Anna and the French Kiss ♥

"Sometimes I think there are only so many opportunities to get together with someone. And we've both screwed up so many times that we've missed our chance."

- Anna and the French Kiss, Stephanie Perkins

K. Relate much, S? Hihi! I finished reading Anna and the French Kiss last night and it was so good. Yes, it was somehow cliched, you have prolly read or heard about a story line similar to it, but it was a real charmer. It has its unique "kilig factor" that can make a hopeless romantic's heart melt. The whole story was sewn and woven together neatly and beautifully. It was really a challenge not to smile when my heart wanted to do a million somersaults while I was reading it. I am so not exaggerating. ☺

Some parts of this chick-lit reminded me of stuff I ought not to remember, tho. And now, morale's a wee bit low in Shayneland. You can imagine how my brain started working when I reached those parts. Haha! But I decided not to be a baby about it. I was just being sensitive is all. Anyhoo, one of my favorite bloggers once said that when you're going through what I am going through (let's not drop terms), every song, book, movie, quote is about you. And I agree with her like whoa. So, yeah. Moving on . . .

"Why are people so afraid to leave a relationship even if they know it's a bad one?"

When you read a book, it's quite impossible not to learn a single moral from it. I think that was Anna's $1M question in the novel. You see, she was in love with St. Clair and St. Clair was also in love with her. But before she transferred in SOAP, St. Clair already had a girlfriend. A long-time one at that. And . . . Okay, you might wanna read the book so I'm not gonna spoil it for you. So anyways, why are we afraid to leave a relationship even if we know that it's not a healthy one anymore? Why do we stick to a relationship even if we know it is only consuming us and we're getting zilch in return? Why do we fight for a relationship even if we know that it is not growing, we are not growing? Why do we stay even if we know that the best thing to do is to let go?

We have our own reasons. I was in that situation before. Remember my post about SATURATION POINT? I continued fighting until I reached it so I won't have any regrets that I did not try to save the relationship. That was my reason. I just wanted to try until I get tired of trying. And eventually, I did. It's different for all of us. Our reasons, I mean. People may not understand why you're still there, fighting for a relationship which every aspect screams 'hopeless'. They may say you are stupid, that you're an idiot, and whatnot. But in the end, it's going to be your decision that will matter. It's ALWAYS going to be YOUR decision.

Anna and the French Kiss was not just about love. It's about friendship. It didn't focus on Anna's friendship with Bridgette and Meredith but I like how things turned out between them. You will really learn a thing or two from this beauty of a novel. ☺

Lastly, you tell me, is it normal to pine on every male fictional character you have read about? Nah! But what the hell, Etienne St. Clair is LOVE. Brown hair, brown eyes, Parisian-American but grew up in London which makes for a swoon-worthy accent. Totally irresistible, eh? He can be a total arse if we wants to, tho. So, girls, go read the book and fall in love with him. ♥

P.S. Anna and the French Kiss is sooo not about French kissing. Just to make things clear. :P