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A review by brittanica_bold
French Kissing in New York by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau
4.0
This ARC has been on my TBR forever. With an expected publication date of January 3, 2023 and a title like that, I was thinking this would be a perfect New Years Eve read…and then I got impatient and had to read it!
This ARC definitely got me with it’s cover. All those bright colors and the promise of romance was right up my alley! So how did this seemingly adorable book stack up? Let's find out!
What I liked about the book:
1. This story was basically a love letter to food and New York and I loved it!
I’m not a huge fan of New York, but something about the descriptions of all the little local locations and hipster cookie bars made me want to go again and see if my first time was just a fluke. Maybe I’m hipster enough now to enjoy it???
The food in this story was AMAZING! The sounds, the descriptions, the smells (ok, not really, but you know what I mean) all made me hungry, and even more impressive, made me want to cook, which is usually an absolute no-go for me.
2. Another thing I really liked about this book was that the main character, Margot, was really on a journey of self-discovery. I love books about characters who end up finding themselves, especially if it’s wildly different than they originally thought. It was fun to stick around for Margot’s journey to New York and her crazy antics to try to find “the love of her life”.
Every time I picked up this book to continue reading, I couldn’t think of anything but Taylor Swift’s “Welcome to New York”, which definitely got played on repeat several times while I read this coming-of-age story.
3. Oh, how I loved Ben. He was sweet and stood up for her, he helped her on her hunt, and he legitimately tried to date her in the sincerest way possible. He was definite cinnamon-role hubby material and for sure a Short King!
I loved watching how Margot’s opinion of Ben changed as well. He went from the short guy that was not terrible looking to her best friend that was, like, a total babe.
What could have been better:
1. I felt like there was so much emphasis on the food and locations that it detracted from the characters themselves. I would go so far as to say Margot was not the main character; the main character was New York. As a person that needs a lot of character connection in a book, I found this area lacking.
2. Similarly, because there was so much emphasis on the food and locations, I felt we were really just location hopping, which took away from real plot development at times. I definitely didn’t mind reading about all the locations and food choices the characters made, but there were a couple times I was left hungry and feeling like I didn’t really read anything that advanced the story.
3. I really, really hated how much of the plot was around her happiness being dependent on her finding Zach. Not only because it was Zach, but because it was any other person other than herself. I get that this is a total YA thing to think, and is probably normal (?...But what do I know, I ditched high school in favor of independent study because I couldn’t understand my peers…).
HOWEVER, even if this is “normal” I definitely don’t think it should be emphasized like this in books, or it at least should have been wrapped up with a better message than not being addressed at all. It’s definitely not a healthy message for teens to obsess over someone and completely shirk other parts of their life/responsibilities in order to get them. Like, GIRL, YOU HAVE A JOB AND A DAMN FINE MAN RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. WHAT ARE YOU DOING RISKING THAT FOR SOME DUDE YOU KISSED ONCE???
Final Thoughts: This was a cute little love story to food, first loves, and the city that never sleeps. Definitely worth a read if you are a YA romance fan ❤️
Final Rating: 3.5 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children's / Delacorte Press, and Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau for the free copy of this book. The review above is reflective of my honest opinion.
This ARC definitely got me with it’s cover. All those bright colors and the promise of romance was right up my alley! So how did this seemingly adorable book stack up? Let's find out!
What I liked about the book:
1. This story was basically a love letter to food and New York and I loved it!
I’m not a huge fan of New York, but something about the descriptions of all the little local locations and hipster cookie bars made me want to go again and see if my first time was just a fluke. Maybe I’m hipster enough now to enjoy it???
The food in this story was AMAZING! The sounds, the descriptions, the smells (ok, not really, but you know what I mean) all made me hungry, and even more impressive, made me want to cook, which is usually an absolute no-go for me.
2. Another thing I really liked about this book was that the main character, Margot, was really on a journey of self-discovery. I love books about characters who end up finding themselves, especially if it’s wildly different than they originally thought. It was fun to stick around for Margot’s journey to New York and her crazy antics to try to find “the love of her life”.
Every time I picked up this book to continue reading, I couldn’t think of anything but Taylor Swift’s “Welcome to New York”, which definitely got played on repeat several times while I read this coming-of-age story.
3. Oh, how I loved Ben. He was sweet and stood up for her, he helped her on her hunt, and he legitimately tried to date her in the sincerest way possible. He was definite cinnamon-role hubby material and for sure a Short King!
I loved watching how Margot’s opinion of Ben changed as well. He went from the short guy that was not terrible looking to her best friend that was, like, a total babe.
What could have been better:
1. I felt like there was so much emphasis on the food and locations that it detracted from the characters themselves. I would go so far as to say Margot was not the main character; the main character was New York. As a person that needs a lot of character connection in a book, I found this area lacking.
2. Similarly, because there was so much emphasis on the food and locations, I felt we were really just location hopping, which took away from real plot development at times. I definitely didn’t mind reading about all the locations and food choices the characters made, but there were a couple times I was left hungry and feeling like I didn’t really read anything that advanced the story.
3. I really, really hated how much of the plot was around her happiness being dependent on her finding Zach. Not only because it was Zach, but because it was any other person other than herself. I get that this is a total YA thing to think, and is probably normal (?...But what do I know, I ditched high school in favor of independent study because I couldn’t understand my peers…).
HOWEVER, even if this is “normal” I definitely don’t think it should be emphasized like this in books, or it at least should have been wrapped up with a better message than not being addressed at all. It’s definitely not a healthy message for teens to obsess over someone and completely shirk other parts of their life/responsibilities in order to get them. Like, GIRL, YOU HAVE A JOB AND A DAMN FINE MAN RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. WHAT ARE YOU DOING RISKING THAT FOR SOME DUDE YOU KISSED ONCE???
Final Thoughts: This was a cute little love story to food, first loves, and the city that never sleeps. Definitely worth a read if you are a YA romance fan ❤️
Final Rating: 3.5 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children's / Delacorte Press, and Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau for the free copy of this book. The review above is reflective of my honest opinion.