Synopsis: 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.Review: I guess because I’ve seen so many positive reviews of this book I didn’t think I’d like it. I wasn’t sure it’d live up to the hype. I was wrong! I totally enjoyed this book and was sucked in from the beginning and had a hard time putting it down.
I liked Anna and Etienne a lot. They are really cute together and have great chemistry. I really liked that their relationship moved at a believable pace. I liked that it wasn’t this “insta-love” that seems to be happening a lot in YA fiction, but they were friends first. I loved that we were a part of their relationship, we were there for their dates and conversations, it wasn’t just a given that they spent time together, we actually get to experience it. And because of that I totally fell for Etienne as well!
What kept me from giving this a higher rating was the fact that Etienne has a girlfriend. I don’t care for cheating stories, and most would probably say that Etienne and Anna never cheated. However, somewhere along the way their friendship became more and at that point he should have ended things with his girlfriend. I would have had a lot more respect for him if he had done that. I’m sure it was used as a plot device to keep Anna and Etienne apart, but it ends up taking away from the charm of their relationship. Another reason for the low rating is because of some crude stuff scattered here and there, drinking and for some bad language.
Aside from those things, I really enjoyed the story and relationship between Anna and Etienne and probably would have given it a five star rating.
I do sympathize with St Clair's reasonings behind Ellie, but I still have to say that it still didn't sit right with me. Sure, she's not there and his feelings for Anna are strong, but why drag it on? It would've been hard as a girl seeing it from Ellie's eyes, but I think that would've been the right thing to do.... I guess I just had to mention that because that's the one thing in the book that still nags at me.
ReplyDeleteThat is not to say that I thought negatively of the book, I loved it. Anna grows and learns so much, and she has a great (and wonderfully written) group of friends, and the tension between her and St Clair kept me on the edge of my seat.