Skip to main content

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins


Anna and The French Kiss


I have heard nothing but good about this book, so I thought of give it a try. The first time I got this book to my hand I really liked its outlook, its cover, its quality and all things. I knew that this is a teenage romantic story, but I expected this would be different from other stories that I have read before.

But to my disappointment I didn’t see much difference on the plot from other romance stories. It might be because I’ve read a lot of stuff like this, or watched lots of movies similar to this plot, and it’s something that happens in real life sometimes. So the plot was really predictable to me and it didn’t surprise me or startle me at all. But things I love about this plot - the book takes place in Paris, and the happily ever after ending. 

Stephanie Perkins’ characterization is really awesome. Those characters were very realistic. I really enjoyed Anna, the way she thinks and the way she talks is unique and kind of funny, but she’s not a perfect girl. Also I liked that she is a film junkie and wants to be a critic. And Etienne is really an international product, who is American with the French name and English accent. Most guys in romance stories are perfect, physically and mentally both ways. But here Etienne is a good looking short guy who has some problems. He’s a realistic character. 

There’s something that bugged me when I was reading the book, Anna complained that her father didn’t give her lot of money like other parents did and she went to movies like every day; and I heard that French movie theaters are very expensive. So I couldn’t figure out how she got money for cinema.

Stephanie Perkins surely is a good writer, though there are not many description, her dialogues are simple, funny and very entertaining. I enjoyed the book and it’s a simple, romantic story. I am sure this would be a good plot for a romantic comedy movie. I know that I am the last person who read this book, but if you haven’t read it yet give it a try.

My Rating: 3 out of 5
Labels:

Comments

  1. StephanieFebruary 24, 2012 at 10:36 AM

    Oh, I'm sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy this one as much as you'd hoped. Like you, I've only read positive reviews of it, but reading your review I can see why it might not have resonated with you. I think it has a lot to do with how familiar with a genre one is--I always find it hard to see dystopian fiction as fresh, for example, since I've read so many of the classics in that genre.

    Good catch on the price of the cinemas in France!

    (Stephanie @ Read in a Single Sitting)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sumudu SiriwardanaFebruary 24, 2012 at 10:40 PM

    Thank you very much for stopping by this way. I completely agree with you on the point of genre familiarity :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

When I was at the international book fair few weeks back, I found this interesting book. I was attracted to the book because of the cover. I picked the book and read the back cover and it seemed interesting to me. So I bought this book Tiger’s Curse and the second book of the series Tiger’s Quest . I am glad I bought it.   I found it is very hard to put the book back once I started reading. I really love the plot, which blends Indian mythology with romance and adventure.  Houck surely has done a lot of research into the mythology and it reads well and feels so real. I always love to read about myths and this story with the actions and romance…. oh I really love it. First I didn’t much like the writing of the story. I thought it was very childish, but after reading few chapters and glued to the book, the writing style didn’t matter to me. But I felt like something missing, because Houck was telling the story rather than showing it.   The characters of the st...
2 comments
Read more

House of Cards

I don’t know how I missed House of Cards, if KP hadn’t mentioned it I wouldn’t know the existence of this great political drama. Somehow I am glad that I missed it when they aired the first season, hence I watched the whole two seasons at a stretch, with no breaks, without waiting for another year.   “There are two kinds of pain. The sort of pain that makes you strong, or useless pain. The sort of pain that's only suffering. I have no patience for useless things.” With a cynical narration, Frank Underwood starts his mission to become the most powerful man in the United States of America. His wife, Clair Underwood is his backbone and helps him unconditionally to achieve his ambition. Even though Zoe Barns is just a pawn in this game, she plays a significant part with a great ambition to become a top journalist. Frank Underwood cynically moves Peter Russo as his Pawn with the help of Doug Stamper, one of his Nights, to win this political game. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

  This is the best book I have read recently. The style is unique, the tone is witty, the characters are really entertaining and the plot kept me on the edge of my seat. I can't think of any other book that so cleverly tells the story as Stroud has done with this series. It’s written from the third person perspective for the young boy Nathaniel and the first person perspective for the superior Djinni, Bartimaeus. The footnotes that can be found in Bartimaeus chapters greatly enhance the story with humorous remarks. It may sound tedious to read a bit, jump to the bottom for the footnotes and then carry on back up top. But Stroud has done it masterfully and these footnotes add magic to the book. They actually bring out a whole new aspect to Bartimaeus' character. I’m not enamored with the protagonist, Nathaniel, but I actually really like that he isn’t a self-sacrificing noble boy. Instead he is a selfish, arrogant, and ambitious apprentice. It’s g...
Post a Comment
Read more