Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Dutton/2010/Young Adult/372 pages

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 Étienne St. Claire: 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?

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year or so, you've probably have seen lots and lots of raving reviews of Stephanie Perkins debut novel, ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS. I know I certainly have. But before all of the reviews started coming in, I was intrigued by the fact that the book takes place in PARIS! As someone who will be in AP French this fall and had this huge obsession with being an exchange student in France not too long ago (sadly my mother ruined those plans), I just had to get my hands on this book.

First off, I have to say that the title of this book is the kind of title that I'm embarrassed to be seen with. I can't help it! But I did enjoy it. It seriously made me smile because like I said, I love the French culture. And I loved that that I could pronounce all of the French names and knew; My French teacher has taught me so well.

Anna--loved that she's a film junkie and that she wants to be a critic, I liked critiquing shows, too! The only thing about that I didn't like is that she kept going on about how her father didn't send her a lot of money like the other parents did but she went to a cinema like everyday and French movie theaters are hella expensive from what my French teacher and business week says. But that's not important, just me being nit-picky. St. Clair was great. I like this relationship. But also, I really enjoyed Anna's friendship with the other students at the school.

From all the reviews I saw, I expected this book to immediately go on my all times favorite list; however, I only just enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on LOLA, which I hopefully I'll like better!

4 stars out of 5

Cover: D. I hate this cover. I don't like how you can see Anna's face but not St. Clair's. But more than that I just think it's so unoriginal.
Favorite Character: St. Clair!
Put-Down-Ability: 4

*Source: public library

Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han 

Simon & Schuster/May 5, 2009/Young Adult/276 pages

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer -- they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY is a wonderful book to read if you want to feel closer to summer again, like I do. I didn't actually want to read this book because, and I don't know why, but I assumed that it was one of those type of summer books where 1) Girl goes to the beach and then 2) meets hot, charming boy that she never thought she could have but they end up falling in love. It isn't. 

Before I actually picked up this book, I had seen quite a few people reading it and seemed to be enjoying it. I finally got around to checking it out at the library and can see the appeal! The main character, Belly, has always to Cousins every summer since she was born. Belly's mother, Laurel, has been best friend with Susannah her whole life. Susannah has two kids, Jeremiah and Conrad. I knew from the start that she was going to have a relationship with one of them.

This book is amazing. Like I mentioned earlier, I enjoyed the fact that The Summer I Turned Pretty is a summer book that has unexpected depth to it. The scenes with Susannah were emotional…I really enjoyed her character. I liked that she would always do things for Belly, like buy her things when her mom wouldn't. I also enjoyed the flashback scenes. Reading Belly's memories of past summers were a wonderful edition to the book.

I think my favorite thing about this book was how everyone was so close with one another. I liked that Belly had a close relationship with everyone and I really love seeing this in books.

*I read this quite some time ago so I'm a little foggy on some things. Will try to reread it again before I read the last book. 

3.6 stars out of 5

RATING

Writing: 5/5

Originality: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Voice: 5/5

Ending: 3.5/5

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Cover: C. The cover is pretty and every and definitely has that summer feel to it but its only okay.
Favorite Character: Belly...Susannah. Wonderful characters.
Put-down-ability: 3. Hard to put down!

*source: public library 

Rules of Attractions by Simone Elkeles

Rules of Attractions by Simone Elkeles

Walker & Company/April 27, 2010/Young Adult/304 pages

Summary: When Carlos Fuentes returns to America after living in Mexico for a year, he doesn’t want any part of the life his older brother, Alex, has laid out for him at a high school in Colorado . Carlos likes living his life on the edge and wants to carve his own path—just like Alex did. Then he meets Kiara Westford. She doesn’t talk much and is completely intimidated by Carlos’ wild ways. As they get to know one another, Carlos assumes Kiara thinks she’s too good for him, and refuses to admit that she might be getting to him. But he soon realizes that being himself is exactly what Kiara needs right now.

Review: After reading PERFECT CHEMISTRY and absolutely loving it, I had to get a copy of the sequel! I expected it to be good but I definitely didn't expect to like it more than the first book, as I almost never like sequels better than the first.

RULES OF ATTRACTION is just fantastic. I don't even know how to explain it. There were many similarities to PERFECT CHEMISTRY, so the originality was lacking a bit, but at the same time, there were different, unique things about it – which were the things that ultimately made me like it more than the first book; and believe me, I adored it.

Carlos Fuentes is sent from Mexico to live with his brother, Alex, in Boulder, Colorado. After getting into some trouble he finds himself living at living at the Westford's house. Kiara, their daughter, and Carlos don't exactly connect right away; There's the bantering, the pranks and so many other things. The romance is pretty amazing once they do. I loved this couple. (Warning: there are almost sex scenes)

I am always on the lookout for books that feature strong, independent girls and Kiara Westford is one of them. I wasn't sure what this character would be like but after reading just one chapter from her POV, she instantly became a favorite. I loved that she was sportive, knew how to fix cars, and had flaws such as stuttering. Elkeles writes characters with real qualities.

With characters like the two main characters and Tuck, Kiara's gay best friend, it was hard not to laugh. I enjoyed Tuck's personality -so funny and charming! If you are looking for an amazing, romantic and humorous book you should check this out! I can not wait until the 3rd book comes out. In the meantime, I'll have to get Simone's other books.

RATING

Writing: 5/5

Originality: 3/5

Characters: 5/5

Voice: 5/5

Ending: 4.5/5

Overall: 5 stars

Favorite character(s): Kiara & Tuck. I really enjoyed their friendship and for reasons listed above. Cover: C+ I found myself absolutely loving the cover for PERFECT CHEMISTRY but this cover is only okay. I like the cars but other than that, I really don't care for it.

Put-down-ability: Very low! Probably a 2/10. The only time I really put it down was when I went to eat some pancakes at IHOP. Even then, I brought it in with me to read while I waited for my food! Haha

*Source: bought from B&N

As you can see, I kind of changed how I do my reviews around a little. If you would take just a few minutes, I would love your input on my reviews!

Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott

Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott

HarperTeen/June 1, 2008/Young Adult/320 pages

Dani has been trained as a thief by the best—her mother. Together, they move from town to town, targeting wealthy homes and making a living by stealing antique silver. They never stay in one place long enough to make real connections, real friends—a real life.

In the beach town of Heaven, though, everything changes. For the first time, Dani starts to feel at home. She's making friends and has even met a guy. But these people can never know the real Dani—because of who she is. When it turns out that her new friend lives in the house they've targeted for their next job and the cute guy is a cop, Dani must question where her loyalties lie: with the life she's always known—or the one she's always wanted.

Review: If you have not read any of Elizabeth Scott's book, you are most definitely missing out!

Dani is known to the people of Heaven as Sydney and throughout her whole life she has had many different alias' because she is not like most people. Dani has been going town to town and stealing things out of houses for as long as she can remember. Her mom has taught her all she knows about stealing (especially of silver) and she doesn't really know much else.

Soon they head to Heaven where Dani meets Allison, a girl that befriends her and who is also the daughter of a wealthy woman that Dani's mother wants to steal from. To make matters worse, Dani soon begins to fall for Greg...a cop. Elizabeth Scott creates relationships that are believable and easy to get sucked into. Also, I know people have said that the ending was sad and although I agree, I rather liked it.

The only thing I found myself being confused about and not liking was the involvement of this James character. James is Allison's brother and I'm still not quite sure if he really liked Dani or what?

Rating:

Characters: 5/5

Originality: 5/5

Ending: 5/5

Writing: 5/5

Voice: 5/5

Plot: 4/5

Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4 stars

Favorite character(s): Allison who was a girl that Dani meets when she arrives at Heaven and Greg, the cop that Dani falls for. I loved these characters personalities.

Cover: C. Eh, the cover isn't bad but I don't really care for it.

Overall: This is a great book about being true to yourself!