Saturday, September 6, 2014

Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss, #3) Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last? 

From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever.

Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.


My Review:

Isla and the Happily Ever After was a very cute read with a great romance as well as an awesome setting.  I loved the references to different places in Paris, and watching the main characters fall in love in the City of Love.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

The relationship between Isla and Josh was certainly not one that was perfect.  She had been crushing on him for years and had some awkward encounters with him, but she never expected that he would end up liking her too.  I think her shock at his feelings for her ended up leading to some of the problems that they had later on, because she has a rather high level of insecurity.  She didn't feel worthy of his love, and she worried too much about his relationship with his ex.  She compared herself to his ex in her mind, and she didn't think that her relationship with Josh could be as perfect as Rashmi's relationship with Josh.

Josh is a sweet guy.  He has his flaws, more in what he does in school, than who he is as a person.  His personality is great.  He is so caring and loving.  He does have the bad habit of skipping class too much, but he has found his passion and knows what he wants to do with his life.  He is clearly talented at art and drawing, which is what he does.  He knows that he wants to go to art school and he has a clear direction for what he wants to do with his life.

I also liked how the friendship between Kurt and Isla was developed.  He is a guy who has been best friends with her for her whole life, and everything between them is completely platonic.  Neither one of them is secretly in love with the other.  The friendship underwent some difficulties as Isla began her relationship with Josh, since she often chose Josh over Kurt when it came to who she spent time with.  Which is understandable since Josh is her boyfriend, but she needs to spend time with friends, too, which she comes to realize throughout the book.  It is was also good to see how accepting Josh was to Kurt, since some of Isla's past friends had been uncomfortable around him.  He has autism, and one of her friends made her choose between Kurt and her, so she chose Kurt, since he wouldn't make her choose.

If you like YA contemporary, read this book.

Katie

Monday, September 1, 2014

September Releases I'm Most Excited For

September 8th:
No One Needs to Know by Amanda Grace - This sounds like a really interesting premise.  I look forward to reading it.

No One Needs to Know

September 9th:
Kiss of Broken Glass by Madeleine Kuderick - This sounds like an emotional and powerful read.
Rites of Passage by Joy Hensley - This sounds like a different premise from anything that I've ever read before.  It sounds really good.
Falling into Place by Amy Zhang - The narrative perspective of this book sounds fascinating, since it is told from the POV of the main character's imaginary friend.

Kiss of Broken GlassRites of PassageFalling into Place

September 16th:
Falls the Shadow by Stefanie Gaither - This sounds really interesting.  I've never read a book that's about cloning before, so I would like a book like this that explores the idea of cloning.
Echoes of Us by Kat Zhang - I look forward to reading the conclusion to The Hybrid Chronicles series.

Falls the ShadowEchoes of Us (The Hybrid Chronicles #3)

September 23rd:
Remember Me by Romily Bernard - I really liked Find Me when I read it, so I look forward to reading the sequel.

Remember Me (Find Me, #2)

September 30th:
Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley - I haven't read much historical fiction, but this sounds really good.  It is set in an interesting time period in US history - when we were starting to desegregate.  This sounds like  it deals with two important issues at the same time.

Lies We Tell Ourselves

Katie