Throwback Thursday is a weekly feature & linkup here at I Heart YA Fiction
where we will be reviewing older releases and/or books that have
been on our shelves for awhile. Feel free to participate by reading from
the bottom of your shelf and adding links to your reviews of
older titles! We would love to read your Throwback
Reviews!
FYI: Moving forward Throwback Thursday will be more sporadic. We are both currently full-time students and Fall/Winter is a busy time for review books as well as super un-fun academic reading obligations, both of which are important priorities for us. So some weeks we will repost an older review, or simply have a linky list available for all of you.
Since the link-up hasn't been very popular, we will likely discontinue that aspect at the end of the year. We'd like it to be a space that highlights older titles that deserve attention, so whether you've recently reviewed a book, or reviewed it a year ago, share your links below!
This week's feature?
Release Date: December 2, 2010
Publisher: Dutton
Pages: 372
Source: Purchased
Pages: 372
Source: Purchased
ISBN-10: 0525423273
Rating: DNF
Book Description
"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?"
DNF Review/Thoughts
After hearing sooooo many excellent things about this book, I was super excited to read it. I love a good contemporary, and I'm always up for swoons. However, as soon as I started it, I was...well, bored. I knew there were some super interesting sounding elements like Paris, but when I was reading it, it didn't feel interesting. I thought maybe it just had a slow start and would pick up later, so I decided to decide after 100 pages (which is a bit over a fourth of the book).
Once I got that far, I still felt the same. For personal reasons, I sometimes struggle with storylines involving a girl and a guy who already has a girlfriend, so on that front, I felt like I couldn't get on Anna's side. It's kind of weird, because sometimes it doesn't bother me at all (like with Anything to Have You by Paige Harbison), but with this one, I just couldn't ship the couple at all. It's not that I thought Anna was out to 'home wreck' or Etienne was a jerk any silly cliche like that. I just didn't like the situation overall or them together. Even as far as the secondary characters go, I didn't really want to know more about them because they seemed to just fill the 'friends' role instead of feeling more three dimensional.
With the combination of not really connecting/being interested in anything with the lack of affection for the main characters, I couldn't keep reading. The writing has super cute moments, and I can see why some people like it, but it just didn't work out for me. I'm not sure if I want to give the Lola companion a chance or not.
I'm sorry you didn't like Anna and the French Kiss. It's one of my favourites. Hopefully you'll find something better soon. Lola is a bit like Anna and the French Kiss. The storyline is quite similar, but the characters are quite different!.
ReplyDeleteI have issues with cheating storylines as well (though this one was still a 4 star book for me - it seemed okay to me in this one for some reason, but it was the one thing that held me back from absolutely loving the book). Sorry you didn't love this one, but no book can please for everyone, right?
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I haven't gotten around to this one yet and I've heard it was cute too, but I don't tend to like the cheating angle either even if it doesn't result in a travesty. I read another book by the author and liked it so maybe that will be true for you too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being honest! I read Lola first because the storyline looked overall more interesting to me. I read Anna after and really didn't love it as much as I loved Lola. I too felt a little squeamish with the cheating stuff (though there is a bit of that in Lola too, actually), and just couldn't get quite on board with Anna-Etienne as Lola-Cricket. So, maybe give the next one a try? Then going back to Anna might be a possibility again?
ReplyDeleteIt sucks being the black sheep huh? I really liked Anna and Lola but hated Isla. Weird since for almost everyone else, Isla was the favorite of the series. I can see why people wouldn't like this, especially when there is so much hype over it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know a lot of people really love it, but it just wasn't for me. I just finished up The Fall by Bethany Griffin and really loved it, so I'm really glad this didn't turn into a slump haha.
ReplyDeleteVery true! And I can completely see why some people might really love it. I just don't happen to be one of them. The great part about reviews is that everyone has a different opinion, so there's lots of variety. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think I could have possibly kept going if I had really liked some other part of the story, but it just wasn't there for me.
ReplyDeleteAnna is definitely out for me for good, because it wasn't just the cheating stuff I didn't like, but yeah, I might try Lola some day. I think I'm putting it on the backburner for now, just because there's so many other books to read, but it's not out of the question. The name Cricket sounds fun, so who knows? :)
ReplyDeleteNo worries! I know how hard it is to fit in a upcoming review book at times, let alone an old one (which is why ours are so sporadic right now).
ReplyDeleteYeah, I would say a fair majority of the time I do like what has a good amount of hype (if I've read it), but sometimes one like this happens, and I just get so sad. Black sheep party of one! Haha
ReplyDeleteHmm, I don't read a lot of contemporaries, but have heard sooo much about this one. I don't think I really like the he-has-a-girlfriend-already plot line. I find that to be an odd selling point for a book about a romance.
ReplyDeleteI know all romances are different, but it rarely captures my interest having the plot line like that. I didn't actually know that was part of it going in to the story, even though I heard a lot about it.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, this has been on TBR for a while (I promise, I will try it eventually) because it seems everyone has read it and is always telling me how good it is~ I am surprised you didn't like it, but then again, everyone has their own tastes. Thanks for sharing ;) I like this meme!
ReplyDeletehttp://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2014/09/conformity-dead-poets-society-25.html