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Anna & the French Kiss Stephanie Perkins 3 Books Collection Pack Set
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- GenresRomanceYoung Adult
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About the author
Stephanie Perkins
22 books27.4k followersHi, there! I'm Stephanie Perkins, and I'm a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author. My next novel is called Overdue, and it's a sweet and swoony romance for adults that will be published on October 7, 2025. I'm also the author of three YA romance novels, Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door, and Isla and the Happily Ever After, as well as two YA horror novels, There's Someone Inside Your House, which was adapted into a film for Netflix, and The Woods Are Always Watching. I also edited (and contributed a short story to) a romantic holiday anthology called My True Love Gave to Me and its companion anthology Summer Days and Summer Nights.
I don't check my Goodreads inbox! Better ways to reach me are listed here on my website: http://stephanieperkins.com/about/, and you can also find me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/naturallyste...
I don't check my Goodreads inbox! Better ways to reach me are listed here on my website: http://stephanieperkins.com/about/, and you can also find me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/naturallyste...
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 8, 2022
I was sorting through some older books (the local library book sale is coming up) and came across Perkins’s “Paris” trilogy, which is one of the best YA rom-com series around. I definitely had to do a re-read, and the library can wait to get them for the next sale.
This really is a trilogy, too, in that the story progresses from each volume to the next, with the principal characters becoming part of the supporting cast for each subsequent story. The first one features Anna Oliphant, seventeen and about to begin her junior year in Atlanta, when her divorced father announces she’s being packed off to a posh boarding school in Paris for her last two years. Dad is a very successful and wealthy author -- a beautifully satirical and spot-on portrait of Nicholas Sparks, actually -- and he wants her to experience “culture.” Anna resits, of course. She’s taken Spanish all through school and doesn’t know a word of French, she knows nothing about the city’s history, she won’t get to see her best friend, she won’t know anyone, and she’s sure she’ll be an outcast. (“No one will invite me to watch the mimes escape from their invisible boxes, or whatever.”) Plus, there was that boy she worked with at the theater with whom she’s sure things were just about to start happening.
And it is, indeed, an alien environment, but then she’s taken under the wing of a group of students she meets her first night in the dining room. And the leader of the group is the extremely charismatic Etienne St. Clair, Anglo-American-French, and a history nerd. The others in the group are Meredith (tall, muscular, athletic, and a really nice person), Josh Wasserstrein (son of a U.S. Senator from New York, a very talented artist, and St. Clair’s best friend), and Rashmi Devi (Josh’s girlfriend, though they seem to fight a lot). Of course, there’s also Amanda, the requisite mean girl, who has her sights set on St. Clair and is jealous of his attentions to Amanda. At least Anna has her film review blog and her dreams of attending a university with a good from school and becoming the next Pauline Kael. It’s going to be a rocky couple of years for everyone, but Perkins is an expert and juggling all the plots, subplots, and relationships, and in building a very credible romance out of it all.
* * * *
The second volume is set in San Francisco the year following the first book and the focus this time is on Lola Nolan, seventeen, living in the Castro district with two gay fathers (one of whom is actually her biological uncle). She also has a twenty-two-year-old hard-rocker boyfriend, Max, whom both her dads hate. But the key to Lola is her love of costume. She dresses in bizarre ways but always seems to make it work, she has a serious talent with a sewing machine, and she hopes to become a costume designer in Hollywood and on Broadway. She’s also extremely independent-minded, which gets her into trouble on a regular basis.
But Lola has a nemesis in Caliope Bell, a world-class figure skater her age who has lived next door off and since they both were small, and Caliope’s absurdly tall twin brother, Cricket. She had a huge crush on Cricket for years, but then Caliope basically chased her away, and then the twins moved to find her a new coach. Lola has been trying to get over Cricket ever since, and has sort of managed it, but now the twins are back again. She’s reconnecting with Cricket whether she wants to or not, Caliope is dedicated to sabotaging her, and Max is acting weird. The whole thing is causing her relationship with her overprotective dads to fray around the edges, and she’s feeling the pressure of trying to get her enormous Marie Antoinette gown completed before prom.
Again, Perkins makes it all work and the supporting cast is equally well developed. Anna and St. Clair are college freshmen at Berkeley and San Francisco State and Lola is working part-time at the same theater where the work, so they're available to give her support and advice, and Lola’s best buddy, Lindsey, a buddy detective, is a hoot. (She should get her own book.)
* * * *
In the third volume, we’re back in Paris, and this time we follow Josh the artist and his problems, as well as Isla Isla, a half-French fellow New Yorker who had a bit part in the first book. It’s the same year that Lola and Cricket are rediscovering each other, and Josh is a senior now. His girlfriend, Rashmi, dumped him (with justification) so now he’s spending all his time working on a massive graphic novel about his time at the school. And I mean all his time, because he’s not bothering much with actual school work, he hates his father (who’s using him as a photo op in his re-election campaign). Isla has been carrying a torch for Josh since they were freshmen, but this is the first time he hasn’t been surrounding by his crew (they’ve all graduated) and she wonders if perhaps she can work up the nerve to get to know him now. Isla’s very smart -- she’s set to be her class’s valedictorian -- but she’s also very shy and self-deprecating, so it’s a struggle. She also has a close friend in Kurt, whom she has known all her life and who is high-functioning autistic, but his particular take on on the world helps keep her grounded.
Of course, Isla and Josh will slowly get together (or else there would be no story), but their relationship, too, will be exceedingly rocky as she tries to come to terms with his self-destructive side and with the stratospheric social world in which he moves because of his father’s career.
As always Perks does a wonderful job of painting her characters and the turmoil of their lives in multiple dimensions. And the romantic scenes in all three books are beautifully done. I give all of them a very high recommendation.
This really is a trilogy, too, in that the story progresses from each volume to the next, with the principal characters becoming part of the supporting cast for each subsequent story. The first one features Anna Oliphant, seventeen and about to begin her junior year in Atlanta, when her divorced father announces she’s being packed off to a posh boarding school in Paris for her last two years. Dad is a very successful and wealthy author -- a beautifully satirical and spot-on portrait of Nicholas Sparks, actually -- and he wants her to experience “culture.” Anna resits, of course. She’s taken Spanish all through school and doesn’t know a word of French, she knows nothing about the city’s history, she won’t get to see her best friend, she won’t know anyone, and she’s sure she’ll be an outcast. (“No one will invite me to watch the mimes escape from their invisible boxes, or whatever.”) Plus, there was that boy she worked with at the theater with whom she’s sure things were just about to start happening.
And it is, indeed, an alien environment, but then she’s taken under the wing of a group of students she meets her first night in the dining room. And the leader of the group is the extremely charismatic Etienne St. Clair, Anglo-American-French, and a history nerd. The others in the group are Meredith (tall, muscular, athletic, and a really nice person), Josh Wasserstrein (son of a U.S. Senator from New York, a very talented artist, and St. Clair’s best friend), and Rashmi Devi (Josh’s girlfriend, though they seem to fight a lot). Of course, there’s also Amanda, the requisite mean girl, who has her sights set on St. Clair and is jealous of his attentions to Amanda. At least Anna has her film review blog and her dreams of attending a university with a good from school and becoming the next Pauline Kael. It’s going to be a rocky couple of years for everyone, but Perkins is an expert and juggling all the plots, subplots, and relationships, and in building a very credible romance out of it all.
* * * *
The second volume is set in San Francisco the year following the first book and the focus this time is on Lola Nolan, seventeen, living in the Castro district with two gay fathers (one of whom is actually her biological uncle). She also has a twenty-two-year-old hard-rocker boyfriend, Max, whom both her dads hate. But the key to Lola is her love of costume. She dresses in bizarre ways but always seems to make it work, she has a serious talent with a sewing machine, and she hopes to become a costume designer in Hollywood and on Broadway. She’s also extremely independent-minded, which gets her into trouble on a regular basis.
But Lola has a nemesis in Caliope Bell, a world-class figure skater her age who has lived next door off and since they both were small, and Caliope’s absurdly tall twin brother, Cricket. She had a huge crush on Cricket for years, but then Caliope basically chased her away, and then the twins moved to find her a new coach. Lola has been trying to get over Cricket ever since, and has sort of managed it, but now the twins are back again. She’s reconnecting with Cricket whether she wants to or not, Caliope is dedicated to sabotaging her, and Max is acting weird. The whole thing is causing her relationship with her overprotective dads to fray around the edges, and she’s feeling the pressure of trying to get her enormous Marie Antoinette gown completed before prom.
Again, Perkins makes it all work and the supporting cast is equally well developed. Anna and St. Clair are college freshmen at Berkeley and San Francisco State and Lola is working part-time at the same theater where the work, so they're available to give her support and advice, and Lola’s best buddy, Lindsey, a buddy detective, is a hoot. (She should get her own book.)
* * * *
In the third volume, we’re back in Paris, and this time we follow Josh the artist and his problems, as well as Isla Isla, a half-French fellow New Yorker who had a bit part in the first book. It’s the same year that Lola and Cricket are rediscovering each other, and Josh is a senior now. His girlfriend, Rashmi, dumped him (with justification) so now he’s spending all his time working on a massive graphic novel about his time at the school. And I mean all his time, because he’s not bothering much with actual school work, he hates his father (who’s using him as a photo op in his re-election campaign). Isla has been carrying a torch for Josh since they were freshmen, but this is the first time he hasn’t been surrounding by his crew (they’ve all graduated) and she wonders if perhaps she can work up the nerve to get to know him now. Isla’s very smart -- she’s set to be her class’s valedictorian -- but she’s also very shy and self-deprecating, so it’s a struggle. She also has a close friend in Kurt, whom she has known all her life and who is high-functioning autistic, but his particular take on on the world helps keep her grounded.
Of course, Isla and Josh will slowly get together (or else there would be no story), but their relationship, too, will be exceedingly rocky as she tries to come to terms with his self-destructive side and with the stratospheric social world in which he moves because of his father’s career.
As always Perks does a wonderful job of painting her characters and the turmoil of their lives in multiple dimensions. And the romantic scenes in all three books are beautifully done. I give all of them a very high recommendation.
January 9, 2022
I LOVE ST CLAIR (Anna and the French kiss). Anna is not my fav Mc but she gets better as the first book progresses. In lola and the boy next door I was IN LOVE WITH LOLA. One of my favourite mcs ever. I thought she was such a unique character and that’s why I loved her. She made a lot of mistakes and had faults of her own but I think that improved her character a lot, showing that behind the costume she was just a normal girl. Cricket isn’t my fav love interest, I mean he’s ok but…. St Clair is superior in every single way possible (if only he was taller). I think Anna and the French kiss is a better book over all though. I am yet to read the 3rd book. This is such a good series despite the not so good names, really quick reads to get you out of a reading block.
October 4, 2024
read this again to fill the void that comes after watching heartstopper season 3 not twice but thrice
July 25, 2024
The first book was good but the other two were ok.
June 26, 2024
Loved them! Perfect teenage read
February 5, 2025
super cute and romantic
October 22, 2022
I could not put it down. My own issue was any like idk ROMANTIC uh thoughts/scenes. Would def read again!!!!
March 26, 2024
omgg i have not been into books for so long, but yk what they say, you just havent found youre right book and they were so right!! i loved them. they were a mix of romance, awkwardness and confusion etcetera they were absolutely amazing!! they were perfect i have never enjoyed books so much they took me about 2 weeks to read (each) whilst still having my other hobbies on the side, the first time i read the first one, was almost 2 years ago now, but ive just gone back to read them again. and they still have the same hit as they did the first time. they were hon fantastic. i so recommend this author to all romance novel lovers!! <3
March 12, 2022
Easy and cutesy read. The first one is the only one that's worth it: Think Europe and saccharine boys who fall in love whenever they can, girls who know nothing about France and nothing about themselves.
“I wish friends held hands more often, like the children I see on the streets sometimes. I'm not sure why we have to grow up and get embarrassed about it.”
“I wish friends held hands more often, like the children I see on the streets sometimes. I'm not sure why we have to grow up and get embarrassed about it.”
August 17, 2023
This book had many fun-enough moments, but the main character was pretty frustrating. The disregard given to someone being cheated on in the name of “true love” was in poor taste. It would’ve been more interesting if Anna went through any kind of real personal growth.
November 16, 2025
Posting reviews an the books ive read so far here on Goodreads. I loved this triology. I think the least fav was the Isla one (hence the 4 stars) but the other two were so amazing!!! I fell in love with the characters and the plot. It was such a good series to read!
January 6, 2022
Really good just kind of basic.
November 24, 2022
I recommend all of them, but my favourite one will always be Isla and the happily ever after.
February 6, 2023
I didn't like the serie ,, Anna and the French Kiss" but I loved the ,, Isla and the Happily Ever After" serie. But over all I loved these books🤍
January 31, 2024
Lola was my favorite one
August 31, 2024
Read these books back in like 2016 and cannot tell you how many times I've read Lola and the Boy Next Door - the pages have literally fallen out of the book. 100000/10 for them all.
August 24, 2021
The first book, Anna and the French Kiss, was my personal favorite. Light, innocent, sweet, and easy to read. Anna and Étienne's romance barely had substance but it had a puppy love feel to it, which I enjoyed reading through. The two books after it completely shamed the series. I hardly managed to reach the end for both because of boredom and the obvious conclusions. A generous 1 star from me :,)
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews