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 Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he’s taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home. As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near – misses end with the French kiss Anna – and readers – have long awaited?
Warning: I hate to do this because I try NEVER to be spoilery but this review cannot be written without containing a few spoilers.
Anna and the French Kiss on the surface is simple straightforward Chicklit. It’s sweet and innocent with loveable characters and the backdrop of Paris. What more could you ask for? Unfortunately a lot.
I really had a hard time liking either of the main characters. Anna seemed really shallow and whiney. She was all put out that she got to spend her entire senior year in Paris…THE Paris. She whined about it incessantly through the first chapters and then continued to whine about her father (who was very Nicholas Sparks-esque which did make me laugh a lot) for most of the story. And like omigosh, she only gets like just enough allowance to go to like 6 movies in one week. Like really? That’s like so unfair, Dad. Hmmm…not really feeling it. To be fair, her parents did fight a lot and her dad is rather distant and like I said, Nicholas Sparks so a bit melodramtic but I felt like she was overdoing the teenage angst. The one thing I did like about her was her unwillingness to come between Ellie and St. Clair/Etienne. I admired her for that. It showed strength on her part and a true depth to her feelings for him. Wanting him to be happy and be his friend until he was willing to break it off with his girlfriend.
Etienne/St. Clair is a super sweet boy. I loved the things he did for Anna and the way he treated her for the most part. They had an adorable relationship, very sweet and innocent. However, despite this he is overwhelmingly weak when it comes to relationships. This is the part that bugged me the most. He continually turns from his feelings for Anna and runs back to Ellie long after he should have ended it. He waits around for her to make HER feelings completely clear by forcing her to ask him to kiss her before finally ending a relationship that should have been over MONTHS ago.
I could have maybe overlooked this if he had come to her at the end and said in his polite British accent, “You know what, Ah-na, I’ve been a bloody wanker. Please forgive me.” But no, rather than taking the blame for it, he blames her for not telling him how she felt and trying to move on with other guys. HE HAD A GIRLFRIEND! She was not going to be THAT girl. Very frustrating and sort of ruined my view of him. I wanted to see a guy with some guts, who’s willing to step out of a relationship just because it’s not what’s right for him, not stay in a relationship until he’s sure he can jump right into another one because he’s afraid of being alone. It really weakened his character for me and took away the depth of his feelings for Anna. If he really loved her that much, why would he stay with someone else?
Also, the secondary characters, other than Rashmi and Amanda, were very wooden and flat. Rather than adding a lot to the story I felt like they were simply plot devices and didn’t really help me to love the main characters. Etienne’s bad relationship with his father could have been a lot stronger too. He was shown as controlling and there was some hinting at possible abuse but nothing concrete. He was a jerk for sure but didn’t make me feel an intense hatred for him the way I have in other books. He just annoyed me and pointed out Etienne’s weakness more than anything.
The romance between Anna and Etienne/St. Clair was so beautiful. It was built gradually with the innocence and intensity of first love. Perkins captures that delicious feeling very realistically, however it is completely overshadowed for me by his tediously long relationship with Ellie and Etienne/St. Clair’s weakness.
In short, Anna and the French Kiss just didn’t do it for me. I really did not enjoy this book. I hoped I would. I kept trying to, but honestly I just couldn’t seem to figure out how to like it. I questioned this at first because it’s very well written and the setting is gorgeous. But it all boiled down to the actual story and it’s characters. For me, that’s not a fun read.
Author: Stephanie Perkins Title: Anna and the French Kiss Published: October 11, 2011 by Listening Library Narrated by: Kim Mai Guest Format: Audiobook (Audible) Website: www.stephanieperkins.com Source: Purchased My rating: 
Happy Reading!
Oh I’m sorry you didn’t like it more;( But, sometimes a book is just not the right one for you.
I found is super cute and loved it, but I do understand the problems you had with it!
I wish I had liked it more too. ;). Just didn’t do it for me, but I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Another book that I really want to read! The sencod book, Lola and the Boy Next Door, is coming out really soon….or did it just come out?Anyways fantastic review!lisawww.turningpages94.blogspot.com
Oh, it’s really sad to know that you didn’t like it. I loved Anna and St.Clair. I love this book so much. I read it once, but listened to the audiobook twice already. I didn’t like the narrator in the audiobook, her voice didn’t do it for me. But I loved this book even before I listened to the audio so maybe that’s why it didn’t bother me at all
But of course, not all books are for everybody. And I’m still glad that you gave it a shot. *smiles
Yes, I think this just wasn’t for me.
I still need to read this book. I know there must be something wrong with me. Thanks for the great rvieew I have to read this one soon since I have an arc of Lola and the Boy Next Door.
Hope you will enjoy it more than I did.
I read this book and had exactly the same problems as you did. I’d heard lots of reviews about it that said it was super romantic, but at the end I just wanted to should at him, “YOU HAD A FREAKING GIRLFRIEND!!!!!!!!!” Idiot. For all that I liked the writing and the settings of the novel, but the story just didn’t do it, because of the idiot male lead.
Oh good! So glad I was not the only one! =)
Awww, that’s to bad. I have heard such great things about this book but I guess it’s not for everyone.
Yes, I’ve come to the conclusion that I am in the minority when it comes to this book.
Etienne – you’re amazing;) I know you have issues with this book because of the cheating aspect, but I think Anna and Etienne were both flawed in a way that needed each other to be complete. I think I loved this book because the characters were flawed, because they messed up but still understood and cared for each other. Try Lola and the Boy Next Door – I LOVED it. Stephanie Perkins is awesome:)
I loved Etienne and Anna together. I just hated the final scene where he pretty much blames her for them not getting together sooner. But oh well. =)
Oh, you have given me a lot to think about. I still plan to read the book, but maybe I’ll read a few others first.
Thanks for your review!
Sigh, yes, I seem to be in the minority when it comes to this book but I guess we all have our own tastes. I hope you will share your thoughts when you read it eventually! =)
I’ve read this book a while ago. At that time I loved it. Now after reading all those great contemporary books I’m not sure I’d like to much. I still like this book cause it’s sweet, sometimes fun and well it has Etienne! 😀 But not as good as it seemed a while ago. Great review!
Well, I loved it right up until the end…then it was all down hill from there. 😉
I used to feel the same way about Twilight. I LOVED it when I read it and now I’m like…I’ve read so much better stuff, I just don’t love it so much anymore.
See! EXACTLY why I haven’t read the book. I just knew there would be issues, regardless of all of the raving reviews! Thank you in a big way!
Haha! You are welcome!
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this one! I really loved it and read it in two sittings, but just because a lot of people raved about it doesn’t mean it’ll be one for you, too.
Exactly. So glad we can all relate to books differently and have our own opinions.
You have definently shed new light on this book. I thank you for that!
Yay! You’re welcome!
I really enjoyed Anna and the French Kiss, it’s predictable and the Etienne/Ellie/Anna dynamic bugged me a lot. I thought Etienne was a bit of an ass but at the same time I sort of appreciated how flawed he was. It was Stephanie Perkins’ writing that made this book so enjoyable and great, I never really felt like anything was too dramatic and I loved the way Anna and Etienne relationship developed.
Yes, I totally agree with the things you loved. I had such a hard time rating this book. What it came down to was that I stayed up all night listening to it…loving it…wanting happily ever after for Etienne and Anna…and then he went and acted like an idiot at the end. I was so angry about the ending I actually ranted about it for weeks. So yeah, not my cup o’ joe but that’s alright. =)
I loved Anna and the french , I’m sorry you couldn’t enjoy it though
No biggie, we all have our own tastes! =)