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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was the worst of the series.
1)This book includes a character with “high functioning autism” (please let this die PLEASE), who sometimes sleeps in Isla’s bed and makes comments about her boobs. Um okay….?
2) Josh and Isla got together way too quickly at the start. The first book wasn’t perfect, sure, but at least St Clair and Anna both has on and off, some yearning. It was just too insta-lovey.
3) Both characters were extremely irritating at the start. They went through character growth but it atill really annoyed me how Josh did not think about the consequences of his actions.
4) Im NOT really interesting in seeing rich people fall in love and just decide to go to Barcelona and not worry about different university fees, and flying back and forth, without any struggles.
5) Why did St Clair propose at 19…please be serious right now😭😭
6) Isla was very…stalkery. Why was that not addressed.
I liked the setting of the book, and her two sisters. Thats probably it, honestly. Kurt was probably the least hated in my opinion.
1)This book includes a character with “high functioning autism” (please let this die PLEASE), who sometimes sleeps in Isla’s bed and makes comments about her boobs. Um okay….?
2) Josh and Isla got together way too quickly at the start. The first book wasn’t perfect, sure, but at least St Clair and Anna both has on and off, some yearning. It was just too insta-lovey.
3) Both characters were extremely irritating at the start. They went through character growth but it atill really annoyed me how Josh did not think about the consequences of his actions.
4) Im NOT really interesting in seeing rich people fall in love and just decide to go to Barcelona and not worry about different university fees, and flying back and forth, without any struggles.
5) Why did St Clair propose at 19…please be serious right now😭😭
6) Isla was very…stalkery. Why was that not addressed.
I liked the setting of the book, and her two sisters. Thats probably it, honestly. Kurt was probably the least hated in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
I CAN'T EVEN WORDS. I JUST FINISHED IT AND I WANT TO RE-READ IT. SO GOOD. SO GOOD.
AND OK MAYBE SPOILER BUT THAT PART WITH ETIENNE AND ANNA?! AHHHHH
I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS HELP
AND OK MAYBE SPOILER BUT THAT PART WITH ETIENNE AND ANNA?! AHHHHH
I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS HELP
4/5
"I am hard on myself. But isn’t it better to be honest about these things before someone else can use them against you? Before someone else can break your heart? Isn’t it better to break it yourself?"
I feel like I enjoyed this more than most of the other reviews I've seen, even though this book is currently rated 4.11. A lot of those whose opinions I trust have rated this 1 or 2 stars, which made me go in with pretty low expectations. However, I've been pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this!
Overall, it was (not surprisingly) cheesy, but it was never totally unrealistic for me. The idea of falling in love with an artist, of course, might be more appealing to me than to others because I'm an art historian but...whatever. I was definitely in love with Josh. I have some issues with Isla, and how jealous she could be, but some of the fears she expressed are fears I have, too, so...I can't hate her for them.
Overall, this was a cute book that made me laugh aloud many times and I enjoyed it overall, even if it was cheesy and even if the main character could be a little mean. I also didn't mind much of it being set in Paris. It was really sweet, and it made me think of boys I've loved, so...four stars seems pretty fair.
"I am hard on myself. But isn’t it better to be honest about these things before someone else can use them against you? Before someone else can break your heart? Isn’t it better to break it yourself?"
I feel like I enjoyed this more than most of the other reviews I've seen, even though this book is currently rated 4.11. A lot of those whose opinions I trust have rated this 1 or 2 stars, which made me go in with pretty low expectations. However, I've been pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this!
Overall, it was (not surprisingly) cheesy, but it was never totally unrealistic for me. The idea of falling in love with an artist, of course, might be more appealing to me than to others because I'm an art historian but...whatever. I was definitely in love with Josh. I have some issues with Isla, and how jealous she could be, but some of the fears she expressed are fears I have, too, so...I can't hate her for them.
Overall, this was a cute book that made me laugh aloud many times and I enjoyed it overall, even if it was cheesy and even if the main character could be a little mean. I also didn't mind much of it being set in Paris. It was really sweet, and it made me think of boys I've loved, so...four stars seems pretty fair.
Let me break this book down for you:
Girl is in love with boy for years without him knowing
Boy is in love with girl for years without her knowing
They get together
They are self deprecating
They break up
They have a heartwarming reunion and live happily ever after.
That's it. That's the story.
2.5 out of 5 stars- only because I like Isla so much more than Anna.
Girl is in love with boy for years without him knowing
Boy is in love with girl for years without her knowing
They get together
They are self deprecating
They break up
They have a heartwarming reunion and live happily ever after.
That's it. That's the story.
2.5 out of 5 stars- only because I like Isla so much more than Anna.
This is easily the worst book I have read all year. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins is marketed as the third book in the Anna and the French Kiss series. I actually liked Anna and the French Kiss but my love for that novel has led me astray... twice. The first time was when I read the sequel, Lola and the Boy Next Door, and found it to be entirely underwhelming. This novel surpassed the insult of underwhelming and managed to hit painful right on the bullseye. So what went wrong? Well for starters, the majority of the book consists of the main character, Isla, compulsively thinking about Josh (the love interest) every freaking second of this entire novel.
“I can’t imagine Josh falling for someone vanilla. Not that Josh would ever fall for me. But I wouldn’t want to ruin any chance. Even though I don’t have a chance. But just in case I do. Even though I don’t.”
Part of the problem lies in the fact that Isla has no self-esteem. She is touted to be the smartest girl in her class, yet she continues to wonder why a guy like Josh would ever look at her; she also wonders why it is so hard to make friends, why she can't plan her whole life, why why why-- which leads to Isla feeling worthless. I get it-- I really do. I understand insecurities but instead of working on herself, Isla seeks validation from another person, Josh. Josh is a mess of a boy. He literally fits every young adult cliche I can think of. This is easiest to read as a list:
He is a bad boy, that secretly cares
He is a talented artist
He is the privileged son of a senator
He is a genius (testing higher than Isla, which also invalidates everything we know about Isla)
He is popular, but a loner
“The lines are careful. They reveal he pays attention. People don’t think he does, because he daydreams and skips class and neglects his homework, but when I see his drawings, I know they’re wrong.”
You know, if he acts like he doesn't care, maybe he really doesn't. The Josh cliches go on, and so do the other cliches and tropes-- running away with a boy, young love after a month, a lifetime of knowing they both loved each other but thought the other didn't, blah blah blah.
This really was an awful book and there were so many things that could have been improved. The secondary cast of characters is very weak. The closest thing Isla has to a best friend is an autistic boy she has known since birth, and instead of exploring the dynamics of their relationship, Perkins uses him as a way to allow Isla to blab on and on about Josh.
This would have been more accurately titled Isla and the Stupid Decisions, or Isla and the Boring Life She Leads: Featuring Boy.
Just stay far far away from this book. If I had to shelve it in the Cheyenne Decimal system it would be filed under good-fire-starters. Find a better book than this one friends.
“I can’t imagine Josh falling for someone vanilla. Not that Josh would ever fall for me. But I wouldn’t want to ruin any chance. Even though I don’t have a chance. But just in case I do. Even though I don’t.”
Part of the problem lies in the fact that Isla has no self-esteem. She is touted to be the smartest girl in her class, yet she continues to wonder why a guy like Josh would ever look at her; she also wonders why it is so hard to make friends, why she can't plan her whole life, why why why-- which leads to Isla feeling worthless. I get it-- I really do. I understand insecurities but instead of working on herself, Isla seeks validation from another person, Josh. Josh is a mess of a boy. He literally fits every young adult cliche I can think of. This is easiest to read as a list:
He is a bad boy, that secretly cares
He is a talented artist
He is the privileged son of a senator
He is a genius (testing higher than Isla, which also invalidates everything we know about Isla)
He is popular, but a loner
“The lines are careful. They reveal he pays attention. People don’t think he does, because he daydreams and skips class and neglects his homework, but when I see his drawings, I know they’re wrong.”
You know, if he acts like he doesn't care, maybe he really doesn't. The Josh cliches go on, and so do the other cliches and tropes-- running away with a boy, young love after a month, a lifetime of knowing they both loved each other but thought the other didn't, blah blah blah.
This really was an awful book and there were so many things that could have been improved. The secondary cast of characters is very weak. The closest thing Isla has to a best friend is an autistic boy she has known since birth, and instead of exploring the dynamics of their relationship, Perkins uses him as a way to allow Isla to blab on and on about Josh.
This would have been more accurately titled Isla and the Stupid Decisions, or Isla and the Boring Life She Leads: Featuring Boy.
Just stay far far away from this book. If I had to shelve it in the Cheyenne Decimal system it would be filed under good-fire-starters. Find a better book than this one friends.
Just wasn't for me, wasn't that invested to complete the second half of the book. Kinda was overdramatic and all just wasn't really keen.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
I had a hard time feeling a connection with these characters, unlike the previous 2 books. But I did enjoy all 3 stories weaving together.
This was my favorite of the three books in this series! I absolutely loved it.