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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I could not put it down. Stephanie Perkins has done it again! She broke my heart, she put it back together, held it in out of my reach and finally threw it back at me at the end.
This book is so teenager-angsty and lovey-dovey that I got annoyed, but for the target audience of teenage girls it's probably perfect. All of the readers who loved the other two books will likely love this one just as much.
Absolutely adored this book. I have no clue which one is my favorite... Anna, Lola, Isla, they are all so magical <3. Anna and Etienne are getting married. I'm pukinfg rainbows right now.
Two privileged white kids from America, Isla (the obsessive stalker) and Josh (the self-absorbed artist), attend a boarding school in France. After a few encounters they fall in hormonally driven instalove then experience neverending drama until the last few pages. The whole thing made me feel weird and left me very unsatisfied. I can't believe I waited over two years for this. Stephanie Perkins is such an excellent author and this book could have had so much potential. I'm mega bummed out.
I just finished reading Isla and the Happily Ever After and I cannot stop smiling. I was a little wary when I first read the synopsis and when I started reading the first chapter, but I resolved to finish the book out of deference to Anna and St. Clair. When I read that Isla had a crush on Josh for three years, I was envisioning this really awkward and predictable book where Isla would finally get Josh to notice her and his flattery would lead to a relationship. I couldn't have been more off base (besides the first awkward encounter in the book) and I've never been more happy to have my expectations shattered. This book is beautifully written and at its heart is a story of self-discovery. Josh knows what he wants to do with his life and devotes almost all of his time to his art. Isla is a smart girl who knows her priorities, but she doesn't have a clear sense of direction on where she wants her life to go, and this bothers her. The depth of Isla and Josh's relationship is so enthralling to read and I pretty much had a perpetual smile plastered on my face throughout most of this novel. I could sympathize with Isla throughout the book and I understood the reasoning behind her decisions. The events that unfolded in their relationship were so realistic, and it truly made me believe in their love.
Since I first picked up this book to gain more insight into Anna and St. Clair's lives, I have to mention the one truly heart stopping moment in this book. It was unexpected, and the writing of this entire scene was so flawless, it honestly felt like I was there with Josh and Isla and Cricket and Lola and Meredith, witnessing a moment that cannot be adequately described even by all senses of the word beautiful.
Stephanie Perkins does an amazing job of writing witty banter that is so fun to read and really makes you fall in love with the characters. I only wish I could come up with half of the comebacks in the dialogue she writes. One line towards the end of the book really resonated with me, and I think it is a beautiful summation of the love Isla and Josh share: Artists are inspired by blank canvases. This means a lot more in context, but I had to write about it in this review if only so I will never forget the magic I felt the first time I read those words.
Isla and the Happily Ever After is a beautiful conclusion to the insight we've gained into these characters' lives since the first page of Anna and the French Kiss. It's been an incredible journey to share with them and I plan on revisiting their stories when I reread these books in the near future.
Since I first picked up this book to gain more insight into Anna and St. Clair's lives, I have to mention the one truly heart stopping moment in this book. It was unexpected, and the writing of this entire scene was so flawless, it honestly felt like I was there with Josh and Isla and Cricket and Lola and Meredith, witnessing a moment that cannot be adequately described even by all senses of the word beautiful.
Stephanie Perkins does an amazing job of writing witty banter that is so fun to read and really makes you fall in love with the characters. I only wish I could come up with half of the comebacks in the dialogue she writes. One line towards the end of the book really resonated with me, and I think it is a beautiful summation of the love Isla and Josh share: Artists are inspired by blank canvases. This means a lot more in context, but I had to write about it in this review if only so I will never forget the magic I felt the first time I read those words.
Isla and the Happily Ever After is a beautiful conclusion to the insight we've gained into these characters' lives since the first page of Anna and the French Kiss. It's been an incredible journey to share with them and I plan on revisiting their stories when I reread these books in the near future.
so not only did I love Isla and Josh's love story I loved how everyone else's stories wrapped in to this one. it was such a quick and enjoyable read!
My expectations for this book were absolutely through the roof after hearing so much buzz and the excited laughter on Hypeable's BookHype podcast. So maybe I need to give this another shot, but I didn't love it. Read the whole thing in one long day, because I knew I couldn't spread it out/it would distract me if I had to go to work without it finished.
I think I'll wait about six months to a year and get all three books on audio and re-experience them.
Isla herself was a less-developed character for me. I really only knew that she was smart, petite, and sometimes a little sassy. Her desire to learn about herself was painful but honest and real, but it sort of felt like she wasn't distinct because she hadn't figured it out yet. Very different than Lola!
I almost would have preferred the point of view to be Josh, because he was a character I'd liked from the first book and he seemed much more interesting. He had an artsy bad boy sort of vibe without it being too emo or cliche, and I think a major component to that being successful was that he was also a politician's son and had a whole section of the book where he was sort of this totally different guy. However this made me more wary of him/ made me wonder if there was more to him than met the eye and if we could not totally trust him.
I also didn't really understand his graphic novel--maybe it would have been much more powerful to have examples of "Josh's" artwork in the book, because I think the descriptions of his art could have been supported by images.
I didn't love how Isla
One of the things that I enjoyed so much with Anna and Lola was the wonderful tension that built up slowly and was excruciatingly delicious to read, and while I think it was good to try something different than that pattern again, I would have almost liked to read that pattern (over I&J getting together so quickly) because Perkins does tension so well. I think there was more... evolution to this story. I don't know how to say it--just that the story was perhaps more mature? I want to give it another try some day.
Also, I agree with one of the other reviews I've read: in Anna and Lola, pretty much all the side characters are fleshed out/we care about them/they feel important (if not to the reader, then at least to the girl). I didn't care about Isla's family or Hattie, and Kurt was okay but could have been more.
2nd read through:
Overall I still agree with my first review: Isla seemed less developed/independently interesting when compared to Anna and Lola. She would have a lot of internal dialogue about being insecure and feeling unworthy, but all her aloud dialogue was banter-y and on point.
I understood the breakup better this time through--she was afraid Josh would lose interest or someday break her heart, so she sort of preemptively broke it off. I still did not understand why she felt that she was unworthy of love? This is sort of a very personal thing I can relate to, wherein every once in awhile I have a bit of self doubt about my own value and self worth, but I did not feel that this Isla was present throughout the book.
I liked Kurt better this read-through, but wanted better resolution with Hattie--she is presented as sort of an enemy, but is perfectly ready and willing to be conciliatory and grateful to Isla within one conversation?
I also did not like the audio book narrator's voice, which was a bit throaty and gave Isla weird inflections.
I think I'll wait about six months to a year and get all three books on audio and re-experience them.
Isla herself was a less-developed character for me. I really only knew that she was smart, petite, and sometimes a little sassy. Her desire to learn about herself was painful but honest and real, but it sort of felt like she wasn't distinct because she hadn't figured it out yet. Very different than Lola!
I almost would have preferred the point of view to be Josh, because he was a character I'd liked from the first book and he seemed much more interesting. He had an artsy bad boy sort of vibe without it being too emo or cliche, and I think a major component to that being successful was that he was also a politician's son and had a whole section of the book where he was sort of this totally different guy. However this made me more wary of him/ made me wonder if there was more to him than met the eye and if we could not totally trust him.
I also didn't really understand his graphic novel--maybe it would have been much more powerful to have examples of "Josh's" artwork in the book, because I think the descriptions of his art could have been supported by images.
I didn't love how Isla
Spoiler
broke up with Josh. I mean, I saw A breakup coming considering they got together so early on in the book, but I read through that section too fast to understand. And then had to suffer through a hundred pages of depressed Isla because they're broken up and she's upset. That was no fun.One of the things that I enjoyed so much with Anna and Lola was the wonderful tension that built up slowly and was excruciatingly delicious to read, and while I think it was good to try something different than that pattern again, I would have almost liked to read that pattern (over I&J getting together so quickly) because Perkins does tension so well. I think there was more... evolution to this story. I don't know how to say it--just that the story was perhaps more mature? I want to give it another try some day.
Also, I agree with one of the other reviews I've read: in Anna and Lola, pretty much all the side characters are fleshed out/we care about them/they feel important (if not to the reader, then at least to the girl). I didn't care about Isla's family or Hattie, and Kurt was okay but could have been more.
Spoiler
I also sort of felt side-swiped on the "reason" that Isla broke up with Josh. She comes to the conclusion that she deserves love. I did not see this coming and did not understand it. Did I even read this book???2nd read through:
Spoiler
Overall I still agree with my first review: Isla seemed less developed/independently interesting when compared to Anna and Lola. She would have a lot of internal dialogue about being insecure and feeling unworthy, but all her aloud dialogue was banter-y and on point.
I understood the breakup better this time through--she was afraid Josh would lose interest or someday break her heart, so she sort of preemptively broke it off. I still did not understand why she felt that she was unworthy of love? This is sort of a very personal thing I can relate to, wherein every once in awhile I have a bit of self doubt about my own value and self worth, but I did not feel that this Isla was present throughout the book.
I liked Kurt better this read-through, but wanted better resolution with Hattie--she is presented as sort of an enemy, but is perfectly ready and willing to be conciliatory and grateful to Isla within one conversation?
I also did not like the audio book narrator's voice, which was a bit throaty and gave Isla weird inflections.
OHMYGOD! Someone help, I may have died from how adorable this book was...
ALL THE FEELS!!! I clearly need to read the two that come before this one! I know I know backwards!