good guy. But, he has his faults as well. He's absolutely terrified of heights (which I think, symbolically, translates into his fear of falling. But, that might just be my over-analytical mind looking for more meaning than was intended) and he avoids change. Basically, St. Clair is the ideal mix of fantasy and reality.

Next, the plot. Every time the reader things that St. Clair and Anna might FINALLY get together, something else happens that drives them apart. St. Clair's mom gets cancer. Anna talks about her pseudo-boyfriend in America. They get closer and closer, until they drive themselves away. The plot of this novel (all 371 pages) is a roller-coaster ride that takes over the mind. It has one of those plots that keep you up all night reading, even when you have to get up early the next day. Then, all you want to do is tell everyone you know that they should read this book. Then, you end up creating a new blog, just so you can review it. What? It's not as if I'm speaking from personal experience or anything.

Finally, the themes. Mainly, I took two different themes that intertwine: the fear of being alone and the difficulty of the timing of love. There are plenty of others, but these were the two that struck me the most. Throughout the whole novel, both Anna and St. Clair struggle with the fear of being alone. Even though Anna is right in front of St. Clair, he doesn't break up with his current girlfriend. Anna refuses to take the signs that St. Clair likes her because she would rather have a torturous friendship with him (even if it includes his girlfriend) get her hopes up about their situation. When it comes down to it, life (and hormones) drive them together and they finally have to man-up and deal with all the difficulties that they have to overcome to be able to be in a relationship.

I think one of the only cons of this book is that it's too short. I honestly want to read about so many other events that were going on. What about Anna's website? There was potential for that to lead to some amazing opportunity for Anna. It's just mentioned several times, but never really illustrated. Also, I kept waiting for Anna and St. Clair's current girlfriend to have a fight. They both feel threatened by each other, and were forced together several times. One other thing was Meredith, the girl who lives next door to Anna and is the one that makes friends with Anna first. I feel like the books should have had a few more scenes of friendship between them. There was basically the scene where they met and the scene where they made up.

In conclusion, I think one of the most compelling things about Anna and the French Kiss is that every person has an experience that makes them relate to this book. There's always been that one person that you wanted to attempt a relationship with, but life just kept getting in the way. You never knew if you were reading the signs right; you keep doubting the other person. This novel does an excellent job of illustrating the difficulties of getting into a meaningful relationship, and it does it with grace. I know I can't wait until Stephanie Perkins publishes her next novel.

Until next time,

DFTBA!

Nadia

Non-YLC Books: 2 (And Nation by Terry Pratchett, another book I highly recommend)

YLC Books: 1

[School related reading doesn't count unless it relates]