Anna And The French Kiss Review

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

From Goodreads.

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?

My Review:

Amazing book, just AMAZING!

Seventeen year old Anna Oliphant is sent to attend The Boarding School of America in Paris by her writer of cheesy-stories-with-someone-dying-in-the-end father for a “good learning experience” and “keepsake she’d treasure forever.” To Anna this feels a lot more about her father than herself. She will be living alone in a city she barely knows much about, without her family or friends. To me its sounds real scary. I wouldn’t be able to live in a foreign place without at least my parents or friends. But Anna made it through and got a lot more than she could have imagined.

Throughout this book Anna went through changes, discovering what home really meant to her, who and what she really was and the importance of others in her life. Plus, is betrayed by her best friend who slept with her ‘almost boyfriend’ back in Atlanta, Georgia. But then Anna also finds her gorgeous French-named-American-with-English-accent-and-beautiful-hair love in Paris, so I guess the heartbreak was worth it. She sees the various wonders of Paris and gets to know the stories behind them, explores the several perks as well as disadvantages of being in a boarding school in Paris a.k.a being WITHOUT parental supervision. She gets drunk for the first time and finds a whole new level to express and enjoy her love for movies and criticism, seeing how Paris was the film appreciation capital of the world. And she also had her first sleepover…with a guy. Seriously, our PLAIN.OLD.SLEEPOVER. With a guy.

Just like I said in the beginning, the book was amazing. From the first word to the last the book had me in its clutches and only did it let go when I was done with the last word on the last page. I laughed and cried along with Anna and experienced everything she did in the book with Stephanie Perkins sweet and simple writing technique. Seriously, the way the book was written, in a simple and sweet manner did nothing but add more good points to the book and the author. Anna’s character was simple yet complex and I loved everything about her. There was not a moment when I was reading the book that made me regret reading it even a tinsy bit. All the characters were well rounded, with a particular history and special places in the book. And just like every time in books like these, the little old me yet again fell in love with the male protagonist of the book. In this story his name is Etienne St. Clair (For me, his name itself is irresistible).

Anna and the French Kiss is a unique book with a special place in my done-reading-books rack and this book totally deserves all of the five stars or maybe even more. Stephanie Perkin’s writing had made me left wanting to read more of her novels which I am sure I will do in future. Till then I will have my mind full of Anna and her French kiss. And of course of Etienne too. Hope Anna doesn’t mind.

P.S. I loved the book cover too; it is so sweet and again, simple. Just the way I like it.


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Human Blend Review

Human Blend by Lori Pescatore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From Goodreads.

Marion, Virginia seemed like a nice place to live a normal life, but she is not a normal girl. Laney has special abilities that keep her looking over her shoulder as she makes her escape from the men who had kidnapped her. A young doctor's interest is piqued when he witnesses her mysteriously curing a young child's illness. He befriends her due to his growing fascination with uncovering the true nature of her abilities, but not without harboring secrets of his own. Laney's budding relationship with a local boy puts both of them in danger when the men she was hiding from find her. All of their lives will change forever as ancient secrets become unearthed.

My Review:

If anyone is bored to death by reading supernatural fiction consisting only of vampires and werewolves and is planning to be done with this genre, Human Blend is The book for them, the book that will make them change their minds. If you are looking for a new breed of supernatural creatures to lose yourself into, again, Human Blend is the book for you.

Human Blend is a story about a sixteen year old runaway Laney, who later changes her name to Julie Miller to hide her true identity from the people she is running from. She is not just a normal runaway, running away from some life crises or because she is a fugitive. She is running away because she has special abilities, abilities like healing and intuitive powers, because there are people who have been abusing her and her powers for their own use since she was a child. Laney doesn’t even age like normal people do, because of which she looks a lot younger than she actually is. And also that she had suffered a lot longer than she looks she could have. Laney is also a very beautiful young woman but how she came to posses these otherworldly qualities doesn’t get revealed till the end of the book and even then she doesn’t totally get what she actually is. When she moves to Marion, Virginia in hopes to live a normal life and to stay hidden from her captors, she befriends a very attractive Austin who is equally attracted to her from the time he first sees her. They both quickly get into an intimate relationship as the attraction between them blossoms.

She also meets the captivating Doctor Eli Elsworth in a hospital she joins as a volunteer, who witnesses Laney secretly curing a young child’s illness. Dr. Elsworth’s interest in Laney increases as he asks her how she cured the child and tries to get to know about her. But Dr. Elsworth isn’t normal himself and neither is Austin, for that matter, but unlike the former the latter has no clue. Both the men are mesmerized by Laney and Laney herself is drawn to both of them. Laney tries to sort her feelings out and tries to lead her life as normally as she could but there is a constant fear in her heart that keeps on making her look over her shoulders all the time, making her worry about the safety of her loved ones. A fear of her kidnappers who had kept her with them and used her for as long as she could remember. And her fear is not improbable as her past quickly catches up to her and her captors find her again. Will she be able to escape from her frightening past this time or will it hold on to her now, more tightly than ever? And will she be able to protect the people she loves or will they suffer like all the others she cared for had before?

Finally a new thing to read about in supernatural fiction, a new concept to know, a new theme to follow. I am so glad that Lori Pescatore wrote this book because honestly, Supernatural fiction was losing its charm with the same stories coming in again and again. New books like Human Blend getting published, this genre is getting back its former glory. I loved almost everything about this book. The only thing that I didn’t like and I can’t even blame that on the author is the point of view with which the book is written. Omniscient POV does not work out for me. Everything kind of becomes all jumbled up for me in the all-seeing point of view because every character’s thoughts and feelings and dialogues, everything is given together. And it becomes kind of difficult to root for a particular character. But this thing did not influence my thoughts for the story and I really, really like it. My favorite character in the book is Eli because there is this mysterious and sexy sort of vibe that he gives off when he is mentioned in the book. I think my likeness for him will increase in the second and third book. I am really looking forward to reading the second installment in The Blend series: Earth Blend. Lori Pescatore is definitely an author readers should be watching out for, a very talented up and coming author whose books shouldn’t be missed.


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