Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

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Synopsis from Goodreads: 

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 Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend. 

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

My Thoughts: 

Oh. My. Gosh. You guys. You guys. WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG TO READ THIS BOOK???? WHY DIDN'T I LISTEN TO YOU SOONER???? WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME????

Basically this was the cutest, squishiest, fluffiest, most perfect book ever and I want to hug it close and never let it go. Here is everything I loved about this book in no particular order.

Paris

Freaking Paris!! Okay so maybe I'm a little biased because I was just there in September, but I loved reading about Paris. It was so cool to read about the places they were visiting and go "oh my gosh I was there!" The city is just so romantic. I loved reading about the little cafes, the tiny movie theaters and all the touristy sites. And the food!! I was drooling reading about some of the food. Especially this one part where Anna is in a bakery and she buys macaroons and I died of jealousy a bit. 

Anna's Movie Review Blog Thingy

So it's not books, but still. She runs a movie review website which felt like a book review website and I just instantly connected to it! Her enthusiasm for movies directly translated to my enthusiasm for books. I loved how excited Anna got over her movies and I loved how she slowly discovered all these tiny movie theaters. And the repeat one that became her spot? Adorbs. 

Friendships

The friendship between Anna and Mer was awesome. And Anna and Rashmi. And Anna and Bridge. For real. All these friendships were messy and they fought, but that's what made them so perfect. Relationships, any relationships are messy and I loved the raw, honest look we got at these friendships. I loved how some of them were lifelong friendships, some of them were instant connections and some of them took time to develop. Every one of these characters was fleshed out and real and I loved each and every one of them. 

The Romance/Etienne St. Clair/Feels

So. Many. Feels. Over this slow-burn, messy, awesome, fantastic, adorable, perfect relationship. It had such a messy start. And it's not easy at all. And both St. Clair & Anna make tons of mistakes throughout the course of this book. But my god was it all worth it. Because these two are clearly made for each other. I loved their adorable teasing and banter. I loved how open and honest they could be with each other - like how Anna opens up to him about her family issues and he listens, really listens. And how St. Clair slowly opens up to Anna about some really tough issues he's dealing with. And I love how this started as a friendship, developed into best friends and then into romance. It was literally watching two people each fall in love with their best friend. I was literally squealing and freaking out the whole time reading. Fantastic. 

Have you read this book yet? What was your favorite thing about this story? Did you get mad feels from it as well?