Goodreads Book Review - Anna and the French Kiss

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Some spoilers ahead.

Oh, this book. I just finished this last night and stayed up all night reading it. And here's the thing: this is a great book. This is a book that takes two very messy, complicated people and allows them to fall in love in a messy, complicated way. But it also worries me a little bit, because here's the thing: Etiennes do not really exist in the real world, and the fact that Stephanie Perkins has created a believable, frustrating, and charming character speaks to her ability. But I worry a little bit about someone young who might read this book. Who might fall for someone who's taken. Who thinks that it might work out well for them. Anna and Etienne certainly confront each other plenty about it, but you know what? Etienne ultimately is a Charming Leader-Onner who treats his girlfriend like crap, and that is dangerous for teenagers to read, because he still gets rewarded for it.

So, this is a great book. A few random thoughts:
- I wish Perkins had fleshed out Mer's character a little more. She felt shallow, and the scene where Anna and Mer talk about their feelings for St. Clair felt just a little false. Like, it rushed to the "please go for it because HE LOVES YOU and never mind me!" revelation a little too quickly.
- Paris is beautiful and is its own character in the novel. Would have liked even more Parisian adventures.
- This book felt VERY comprehensive. Anna's great. A well-rounded heroine who finds herself in a new world. I loved seeing the good and the bad as she settled in.


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