travelling – Page 3 – Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Anna and the French Kiss #1

anna and the french kiss -stephanie perkins

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!

Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they’re rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.

Lucy and Owen’s relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and — finally — a reunion in the city where they first met.

A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith’s new novel shows that the center of the world isn’t necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.

4 Drink Me Potions

It took me a long time to get into the story. However, my suggestion is to stick it out for say, the first third to half of the book, because The Geography of You and Me most definitely won me over by the end of it.

The beginning was slower than I had thought it would be. Sure, the boy-meets-girl moment happens almost immediately but I wasn’t feeling much for it. AT FIRST. But wait! As the story took its course, there were moments where I had to sit back and just pause to smile at the pages before me.

Owen and Lucy are rather normal characters, as main protagonists go. I wouldn’t say they’re unlikeable, ’cause for sure they are likeable enough for me to continue reading their respective stories, but they’re not excitingly memorable/unique. Each have something to deal with at the beginning. For Owen, it was dealing with the move to NY and over losing his mom. For Lucy, it was being left alone a lot, with her brothers away for school and parents always travelling around the world. I loved that over the span of the book, they both changed and grew from these experiences.

The romance was cute. It was also slow coming, but eventually I felt that irresistible pull they had on each other just as they were discovering it for themselves too. Long distance relationships are hard, and it requires a lot of commitment to one another. I loved that it explored the ups and the downs in any relationship like that.

Maybe my 4 stars are a bit generous, but how could I not be? The Geography of You and Me has some of my very favourite things in it. A beautiful starlit sky where our protagonists first felt the magic; travelling/exploring beautiful cities around the world; and a romance that conquers the distance between them. Sighhh, it’s just too cute for words.

By the way, I absolutely am grateful that Jennifer E Smith kept the ending realistic. It didn’t take away any of the magic of the relationship, maybe even added to it. The writing still melts my heart as I think back on it.

Overall Recommendation:
What started off slow and almost too boring to continue, The Geography of You and Me holds more promise to it than that if you just dig deeper. With sweeping descriptions of gorgeous cities in Europe and America, any traveller who’s been there (like I have!) or wishes to will enjoy the imagery. Just imagine yourself there along with them! And how could anyone resist a relationship that knows no bounds? Distance may just soften the heart.
I recommend this sweet story to anyone who loves travelling and cute relationships!

Tag: travelling

Review: The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith