Anna and the French Kiss!

So a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to get my hands on an arc of Anna and the French Kiss, one of the this year's most anticipated debuts by the lovely Stephanie Perkins. And I am SO glad I did!

I LOVE a lot of books, deeply, passionately and soulfully. But there are very few books where I come to the last page and think, ok, let's start again. This is one of those books that I may have to buy multiple times for fear of wearing it out--it's THAT good!

Also this book will give you a book-gasm! I'm not kidding.

So....Anna starts off her senior year being exiled by her dad--who writes "romance" novels--anyone who knows what Nicholas Sparks thinks his genre is will get a HUGE kick out of Anna's father--at an American boarding school in France.

The way Anna was so scared of France at first perfectly reminded me of the way I felt when I first got to Scotland--though she definitely had it worse since at least everyone in Scotland speaks English. But I could relate to feeling like everyone just looked at you and KNEW you were American, or being unsure of how to buy or pay for something or worried that the minute you talk and people hear your accent.... Anna was just too adorable and relatable, if not a little bit neurotic...which ok I guess I am too.

Another thing I loved about this book was the attention to detail. It really is the little things that complete a project and Anna revels in the little things, details like how Etienne St. Clair--short English love of my life--bites a certain nail, or gets a certain look on his face when she touches him or dances with him (one of my FAVE scenes), or the way a bite of food tastes or crumbles in your mouth, or how the wind is blowing on a particular day. There were so many amazing details that every scene and every character truly came to life. Stephanie is one talented writer, you guys!

And the ROMANCE!! Can you believe I restrained myself enough to wait until now to talk about this? The push-pull relationship between Anna and Etienne was SO perfect! They had the most amazing, and realistic sort of "Does he like me?...He likes me....He doesn't like me....He liked me....He likes me....Does he like me? BUT does he like me....FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DOES HE LIKE ME!!!!!" thing happening. Even though I was kind of screaming at Anna the whole time, "He BLOODY likes you, you idiot!!!!" I knew that when I was 17, even though I'm 27, I still go through the same exact thing. And Etienne St. Clair....WAIT until you meet him! That's all I have to say.

I don't think I could gush enough about this book. It's definitely the newest addition to my favorites shelf--or it will be when I have a hard copy. This is a book to hug and love and enjoy and read over and over again. I can NOT wait to see what Stephanie does next. She's taken contemporary to a whole other level--this is the way a book is supposed to be! Utterly perfect.

Now I'm off to think about short British men who bite their pinky nail and wear knit hats. *Sigh*