…On Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins {a list} + GIVEAWAY!

Posted June 17, 2012 by Asheley in Uncategorized / 60 Comments


Anna and the French Kiss
by Stephanie Perkins
Published by Speak/Penguin
Publish Date: December 2, 2010
372 Pages
Source:  My Shelf!

Anna can’t wait for her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a good job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she’s not too thrilled when her father unexpectedly ships her off to boarding school in Paris – until she meets Etienne St. Clair, the perfect boy. The only problem? He’s taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her crush back home. Will a year of romantic near-misses end in the French kiss Anna awaits? –(summary from Goodreads)

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

My Thoughts: YOU GUYS. This book has been reviewed a bazillion times. I’m not gonna do another one. Just know that I read it in one sitting on a pretty Sunday afternoon and thought it was wonderful like everyone said I would


THIS HERE IS MY FAVORITE REVIEW OF 
ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS.
It’s a video review. It’s only 3 minutes.

It may contain love jumps, large tattoos, and panda bears.
Seriously, don’t read this. Watch the video. It’s much better.
Then say hello to that guy.

Things I love about Anna and the French Kiss

Say YES to WES.
1. Wes Anderson.

Bridge calls as I’m watching Rushmore from the comfort of my mini-bed. It’s the film that launched Wes Anderson. Wes is amazing, a true auteur involved in every aspect of production, with a trademark style recognizable in any frame – wistful and quirky, deadpan and dark. Rushmore is one of my favorites. – p. 53

Okay, first of all, I’m crazy about Wes Anderson. I love every single one of Anderson’s movies. Favorites: Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Darjeeling Limited, and The Royal Tenenbaums. Wes makes me love Texas and everything about movies. 

What in the world is in that bag?
What you got in that bag?



I’m also crazy about Jason Schwartzman. Wes puts Jason in lots of his movies. I also love Jason’s band Coconut Records as well as his old band Phantom Planet. Also, his hair is so nice and shiny and silky – I just want to touch it. Jason Schwartman, you make beautiful music that I dance to like a madwoman. 




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2. Danny Boyle.

Genius at work.

We spend the day walking around again. We catch part of a Danny Boyle film festival and take another stroll beside the Seine.          – p. 183

Yes, this is another moviemaker. But if you say the words Danny + Boyle, my ears perk up and I will find you in a crowded room. I’m loyal to the people and things I love, and this includes movie-makers that make me happy. Danny Boyle has created some of my favorites: 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire, and oh-how-I-love-the-movie Sunshine. (Bonus points for including Cillian Murphy* and James Franco in your movies, Danny Boyle!) 


I’m guessing Stephanie Perkins and I have some favorite movies in common.

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3. Meg White

Soon you’ll be the next Meg White or Sheila E., and Kevin Quiggley will brag about how he knew you back when. -p. 53

What an interesting girl, this Meg White. She marries one of the best musicians ever, he takes her last name, they divorce, and they still play together – all the while telling the world they are brother and sister to keep our focus on the music and not their relationship. Yes, it’s true. Meet Meg from The White Stripes

MEG! HOW COULD YOU
DO THIS TO ME, MEG?

I like Meg White. I really do. I won’t lie when I say I was devastated that her shyness and anxiety halted/retired The White Stripes last year because they’re one of my all-time favorite bands. EVER. (The Raconteurs came next, so I won’t complain too much.) Meg has a unique way of playing the drums, and I can absolutely respect not only the fact that girl drummers are kick-ass (see: Skillet) but also that Meg was able to keep up with the master that is Jack White.

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4. Michel Gondry.

We agree to meet later tonight. What was I thinking? I’d much rather stay in and hold a Michel Gondry marathon. I’m ooky with nerves, and it takes ages to find something to wear. – p. 272

I know Perkins was talking about Michel Gondry the moviemaker, but I’ve already got two moviemakers on my list. So I’m gonna talk about Gondry the music video director. Gondry has directed a ton of music videos by great bands. Guess which band has worked with Gondry several times? The White Stripes! That’s right. Things sometimes come full circle if we let them, friends. 

I’m guessing Stephanie Perkins and I also have some music in common. 

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5. Batman pajamas.

Belatedly, I remember that not only is my hair crazy and my face smeared with zit cream, but I’m also wearing matching flannel Batman pajamas. – p. 203

Say hello to my little friend.

Guess who carries a tiny Batman with her at all times? Yours truly. Is it because I’m very immature? Oh, absolutely. Is it because I’m wildly awesome? Yep, that too! 


I’m a little bit jealous because I don’t have any Batman pajamas. I do, however, have Batman and Wonder Woman drink coasters. Take that, Anna. 


Whoa. Do you mean to tell me Stephanie Perkins and I also have a superhero in common? Things are getting kinda crazy. 

*Cillian Murphy plays Scarecrow in Batman Begins. Full circle yet again, kind of. 


******************************
At this point, I will actually
talk about two things from the book.
I’ll be a mature person for a second. 

6. Open mouth, insert foot. Anna does this. Asheley does too

“You’re fixing everything I set down.” He nods at my hands, which are readjusting the elephant. “It wasn’t polite of me to come in and start touching your things. 

“Oh, it’s okay,” I say quickly, letting go of the figurine. “You can touch anything of mine you want.”

He freezes. A funny look runs across his face before I realize what I’ve said. I didn’t mean it like that.  – p.65

No explanation needed. I do this almost daily. 


7. Anna wonders things about life. Asheley does this too

Why are people so afraid to leave a relationship, even if they know it’s a bad one? – p. 272

Tons of thoughts and questions in here for Anna to think on and ponder. For Asheley to do the same! This question is a tough one, for sure. Why must life and love be so hard sometimes?

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I did like this book a lot. It was as cute as it could be, just as cute as everyone says. Cute. Is it my favorite contemp? No, but I can see where it might be the favorite of some. Will I keep reading the others in this series? I’ve debated it back and forth, and I actually did end up buying Lola and the Boy Next Door. I’ll get to it eventually. Maybe soon, who knows. 

Have you read
Anna and the French Kiss? 

Did you like it? Or not? Tell me! 

***********************************************************

GIVEAWAY!
I’m giving away a PAPERBACK copy
of ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS!

(International)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!

Asheley

About Asheley

Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.

You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.

Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!

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60 responses to “…On Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins {a list} + GIVEAWAY!

  1. My favorite movie is A Walk to Remember. I love it so much never ceases to make me cry no matter how many times I watch it :')

  2. Ohh I have quite a few favourite movies but atm I think I'd have to say Inception…it's just such an awesome movie. Although if we are going with classics I'd have to say Beauty and the Beast, it's been a favourite of mine since childhood. Thank you for having this giveaway!!! You're awesome! 🙂

    P.S. I thought I'd list a few other noteworthy movies: She's the Man, 17 Again, The Proposal, Stardust, old Disney movies, Miss Congeniality, and too many more that I can't think of.

    Thanks again!

  3. I have a lots of favorites 🙂 I watched The Vow the other day and it was amazing! So I'm gonna say that one! Or The Help! One of my favorite movies.

  4. Leoni400

    My favourite film is 500 Days of Summer. I also really like Atonement. I would recommend both 🙂

  5. That's the hardest question ever. I don't think I can pick just one movie as my absolute favorite. I couldn't do it with books either. The first movie that comes to mind as one of my favorites is Braveheart. I'll go with that.

  6. Love this review! There are so many things to adore about Anna and the French Kiss beyond the romance! Anna is so dang awesome and I'm glad that you highlight that.

    YAY BATMAN. Bruce Wayne for life.

  7. I love this out of the box review of a heavily reviewed book! Great job. Though I only knew half those movie people referenced above. However, I am constantly speaking before thinking and getting myself into trouble (or offending others), so I definitely connected to that aspect of Anna's character. And my husband is slightly shorter than me (he would claim to be the same height – so don't tell him I said this!) so I appreciated a shorter love interest.

    I enjoyed Lola but not as much as Anna. Though I will read book 3 when it comes out.

  8. That's a difficult question!
    Mmmh I really liked the movie adaptation of Dorian Gray, with Ben Barnes and, one of my favourite movies is Burlesque with Christina Aguilera.(That's the first that comes to my mind!)It doesn't have a significant plot but I love the music and the coreography ^^

    Sara @ Sara In Bookland

  9. Augh, just one? It depends on what mood I'm in. I love North & South (based on the Elizabeth Gaskell book), Princess Bride, anything by Pixar, Beauty and the Beast… Nope, no way I'm narrowing it down.

  10. I have a bunch of favorite movies: Streetcar Named Desire, Adam, Beautiful Mind, Black Swan, Candy, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Veronika Decides to Die and of course one and only Donnie Darko.

  11. I love Anna! It's cute, thoughttful, sweet, enjoyable, lovable, adorbale and amazing. Stephanie Perkins is one of my favorite authors, her prose is lush and flows easily. Super glad you enjoyed it 🙂

  12. Oh, I really, really loved Anna and the French Kiss. It has a lot to do with the setting and St. Clair, but mostly the story. I love the way it's written!

  13. I thought AatFK was cute, really cute. Not my fave contemp either but definitely very enjoyable.

    As of my favorite movie, OMG I have tons of movies, I love movies, I'd say one of my absolute favorites is this little, unknown movie called Penelope with Christina Ricci and James McAvoy. I'm obsessed with it, talk about it all the time 😉

  14. My FAVORITE movie is Pride & Prejudice -cliché I know- but I just can't help it!! I love that movie so much that I seen it like 50 times and I would do it again and again!
    (ileana-rafflecopter)

  15. My most favourite favourite of all time is a little old black & white film, based on a J B Priestley play, called "An Inspector Calls" and stars a wonderful actor called Alastair Sim – it's an old fashioned ghost story, I suppose, with morals and lessons to be learned along the way – no swearing, no nudity, no violence – excellent film!

    Regarding newer films my favourite is "Serenity" but I already loved the cast as they were in the very shortlived "Firefly" – again, very morallistic in its own way hmmmmm I wonder that says about me LOL xx

  16. I loved Perkins' writing and adored the setting. Unfortunately, I did not really care for Anna and her friends. I have a thing about privilaged rich kids who bitch about how horrible their lives are. I thought the characters were spoiled and bratty, plus I consider the emotional relationship that St. Claire and Anna had going before he ended his actual relationship as cheating. I know I'm alone here, pretty much everybody loves this book….

  17. I really loved Anna and the French Kiss. Sometimes it aggravated the heck out of me, (Etienne, MAN UP ALREADY!!!), but it was such a great feel-good book. I need to re-read it!

    AND that little pocket size Batman ROCKS! He's totally my favorite of all the superheroes too. Dark, brooding, mysterious, likes to work alone…what's not to love?? Another great review Asheley:))

  18. Favorite movie? I'm supposed to pick just one? I don't think I can! O_O Top ones are 10 Things I Hate About You, Fight Club, How To Train Your Dragon, Rock Of Ages, and The Losers.

  19. My favorite movie? That's helluva tough questions! I loved Speed – I'm a total Keanu Reeves junkie, and a shameless one at that! I am a huge fan of all the Johnny Depp movies, too! Pirates of Carribeans? Watched the whole series more than 10 times. Edward Scissorhand? Classic! Cholate? Charlie and Chocolate Factory? Crybaby? All of them! 😀 I also love old fantasy movies like Neverending Story or Fantaghiro! Generally, I'm sort of a movie addict.. Most recently I fell in love with Moonrise Kingdom and We Need To Talk About Kevin – both so absolutely mesmerizing and in totally different ways!

    I love your post, Asheley (no surprise here, I love all of them!). I haven't read any of Perkins' books yet, so it would definitely be lovely to finally get a chance to read one of them! Thanks for the great contest!

  20. I tend to enjoy animated movies more (probably because I dream of working for a studio someday) or movies with fantastic CGI. Some of my favorites are Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away and Alice in Wonderland.

  21. There are so many I love musicals because that is what I grew up watching but I also love romantic comedy's, and action movies. I would have to say my all time favorite would have to be pirates of the Caribbean the first one!!!

  22. One of the cutest stories that I've read in awhile. Stephaine Perkins builds a beauty setting in Paris and give lovable characters. Each of those character grow a little as the book progress and wish them luck at the end. Though I will admit there is some funtrusting times where you would like to knock so heads together. However it works out in the end even if it takes a bit of work.

    Jasmine
    Great data for San Antonio House Cleaning Service Company

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