Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21850308-isla-and-the-happily-ever-after
Isla and the Happily Ever After
(Anna and the French Kiss #3)
by Stephanie Perkins
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Publication Date: August 14th 2014
Publisher: Dutton
Pages: 339
ISBN: 9780525425632
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Source: Own
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From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever.

Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new. (Goodreads)
I’ve been waiting over 2½ years to get my hands on Isla and the Happily Ever After, and now that I’ve finished it I can honestly say, it was definitely worth the wait. Stephanie Perkins has totally outdone herself with this novel. As much as I loved Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door, my new favorite book in this series is definitely Isla and the Happily Ever After!

Isla and the Happily Ever After is Isla and Josh’s story. Isla has had a crush on Josh since she first saw him three years ago at SOAP, School of America in Paris. After a chance meeting one night in a small café, Isla finally summons up the courage to talk to Josh.  Thus begins a whirlwind romance that leaves them both falling hard for each other.  But is a happy ever after in their future, or will fate pull them apart?

Isla was such a great character. She was very shy and patient, but she also had a lot of insecurities that were hard for her to overcome. I found her to be an extremely likeable character. Josh is oh-so-swoon-worthy, and also very easy to like. While he seems to be almost perfect at times, he has his own set of insecurities and doubts that he deals with on a daily basis. But that just makes you love him even more. These characters were so alike, and yet so different, that they worked perfectly together. They were so freaking cute, it was so sweet.

The secondary characters in the novel were all very well written, especially Kurt, Isla’s best friend who is autistic. I really liked the families for both characters as well, even though we really don’t get to see as much of either family as much as I would have liked. I also love that we get to revisit with some of the characters that we have already met previously in the series. It was great to ‘catch up’ with them.

As I’ve mentioned before in my previous reviews, I am a sucker for a good love story. I can’t help it, I just can’t resist them. And I especially love a book that brings out all the feels. This book brought out so many emotions in me. There was happiness and sadness, embarrassment and jealousy, and even anger and immense joy. You will feel all these things and more when reading this book. All the feels, seriously, you will feel them.

The ending of the book made me squeal like a little school girl. It’s an ending that will leave you feeling super giddy long after you turn the last pages. It was SO SWEET. I thought the story wrapped up the series very nicely, even though I think there are people in the series that more stories could be written about. That would be awesome!

Overall, this book was a wonderful ending to an already wonderful series. I really hate to see it come to an end, as I love these characters and their stories. If you haven’t read this series yet, I highly recommend that you do so, as soon as possible. If you loved Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door, you’re definitely going to love Isla and the Happily Ever After as well!


Also in this series....



Anna and the French Kiss  |  Lola and the Boy Next Door


4 comments:

  1. Isla turned out to be my favorite in the series! And I couldn't agree more about the ending, lots of squeals and sighs.

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  2. I just bought this one and am so excited to start it! It sounds like Perkins did a fabulous job (once again) with the characters and emotions of the story.

    Fantastic review :)

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  3. I LOVE that Perkins has an autistic character, she is the best at writing characters. I know I should read Lola first but I want to move right on to Isla!

    Great review!

    Amber Elise @ Du Livre

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  4. I literally just finished this. I read the whole thing in one sitting, and I'm sad to see it end, but I agree, I think it just trumped my favorites. (I think I'm the only one in the universe who liked Lola and Cricket more) But now, this one was perfect. And I don't want to start reading anything else because I still want to be in their world!

    Cassie @ Happy Book Lovers

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Thanks for stopping by! :)