Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

I love when you’re on vacation, you don’t want to get bogged down by heavy stories or morose endings. You want something light and fluffy to make the vacation more enjoyable. It’s like pairing a wine with your dinner. You don’t want something heavy to go with something light. You want them to equally match so that your entire experience is fun. That is exactly how I felt about Isla and the Happily Ever After. 

To be honest, I didn’t think Isla’s name would be so appropriate with my vacation, but it’s made me happy knowing I’ll be reading the story about a girl named after an island.

Synopsis (from Goodreads.com)

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.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

My thoughts

I love love loved this book. It’s one of those easy reads that make you feel good about the universe and humanity. The past few weeks have been pretty grim and sometimes you just need something to cleanse that dirty palate. This is most definitely the kind of book that makes vacationing so much more fun.

And I love Stephanie Perkins. She’s like the master of a great time and her books are super easy to read. I love a good book that doesn’t go crazy with the $1.50 words and still conveys the same message.

The third book from the Anna and the French Kiss series, the story is definitely a standalone, but if you’ve read the first two books it’ll be a little treat. The story follows Isla, a young woman in her last year of high school on the brink of making some serious life decisions when the guy she’s been eyeing this freshman year, Josh, comes into her life. Don’t you just love it when people fall in love and change all of their life plans for that other person.

It was definitely insta-love, but not as quickly as other books write it. It almost felt like Felicity where the super smart girl makes life choices that aren’t what people expected of her.

Also, can we talk about Josh for a second? I don’t know about you, but I imagined this couple from that Adam Sandler movie “Blended”

They’re legit exactly who I imagined as Isla and Josh. Don’t they look like them?! Maybe it’s just in my head.

Anyway, Isla and the Happily Ever After is the kind of book you want to read when you’re tired of reading all the humdrum dreary stuff online, on TV, and in your book recs. Just imagine these young kids smiling and having a great time in Paris and New York. It makes you believe in love at first sight again.