As we patiently await the release of Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins, the Hypable staff reminisces about Anna and the French Kiss, the book that started it all.

Anna and the French Kiss is about Anna, a high school senior, as she begrudgingly moves to Paris, France for her final year. Removed from her friends and maybe-boyfriend in Atlanta, Georgia, she’s convinced she’ll hate living in one of the best cities on the planet. That is, until she meets Meredith, the girl in the dorm next to her with an affinity for soccer and the Beatles, and Meredith’s friends, namely, the American with the British accent, St. Clair. Despite the fact Etienne St. Clair has a girlfriend and Anna herself is wrapped up in living in the past, the two grow close and their attraction is palpable, jumping off every page.

Anna encompasses an entire school year, so it does move at a fast pace, but that is also what makes their relationship so intense. St. Clair teaches Anna how to love Paris and, in a pivotal moment, she teaches him how to stand up for himself. Stephanie Perkins’ Paris is not the typical tourist city. She does visit the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, but theres also tiny patisseries and so many film cinemas, you can nearly feel the energy that living there creates. St. Clair and Anna’s love story is one for the ages, and that makes us that much more excited as we wait with anticipation for Isla and Josh’s.

In case you have some how missed out on Anna’s story read the digital chapter sampler to see what you are missing! Also don’t read any further as spoilers abound as we profess our love for this amazing story. For those who have read Anna check out the very funny deleted scene that includes Anna playing soccer!

Hypable staff loves ‘Anna and the French Kiss’

I love Anna and the French Kiss because it takes the trope of a high school love triangle out of the school-yard setting and places it in one of the most romantic cities in the world. The way Perkins sets up the characters is fantastic, but the way she integrates the city’s elements – both monumental (Notre Dame) and minute (the local cinema Anna frequents, the patisserie they get macaroons from) is straight-up magical. Anna and St. Clair aren’t together for most of the book, but when they finally do, they know they aren’t splitting up any time soon. As a pessimistic romantic, this one really hit me as a classic I can return to whenever I’m feeling down and need St. Clair to cheer me up.
–Kristina Lintz @KrisLintz

I remember the day I bought Anna and the French Kiss. I was out with friends at the book store and saw it sitting on the shelf. It had just come out and EVERYONE was talking about this book. I wasn’t completely sold that it was a book for me but I bought it anyway. That night as I crawled into bed I started to read it. I didn’t put the book down until about 3 AM when I finished the entire thing. Anna isn’t just a story about romance. It is a story that focuses on well drawn characters, the experience of moving away from home for the first time, and the complicated relationships we all find ourselves in. The characters are all flawed in natural ways and that makes them all the more likable. Anna and the French Kiss is one of those books you go back and reread for teh shear joy of visiting the characters again and seeing Paris through Anna’s eyes.
–Jen Lamoureux @jenlam26

Anna and the French Kiss turned me into one of those people who clap at the end of the romantic comedy when everything finally falls together. Do not be fooled by the RomCom nuances, the forces at work against Anna and her very unavailable crush never feel cheesy or unwarranted. Problems with friends, family, and forces beyond her control never feel alienating, but rather they bring you closer to the story, even if you never had the experience of transferring to a boarding school in Paris. Well rounded characters, mixed with a new and exciting setting, sprinkled with well written humor throughout, sets Anna and the French Kiss among the top YA realistic fiction novels. Not to mention that every time Etienne St. Clair and Anna are in the same room you can feel the nearly suffocating tension build in the air. With each close brush of the characters, whether through deep conversation miles apart or an awkward grazing of arms, you’ll want to jump into the pages and bust down the barriers between them. Stephanie Perkins is able to accomplish a satisfying “will they won’t they” in the standalone Anna the French Kiss, that most series fail to master in three or more books. It’s a book you cannot put down until you flip the final page.
–Brittany Lovely @britlovely237

If ever since Harry Potter you’ve wondered what it would be like to be in a boarding school in an exotic country, only minus the magic, Anna and the French Kiss delivers just that. School in Paris is both everything, not quite everything, and even more than Anna ever thought it would be. Romance, heartbreak, and true friendship are that much more intense in Paris. Paris, an angsty boy-next-door (literally in the dorm), and did I mention Paris, what’s not to love.
–Laura Bryne Cristiano @LauraBryneCrist

I was hesitant to read Anna and the French Kiss, because I thought the title sounded super cheesy, but I finally gave in one day while in need of some cheesy teen romance, and boy am I glad I did. The story is not nearly as cheesy as the title implies: The characters are real and relatable, and they’re dealing with normal teenage problems and experiences that leave you frustrated or excited right along with them, because for the most part, we have all been there. Anna and Etienne’s friendship-turned-romance is so sweet and thrilling, and you’ll find yourself with the same quickened pulse you feel alongside your own crush. On top of all this, it takes place in FREAKING PARIS. I studied abroad in Paris, so I’m a bit of a sucker for anything that takes place in the City of Light (and Love!) and it was so great to revisit so many places and memories, from thousands of miles away. It’s wonderful to be able to live vicariously in this amazing boarding school, with this awesome group of friends, all while falling in love with a boy, and with one of the most beautiful and exciting cities in the world.
–Colleen Weiler @Colleenhaha