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REVIEW: #94 Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

May 7, 2011 By 4 Comments

Title: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Pages: 372
ISBN: 978-0525423270
★★★★★

Synopsis:

(Taken from Amazon.com) 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 Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he’s taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near – misses end with the French kiss Anna – and readers – have long awaited?

Review

I decided to read Anna and the French Kiss because it seemed as if everyone was saying how much of a sweet and adorable read it was. Realizing I am more into chic-lit than I lead myself to believe, I figured I would give it a shot. Anna is the daughter of a world famous author. Her father writes books that are likened to Nicholas Sparks in romance and tragedy and Anna doesn’t think much of him.

Anna is whisked away to study at the School of America (Paris) also known by the students as S.O.A.P. to finish off her remaining year in high school.  Having to leave her best friend, Bridgette behind in America, as well as the boy who could have turned boyfriend, Anna is more than reluctant to study abroad. What upsets her even more is that she never even had the choice.

Anna meets a fellow schoolmate, Etienne St. Clair (who everyone calls St. Clair). St. Clair is half-French, half-American was born in the states to an American mother but grew up in England with his French-father, whom he hates.  Anna is torn between her life at home and the boy she left behind, and the friendship she’s formed with taken St. Clair.

Anna and the French Kiss takes place in one of the most romantic countries in the world and is filled with mentions of the wonderful Parisian foods and locations with a little bit of history in the mix. Although I didn’t find the novel to be life-changing, it was what it was, a cute story in the heart of France. I never felt really attached to the book with the nagging urge to continue reading, but I did find it an enjoyable read. What bugged me, though, was the emotional affair that plagued St. Clair while he was attached to a long-term girlfriend. There were things that happened, that I won’t get into for the sake of spoilage, but it’s not something that was truly understandable. It wasn’t an emotional affair I could sympathize with. I think St. Clair behaved rather selfishly and Anna was too innocent and naive to stay out of it. Normally I hate infidelity in novels, and so it bugged me that infidelity was an issue. It’s very hard to root for a relationship that starts from lies. While I felt affairs were more justifiable in Something Borrowed, I don’t believe it was as easy to accept in Anna in the French Kiss.

That aside, I think it would be a perfect read for a rainy day or an afternoon on the beach.

 

If you have read Anna and the French Kiss, and reviewed it — you may link to your review using the linky tool below:


Filed Under: 3.5 Stars, Books, Chic Lit, Genre, Reviews, Romance, Young Adult Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

REVIEW: #92 Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

April 24, 2011 By 1 Comment

Title: Something Borrowed
Author: Emily Giffin
ISBN:978-0312321192
Pages: 352 pages
★★★★★

Synopsis: (Taken from Amazon.com)
The smash-hit debut novel for every woman who has ever had a complicated love-hate friendship.

Rachel White is the consummate good girl. A hard-working attorney at a large Manhattan law firm and a diligent maid of honor to her charmed best friend Darcy, Rachel has always played by all the rules. Since grade school, she has watched Darcy shine, quietly accepting the sidekick role in their lopsided friendship. But that suddenly changes the night of her thirtieth birthday when Rachel finally confesses her feelings to Darcy’s fiance, and is both horrified and thrilled to discover that he feels the same way. As the wedding date draws near, events spiral out of control, and Rachel knows she must make a choice between her heart and conscience. In so doing, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren’t always neat, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.

Rating:
I happened to stumble upon the trailer last week and thought, “Okay.. NOW I have to read this.” Normally I don’t find myself gravitating towards chic-lit. However each time I do read something chic-lit, why is it that I always absolutely love the read? Am I really a chic-lit lover in denial? On top of the whole this book being chic-lit, it also centered around infidelity. Infidelity is a big time pet peeve of mine.

But.

Low and behold — I am routing for the very girl who slept with her best friend’s fiance. WHY OH WHY?! This book was this amazing, immoral, dirty little secret and I loved every second of it.

On another note, I really hate starting books. To me, starting books is like walking into school on the first day and not knowing anyone. You have no real bond to them and you can take it or leave it as far as a second day return goes. You have to really push yourself to go back and to give these people another chance and hope that someday being there will feel natural and you will wonder what life was like without these people in it. Starting books suck, especially for those (like myself) who are scared of change. However, I found that Emily Giffin makes it quite easy to walk in to her story and feel total comfort in the story’s surroundings and an immediate bond to her central character (regardless if you agree with the character’s choices, or not.)

Rachel, the main character, is quite likeable. Even though she’s slept with her best friend’s fiance (who she did know first) she seems to have her head screwed on straight. She has spent years being walked all over by Darcy, her best friend since.. well.. forever. Now that Rachel has turned 30, it was time for her to step out of her friend’s dominate shadows and take charge of her life and really go for what she wanted — even if that was sacrificing her own friendship.

I really enjoyed Something Borrowed. It’s definitely a great beach read and even a great book for a book club as there are a lot of “what if” questions that really dig into morals and worth a good discussion.

Movie Trailer:

Filed Under: 5 Stars, Books, Chic Lit, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

REVIEW: #78 Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

May 5, 2010 By 2 Comments

Title: Dear John
Author: Nicholas Sparks
ISBN: 0446567337
Pages: 352
[Rating:2]

Synopsis: (Taken from Amazon.com)
An angry rebel, John dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, not knowing what else to do with his life–until he meets the girl of his dreams, Savannah. Their mutual attraction quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah waiting for John to finish his tour of duty, and John wanting to settle down with the woman who captured his heart. But 9/11 changes everything.

John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. And sadly, the long separation finds Savannah falling in love with someone else. “Dear John,” the letter read…and with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives were changed forever. Returning home, John must come to grips with the fact that Savannah, now married, is still his true love–and face the hardest decision of his life.

Review:

After too many pages about collecting coins — I had enough of the book. The whole coin collecting thing — was it necessary to open up an entire novel boring me about such a collection? I want to say “no”.

Well, to be fair — I got all the way up until he met this chick and then thought, “boring”. It’s not as if this book was written horribly, as it wasn’t. It just simply wasn’t engaging enough that I had to know what happened with these characters. They were boring and lacked dimension or personality (at least in my opinion). But, that’s just me. I rated it as a two indicating that it just “wasn’t for me”. I am sure others would disagree with the rating, but then again — *shrug*. I just didn’t consider this a romance to remember.

It may be one of those cases where the movie is (in fact) better than the book. I sure hope so.

Filed Under: 2 Stars, Books, Chic Lit, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

REVIEW: #74 Remember Me? By Sophie Kinsella

April 16, 2010 By 4 Comments

Title: Remember Me?
Author: Sophie Kinsella
ISBN: 0440242401
Pages: 448
[Rating:3.5]

Synopsis: (Taken From Amazon.com) When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident—in a Mercedes no less—Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed. Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband—who also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she…well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all. Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue. How on earth did all this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?

Review:
On the surface, it’s another superficial Sophie Kinsella novel. But whose to say it’s not enjoyable? Sure Kinsella is unable to write about any “normal” person not in the upper class, able to spend a lot of money — but I still enjoyed the book and read it in about a day.

The novel also had some British slang inconsistencies. I realize that it was written first in the UK and then “translated” to the US (because, you know — us Americans are unable to catch on to slang other than our own..) but other than that (and the superficiality thing) it was an enjoyable read.

Remember Me?is the sort of read that would be perfect for the beach, or on a vacation of some sort. Nothing that requires a lot of thought and if you’re in the mood for a light, fluffy read. I found the concept of losing a big chunk of memory pretty interesting. One minute Lexi’s in a bad relationship, broke, partying with her friends — and the next, she’s married, a successful professional, and with money to spare! Watching the protagonist piece her life back together was quite interesting! I recommend it to anyone who wants something easy to read.

Filed Under: 3.5 Stars, Books, Chic Lit, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,