Varje termin läser vi engelska böcker i skolan och har sedan så kallade "book reviews". Den här gången har jag läst Anna and the French Kiss av amerikanskan Stephanie Perkins, en bok som har fått rätt mycket uppärksamhet i Sverige trots att den inte finns översatt (än). Många bokbloggare som jag följer har läst den, så jag tänkte att det kunde vara kul att lägga upp min recension (ni får tyvärr stå ut med min nybörjarengelska):

 

 

Anna is a quite normal teenager. She's looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta. She has a good job, great friends and a crush on a boy named Toph. It seems to be a perfect year until her father sends her to a boarding school in Paris.

Anna turns very upset. Paris? She knows nothing about Paris. She's seen pictures of the Eiffel Tower, and that's almost all.

Anna's father is a very popular author who writes cheesy novels. He's started to earn some money and thinks his daughter should be more interested in culture. That's why he sends her to Paris.

So, Anna arrives at her new school and as soon as her parents leave she breaks out in panic. I like that part of the book, it feels very realistic. Her family is on the opposite  side of the world and she can't speak French and she knows no one and she just hates it all.

But things get better when she meets Meredith who lives next door. Meredith is athletic and outgoing and introduces Anna to her friends. That's how Anna gets to know Etienne. He's good-looking, smart and funny. Yes, she falls in love.

 

This book was perfect for me.

It's thick but written in a easy way without long descriptions and slow parts, so I could read it in a good flow.

The love story is sweet and the characters act credibly. All the feelings sound real.

So, the characters are good and funny, but maybe a bit... too "American"? They are quite stereotypical and sometimes it seems Anna only thinks of Etienne, ever though she finally gets other friends. They are always there in the background, but maybe the author should have given them more space in the story. Etienne is all over the pages, but as I said, it's a love story, so it's OK.

 

I love the descriptions of Paris! It's common words about the Eiffel Tower and baguettes, but under the surface Anna tells us about the panic of being on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean than everything she's used to, and that Paris not always is like a romantic summer dream.

Unfortunately I must criticize the book for the character Etienne. He's so stereotypical. Soon I ask myself: Has this person no defects? Well, at least the author tries. She gives Etienne's mother cancer and Etienne is very unhappy and one night he gets drunk to think about something else, but of course this is something "cute" and the author turns it all to a love scene.

 

Anna and the French Kiss is a nice book and if you like books that aren't so deep you should read this one.

 

I would rate it 7 out of 10.

 

//Johanna