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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
So. perfect. Ridiculously cute. I'm so sad that this is the last we'll see of the characters in this universe, but I'm grateful for everything we have gotten from them.
I'm giving this book 4 stars because I enjoyed it but it didn't have quite the same impact on me as Anna and Lola. It took me longer to get to know Isla whereas Josh filled the pages from the beginning. Their love story felt more fraught and developed more quickly than the others, but that didn't make the ending any less enjoyable. There are still lots of moments to gush about. I liked how the action was spaced over 3 cities and I loved all the descriptions of Josh's art, particularly the graphic memoir that had intrigued me in Anna. It was good to see old characters again, of course, and I loved the return to Point Zero. Anna, Lola and Isla sit nicely together as a trilogy but each girl is really distinctive, which I love.
I find this series very cute with their light-hearted love stories.
Isla Martin has been in love with Josh ever since she laid eyes on him 3 years ago. And when they have a brief run in the summer before Senior Year at the School of America in Paris, she's hopeful. But nothing happens and she's not sure if it means anything. She's petite, cute and smart but she's not as innocent as she may appear. She'a had some experience in relationships before and she has many insecurities about her future.
“I don't care about anything. But I care about you.”
Josh Wasserstein is staying back a year while all his friends move on to college. With parents who lack an interest in him, he loses himself as he slips in school until he's on the verge of expulsion. He's noticed Isla before but misunderstandings have kept him away.
But with their mutual attraction, soon Isla and Josh start to hang out and fall in love. The time they spend together brings them happiness and their relationship becomes serious. And the night they truly give themselves to each other, the consequences prove worse for Josh as the last straw is pulled for him and they end up thousands of miles away.
Determined to stay together, they try to make it work but uncertain Isla lets her insecurities get the better of her and of them. With Josh's family going through a busy time, she herself has time to think, too much time, and ends up doubting their love and what it means. Ruining them.
Both of them miserable. She knows she's made a mistake.
“I smile up at him. "It's beautiful. But what comes next?"
"The best part." And he pulls me back into his arms. "The happily ever after.”
So yeah this book, not really my thing but I didn't struggle to read it so it was a nice easy read.
Isla Martin has been in love with Josh ever since she laid eyes on him 3 years ago. And when they have a brief run in the summer before Senior Year at the School of America in Paris, she's hopeful. But nothing happens and she's not sure if it means anything. She's petite, cute and smart but she's not as innocent as she may appear. She'a had some experience in relationships before and she has many insecurities about her future.
“I don't care about anything. But I care about you.”
Josh Wasserstein is staying back a year while all his friends move on to college. With parents who lack an interest in him, he loses himself as he slips in school until he's on the verge of expulsion. He's noticed Isla before but misunderstandings have kept him away.
But with their mutual attraction, soon Isla and Josh start to hang out and fall in love. The time they spend together brings them happiness and their relationship becomes serious. And the night they truly give themselves to each other, the consequences prove worse for Josh as the last straw is pulled for him and they end up thousands of miles away.
Determined to stay together, they try to make it work but uncertain Isla lets her insecurities get the better of her and of them. With Josh's family going through a busy time, she herself has time to think, too much time, and ends up doubting their love and what it means. Ruining them.
Both of them miserable. She knows she's made a mistake.
“I smile up at him. "It's beautiful. But what comes next?"
"The best part." And he pulls me back into his arms. "The happily ever after.”
So yeah this book, not really my thing but I didn't struggle to read it so it was a nice easy read.
I loved Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door. I love Stephanie Perkins' writing. But I did not love Isla and the Happily Ever After. In Anna and the French Kiss & Lola and the Boy Next Door, the main characters had distinctive personalities. Isla didn't. She has no defining qualities except for the fact that she has a crush on Josh. And then they date and that's her defining quality. *rolls eyes* I get that she's still figuring herself out and while that's ok and makes her realistic,(Many real people, myself included, are still figuring themselves out) it makes her hard to connect to. Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door featured beautiful relationships that took time to develop. Isla and the Happily Ever After did not. Isla had a crush on Josh from the beginning and they knew each other for only a little while before getting together. I believe they love each other but that love is not interesting to read about. In fact, it's boring. So boring that I finished 2 Harry Potter books before finishing this book. I don't hate this book. It's entertaining enough, and the cameos from characters that were in previous books is great. But it's not my thing. And I only gave it 3 stars because I continue to love Stephanie's writing and the characters she creates and for the Anna, St. Clair, Lola, and Cricket cameos. I will read any other books she writes in the future but this one wasn't for me.
I wasn't in love with this one right away like when I read Anna and Lola. By the end though Stephanie Perkins completely had me sold on Isla and Josh to the point where I was weepy. PLUS what happens with Anna and Étienne! *sigh*
I'm really conflicted about how I felt about this book. I really loved the beginning (and I never like beginnings that much), but the middle part I strongly disliked. Isla was so ignorant and stupid and it annoyed me a lot. Like girl if you just thought like a normal person there wouldn't have been a plot. I just realized that's why I disliked it so much, because I don't like stories where the characters are create their own problems. I just can't deal with that.
There are two very major factors that didn't help:
The first being that it's been over a year since I read Lola and Anna and I think if I read this one closer to the others I would've enjoyed it a lot more
The second is that is paused reading this in the middle of the book to pick up my most anticipated book of the year. That pause really pulled my out of the story
So especially when I picked it up again my annoyances grew. However, the ending was really cute. I liked the cameos of the other books, but I had higher hopes for it.
I am glad I finally read this and I am now done with these books. Anna will remain my fave, but I'm not sure if I like Lola of Isla more cause I read them so far apart. So yeah I think 3 stars is a very appropriate rating for how I feel about it.
There are two very major factors that didn't help:
The first being that it's been over a year since I read Lola and Anna and I think if I read this one closer to the others I would've enjoyed it a lot more
The second is that is paused reading this in the middle of the book to pick up my most anticipated book of the year. That pause really pulled my out of the story
So especially when I picked it up again my annoyances grew. However, the ending was really cute. I liked the cameos of the other books, but I had higher hopes for it.
I am glad I finally read this and I am now done with these books. Anna will remain my fave, but I'm not sure if I like Lola of Isla more cause I read them so far apart. So yeah I think 3 stars is a very appropriate rating for how I feel about it.
This series makes me happy! At first glance the series looks a little kitschy, but once you get sucked in you can't stop!
I really enjoyed this book, as well as the others in the series. As they tend to be a great deal more romantic than most of what I read, I tend to view them as a sort of "guilty pleasure," but that is not to say they are not good. They are well written, complex, heart wrenchingly emotional, and the characters are immensely relatable. I enjoyed this particular one more than both of its predecessors; this is not because I think it is objectively better, but rather because I find myself having a lot more in common with Josh and Isla than, per se, Lola or St Clair. Overall, well done. I'm a little sad there will be no more of these, but I think the story was ended well and in time.
3.5 stars. I really liked Josh and Isla’s relationship, and it was nice to see some of the other characters again. I found there was a bit too much of melodrama at some points, but otherwise was well done. A great trilogy!