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Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

January 11, 2015June 3, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Anna and the French Kiss #3

Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last?

Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.

Featuring cameos from fan-favorites Anna, Étienne, Lola, and Cricket, this sweet and sexy story of true love—set against the stunning backdrops of New York City, Paris, and Barcelona—is a swoonworthy conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series.

5 Drink Me Potions

Where should I start? There is just so many things to say about this book.

I guess I’ll just have to keep it sweet and simple.

Isla and the Happily Ever After was the romance book I’ve been waiting for. Where its predecessor Anna and the French Kiss was frustrating with its protagonists struggling to decide who to be with, and the other predecessor Lola and the Boy Next Door was extremely slow with its romantic chemistry, Isla and Josh made the best pair of love-torn protagonists I have yet to read.

It starts off right where you may have imagined it. You guessed it. Isla pining away for Josh, as she’s done for the last 3 years of high school. They’re seniors now and she REALLY needs to make her move. Girl, you should’ve done this ages ago, like pre-Rashmi (Josh’s ex).

Anyway, Isla was a nice, albeit a little similar to other protagonist voices I’ve read. She’s shy but sweet. She can be sassy, but she doesn’t make new friends as easily. However, as the story progresses, she gets bolder in her actions while still maintaining a bit of her old shy self in there too. Josh, on the other hand, is….I don’t have the proper adjective to describe him. I really got to know him through this book, another aspect of him that wasn’t clearly there in Anna and the French Kiss. Yes, he’s an artist and he’s drawing a graphic memoir of himself. I find that darn cute. And we get to read it! Sort of. To see how his high school life had gone, and what he hopes it’ll be like now. It really gives us the chance to see who he is and how he came to be this way. My goodness, it makes me want to smack and hug him at the same time. But of course, I still love him.

The romance picked up fast this time (for once). Unlike Perkins’ two previous works, neither protagonists had someone they were still dating/holding onto like their sole source of oxygen. All in all, it made their growing feelings for each other so much sweeter to read about, with the odd comical moments that any great couple have.

I–well I can go on and on about this book, but like I said. Sweet and simple. READ IT! With gorgeous settings like Manhattan, Paris and Barcelona, and the cutest couple as our protagonists, it’s like the perfect combination to falling in love with a book.

Overall Recommendation:
To keep it sweet and simple, this book takes the romantic storytelling to the next level. With two very different yet very complex and beautiful characters, it’s like unravelling a fairy tale as Isla and Josh fall for each other, and following the ups and downs of a real relationship as the every day drama tries to tear them apart. Oh, and of course, what’s cooler than reading about the love interest than in the form of a comic book story?
Seriously. It’s too cute for words. Please, read it. I swear it takes the best parts of Perkins’ previous works and mashes them into this gorgeous book.

Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

January 5, 2015June 3, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Anna and the French Kiss #1

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?

5 Drink Me Potions

Romance, romance, romance galore!

I put off reading Anna and the French Kiss for a long time. I’m not sure why. Hype I guess? And even though there are a number of cliches in this story, and of course, a predictable plot line, the path of Anna and Etienne’s romance was unique and extremely adorable.

Anna isn’t quite like any girl I’ve read before. She’s not necessarily a shy girl, but she isn’t in the popular group at school. She’s not afraid to put herself out there when need be, loyal to her friends, and apparently quite attractive (so not the cliche of extremely handsome boy falling for a plain girl). Etienne is probably the most unique male counterpart I have yet to see. He’s American, yet has a British accent and a French name. He’s not very tall (there goes that cliche) but his presence and inner charisma is what draws others to him. Oh, and yes, can’t forget about his gorgeous hair!

The protagonists fit well together. I just didn’t love how long it took for their confused feelings to get it together and realize they had something special right in front of them. However, through their struggles, it brought out the emotions and strength of their friendship, which quite frankly is more important at times than the initial physical attraction which made fade.

And the setting was in Paris! Oh la la. What better place to have a beautiful romantic story in? It was depicted so well that it made me long to go back to the City of Lights. I could picture many of the attractions they visited, and could clearly imagine myself doing it with Anna and Etienne.

Overall, a job well done, Stephanie Perkins! She took an ageless plot line and made it into something of her own.

Overall Recommendations:
Anna and the French Kiss may have high expectations but the romance and friendship of the 2 protagonists are worth the ride as they navigate the budding feelings they have for each other. Through the highs and lows of their senior year, and set in the gorgeous City of Lights, what more could a romance story have? It is a whole deal package that no one should miss out on! A definite 5 stars!

Review: Control by Lydia Kang

January 1, 2015June 3, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Control #1

An un-putdownable thriller for fans of Uglies

When a crash kills their father and leaves them orphaned, Zel knows she needs to protect her sister, Dyl. But before Zel has a plan, Dyl is taken by strangers using bizarre sensory weapons, and Zel finds herself in a safe house for teens who aren’t like any she’s ever seen before—teens who shouldn’t even exist. Using broken-down technology, her new friends’ peculiar gifts, and her own grit, Zel must find a way to get her sister back from the kidnappers who think a powerful secret is encoded in Dyl’s DNA.

A spiraling, intense, romantic story set in 2150—in a world of automatic cars, nightclubs with auditory ecstasy drugs, and guys with four arms—this is about the human genetic “mistakes” that society wants to forget, and the way that outcasts can turn out to be heroes.

5 Drink Me Potions

Warning: This review contains awestruck praise for authentic science in a YA novel

Upon a second time reading through Control, I will have to say the story hasn’t gotten any duller than the first. Sci-fi has never been something I truly loved, especially because the world building can get confusing depending on how the author goes about describing it. Too many technological advances and strange government systems can become explosively hard to follow and understand.

BUT, this book does not sway into that category. The world building is not the centre of the story, but rather the scientific (or rather, genetic) and occasional technological advances in the year 2150. As a lover of science, I CANNOT express how awestruck I am to see real science put into a novel. It sucks when science fiction takes the liberty of submerging into science fantasy. Lydia Kang keeps the science real but still maintains a level of imaginative fiction in her storytelling.

And at the end….it is MINDBLOWING to see how the science ties in perfectly to help fight off adversaries. Who says science can’t be used for the odd fight or two?

Zelia and her gang of misfit mutant friends are also very well-depicted. Thrust into a new world where people with naturally born mutations are left to live in isolation for fear of elimination by the government, each character has their own quirky personality. Sure, they may not be original personalities, but after reading so many stories, you can compare many secondary characters to someone else in another book.

As for the plot pacing, it wasn’t very action-packed or anything because at the heart of the story, there is a scientific mystery to be solved. Zelia is trying to identify what “trait” that her sister Dylia may have that the rival mutant house (Aureus House) wanted so badly. So yes, labwork makes up a chunk of the story as well as chilling within Carus House (aka the “good house”).

Wait a second. Let’s pause here. You say this sounds like X-men? Now let’s just hold it right there. That is NOT an excuse to not read the book. All stories have central themes and archetypes that they follow. It just so happens that this kind of theme is representative of stories that contain kick-ass mutants who are fighting for their survival. So please, just give it a shot, will you?

Overall Recommendations:
Control is a scientific phenomenon in YA literature, with hardly any other in comparison to its keen scientific nature. Packed with a sizzling romance and funky characters (and the occasional plot-twister), readers don’t need to come from a heavy science background to appreciate its cleverness.
Although…if you did, then that would make the book so much more of a pleasurable read.