A few months ago, I started seeing this book everywhere, and kind of wanted to read it to see what the fuss was all about. And then I decided I wasn’t going to read it, because I have a bad habit of occasionally getting sucked into a vortex of light, “fluffy” books and wanting to read nothing else. And I between grad school and my reading challenges, I already have a ton of reading to do. But then it was on sale for a couple dollars on iBooks and I gave in. And I don’t regret it at all.

Anna Oliphant is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta; she’s got a solid best friend, a great job, and a promising crush. So she’s not exactly excited about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris. Even if it is Paris. Until she meets Étienne St. Clair. He’s gorgeous, smart, and charming. He also has a serious girlfriend. Turns out Anna might actually like Paris, desite her horrific French. She also might like St. Clair. And after a year of almosts, Anna might just get her Paris wish.

Okay, this book is a little bit cheesy. But sometimes I just really want a nice, light read. Most similar books I’ve read have seemed, well, (how do I put this nicely?) vapid. And while I wouldn’t exactly call Anna and the French Kiss brilliant literature, I thought the story was interesting – with just the right amount of cheese – and it was actually really well written. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to read similar books and gotten caught up in the clunky writing. Stephanie Perkins definitely has talent, in my opinion. I think she did a great job creating dynamic characters and portraying them in a real way – I completely identified, in one way or another, with each of them.

Rating: ★★★★✩

I really enjoyed this book. It’s become fairly rare for me to binge-read a book in one sitting, but I couldn’t put Anna and the French Kiss down! I’ve realized that, while I do take literary merit into account, my ratings are heavily influenced by how much I enjoyed reading a book (which according to my grad school professor is the opposite of how you’re supposed to write a book review, but whatever). It’s not often that I find a book that is easy to read and gets me out of my head, while also being well-written and interesting. The hype surrounding this book is well-deserved.

Have you read Anna and the French Kiss? What did you think.