Wanting To Find The End In Isla And The Happily Ever After By Stephanie Perkins

*All reviews I write are spoiler free*

I did it! I finished the series!

It only took me two years and a reread. But still.

So instead of rambling on, it’s about time this review made its appearance on my blog.

Let’s talk about Isla and the Happily Ever After!

Title: Isla and the Happily Ever After

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Usborne

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Series Status: The 3rd book in the Anna and the French Kiss trilogy

Number of Pages:  375

(Found on back cover & Goodreads)

The café is boiling. The atmosphere is clouded with bittersweet coffee.
Three years of desire rip through my body and burst from my lips: “Josh!”
His head jolts up. For a long time, a very long time, he just stares at me.
And then…he blinks. “Isla?”

Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on brooding artist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And, after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer break, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to face uncertainty about their futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.

Set against the stunning backdrops of New York, Paris and Barcelona, this is a gorgeous, heart-wrenching and irresistible story of true love, and the perfect conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series.

I don’t understand.

I don’t understand how I hated the thought of contemporary/romance stories when books like this exist in the world. 

It took me about 50 pages to fall in love with this story.

I was so on board with the relationships in this book. And I don’t just mean the main coupling. Because there’s a platonic relationship (boy/girl) in this book too, and that I appreciated so so much. There’s not many books out there with strictly platonic relationships. Also…there was a family unit!!! YESSSS. Fifty points for Perkins. But obviously, the main coupling? Oh how I was rooting for them!

I felt like Isla was a close friend. She’s exactly the sort of person I’d love to be friends with. The sort of person I’d like to be. So I needed to know her story.

She was shy. She was a “girly-girl”, adored wearing cute dresses and decorating her room in pretty things. She appreciated everything that was aesthetically pleasing. And of course, she had her faults. She wasn’t confident in herself at all. She didn’t always treat people the way they needed to be treated. She secluded herself. But she seemed like a real person. And that’s what made me like her so much. 

Though can I just point out – Stephanie Perkins really has a thing for height. In every book, the height of the characters is mentioned a fair few times. I don’t get it? Sure, I’ve never been bothered by height before, so it might just be me, but I’m fairy sure I’ve not read a series that focuses on it so much. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not overwhelming or anything. It doesn’t get annoying. It’s just…there.

Now, I can’t say this was a slow moving book. Not in the slightest. Or at least, not when it comes to the romance. Because boy did that move quickly. Though I feel like it made sense for them? It didn’t feel too fast, because the build up for the two of them lasted years (at least on Isla’s side).

Put it this way: I read this entire book in a day. From the second I picked it up, it never left my hand for more than a couple of minutes. Every time I closed the pages, intending to do something else, I’d find myself back in the book a few minutes later, not quite knowing how I fell back in again. It was so addictive to read!

I needed to get to the “happily ever after”. I was prepared to TEAR DOWN BUILDINGS if the title deceived me.

I was very happy with how this series ended. Especially when the characters of the previous books were mentioned. I NEARLY CRIED WITH HAPPINESS when the Anna-and-Etienne thing happened. If you’ve read the book, you’ll probably know what I mean. I actually had tears in my eyes, that very nearly rolled down my face, and I very nearly had to slam the book shut and scream my happiness to the world.

But I didn’t. Because I needed to read on.

This is my favourite from the series. Without a doubt. I just can’t get over how it thoroughly consumed an entire day from me. How I tumbled into the story so whole-heartedly. It was a great conclusion to the series.

Rated 5/5 stars!

Order from Amazon!

[Available in Paperback, Hardback and Kindle Edition]

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Share you thoughts!

(Remember not everyone will have read this book, so PLEASE MARK YOUR SPOILERS if you comment any! Just a simple <SPOILERS> at the start will do!)

Have you read this book? What did you think?

If you’ve read this series, which book is your favourite?

Which character can you relate to the most?

If you haven’t read this book/series, do you plan to? (They’re a great summer read, I’d highly recommend!)

Let me know in the comments!

Until next time…

Come and visit me!