Legend
Marie Lu
This companion novel features a delightful romance with quirky characters and a similar setting in San Francisco.
Anna and the French Kiss
A warm, funny slow-burn romance that captures the dizzy loneliness of being a teenager dropped into Paris, with a narrator whose voice makes every awkward moment feel real.
What It's About
Anna Oliphant expected to spend senior year in Atlanta with her best friend, her movie-theater job, and a crush that finally seemed to be going somewhere. Instead, her father, a bestselling author of weepy romance novels, enrolls her at an American boarding school in Paris. She doesn't speak French, barely knows anyone, and feels lost. Then she falls into a friend group that includes Étienne St. Clair, a charming, short, messy-haired boy with an English accent and a long-term girlfriend.
What follows is a year-long friendship that keeps edging toward something more, complicated by loyalties, misunderstandings, and both characters' fears. Perkins takes her time. The romance builds through small things: late-night conversations, shared meals, movie outings, jealousy neither will admit. Anna's love of film and her dream of becoming a critic give her an identity beyond the love story, and her first-person narration is self-deprecating, observant, and often genuinely funny.
Paris is more than a postcard here. Anna experiences it as an outsider, intimidated by menus and metro maps before slowly claiming the city as her own. Reading the book feels like a long, cozy binge: light on plot mechanics, heavy on mood, banter, and the specific agony of liking someone you shouldn't. It is the first of three loosely connected novels, followed by Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After.
Read this if you…
- love slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance with lots of banter
- want a cozy, atmospheric story set in Paris
- enjoy contemporary YA with a funny, relatable first-person narrator
Skip it if you…
- dislike storylines involving emotional infidelity or a love interest who is already in a relationship
- want a fast-paced plot with high stakes beyond romance and friendship
Key Ideas
- 1
Slow burn built on friendship
The relationship grows out of genuine companionship rather than instant attraction alone. Perkins lets Anna and St. Clair become close friends first, so the romantic tension comes from shared history, inside jokes, and the risk of losing something real. Readers who love the anticipation more than the payoff will find this pacing deeply satisfying, while others may find it drawn out.
- 2
Homesickness and finding your footing
Beneath the romance is a story about being uprooted. Anna misses home, struggles with the language, and feels cut off from her old life as friendships back in Atlanta shift without her. Her gradual independence in Paris, learning to navigate the city and enjoy it alone, gives the book an emotional backbone beyond who kisses whom.
- 3
A distinctive, funny narrative voice
Anna narrates with nervous humor and honesty, admitting petty thoughts, embarrassing slips, and insecurities. Her voice is a big part of the book's lasting popularity. She feels like a real teenager rather than an idealized heroine, and her passion for film criticism gives her a specific lens on the world around her.
- 4
Messy loyalties and imperfect choices
Nobody behaves perfectly. Characters hesitate, hurt friends, and avoid hard conversations. The book explores how attraction can complicate existing relationships and friendships, including those within Anna's own circle. Whether you find these flaws relatable or frustrating will shape how much you enjoy the story.
- 5
Family pressure in the background
Both Anna and St. Clair deal with difficult fathers who make decisions for them. These subplots add weight and help explain why the two connect so strongly, giving the lighter romantic scenes some emotional grounding.
Limitations
The most common criticism concerns St. Clair: he stays with his girlfriend while leaning heavily on Anna, and some readers see his indecision as selfish rather than romantic. Anna can also be jealous and self-absorbed in ways that frustrate readers. The setting is privileged, a wealthy American school abroad, and Paris is viewed largely through a tourist's eyes. The plot is thin by design, and the middle can drag for readers less invested in the will-they-won't-they tension. Some details, like communication via phones and email, feel slightly dated now.
Questions Readers Ask
- What age is Anna and the French Kiss appropriate for?
- It's generally suited to readers around 13 or 14 and up. There is some swearing, underage drinking, and discussion of sex, but nothing graphic. The romance stays fairly sweet and emotionally focused, which is why it's often recommended as a gentle entry into YA romance as well as to adults who enjoy the genre.
- Do I need to read the sequels, and in what order?
- It works as a standalone. The companion novels, Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After, follow different heroines, but characters from this book reappear, so reading them in publication order is best for enjoying the cameos and crossover moments.
- How does it compare to To All the Boys I've Loved Before?
- Both are warm, voice-driven YA romances with slow-building relationships. Jenny Han's book is more centered on family and sisters, while Perkins leans into the travel setting, homesickness, and romantic tension complicated by an existing relationship. If you liked one's cozy tone, you'll likely enjoy the other.
- Published
- 2011
- ISBN
- 9780142419403
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Category
- Young Adult
Book details and cover from Google Books.
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