Seriously, the two main things going against this book are 1) the title, and 2) the cheesy-looking cover. I kept reading amazing reviews of this book everywhere I turned, but I had a hard time getting past the title and the cover. Finally, I gave in. And it was so good I have been disappointed with every book I have read since.
Now, I feel like I have to give a couple warnings. There is some swearing (pretty serious swearing) and immoral acts are alluded to (but never acted out). It's still a cleaner book than a lot of other YA lit I've read recently. It's much better than what you'd find in, say, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books. If they didn't bother you, this won't bother you.
That out of the way, I'm ready to tell you that this book is funny. Lots of witty, guffaw-out-loud dialogue. I loved the characters and I loved how well you got to know them. This book is about Anna, who is sent by her author father to spend her senior year at a high school for rich American teens in Paris. Anna is not excessively rich, by the way. Her author father has had very little to do with her life, so she is surprisingly humble and down to earth. I liked her so much and felt like I knew her so well that when I read The Invention of Hugo Cabret, I thought, "Oh, Anna would love this book!" She loves Cinematic History. Here I am, thinking of a book character as if we were actually friends. Embarrassing!
There's more I could say, but I'll let you discover this book for yourself if you're interested. I guarantee you'll find it funny and you'll find the romance fabulous. I think it's fabulous because Anna and Etienne (who is British - love his Britishisms!) spend nearly the entire book as best friends. The plot is great, character development is great, dialogue is great, setting is fabulous, romance is well-developed. It has a lot going for it.
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