My goodness, what a way to start the year. This book is like diving into a vat of chocolate mousse, but like, fancy french chocolate mousse. It's fun. It's filled with drama and misunderstandings and family problems and frenchiness. Anna and the French Kiss is a blast. 
 Anna was a really grounded, realistic character. She makes mistakes, has weird personality quirks and is totally up-front about how imperfect she is. She's surprised whenever she hears she's pretty (we get very little in description so we just have to base it one that fact like 4 guys are tripping over themselves over her, and also a lot of french street-passerbys.) But she doesn't even mull over her appearance. She literally has no fucks to give about how she looks. Well, unless Etienne is telling her. But still. It's not much of a thing. Also, points for giving her a hobby that I adored; film critique. Though most of her criticisms aren't featured. I wish we heard her bitch about hollywood sellouts and crappy screenwriting. Give me a book of that. Seriously. 
 I want to read that book. But cinema is a huge part of her character, it's not put on hold while she finds herself a boyfriend, she behaves like herself the entire book. Consistency. 
 Etienne, Etienne, Etienne, which I shall always say three times, not only because I love saying it but also because I wish to summon him to my room like a sexy Beetlejuice, is such a catch. Seriously. He has his fuck-ups, his flaws and mistakes and pretty goddamn stupid moments, but he also has kindness and goodness of spirit and chivalry, with just the right sprinkling of angst. Angst should be like sprinkles on a sundae, is you have more sprinkles than ice cream, decorative, appealing, yummy, but not in an overwhelming ratio or it's overwhelming and you're chewing through gummy-sugar-mush. Don't be a little kid dumping half a bottle of sprinkles. The reader needs to access the ice cream. Huh. Not my best metaphor. 
 Etienne is a realistic character. I know guys a lot like him. Not as sexy or international, but... okay the likelihood of finding Etienne is like trying to find a unicorn, but a surprising number of people believe they're real. He's shiny and perfect enough for there to be that magical romance quality, but enough grit to provide tension. 
 All the supporting characters have their own weight, wants, dreams, personalites, and when Anna pulls a Bella Swan and uses them like props, they call her on it. The only ones who aren't very well flushed out are the ones that are considered Anna's "competition" which I wasn't too crazy about, but honestly, when you're a girl wrapped up in this kind of thing....yeah it's pretty accurate that you pretend the girlfriend is a faceless bitch. 
 The whole triangle (quadrangle? Quintangle? How are these people getting so much action?) is actually very accurately done. Girl likes guy, guys likes girl, they don't communicate so guy stays with bitchy girlfriend, girl then proceeds to settle for underwhelming assholes while waiting for guy, guy and girl bicker constantly to mask jealousy, fights ensue, etc. This was my entire junior year of high school. Don't ask. What I'm saying is, I've been in Anna's shoes, and it was very well portrayed in this book. With a happy ending. Everyone wins! 
 The love triangle is honest about how sucky the situation is, and how nobody wins by the guy being a fucking passive asshole and keeping both girls on a leash (not pointing any fingers to a certain ex who shall remain nameless. Alex Adams.). 
 Anyway, the romance is done very well. It's sweet enough to ensure you're engaged, but not too heart-wrenching that you feel like Etienne is an asshole for not making a move. Just don't think too hard. Also, the family stuff and the isolation of Anna's situation add an enormous weight to what would be a fluffy read. There is depth. It's not Eleanor and Park as far as deep romance goes, but it's better flushed out than any Sarah Dessen novel (sorry, it's my new hobby to shit on Sarah Dessen, and I'm not even sure why). 
 Also PARIS. Paris is like a character in this book. Holy shit. Such french. So fancy. Very food. I just meme'd myself over France. It goes without saying, it's not too touristy, it goes through great lengths to not seem touristy. Not seeming like a tourist is actually kind of a sub-plot. You feel like you're exploring the city without overstimulating yourself. 
 Only complaints: 
 1. More make-outs. Seriously. More. Now. 
 2. I know boarding school is really edgy and glamorous to most writers, but Perkins also overlooks all the really shitty parts of boarding school. I went to boarding school. There was none of this "making out with a boy in his room" b.s. It felt more like a college, but let me tell you, when wealthy parents are involved with the fancy upbringing of their teens, there is going to be WAY more structure in the system. Just a nitpick. I could suspend my disbelief because I'm in college now, but when I first started my freshman year of college I spent most of it like "We can go outside? Leave the dorm? AFTER TEN P.M?!" 
 3. Also, the book's moral... cheating gets a thumbs up if you love the person you cheat with? Um...? 
 Like I said, don't think about it too hard. You really just have to overlook some slightly...douchey behavior on Etienne's end. (I love him, but come on, let's be real here). 
 Anna and the French Kiss is a grounded but lighthearted romantic comedy, with a good core group of friends that you wish you were a part of, a setting that speaks for itself, flirting that you wish you engaged in, and a lot of heart. And heartbreak. But mostly heart.