Anna and the book Review.

I really, really, really wanted to do a book review. So I did.

As I have mentioned, I love stories, and most of all I love good stories. The problem now a days is that book stores tend to cater to the newest trend. In the Young Adult section (and yes that is the area I always go to first) there is copious amounts of supernatural themed books. Which yay, that’s good for a nerd like me but they all sound the same by the blurb. ‘He was harbouring a deep dark secrete he was a vampire, a vampire in loooove.’ Well most of them are worded a bit better than that, but now it has come to a point where I just roll my eyes when I see them.

Vampires and young forbidden love have now become very much the trend, and like with the Teenage RomComs you have to sort through a lot of crap before you get something good. However there is a time when a book bucks the trend. The book which is the subject of this review does not deal with the supernatural love, and lets face it, that's a bit of fresh air.

Enter Anna and the French Kiss. I had heard about this book through the VlogBrothers, and if you don’t know who they are, seriously get on youtube. John Green (who too is an author) spoke about this book, and as a Nerd Fighter I just had to check it out. Now I didn’t have high hopes for this book, to be honest. I didn’t expect it to be anything more than what the title suggests. I thought it would just be about Anna shoving her tongue down peoples throats. But hey it was summer and it sounded fun so why not give it a whirl.    

Now maybe it was because of the low expectations, or because I am a hopeless romantic but I fell in love with this book.

Anna and the French Kiss had something most Young Adult Romance books don’t have – it had realistic love.

It was a first person narrative, which just adds to reality of the story. I often find the best use of first person narrative is with characters that are relatable, that are normal. Which is why Harry Potter is Third Person because let’s face it there is only one chosen one – but back to the point.

Now it could be because I am a film nerd (like Anna) or I would love to spend a year in Paris (where this story takes place) but this book had me enthralled. I cared about the characters, and the scenery, I cared about the relationships, not just the romantic ones but the friendships. I hated St. Clair father and laughed at Anna’s dad’s expense (come on we all know that author who writes tragic love stories where someone dies or some real heart breaking condition. *cough* Notebook *cough*)

It was tremendously romantic, without going corny. It was beautiful without being sappy. It was entertaining without being slapstick. And most of all it was realistic. Stephanie Perkins has really captured what it is like to be young and in love, but real love not that co-dependent I can’t breathe unless you tell me too, love.

The only sad thing about this book is that it ended – which sounds stupid to say, and I get that. But I loved being in that world so much I wanted to get in a time machine go back to when I was seventeen and somehow become an American and then go and enrol into that school. Yes I know it would be impossible but just let me have my dream.

I am really looking forward to the next book Stephanie Perkins writes but I have to admit I am a little weary. While I loved beyond all reasoning Anna and the French Kiss, can someone really capture lighting in a bottle twice? Neither less I will get it as soon as I can here in Australia and read my little heart out.

I really do recommend this book to any hopeless romantic or any cold hearted bitty. Because it will either fill your yearly hopeless romantic quota or melt your frosty heart. 

Check out Stephanie Perkins' website here