Title: Isla and the Happily Ever After
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Release Date: 14 August 2014
My Rating: 4/5
Blurb:
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.
Companion Novels:
In A Nutshell:
Well-worth the wait! Where can I get myself a Perkins boy?!
My Review:
Three years ago, I had a reading slump and
Stephanie Perkins pulled me out of it with Lola and the Boy Next Door. So I was
hopeful that her latest book, Isla and the Happily Ever After, would do the
same thing for me this time around. It did.
I adored Isla. I was completely absorbed from the first page and read it all in
one sitting, refusing to let the characters go, even for a minute.
There were so many swoony moments with
Stephanie’s trademark “awwww” inducing scenes and just like with St. Clair and
Cricket in her previous books, Josh is just as desirable. Stephanie knows how
to write the gooey, romantic stuff that just makes you melt and wish you had
your very own Perkins boy.
Isla lives in her own little world with her
childhood best friend Kurt, while she dreams of Josh, who she’s had a crush on
for three years. And before you make any assumptions, this isn’t a ‘love
triangle’ thing. Kurt is practically her brother. Moving on, I’m sure most
people can relate to being infatuated by someone from afar. Isla has little
confidence in herself, partly stemming from being the shy, softer-spoken sister
amongst her more outgoing siblings. But Isla also shuts herself away, sometimes
enjoying her own company, but shutting others out to avoid the potential hurt
that comes from letting someone into your life.
After a brief, chance meeting back home in
New York over the summer, Isla and Josh have gone from zero interaction, to sharing
small smiles across the halls at the School of America in Paris. And while this
small amount of interaction means the world to Isla, she can see that Josh is
no longer the outgoing guy she has watched the last few years. After an
assumption is corrected, Josh and Isla begin spending more time together. But
the reasons for Josh’s sadness and how he deals with it, and Isla’s own lack of
self-worth, could potentially become their undoing.
My heart burst with love for the characters
Stephanie has created and for the cities they spend their time in. Set amongst
the magical streets of Paris and the bustling environment of New York and
Barcelona, to me, Isla felt like a sort-of ‘love letter’ to those cities. It
was so nice to once again get lost in their descriptions and be reminded of the
wonderful times I have experienced there. Particularly Paris. I miss it so much
and Isla just left me with a deeper yearning.
Just like in Lola and the Boy Next Door,
Stephanie’s characters from Anna and the French Kiss, as well as Lola, show up
in her latest offering. The cameo appearances of Anna, St. Clair, Cricket and
Lola were like catching up with old friends and it was such a treat to gain
insight into what their lives are like now, and how they are connected to the
world of Josh and Isla.
Isla and the Happily Ever After has all the
feelings of falling in love: the nervousness, the uncertainty, the butterflies,
the racing heart, the blushing, the can’t-contain-the-excitement that bubbles
out of you… it’s all there.
Isla and the Happily Ever After was
well-worth the wait (for a number of reasons). I loved it and I hope you do
too. Enjoy!
