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robinbridgefour 's review for:
Isla and the Happily Ever After
by Stephanie Perkins
3.5ish
Isla….Ohhh Isla where do I begin? I struggled with Isla’s character. At first she is charming and sweet and shy and a little bit obsessed with Josh. Their meeting in the States at a diner while she is high as a kite on pain killers following her wisdom teeth removal was super cute. She was a little more outgoing because of the drugs and I always liked Josh so this started out pretty good for me.
He tastes like champagne. He tastes like desire. He tastes like my deepest craving fulfilled.
But then you find out that Isla is so incredibly closed in. She never takes chances, she sees Josh again and can’t even bring herself to talk to him. Josh actually does all the work to get this relationship up and started. Isla is not a make things happen girl, she is more of a sit back and hope things happen girl.
“I like stories of adventure. Especially if there’s some kind of disaster involved.”
The eyebrow remains arched.
I laugh. “I read the ones with happy endings, too.”
Josh gestures towards my shelves. “You read a lot.”
“Safer than going on a real adventure.”
Now he’s the one who laughs. “Maybe.”
But even so, I liked their burgeoning relationship. I liked them together as they are so different but complimented each other in a lot of ways. I also very much enjoyed the problem of Isla having a male BFF Kurt with slight Aspergers. The way that he and Josh found a way to accept one another in Isla’s life was totally cool.
I was totally into this book the first 40-50% and then Isla has a little melt down of sorts. When something goes down that separates Isla and Josh from being in the same place she really shows just how insecure she really is. That is when I see how much of her I liked simply because she was on page with Josh. They had great banter and dialogue while together and then while Isla is alone on page I see just how empty she is. Without his constant affirmations Isla is lost and it becomes so apparent that she has no idea who she is and what she really wants.
“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?”
So for the next 30% of the book I was just disappointed in Isla. After Lola who while incredibly quirky but totally comfortable with who she is and didn’t need a man in her life to be whole and didn’t really start anything with Cricket until she was whole after leaving her boyfriend and Anna who still did her own thing and really didn’t mope around while she was hopelessly in love with Étienne it was hard to sympathize with Isla who was willing to break her own heart so no one else could do it first.
Thanks goodness for the last 15% of the book which probably saved the whole thing for me. We get to see the entire gang again and I loved it. Anna and Étienne, Lola and Cricket together in Paris headed to the Olympics was fantastic and sad to say but the best scene in the book goes to Anna and Étienne they really stole the show in the short page time they were there.
I absolutely loved the ending!!! It made up for everything I felt about this book in the middle so I’m glad that I read it although I really liked Anna and Lola’s stories better.
Isla….Ohhh Isla where do I begin? I struggled with Isla’s character. At first she is charming and sweet and shy and a little bit obsessed with Josh. Their meeting in the States at a diner while she is high as a kite on pain killers following her wisdom teeth removal was super cute. She was a little more outgoing because of the drugs and I always liked Josh so this started out pretty good for me.
He tastes like champagne. He tastes like desire. He tastes like my deepest craving fulfilled.
But then you find out that Isla is so incredibly closed in. She never takes chances, she sees Josh again and can’t even bring herself to talk to him. Josh actually does all the work to get this relationship up and started. Isla is not a make things happen girl, she is more of a sit back and hope things happen girl.
“I like stories of adventure. Especially if there’s some kind of disaster involved.”
The eyebrow remains arched.
I laugh. “I read the ones with happy endings, too.”
Josh gestures towards my shelves. “You read a lot.”
“Safer than going on a real adventure.”
Now he’s the one who laughs. “Maybe.”
But even so, I liked their burgeoning relationship. I liked them together as they are so different but complimented each other in a lot of ways. I also very much enjoyed the problem of Isla having a male BFF Kurt with slight Aspergers. The way that he and Josh found a way to accept one another in Isla’s life was totally cool.
I was totally into this book the first 40-50% and then Isla has a little melt down of sorts. When something goes down that separates Isla and Josh from being in the same place she really shows just how insecure she really is. That is when I see how much of her I liked simply because she was on page with Josh. They had great banter and dialogue while together and then while Isla is alone on page I see just how empty she is. Without his constant affirmations Isla is lost and it becomes so apparent that she has no idea who she is and what she really wants.
“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?”
So for the next 30% of the book I was just disappointed in Isla. After Lola who while incredibly quirky but totally comfortable with who she is and didn’t need a man in her life to be whole and didn’t really start anything with Cricket until she was whole after leaving her boyfriend and Anna who still did her own thing and really didn’t mope around while she was hopelessly in love with Étienne it was hard to sympathize with Isla who was willing to break her own heart so no one else could do it first.
Thanks goodness for the last 15% of the book which probably saved the whole thing for me. We get to see the entire gang again and I loved it. Anna and Étienne, Lola and Cricket together in Paris headed to the Olympics was fantastic and sad to say but the best scene in the book goes to Anna and Étienne they really stole the show in the short page time they were there.
I absolutely loved the ending!!! It made up for everything I felt about this book in the middle so I’m glad that I read it although I really liked Anna and Lola’s stories better.