Review: Anna And The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkin

Stephanie Perkin

This book tells a story of Anna, an American girl who was sent by her father to a boarding school in Paris, France. She was looking forward to spend her senior year with her best friend and the boy that she has a crush on but her father ruins her plan by shipping her to SOAP (School of America in Paris). 

Anna is ready to be miserable in Paris until she meets a group of friends. They are not only befriend Anna but also drag her out of her dorm to experience the city of Paris the way it should be. Anna starts to have a feeling to one of her friends in Paris, St. Clair but he is already in a relationship. She tries to hide her feeling but the connection and chemistry between them are just too much. 

To me the best part of the book is the relationship between Anna & St. Clair. It was slow, carefully developed by the author so we can feel the chemistry between the two of them. I like Anna. She tried her best to fit in with St. Clair's friends and her obsession on spending the time at cinema was so cute. And she wrote movie reviews!!! I love her. 

St. Clair is a very charming guy. Not going to blame Anna for her crush on him because he is a caring, warm and adorable. Together they are perfect for each other and it's easy to root for them to be together even though St. Clare is already taken. 

The supporting characters really added to the story. I like Josh the most and I can't wait to read the third book in this series which is going to focus on Josh and the girl who Anna thought is perfect for him, Isla. 

Overall, I love the book. It's very romantic and the ending was so beautiful. I'm currently reading the second book in this series, Lola and the Boy Next Door. 

Review: Te@mare Volume 1 & 2 by Ben Wong

Ben Wong

Te@mare (pronounce as Te Amare) or I Will Always Love You tells a story of high school student, Colin who kept dreaming about a girl in his sleep. Even though he couldn't see the girl's face, he's pretty sure that the girl in his dream is Hana. Unfortunately, another guy in his school, Ryder is also falling in love with Hana and will do anything to make sure that Colin stay away from Hana. Lucky for Colin, he has Keiko, his best friend. Keiko is a very tough girl but secretly crushing on Colin. And there's also another mysterious girl, Mia who was saved by both Colin & Ryder from his psycho ex-boyfriend. 

Te@mare is definitely my favorite graphic novel right now. I always adore Ben's works. Ben is one of the famous graphic novel author in Malaysia. Among his previous works are Le.Gardenie and Fatal Chaos series. And I'm so happy when he comes up with another series. Te@mare is a contemporary/romance/young adult graphic novel. 

The characters are very interesting. Between the five lead characters, I really like Keiko. Something about her really intrigue me. She's such a bad-ass. I also like Hana. I think she's very sweet. No wonder so many boys at the school fell in love with her. Colin is a very typical male lead. Kinda a loser a little bit. As for Ryder, he's awesome. Yeah, he's rude and the way he consider Hana as her girlfriend is kinda creepy but he's definitely funny. I like the chemistry between him and Keiko though. They are so funny together. And finally Mia. She was okay but I didn't really like her yet. I think she's too needy and a little bit too flirty with both Colin & Ryder. 

The first volume was released on March while the second one was released this October so I'm pretty sure the third volume will be released next year which kinda annoy me a little bit. I'm not good at waiting. 

Review: The Selection Series (The Selection, The Elite & The One) by Kiera Cass

Kiera Cass

America Singer was chosen to be a part of 'The Selection' which is a competition to find the future queen. Despite the support from her family, America has no interest to be in the competition due to her feeling to her secret boyfriend, Aspen. They hide their relationship due to the caste system. 

Aspen decides to let America find her own destiny and break up with her. Devastating by Aspen's decision, America decides to enter the competition. A total of 35 girls were chose to be in The Selection and they will be eliminated one by one until the Prince decides on his true love. 

A fortunate meeting with the Prince Maxon, causes them to befriend each other. America promises Prince Maxon that she will help Prince Maxon to find the perfect wife for him. All he needs to do is keeping America as far as he can. 

However both of them starts to fall in love with each other. She begins to think that she could marry him and forgets Aspen. But, when America see Aspen again at the castle as a guard, she become confused. 

The first thing that came to my mind when I read this book was The Bachelor/Bachelorette. The similarities are there and I can't help myself from comparing this book with the reality tv show. 

But I still enjoyed the whole series. It took me less than a week to finish all three books. I really like America. I think she is a very strong character. I like her determination and she is an easy heroine to root for. I love the way she tried to fit in to the royal circle but never lost herself in the process. 

Between all three books, my favorite is definitely the first one. But the other 2 are still good. I'm glad that I wait for all three books to be released before I started to read this series. The final book (The One) is a great conclusion to this series. It was intense and nerve-wrecking. I'm still sad because one of my characters in this book was killed in the third book but the ending still managed to make me appreciate the series.