Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins


Published: August 2014
Publisher: Dutton
Pages: 352
Copy Provided by: Library
Summary: Goodreads

Summary:

Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last?

Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.

Featuring cameos from fan-favorites Anna, Étienne, Lola, and Cricket, this sweet and sexy story of true love—set against the stunning backdrops of New York City, Paris, and Barcelona—is a swoonworthy conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series.
 

Review:

I'm fairly certain that I read these all out of order but does it really matter??  What matters is that Stephanie has a special writing gift that allows her to capture the absolute essence of falling in love and spill it all out on the pages of a YA novel.  She did it again.  She took everything passionate, innocent, lust-worthy (in a PG sort of way) and turned it upside down and inside out to make a wonderful novel that I think all teens need to read.  If you can remember Anna and Etienne in Paris chasing one another around and pretending they weren't falling in love, but really were....well, Josh is Etienne's best friend. He doesn't have the same kind of charisma but he has a new sort of confidence all his own.  And Isla has liked him for years.  Are any of your following this? Years.  Put your hand up if you have ever done this. Its like stalking...but more discreetly.  I've done this.  I remember there was this one guy I liked so much that I used to write pages and pages of I love Tony in patterns. With colors. Yes, it was pathetic.  But Isla does something similar so at least I know there are others out there like me.  She knows dates.  Remembers certain events.  Like when he first smiled at her.  Or when they've talked.  Coming face to face with your crush can be mind-numbingly horrific and there are events in this book that made me laugh out loud...and others that made me cry.  As Isla and Josh try to work out what they "have" and "don't have" with one another, it truly is a work of art.  Thank you Stephanie Perkins for capturing so perfectly, those first love moments.  :)

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