I love this book, and every time I read it I love it even more. I love every book that I've read by Philippa Gregory that she's written about the Tudors and their ancestors, but this one is my favorite. I love the blend of fact and legend and re-reading it, I notice all the little details that she's woven throughout this series. It's truly amazing. This is such a well-researched book and the story is beautiful. I highly recommend it.

Okay, so the title of this book is basically the lamest title of all time. And because of that, I was VERY hesitant to read it. In fact, even after I started it and found myself enjoying it, I was embarrassed to see it on my "currently reading" shelf because the title is that bad, and I'm mentally kicking the author for choosing it because I'm positive that title is driving readers away from a book that, in reality, is actually a really fun book to read. 

There are a lot of things about this book that can be criticized, if you're in a picky mood. It's predictable. It's written at like, a third grade reading level and is NOT challenging or even really that original in the slightest bit. The main character is probably one of the dumbest characters that I've ever encountered because it takes her FOREVER to pick up on things. 

But, the fact is, this is a YA book. Teenage girls will absolutely, 100% relate to this. Anna is a perfect representation of a 17 year old girl and she really does act her age - she's not any more mature than she should be, and I think that's key to remember. And on top of that, this book is so much fun to read. Even though there were certain parts that made me cringe because they were so cliché or so predictable, I could not put this book down. It was funny, it was sweet, and it's an honest representation of how high school students really act, in my opinion. 

If you're looking for a serious book, stay far, far away - after all, this book IS called Anna and the French Kiss - you can't be expecting literary genius from this! But if you're looking for a fun, quick, innocent read with a happy ending, this might actually be just what you're looking for.

Wow. This book is just so good. It got me hooked right from the beginning. Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is just such a fascinating character, at least the way that Fowler's written her. She goes through so many changes throughout the novel, and I felt that this was such a powerful portrayal of her relationship with F. Scott Fitzgerald. They go from such a happy, loving couple to a couple who's torn apart by alcohol, fame, betrayal, and old grudges. That being said, I liked the first half of the book much more than the second half, because the second half was just depressing. But it's about real life, so unless the author were to completely disregard history (which would just be awful), it has to be depressing.

This is definitely a one-sided story, but it works, because it's supposed to be about Zelda, so it makes sense that it's all from Zelda's point of view. It describes Scott so harshly that by the end of the book, I actually really hated him, and I don't know that he entirely deserved that (though I admittedly don't know much about either him or Zelda, so maybe he did). But because this is all from Zelda's point of view, it's okay that it's definitely biased. What was really beautiful was that, even though I personally hated Scott, and at times, so did Zelda, even at the end, you could tell that a big part of Zelda still loved him. After reading this, I definitely want to read/re-read all of Scott's major novels (This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and the Damned, and Gatsby), and I want to read Zelda's work, too - and I had no idea that she even wrote. I definitely recommend reading this. It's so worth it.

I read this with my book club. It's the second Chuck Palahniuk novel that I've read - the first being Fight Club, of course - and, much like Fight Club, when I put it down, I had a hard time sorting out exactly what I thought about it, so I waited a day to review it. Now that I've given myself time to think about it, hopefully I can put my thoughts into words and convey what exactly I think about this novel. 

Like Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk was able to draw me into the story from the very beginning and I couldn't put the book down, which is a huge accomplishment. I think that's this book's strongest point - Palahniuk is such a strong writer. What I really love is the format of this book. I loved how I had no idea where I was in the story line, since it skips from chapter to chapter. This isn't a book that reads from front to back, but skips around from chapter to chapter. You could go from Chapter 17 to Chapter 2 to Chapter 36 right in a row. I didn't know how close I was to the end until I had already finished the book. I think that definitely helped to draw me in, but honestly, Palahniuk's story telling abilities probably would have done that anyway. The format was just an added bonus. Also, I really liked the ending. I felt that it wrapped things up nicely and I think that Palahniuk did a good job of tying everything together. 

As for the actual story... it was just weird. I still don't really know what else to say about it. I did think it was fascinating how all the characters ended up being connected in the end, but I'm a bit concerned about Palahniuk's sanity, because it's just such a crazy idea for a story. I mean, I was expecting something a bit odd after reading Fight Club, but seriously, I think Palahniuk is a poster child for the saying that "there's a fine line between madness and genius." Because this story is just so strange. Fascinating, but strange. And graphic. While it did draw me in, I didn't really enjoy the story, if that made any sense. I wanted to know how it ended, but more out of curiosity than any sort of attachment to the characters or the actual story. Which is why I'm only giving it 3 stars. I don't know if I'll ever re-read the book or recommend it to anyone, other than people who I know to be Palahniuk fans, in which case, they will probably have already read this. It might be easier to say who I absolutely do not recommend this book to. So here's that list: 
-my mother
-nuns
-anyone under the age of 16 (maybe even 18)
-anyone who's vaguely conservative
If you don't fit this list, you'd probably like this book. But beware that it's very strange. Very well-written, but strange.