Book Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

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'Anna and the French Kiss'... This was my second attempt at reading this book. I couldn't focus on it, nor get interested in it, during the first attempt. Now, as I joined Booktown Bookclub, I thought I'd give it another go. Sadly, it didn't get any better for me. I still didn't like it and couldn't get into it. 

Things I liked:

• I loved the descriptions of the places! One thing the book did great in my opinion was to make me feel as if I were in Paris. It was great. I loved the places and how Anna saw them. It was lively and believable. The descriptions made me feel as if the story was actually happening and that I were watching it unfold;
• I also liked the description of the characters. I felt like Perkins wanted to give as much detail about the characters as possible, but also did not want to overdo it. And she didn't. I really enjoyed the way the characters were described and I liked she left some details to our imagination;
•  I liked the culture shock Anna experienced. Not only when she went to Paris, but when she went back home as well. 

Things I didn't like:

• Actually, the whole storyline. I'm not really a fan of romance books, but if the story and the characters are interesting, I have nothing against them. The thing is, I didn't find neither the story nor the characters interesting;
• I did not like Anna in the slightest, especially the whole 'she's not like the other girls' thing. She is annoying, always judging other people, she got angry with her friend for 'stealing' her 'boyfriend' and then she did the same thing. I did not like the character at all;
• Of course St. Clair had to be the hottest, most well loved boy in school. Why not?
• Ellie. I have nothing against Ellie. She was hardly ever present, only mentioned. She  turned her back on her friends, went away, and never got in touch again. This, of course, was only there so Anna could appear to be a nice girl and we would be hooting for her and St. Clair to be together;
• The whole cheating thing. I absolutely abhor cheating. It doesn't matter if they're the main characters and we wan them to be togehter. I'd like St. Clair to be braver and act on his feeling. He should have broken up way sooner than that. Also, he was cheating on his girlfriend (yes, cheating: he was flirting and sleeping with Anna, and he kissed Anna when he was still with Ellie), I'm not sure if I'd trust him;
• The whole high school drama. This was the point when I started rolling my eyes;
• The background characters that are only there to make Anna company or something and to say how great St. Clair was;
• The mushy part (but that is me, I don't like it).

Overall, I found the idea to be interesting, the descriptions are great, but the book, in my opinion, didn't meet my expectations.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars