Review: “Isla and the Happily Ever After”, Stephanie Perkins

Recommended beverage while reading: very strong, very hot, black coffee.

PopSugar challenge category: “A book you can read in a day”

Rating: about 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart. (Goodreads)

Alrighty, so Isla and the Happily Ever After is the final installment of the Anna and the French Kiss series, just in case anyone isn’t aware. But they’re only a series in that they have some overlapping characters and that they follow the same basic story outline. They focus on different characters, while still letting us check in on the previous books’ story-lines. Which I love. I dunno about you all, but there’s just something about finding out what’s going on in the background of a story, or seeing the same story from another person’s perspective that I find immensely enjoyable.

Maybe it’s because we get to check in on both Anna and Etienne and Lola and Cricket that this is my favorite of the series. Or maybe that’s part of the reason, anyway. I think the main reason that I liked this one best was that I related to Isla more than I did to either Anna or Lola. I mean, yes, I liked them both, but I know what Isla deals with when she berates herself. Sometimes it’s just easier to believe in other people’s abilities than it is to believe in your own.

That being said, I did have my issues with it. But I think it’s more that I have my issues with YA contemporary romances in general. In my Goodreads review I said “The fluff level is just gnawingly saccharine. It was like inhaling cotton candy.” And, like candy, it was addicting. Don’t get me wrong — it was enjoyable. But at the same time, perhaps marthoning it wasn’t the best idea. For some reason, doing that just makes all the problems that much more irritating.

**Possible spoilery-ness ahead**

The problems Isla and Josh faced just seemed so inconsequential, you know? I get that that’s part of the deal — their love is so powerful that any problems should seem bearable. And I get that teenagers are dumb and make stupid, impulsive, masochistic decisions. Even knowing all of that, I still didn’t really feel like that the “obstacle” our main characters had to face really made that much sense, and I didn’t really see that it was as earth shattering as it was supposed to be. Maybe I’m just getting too old and pessimistic (or as I like to say, realistic) for YA.

**End of “spoilers”**

Anyway, the series is now finished, and I don’t feel all that torn up about it. I hear that Stephanie Perkins’ next novel is going to be a horror/slasher, and you know what? I am pretty damn excited about it, because despite my problems with these books, I recognize that Perkins has a gift for description, and for writing relatable characters. This genre is so far from what I’m used to seeing from her that I can’t help but be eager to see what it’s like.

I’d recommend this series to fans of John Green and Rainbow Rowell. And possibly Gayle Forman (even though I have given up on ever liking one of her books).