Basically everyone I know in real life has recommended the Stephanie Perkins' Anna and the French Kiss to me. Add to that all the internet buzz, and the recent release of Isla and the Happily Ever After, I decided it was finally time. 
 Anna's father, who is basically Nicholas Sparks, sends her to a French boarding school for American students. She doesn't want to go, leaving her family, her best friend, her part-time job at the movie theatre, and the cute boy that could become her boyfriend at any point given the time. To make matters worse, Anna is a senior, and the only new student. Luckily, a girl on her floor invites her over for hot chocolate and before she knows it, she has a new group of friends. Over the year Anna learns about herself, friendship, and love all while in the city of light, love, and cinema appreciation. 
 Perkins' pacing is spot-on. I love that this is a slow-build, giving me time to watch Anna's relationships, of all kinds, build. It allows things to feel natural. And it does feel natural. I believe these friendships, and the intricacies of friendship in high school, with all its hormonal pitfalls, ring true. That it is not rushed allows all of Anna's relationships change throughout the novel, and her friends also seem to genuinely grow and change. It also allows me to believe the choices they are making, because their choices stem from their character rather than Perkins forcing plot on the characters. 
 My major problem with this novel was the fact that St. Clair had a girlfriend for most of the novel. I appreciated the confusion, and glimpses of reality this added to the narrative. But let's be honest, this follows a romance novel structure for the most part. We know that Anna and St. Clair are going to end up together. The fun is watching it happen. And I had trouble trusting St. Clair knowing he had a girlfriend waiting in the wings for most of the novel. Sure, she left her friends behind, but she was also a freshman in college attempting to discover herself. I know that a lot of the novel was about St. Clair having the courage to make the jump from the "comfortable." But to an extent, he was using Anna as a crutch for most of the novel as well. 
 A lot of this is wound up in St. Clair's backstory and family drama. I love that Perkins allows both to exist as simple fact. It isn't milked for melodrama. It helps explain where he's coming from. At the same time, I wouldn't have minded more on this front. I wanted St. Clair to work out this drama as much as anything in the novel. 
 And yet, I still enjoyed the ride. Anna had a fun voice. Her problems and her relationships did not feel all that off from my own high school experience. Many times in the novel my own heart constricted with memories of painful crushes and romantic disappointments. While the book has a hopeful tone, it isn't all cotton candy, and that gives all the moments all that much more resonance. If you like teen romantic comedies, this is the novel for you. I have Lola and the Boy Next Door checked out right now, and I am excited to dig in.