Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Why I Read It: I've heard so much about this book, and read so many reviews that I just had to read it for myself!

Where I Got It: Secret Santa sent it to me! :D

Rating: 4/5 stars



Overview from the inside cover:

Anna is happy in Atlanta. She has a loyal best friend and a crush on her coworker at the movie theater, who is just starting to return her affection. So she's not too pleased when her father decided to send her to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year. But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna meets some cool new friends, including the handsome Etienne St. Clair, who quickly becomes her best friend. Unfortunately, he's taken--And Anna might be, too. Will a year of romantic near misses end with the French kiss she's been waiting for? 

First, I feel the need to say that I was a little disappointed in the book. I feel like all of the reviews I read made me so excited for this book, that it forced me into having a huge expectation to this being the best book ever read. Except, I had a hard time feeling like it was a good book. 

I went back and forth about how many stars to give it, and why I'd choose what I did over another rating, etc. I must say, the book was extremely slow going for me. It took me until way past the half point of the book to REALLY get into it. So, for that reason alone, I decided to give it 4 out of 5 stars. I was going to go ahead and give the book 3 out of 5 stars because it was slow going, took me a while to get into it, and I felt like there needed to be a lot more background information on Anna to REALLY get to know her. But, as I continued to read, and finally got into it to the point where I couldn't put the book down, I decided it was worth 4 out of 5 stars.

Now, onto the actual story line of the book. 

Anna is your typical teenage boy crazy girl. She has a crush on her friend Toph, who works with her at the movie theater. She finds herself drooling over him, and dreaming of spending the rest of her life with him. Then, suddenly, (and I'm not sure if it ever really said why), her Dad sends her off to School of American in Paris. Anna throws a fit that she has to go on the other side of the world for her SENIOR YEAR of school, leaving her friends and family behind. She's scared of new and bigger places, and most of all, she's scared that she doesn't know even a little bit of French. 

After her first day in the dorms, she meets her neighbor Meredith, who becomes her good friend right away. Meredith introduces Anna to her friends, St. Clair, Josh, Rashmi and a few other people. They all become fast friends, and become the "group". 

As the story progresses, we learn a lot about St. Clair and his girlfriend Ellie. We learn that St. Clair is liked by many, and all women. He's the type of guy girls chase after and drool over. Anna instantly finds herself becoming best friends with him, and slowly realizes that she likes him a little more than she should.

The book goes on and on with St. Clair and Anna site seeing around Paris, getting to know each other more, going to classes, doing homework, and all of the other drama of being in high school. We all know that type of drama! 

There were two things that were said in the book that stuck out to me. One being when Anna said, "Why do I always fall for the wrong guys?" Because don't we all? And the other being, "Because I was right. Home isn't a place, it's a person." 

All in all, it was a good book, with a good story line. I don't think it was as good as my expectations sought out it to be, but I would definitely recommend it to everyone who looks a decent Young Adult novel. 

I'm excited to read Stephanie's new book, Lola and the Boy Next Door! 

The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks

Title: The Best of Me


Author: Nicholas Sparks


Why I Read It: Because Nicholas Sparks is one of my favorite authors, and I heard a lot about this book as it was being published.


Where I Got It: Barnes and Noble in downtown Chicago!


Rating: 3/5 stars




Overview from Barnes and Noble:

"Everyone wanted to believe that endless love was possible. She'd believed in it once, too, back when she was eighteen."

In the spring of 1984, high school students Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole fell deeply, irrevocably in love. Though they were from opposite sides of the tracks, their love for one another seemed to defy the realities of life in the small town of Oriental, North Carolina. But as the summer of their senior year came to a close, unforeseen events would tear the young couple apart, setting them on radically divergent paths.

Now, twenty-five years later, Amanda and Dawson are summoned back to Oriental for the funeral of Tuck Hostetler, the mentor who once gave shelter to their high school romance. Neither has lived the life they imagined . . . and neither can forget the passionate first love that forever changed their lives. As Amanda and Dawson carry out the instructions Tuck left behind for them, they realize that everything they thought they knew — about Tuck, about themselves, and about the dreams they held dear — was not as it seemed. Forced to confront painful memories, the two former lovers will discover undeniable truths about the choices they have made. And in the course of a single, searing weekend, they will ask of the living, and the dead: Can love truly rewrite the past?

This book is about two teenagers who fall in love, and life breaks them apart as they get older. Sadly, they had to go their different ways, go down different paths that their life was leading them to. Amanda's life led her to a marriage and children, while Dawson's life led him to time in prison for an accident, time he shouldn't have necessarily had to do, a lonely life, and dealing with his no-brain family. After years have gone by, Tuck, both Dawson's and Amanda's good friend and mentor passes away. They return to their home town for the funeral, and their paths meet up again. While they're in town, they learn all sorts of things about Tuck that they didn't know, about themselves, and their families, that they never knew before. Tuck wrote letters to each of them, and a letter for them to read together, teaching them what they probably already knew all along. As the book progresses, we learn about their mistakes, their misfortunes, and how they live from here on out. 


First of all, I've got to say that I debated back and forth about whether or not I wanted to give this book a 2 out of 5 stars, or 3 out of 5 stars. I kept asking myself that while reading it, and as the book started to send, I thought I finally decided on 2 out of 5 stars. However, the VERY ending is what changed my mind, and why I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. 

I won't tell you how it ended, because obviously that would give too much away. I will tell you, however, that I was completely shocked. As in, jaw hit the ground, couldn't believe, didn't see it coming, shocked. Purely based on that, I recommend you read this book. 

The Best of Me isn't a "typical" Nicholas Sparks book, though. You know how he writes romance novels about falling in love, finding love, etc. This book was about romance, and love, but it also had mystery, violence, and it just wasn't anything like his books usually are. As I started reading it, it was very hard for me to get into. I bought the book on October 22nd, tried to start reading it at night, but never really got into it until a few days ago. When I finally did get into it, it was hard for me to put it down. I think the reason it was hard to get into, was because it's not a typical Nicholas Sparks story, so I was caught off guard. 

Here are the reasons I enjoyed the book so much: As I mentioned, the surprise, shocking ending. That's probably the number one reason, also because it had a lot of different characters in it. Important characters. Nicholas Sparks told each of their stories well, however, in the same token, there were a few characters (I think two) that just kind of died out. Towards the end of the book, you were reading about her, a page break came, and that was it. It never told what happened to her. Although, from the way it's written, it is kind of assumed that you know what happened. I also enjoyed this book because it seemed realistic. You fall in love at a young age, you have a mentor who grows old, and you eventually have to go to their funeral. Then you've got the family drama and problems, just like every family. All in all, it wasn't a bad read.

Now, for the reason I was debating back and forth between 2 and 3 stars out of 5, mostly comes down to this: The entire book, especially the last 5 chapters or so, felt rushed. I've noticed that a lot of authors seem to "rush" their books at the end. It's like they're tired of writing the book, so they just rush it. The end of the book was still good, as I've mentioned a dozen times, but there was a lot of small paragraphs with page breaks, all spread out at the end. That's why I said it felt like it was rushed. I kind of felt like bits and pieces of the entire book was rushed, only because it lack some detail in spots I feel like it needed it. 

All in all, it was a good book, and a great read. I would recommend anyone who enjoys these type of books, or enjoys Nicholas Sparks, should read this book. It's a good book, and the ending will leave you with your jaw left open and you'll be saying, "Wow." Long after the story is finished.