17 year old Anna has a decent life in Atlanta. She's got wonderful friends, a sweet 7 year old brother and a mom who just "gets her". She's got a great job at the movie theatre, where she gets to watch all the movies she wants for free (her favorite thing ever) and work alongside the lead singer/guitar player of her dreams- Toph. But her life quickly changes when her father, writer of cheesy sappy romance novels, makes it big and decides his daughter needs a better education. He ships her off to the School of Americans in Paris (or SOAP) to finish off her Senior year.But don't feel sorry for Anna yet because SOAP is pretty awesome. Yes, the school is rigorous, but also freeing. Students live in dorms, eat meals in a restaurant type cafe and are allowed to party on weekends. Oh, and the drinking age in France? 16. Yeah, pretty awesome.
Anna becomes friends with a group of veterans at the school. They've been there since freshman year, know fluent French and show Anna the ropes. There's Meredith, the sporty one- Josh and Rashimi, who are always making out... and then... Ettiene St. Clair. St. Clair is "the boy". You know the one everyone likes. He's charming, sweet, funny, and French/British/American. Anna immediately falls for him, but there's just one problem- he's had a girlfriend for over a year. Will these two ever get together?
I think the answer is obvious.
I liked this book. It was fun, silly and sweet. But... it was whipped cream. Tasty, sweet, light and breezy. Everyone likes whipped cream. But does it fill you up? Is it substantial? No. Not at all. It's incredibly obvious. You know what the ending is before even cracking the spine. No surprises.
But that's not to say it's not a good book, because it is. If that's the sort of thing you're looking for. If you need a break from the heart wrenching or the nail biting, this is your pick. I think anyone in high school would adore this book... and it's also safe for them because they keep the PDA to a minimum and there's no sex... there's the mention of people having sex, but no details.
Perkins writing is great too. She has a fun tone throughout and she captures you from page one.
3 Stars.
I just heard about this book for the first time yesterday and heard raving reviews so I really appreciate your honesty, which will likely keep me from running out and buying it right away.
ReplyDeleteThis book is one of my favorite. Yeah I agree that it's really predictable but sometimes you just want a fun/easy read.
ReplyDeleteI HIGHLY encourage my book nerd girls to go get it. I am running out to buy it today. Sadly I couldn't keep the ARC book because it belongs to Forever YA Lit Blogger Jess, but man, I was tempted! I plan on buying a hard back and then a soft cover as well. I recently started speaking to Stephanie via facebook and twitter and she is just as awesome in person as she is in her book. She's an awesome chick, this is a fantastic book, don't walk, run, to your local bookstore and pick up Anna and the French Kiss.
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