Goodreads Rating: 4.22
Pages: 372
Format: Finished Copy borrowed from Lili.
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?
I heard a lot of really great things about this book. All of my friends told me that I had to read it. I added it to my Wishlist, and then Lili loaned it to me. I was looking forward to reading it, and the bar was set really high. I'm thinking thats why I found myself a little let down in the end.
When the book set out with Anna being dropped in Paris by her divorced parents who decided to enroll her in school there because her father (The Nicholas Sparks of this book) wanted to project this image of being wordly and rich. I didn't really understand that, but okay, I was rolling with it. I totally understand why she was so bummed and how much she missed her friends, especially since it was her senior year of high school. That being said, I was annoyed at her initial behavior, she was in Paris, and while some people would kill her this chance (myself included) she sulked around in her room rather than trying to make the best of it. Or even just see the sights. It took her new friends to pull her out and basically force her to do things.
I think Anna was the chief reason that I'm not giving this book a full 5 stars. I didn't really like her. Every time shit hit the fan, she broke down and cried rather than talk about it. I understand we're all human and we can't all be the best communicators in the world, but she didn't seem to learn from her mistakes until 50 pages till the end. When she felt betrayed and upset with her friends from home, she never stopped to listen to what they had to say.
What I did like about Anna, I loved. I loved that when she was upset, she didn't just run, she did say what was on her mind rather than sitting on it forever. I also loved that when she felt that someone was wrong, she stood up and said something. Like when some girl was shit talking her friend (and they were fighting at the time) she still stood up for her and while she could have done better using her words and not her fists, I still admire that loyalty.
I really didn't like the back and forth of St. Clair and Anna's relationship. I thought that he was absolutely adorable, but I resented that he stayed with Ellie when he was harboring feelings for Anna. I felt that it was entirely unfair to each of the parties, and I thought that Anna should have stuck by her guns and said that he rejected her too many times. While I resented the back and forth that was a really interesting ride as they decided how they felt about one another and then how they decided to act on those feelings or not.
This book was really cute, I was only half invested in it until Anna really came to terms with her feelings for St.Clair. I liked the other characters, although I wish there was a little bit more to them. I liked Anna's tone and the pace was pretty good. I'm not giving up on Stephanie Perkins yet.
The Courts Decision:
Great review. I thought their crush/relationship was dragged out a little too, but I liked this book even with that. I just read Lola and while I liked Anna better it wasn't a bad read.
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