A letter to Anna Oliphant

A few months ago, after reading Bloodrose, I wrote a spoiler post of a letter I wrote to Calla Tor regarding my thoughts and reactions to Bloodrose. I was really surprised by how much positive feedback I received on that and I knew I wanted to write another one, some day.

I just finished rereading Anna & the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins on audio. I love that book, I do. You can even read my spoiler-free review on it (I try to keep my reviews spoiler-free for those who haven't read the book).

But I have thoughts. And feelings. So I'm writing Anna a letter today.

Dearest Anna,

I love you. I really do. And it's because of my love and adoration for you that I have a story to tell you.

Once up on a time, I had a best friend too. He was a guy. And he was pretty darn awesome. I mean, he wasn't an ETIENNE ST.CLAIR by any means, but still. I get it. I had this wonderful, flirtatious best friend and we got along so well. We both loved Batman (and knew he was far superior to Superman, who's just so lame). We were Indiana Jones fans. We didn't have the same taste in music but hey, no one's perfect!

His girlfriend, on the other hand, wasn't so great. And she kinda hated me. This is all to say that I sympathize, and I get it.

But what I've realized now, years later, is how much I sucked in that situation. There was a far better way of handling things and I didn't take that high road. I convinced myself it was fine, and no big deal since nothing REALLY happened and she had no justifiable reason to hate me.

She did. She really, truly did. Yes, he was her boyfriend and therefore I'd say more responsible for how things turned out than me. Because he owed her something and I didn't- except I owed her more respect than I ever gave her.

So yes, I swooned along with every other reader when you two spent all of Thanksgiving weekend together (oh yes, ALL OF IT. Sleepovers included). And my heart was pounding along with yours when you two were dancing it up on your birthday. I cheered for you every step of the way.

But I realized, while rereading it, that my heart bled for Ellie a bit. I had so many questions about her, and while she was far from perfect herself, I don't think she deserved what happened to her. I think she's one of the most underrated characters in that book.

You and Etienne are chemistry at it's best- and soulmates do exist, well, you're at the top of my list. But could you and Etienne have handled things any worse with Ellie (I suppose it could have been)?

And for all the amazing things that Etienne does, his fear of breaking up with Ellie is complete crap. It's seriously lame that he's so selfish he'll hang on to her for his sake, without realizing how badly he is going to hurt her later. AND how badly he'll hurt Anna.

But all of that being said - I love that Stephanie created you two to be flawed. I love that even in the ugly bits, I can identify and relate to you. And realize that even though I regret what I did all those years ago, maybe it wasn't QUITE as bad as I blame myself for.

And I thank YOU for that bit of perspective.

xoxo,



P.S. I just want to add how much I love the bromance between Josh and Etienne. I didn't pick up on it the first time because I was too busy focusing on "WILL THEY OR WON'T THEY?!" with Anna & Etienne but Josh & St. Clair are seriously incredible. They're just so close, and you can totally tell that they know more than they ever let on. Especially Josh. I think it's fantastic that a YA book was able to highlight a same-sex close friendship as well.

Oh, and for what it's worth, the audio for this one was fantastic. I downloaded it from Audible (which I highly recommend you use for audiobooks, their collection and pricing is amazing if you join).

Kindred Reads {9}

Kindred Reads is my weekly feature where I recommend similar books. These books contain similar elements, whether it's content, writing style, or other themes found in the novels. They are always books which I have read, and clicking on the title of the book will take you to my review of that book (if I have reviewed it) or the Goodreads page (for those not yet reviewed). They aren't always books that I've loved, but always include reasons why I'm recommending them for specific similarities.

This is something that I personally wish I saw more of; after reading a book I enjoy, I often want to read similar books but they can be hard to discover! I've had a couple people ask about making this a public meme, so I'm now including a linky list for you to link to your post now too. Also, please note the permanent name change for this feature! Feel free to recommend some books you think fit nicely together and share your post here :)

This week, I'm recommending books that are all about growing up and self-discovery. And these picks are some of the best in the business- extremely talented writing, and expressive stories which are easy to relate to.

If you like...

Anna & the French Kiss or Lola & the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Stephanie Perkins is best known for her romancic boys and scenes so worthy of swooning, but I think something equally important about her books is how accurately she captures important life transformations and coming to terms with yourself. Something that I truly believe is important for everyone to read about.

Then you might want to consider reading...

The Truth about Forever (or ANY other others) by Sarah Dessen

The Truth about Forever was the first book I ever read by Sarah Dessen, and where I ultimately fell in love with her books. This is still one of my annual re-reads (another is This Lullaby), because of how much it impacted me when I was younger and continues to do so to this day. Sarah's books are always fantastic because of how her characters evolve and mature through hard trials.










I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You (Gallagher Girls #1) by Ally Carter

Another of my favourite series is the Gallagher Girls, one that I feel is often overlooked! It's a great series, packed with humour and adventure, but Cammie just changes SO much during the course of the books. As a girl who often feels hidden in the shadows, it's great to see her learn to adapt to the changes and surprises she encounters in her life.

Smile - it's Wednesday!

see this lovely picture? It was made by Lindsay at The Violet Hour. Thank you for sharing it!)

Jill @  Breaking the Spine hosts weekly "Waiting on Wednesday" for books that haven't been released yet but we are anxious for!

This week, I'm anxiously awaiting the release of Everneath (Everneath #1) by Brodi Ashton. I really, really love reading Greek myths retold, or antying with mytholigical elements and this cover is just SO beautiful! One of my favourites that I've seen this year.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

MizB @ Should Be Reading hosts WWW Wednesdays... it's super easy to play along and join in!
Just answer these three questions:

What are you currently reading?

Right now, I'm in the middle of the Iron King by Julie Kagawa. I LOVE it, and yes, it has taken me this long to get into the series!

What did you recently finish reading?

I just finished reading Ripple by Mandy Hubbard (review will be up today, promise!!) and before that I finally got around to reading Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (which was sent to me as a gift). So glad I read that one!

What do you think I'll read next?

Well... right now the plan is to read my ARC of Legend by Marie Lu next, and then continue with the Iron Fey series. But my plans always seem to change, haha!

That's it for me this week, but please comment and send me the link to your Wednesday post! I promise to read it (I love seeing what others are sharing!) and try to comment on something :)

Anna and the French Kiss

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Released: December 2, 2010
Dutton
ISBN13: 9780525423270

5/5 Stars!

Goodreads Synopsis:
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 Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

I've only heard people raving about how good Anna is, and I was in the mood for something lighter so I picked this one up. Stephanie Perkins definitely doesn't disappoint with Anna and the French Kiss! If I had only read the description, I never would have been interested in it but it really is fantastic.

Perkins' writing is humorous and lively, and easily captures her reader's attention. The whole story flows so well together, and it reads almost as if you were reading Anna's journal with her rambling thoughts. Normally, I find that this writing would detract from the story but with Anna it just added so much character and flavour!

The development of both characters and relationships is wonderful; you can really feel it building and everything progresses so naturally. There's nothing forced about it.

This is a lovely, sweet read that will really make you ache with nostalgia for those giddy crush feelings. Who hasn't felt this way as a teenager? And here we get to relive all of that with Anna and St. Clair, particularly after she realizes she's in love with them.

Most importantly, Perkins demonstrates wonderfully powerful emotions in her novel, whether it's through the absolute confusion between St. Clair and Anna as they try to sort out their feelings, or the strength and intensity of friendship and the role of forgiveness in relationships.

Anna and the French Kiss is a sweet, beautiful coming of age story that will stick with you and make it hard to forget. It is such a fun, light read and one of the most enjoyable books I've read in a long time.

A big THANK YOU to Ashley from Book Labyrinth who bought this for me as an August RAK gift! I loved it so much :)