Review: Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Pages: 372
Released: December 2010
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Dutton
Favourite Quote: “French name, English accent, American school. Anna confused.”
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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 Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend. But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

My Review

Initial Thoughts: I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did. I mean, I think I always knew I would like it, but LOVE it? Yeah, I didn't think that. I honestly would have finished this book within a day. But due to school and being in an exam period, it took me a bit longer. But all I was thinking about when I should have been studying was St Clair!

The story basically follows Anna's time in Paris after being sent there to boarding school by her father. Very angry with her dad, she reluctantly goes but ends up making a lot of new friends (and starts crushing on the most gorgeous guy in the school, who happens to have a girlfriend).

I thought this book was going to be one of those cheesy romance novels where she crushes on this guy who she can't have and then she gets upset and so on. And I guess it was sort of like that. But it was so much better.  

The Pros: The characters. Stephanie Perkins has created such enjoyable characters to read about. This story could have easily turned into one of those boring books about a girl trying to win over a guy, but it didn’t because she made the characters relatable. I understood the characters and even when they did do something that I didn't necessarily agree with, I understood why they did it. It made sense.

I was so engaged with the characters that I just kept wanting to read about them. Especially the secondary characters. I felt as though I knew them so well, I wanted to know what they were doing when we were looking at what Anna was doing (don’t get me wrong, I wanted to know what Anna was doing but I enjoyed the secondary characters so much that I wanted to know what they were doing too). Honestly, I would read a companion novel about this whole story but from another persons perspective. It was so enjoyable.

The Cons: To be honest, nothing really. The only thing that comes to mind was that it drove me crazy seeing St Clair and Anna not admitting to each other properly their feelings for one another. But then again, that is what this whole story is about.

Would I recommend this book? Of course! Anyone who, like me, is always fangirling about fictional relationships. Then this is for you (you probably already read it then cause I’m like 100years late to the party). Or if you want something different like a quick, cute and adorable read then this is for you too 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Book Characters That Would Be Sitting At My Lunch Table

HIII, (can you tell I'm excited?)
Want to know why I'm excited? This weeks Top Ten Tuesday meme, run by The Broke and the Bookish, is Top Ten Book Characters That Would Be Sitting At My Lunch Table, which basically means list all my fictional boyfriends.

So, lets go through who of my fictional boyfriends I mean fictional characters I would choose to sit at my lunch table.

First up is... (drum roll please)

FOUR - (Divergent)

That's right. Four (aka Tobias) will be sitting at my table. I mean, who doesn't like Four? I'm sure he will protect me from all those bullies in the school 

Etienne St Clair - (Anna and the French Kiss)

How can I not choose him? He's so sweet and adorable and man, I just can't think properly right now. He is just so perfect. I can't process how perfect he is right now (fangirling moment)

Adam - (If I Stay)

Adam is just the perfect boyfriend. I'm sure he will always stick by me and he can play me his guitar and sing to me. He could write a song about me

Will Herondale - (The Infernal Devices)

Will. Will. How much I love you.

Peeta - (Hunger Games)

The most sweetest guy ever. And he can bake.   

Daemon Black - (Lux Series)

He can entertain us all with his sarcastic comments. 

Augustus - (TFiOS)

I'm sure he can teach us a thing or two

 

Well, since I should pick some girls to sit at my table (although I'm sure the 7 guys would give me more than enough company) they would be...

Anna - (Anna and the French Kiss)

She is just so nice and caring and patient

Katy - (Lux Series)

Cue the fangirling over fictional characters

Rose - (Vampire Academy)

Her badassness. And her sense of humor. She could entertain my for days 

That was very fun to list. I'm always ready to list all my favourite fictional boyfriends characters.  Are yours the same as mine? Let me know below

Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Series: Lux Series (Obsidian, Onyx, Opal, Origin, Opposition)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
First Book Released: May 2012
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Favourite Quote: “I don't think he meant to kiss me," I said finally.
"What? Did he slip and fall on your mouth? Those things are known to happen.”
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Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something... unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is.

My Review 

The review below is for the whole Lux Series

Initial Thoughts: Oh my gosh. Daemon. You can be such a complete asshole but also such a good guy at the same time. This book blew my mind

The story basically follows a teenage girl named Katy. She's just moved to West Virgina with her mother, now a single parent, to have a fresh start after the death of her father. After her mother encourages her to make some new friends, she goes next door to get to know the two teenagers that live in the house. The eldest teen is Daemon. He is arrogant and pretty much pisses Katy off to her max. But after walking onto a road with oncoming traffic, Daemon freezes time which in turn 'marks' her. Until the 'mark' wears off, she must keep close to Daemon so he can protect her from the enemies of his kind. Turns out Daemon is hiding a secret of his own

The Pros: I really enjoyed the humor and pop culture references in this book. This made the story very relatable and I felt as though I really knew Katy. She was just like me. Although Daemon can be arrogant, he was hilarious due to his continuous sarcastic comments. There were times when I had to put the book down because I was laughing so much. One example in the first book was when he told Ashley to go buy a happy meal at McDonalds so that she will no longer be angry. I just couldn't stop laughing. There were lots of references to pop culture as well. For example, in the last book, there were so many Harry Potter references and there was even an Avengers reference. This helped the make the series so relatable 

I really loved the character of Katy. I loved how she wasn't one of those characters who let others walk all over her. Katy is very comfortable in her own skin and won't take crap from anyone. She puts Daemon in his place so many times that it was so funny. She was a very enjoyable character to read about. And the best thing was that she loved books as much as I do and even ran her own book blog. That was a pleasant surprise. You don't come across too many books where the main character has their own book blog and it was because of this that I found her so relatable. I loved how every Wednesday she would write a Waiting on Wednesday post. It reminded me of my blog so much and when I participate in Top Ten Tuesday

The Cons:  The beginning of the first book I found quite difficult to read and this was because of Daemon and his arrogant nature. I was so tempted at times to put the book down as he would became very annoying. I just wanted to jump in the book and slap him. He just thought he was the best person ever. However I did power through it and It was about 3/4 into the first book that I actually started to like him. We learnt more about Daemon and why he acts the way he does. I mean I love him so much now. He is now one of my favourite fictional characters 

Although I didn't particularly hate this, I know that many people will. This book as a lot of Twilight parallels to it. Although the characters are very different and how everything happens is different too, it can annoy some people. There were a few times when I thought, didn't something like this happen in Twilight? But honestly, it didn't really annoy me. Armontrout took an idea from Twilight, changed it and made it way more enjoyable. I found this happened more in the first book. But It paralleled Twilight in a good way

Would I recommend this book?  I'm not sure if this series is for everyone. But it is a very easy and fun series to read. I laughed so many times in this series and always had a smile on my face (except in the beginning when Daemon was being an asshole). If you don't mind the Twilight parallels (and as I said before it's not bad. It parallels it in a good way) then you will enjoy it. I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would.

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Really Want To Read But Don't Own Yet

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This weeks theme is Top Ten Books I Really Want To Read But Don't Own Yet. Even though I am a frequent user of my local library, I do still love buying book, placing them on my bookshelf and admiring them (who doesn't?). So today, here are my Top 10 Books I want to read but don't own (yet)

Review: Just One Year by Gayle Forman

Title: Just One Year (Just One Day #2)
Author: Gayle Forman
Released: October 2013
Pages: 336
Genre: Romance, Contemporary 
Favourite Quote: “There’s a difference between losing something you knew you had and losing something you discovered you had. One is a disappointment. The other feels like losing a piece of yourself.”
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Before you find out how their story ends, remember how it began.... When he opens his eyes, Willem doesn’t know where in the world he is—Prague or Dubrovnik or back in Amsterdam. All he knows is that he is once again alone, and that he needs to find a girl named Lulu. They shared one magical day in Paris, and something about that day—that girl—makes Willem wonder if they aren’t fated to be together. He travels all over the world, from Mexico to India, hoping to reconnect with her. But as months go by and Lulu remains elusive, Willem starts to question if the hand of fate is as strong as he’d thought. . . . The romantic, emotional companion to Just One Day, this is a story of the choices we make and the accidents that happen—and the happiness we can find when the two intersect.

My Review

Initial Thoughts: I am a bit confused as to what I think about this book. I loved the first book in the series and I expected to love this one even more. But I found it to be quite boring. I was no where near as invested in the storyline as I was for Just One Day and I'm really upset about that. Why Gayle Forman? Why?

The storyline of this novel basically takes place the night after Williem and Lulu spent in Paris. Where Just One Day follows the story of Allyson's (Lulu) year after meeting Williem and her quest to find him again, Just One Year does the same but from Williems perspective. This book is not a sequel. Do not believe what Goodreads may say or stuff like that. It is more of a companion novel. I would not classify this as a sequel as it ends at the same time Just One Day does.


The Pros: Honestly, there isn't much that comes to mind. For me, it was finding out why Williem left Lulu that night in Paris and to have his perspectives on things. It was really nice to read about that because the last we saw of him in the last book (before Lulu finds him again) was him leaving Lulu after the night they spent together. We didn't know where he really was. All we knew was where Lulu thought he was. It was nice getting to know Williem that bit better

The Cons: I found Williem to be quite frustrating at times. I felt as though he wasn't very keen on finding Lulu as much as Lulu was for him. He had so many opportunities to find her and he often gave up when he was so close. He always got sidetracked (by various girls) and it just didn't make sense. Here he was trying to find Lulu but he will get together with the first girl he sees. Even though it was obvious that he did not plan on having a long lasting relationship with them, it was still very annoying. Like, get your priorities right. Do you even want to find her?

The storyline was no where as near exciting as it was for Just One Day. In Just One Day, I was interested to find out more about Allyson's (Lulu) family and friends. But for this one, I honestly didn't care. I found that there were too many character introductions and it got to a point where I had no idea who these people were and had no idea how he knew them. Maybe I found it harder because I wasn't into the story very much, but that was a major let down. I also didn't enjoy his various adventures everywhere (eg. India, Amsterdam etc). I enjoyed about reading about the places but why he was there I did not. I found some storylines pointless and meaningless. There was basically no point for all this except to show readers more about his past. I can honestly say I'm so happy that this book was only about 300 pages. I would have probably stopped reading it earlier if I knew it was longer.

Would I recommend this book?  Honestly, not really. However, this novel is necessary to read if you do plan on reading Just One Night (the novella) which details what happens after Lulu finds Williem in his apartment in Amsterdam. So if you want to read about that (and that was a very satisfying 30pages to read. It kind of made up for this book) I would suggest reading Just One Year as there are some things that are necessary to know, such as characters, to fully understand what is happening.  But if you don't mind the specifics of everything and just want to know what happens, I guess you could go straight to the novella. But as I said, you may be a tad confused (just a tad).

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books People Have Been Telling You That You MUST Read

Hi Everyone,
Today I'm linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for their Top Ten Tuesday. This weeks theme is Top Ten Books People Have Been Telling You That You MUST Read. The two books that I've been told to read the most is The Lux Series and Anna and the French Kiss, but I have just finished reading them both. So, I've had to think about what were the other books that I've been told I must read. So, I've come up with 6 that I've been told to read the most. I do hope to get around to them soon

Discussion: Those times when all you do is read 24/7

Hey Everyone,

Guess what. I love to read (well, duh. As if you didn't know that). But lately, all I have been doing is reading. You see, I have just started the Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout and I can't stop reading it. All I think about is Daemon and Katy and what they are going to have to face when I continue reading. You wanna know what I did at school today when I should have been paying attention in class? I was thinking about my book and how awesome it was. I just wanted to fangirl with my friend who has read the book (and who recommended me read it) in the middle of class. I do go through this fangirling stage a fair bit with other books, but with this series, it has taken a whole new level.

I am not sure if this has anything got to do with it, but I have just come out of a exam period (and honestly, it is like the second most important exam period of my school life) and I think I wanted to reward myself for getting through the exams (yuk, exams). But you see, during my exam period I was reading Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins and that is the last time I read a 4.16 Star Goodreads average rating in an exam period. Worst decision of my life. You know what I was thinking when I should have been studying Biology? I was thinking St Clair! St Clair! Why you no tell Anna your feelings for her? (insert excessive hand movements here). There were times where I had to bribe myself. I was like, Ok Monica. Just study for half an hour and you can read a chapter of Anna and the French Kiss. I did this over and over again. And then when exams finished, I spent two hours reading straight, finally finishing the book. Nothing was going to stop me seeing Anna and St Clair together. Nothing!

I have a feeling my excessive reading habits will decrease after the Lux Series. Don't worry, I will still be reading as I usually do. Just not every single moment I am at the moment.
Anyway. I'm going to leave it here today so I can go continue to read the Lux Series. But hey, there is nothing better than a good book right?

Have you ever had a book where you could not stop reading it? Let me know below