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! 

Learning by Karen Kingsbury

Title: Learning

Author: Karen Kingsbury

Where I Got It: Karen sent it to me to review

Why I Read It: I've read all of her books and this is the second book in this series!

Rating: 4/5 stars





Overview from Barnes and Noble:

Bailey Flanigan is growing closer to her dream to be an actress and dancer in New York while Cody coaches a small high school football team ... on and off the field. But neither feels complete without the chance to share their dreams with one other.

Can distance truly make the heart grow fonder? Or will Cody learn to turn to others to share in his happiness? And when tragedy strikes? Who will be there to provide comfort in the face of loss?

As Cody's past catches up with him, he must learn to reach out for help or risk withdrawing permanently inside himself. Both Bailey and Cody find themselves learning significant life lessons in this poignant love story, featuring members from Karen Kingsbury's popular Baxter family.

This is the second book in the Bailey series. Her first book in the series is called Leaving. You can find that review HERE.

I love all of Karen's books. They're inspirational, motivational, and amazing. She has a talent to make her characters come alive so you feel like you actually KNOW these people. It's like you're apart of their family, and/or a friend of their family.

This particular book/series is about following your dreams no matter what. Bailey and Cody were lovers for many years prior, and life has torn them apart. They are both trying to live with out each other, neither of them knowing if they're able to. They've found comfort in other friends, Cheyenne and Brandon Paul. 

While their lives are taking them down different paths, they've got to figure out if their friendship will hold strong, and if they'll stay together or not.

Let me start off by saying what I did like about the book. 

This book teaches you that when life throws you a curve ball, no matter what happens, you can and will get out of that slump. With friends, family and God, your life will be continuing up hill as long as you let it. It also teaches you that when you lose the love of your life due to a break up, you WILL find love again. The book shows you that you just need to have an open heart, not rush into things, and when that person comes into your life, you'll know why they were there. 

I love this series (and all of Karen's books) because she has a way of making dreams a reality. No matter what your dreams or goals are in life, you can achieve them. In this book, Bailey had always wanted to be a Broadway performer, and she did just that. She never gave up, and she continued to fight until the time was right for her. 

I love books that have lessons in them. I love a book where you can get something out of it. A book that makes you FEEL. All of Karen's books will make you laugh, cry, feel sad, mad, angry, upset. You will find yourself routing for characters in her book. She has a way, especially in this book/series, where she makes every character in her book, special. However, it's not too overwhelming where you don't know what's going on with each character.

Now, as you've noticed, I love every  one of her books. However, for some reason, this book didn't seem AS good as her other ones, or the one before this book. Don't get me wrong, it was an amazing book. It just wasn't as good.

I felt like it didn't have enough "drama" in it. It was all a straight, happy story. Which is a good thing, but I would have enjoyed one or two more surprises. Also, the ending was kind of disappointing. Karen has one or two other books coming out in the series, and I felt like the way the book ended, it could have almost been the end of the series. 

But, with that said, I am excited to read the next book in the series, to see what happens with Bailey, Cody and Brandon Paul! 

Have any of you ever read this book, or any other Karen Kingsbury books? What do you think?

My Rating: