5. Location,
Location, Location
Paris, San Francisco, NYC and Paris again. For a Midwestern
girl, traveling to these awesome cities is, well, awesome. I’m not a
stuck-in-the-Midwest girl as I’ve been to Paris and NYC, so Anna and Isla's surroundings were
easier for me to picture. And I love Lola because she re-introduced me to San
Fran. (I say 're-' because I was introduced to San Francisco by Full House. Wasn’t that the case for every girl of my generation?)
4. Harry
Potter references
Everyone loves a well-done reference to the Boy Who
Lived.
3.
Relatability
I relate to these girls. They drew me in and even though
I relate the most to Isla (red hair, y'all), there was a strong connection to
Anna and Lola as well (even though I’m not a movie-lover or designer).
Also, the BEST thing I’ve read about what redheads experience
appears in Isla, when she's talking to Josh...
“And when a redhead hits puberty? You become this magnet for gross men. A month doesn’t pass without one telling me that I must be good in bed because all redheads are sex fiends, or I must be a bitch because all redheads have fiery tempers. Or they’ll tell me that they only date redheads, or that they never date redheads, because we’re all ugly… At least a dozen men have asked if ‘my carpet matches my drapes.’ And now there’s the ginger insult—thank you, England—and some cultures think we’re unlucky, and ohmygod, you know what the French say about redheads, right? They think we smell.” (page 133)
I know blondes have a bad rap and each and every woman is unfortunately
a magnet for gross men in some way or another, but I’ve never heard it put this
succinctly for redheads. To be honest, my experience hasn't been to the same extent as Isla, probably because I grew up in Indiana and she lives in NYC, but I still related. I RELATED SO MUCH. SO MUCH IT REQUIRES A LOT
OF CAPS. Yeah.
2. Characters
are people too
Anna, Lola and Isla are people to me. So are Etienne,
Cricket and Josh. They are real. They are fleshed out and have unique interests
and personalities. Also, CAMEOS ARE THE BEST. Anna and Etienne are in both Lola
and Isla and Lola and Cricket are in Isla. There are conversations and updates
and snark and even one MAJOR DEVELOPMENT. (You’ll find no spoilers here,
though.)
1.
Swoon-worthy romances that make you cringe and cry and cheer
Teens in love sometimes take a while to get it right.
There are obstacles and misunderstandings and shyness and general fear and more
misunderstandings. The romance between Anna and Etienne, Lola and Cricket and
Isla and Josh are each wonderful in their own right. They made me cringe in the
oh-my-gosh-I-can’t-believe-that-just-happened way. They made me cheer in a
yes-you-go-girl kind of way. And they made me cry (though usually that came
before the cheering). Real tears too, not just the sniffles.
Also, I need just a moment to swoon over these book
boyfriends of mine. Etienne, Cricket and Josh. (Once again, I relate to Isla as
my boyfriend’s name is—get this—Josh!) I mean, my toes are curling just
thinking about them. *sigh* Book boyfriends...
Anna, Lola and Isla are one-sitting books. They are make-actual-facial-expressions/ make-actual-noises/ shout-at-the-characters books.
They are yes-I’m-crying-but-I’m-going-to-grab-a-tissue-without-looking-because-I-must-keep-reading
books.
Need a binge-read? Want a realistic YA romance? Want to
travel? Want ALL THE FEELS?
Read Anna, Lola and Isla.
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