Anna and the French Kiss- Book Review

Book Review- Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins. 4.5/5 Stars on GoodReads

                                                                    

Anna and the French Kiss follows the story of 17 year old Anna. Anna has just arrived at School of America in Paris, France to finish up her high school career. Anna really just wants to stay in Atlanta and finish up her senior year with her best friend Bridgette and work at the movie house with her crush, Toph.

Anna feels very out of place since she doesn't know any French at all, and really can't get around. Her dorm neighbor, however, Meredith- Mer for short, changes all that. Mer introduces Anna to all of her friends and is able to sit with them during their meals, and go out with them at night. It is during one of these meal times that Anna meets Etienne St. Clair. Etienne helps her order food and is very nice to her. He is also very attractive. But Anna can't persue that relationship because Etienne is in a well established relationship with someone already. 

Througout the story, Anna builds her relationships with her new friends and becomes more and more involved with Etienne, to the point where you can feel the lust between the two of them. The two of them can't seem to spend much time apart.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

Although Anna is in another country, she still tries to maintain her friendship with her best friend and crush, but through no control of her own, they start to drift apart. When Anna comes home for Christmas, she learns that Bridgette and Toph are dating, and it tears Anna's world apart. She stops speaking with Bridgette and wants nothing more to do with either of them.

When Anna returns back to the school after the holiday break, Etienne and Anna finally kiss! But what she didn't anticipate doing, was hurting her new good friend Mer. Mer also had a crush on Etienne, so she felt betrayed when Anna did this (even though Etienne already had a girlfriend).

Anna ends up getting in a big fight with a bully at her school, get's in trouble defending Mer's honor (the bully said derogatory things about her), and ultimately realizes that she did the same thing to Mer, that Bridgette did to her. The end of the story shows Anna patching things up with Bridgette. 

The story concludes with Anna and Etienne being together...finally!

I feel that this story took too long for the two of them to get together. This is where the teen-angst came in to bring it down a half star for me. But really, this book was super cute and a must read for anyone looking for a book about love and friendship.