Isla and the Happily Ever After

The Bookworm says... Yes! Isla and the Happily Ever After was perfect. Not unlike Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door, it was the ideal romance. Isla has had a crush on Josh for as long as she can remember, but their relationship has never extended past an awkward encounter every now and then. As they begin their senior year, any possibility of romance between the two becomes nearly impossible under the imposing stress of college, parents, schoolwork, and the future that they may or may not be together in. 

Along with Anna and Lola, Isla and the Happily Ever After is definitely very cliche. But again, I have a soft spot for cliches. I love the cameos from Anna & Étienne and Cricket & Lola. Stephanie Perkins's novels have a very unifying quality that is beyond the matching covers and cast of characters. 

"Phones are distracting. The Internet is distracting. The way he looked at you? He wasn't distracted. He was consumed."

Previously reviewed by Stephanie Perkins: Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door

Lola and the Boy Next Door

The Bookworm says... Absolutely! Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins was so mushy and sappy and basically everything I want in a romance. Lola is a very talented aspiring designer, with very strong beliefs. The crazier the costume, the more appropriate for daily wear. Her boyfriend, Max, is the lead singer of a punk rock band. Her life is going perfectly the way she wants it, until the Bell twins move home. Calliope and Cricket. Lola thought her painful past with figure skating Calliope and engineering Cricket was gone and buried, but the day she sees them again Lola realizes that that is far from the truth. 

This book was so good. Like the preceding novel in the trilogy, Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door is very cliche. If you're the type of person that cringes at the mention of cliches, you should not read this. I, however, am not one of these people, so I loved it. I absolutely adored the way Anna and Étienne tied into this novel, and the general unfolding of the plot. 

Previously reviewed by Stephanie Perkins: Anna and the French Kiss, 

"At the sound of her name, a second star would appear... The neighbors wondered who turned on the floodlights. The boy did. By thinking about the girl."

Anna and the French Kiss

The Bookworm says... Oui! Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins was a lovely book. Anna loves Atlanta. She's excited to be a senior, and excited about her bubbling almost-relationship with Toph. It's smooth sailing, until her father decides to ship her off to Paris. The newest member of the 25 (now 26) person senior class of the School of America in Paris, Anna doesn't speak a word of French. She makes new friends: Mer, Josh, Rashmi, and Étienne St. Clair. Oh, St. Clair. Anna and St. Clair. St. Clair and Anna. Instant best friends, so close that a romantic relationship seems inevitable. Except St. Clair has a girlfriend. And Anna kindasortamaybe has a boyfriend. Her heart is in Atlanta, but also very present in Paris. Through a series of touristy activities and some classical films, Anna and St. Clair attempt to work out the broken pieces of their friendship/relationship, while fixing each other in the process. 

I really enjoyed this book! It was definitely very cliché, set in the City of Love. A little cliché never hurt anyone! I'm happy to say it lived up to my high expectations set for this book, and that I cannot wait until I have a chance to buy the rest of this romantic Stephanie Perkins trilogy. 

"For the two of us, home isn't a place. It's a person. And we're finally home."