Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Goodreads Summary: 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?

Why I Read This Book: The one is so popular around the blogosphere, and has such great reviews, I couldn't not pick it up. Also, I love me a little teen contemporary romance :)

Review: Oh Anna and the French Kiss, how did I love thee, let me count the ways! No particular order:

• The setting! Paris, I love it! I took a school trip to Paris when I was 17 (Anna's age in the first half of the book) and the nostalgia for the places she visited was overwhelming. I could just picture me and my best pal Anna (yes, that is the real name of my real life friend who I went with!!) exploring the places described in the book. I love reading books set in places I have traveled.
• Short chapters! This propels you in to reading longer than you had planned! You get hooked in a book, and since the chapters as short, you keep going "I'll just read one more, then go do whatever I'm supposed to be doing"
• The characters felt very real, I mean, there was drama a plenty, but it wasn't just for entertainment, I could picture myself and people I know making those exact decision when we were that age. Sometimes the "he-said-this-but-means-this-so-she-did-that-when-she-should-have-done-this" seems fake, and you groan at the poor choices authors make, but here I could see myself ignoring some situations and then blowing up in others just the way Anna did, because she's 17-18 and that's how 17-18 year old's act! I also liked the realistic teen drinking scenes, because yes, that is exactly what happens when high school students drink!

Overall, I really really liked this book, and I totally understand all the hype surrounding it. It was quick, fun, and charming to read, I loved it!

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