Book Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Isla and the Happily Ever After

Series: Anna and the French Kiss, #3

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Summary: Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last?

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.

Featuring cameos from fan-favorites Anna, Étienne, Lola, and Cricket, this sweet and sexy story of true love—set against the stunning backdrops of New York City, Paris, and Barcelona—is a swoonworthy conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series.

Review:

Hello, all!  I feel like it’s been a million years!  But, I’m happy to be back with a new review, my first review of the year!  This is actually the first book that I’ve finished this year (aside from rereading The Perks of Being a Wallflower).  I’m also reading this other book called The Physics of Immortality, but that isn’t exactly a book for “light reading.”

Isla and the Happily Ever After has been sitting on my shelves since August, even though I already knew I’d love it.  Stephanie Perkins’ books are perfection on paper.  The third and final book in this trilogy focuses on Isla and Josh, who was a prominent character in Anna and the French Kiss.  He definitely had a bigger role to play in this book.

In Isla, we got to see a lot of Josh that I don’t remember seeing in the first book.  We also get to know about who he is in general a lot more, since he’s one of the main characters.  He was so sweet and perfect and ugh.  *Mentally adds him to my never-ending list of book boyfriends*

Isla was… meh.  She got really annoying toward the end of the book.  I felt there was a lot of unnecessary drama that she created.  I could kind of relate to her, though.  I’m not really sure how to feel about her.  Again, meh.

I LOVED Kurt.  I was sad to see that Anna kind of pushed him aside once Josh came into the picture.  I’m glad Kurt was able to find the Right Way (*nudge nudge, wink wink*), though.  I just wish that Isla had made more friends instead of focusing all of her attention on Josh only.

This book was so exciting, though.  I read it in two sittings, and I don’t know why I had the motivation to pick it up, considering I haven’t done something like that in a long time.  I feel so spontaneous xD

Of course, we had cameos from Anna, St. Clair, Lola, and Cricket, which was amazing.  Unfortunately, they were talked about more than they actually were there.

5/5 stars to this beauty!  I love, love, loved this book.  I only had a few problems with it, but I’m letting them slide.  Overall, this series was fantastic.  I think Anna was my favorite, then Isla, then Lola.

What did you think of this series?  Are you thinking about picking it up?  Let me know!