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

Isla and the Happily Ever After

By Stephanie Perkins

Release Date: August 14, 2014

Source: Book Depository

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Summary: 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.

Review: I LOVE THIS BOOK. I love Josh, I love Isla, I love Kurt, I love France, I love New York…there was seriously nothing I didn't love about this book. I don't know how I waited months after buying this book to read it, but, oh my gosh, this book stole my heart and is going to keep it forever. 

For the past three years, Isla has loved Josh from afar. When she runs into Josh at a coffee shop in Manhattan, their worlds collide and their senior year at their boarding school in Paris will definitely be different than the years before. Isla and Josh fall for each other, but as they have to face the unknown of the future, they have to face many more hardships than they were prepared for…

Seriously. I have been waiting for this book for years. When I started this book, it met my expectations and then completely blew those expectations out of the water. I mean, Josh? Seriously? Gah, I loved him. I loved how he was an artist and how vulnerable he was with Isla. He really showed her parts of him he never showed anyone and I loved how passionate he was about his artwork. He was so, so sweet to Isla and was just as invested in their relationship as she was. There were so many emotions in this book between Isla and Josh and I just couldn't handle myself! I was freaking out as I was reading next to my sister, but I couldn't tell her ANYTHING because she's going to read it after me. Keeping all of my emotions inside was so hard because this book made me feel so much. 

Isla is a pretty awesome character herself. I kind of wish we got to know a bit more about her parents, but since she was gone most of the time at boarding school in France, we mostly got her and her relationship with her best friend Kurt. I loved how unique and special Kurt was, and how Isla really valued her friendship with him. Also, Isla's relationship with him is so realistic because she experiences some really hard times where she gets frustrated with him since he has a form of Autism. The things Isla goes through really opens her eyes to how she's living her life and what her relationship with Kurt really means to her. It was so touching and I loved how she had relationships outside of her romantic one with Josh. I've read some reviews where people didn't like how the romance took up most of the book, but I couldn't get enough of it! I loved watching Josh and Isla's relationship develop and then how their relationship became a whirlwind of emotions, lust, and love, and then a shocking dose of reality. Nothing is perfect in this book and that's what made it so perfect to me. And the ending? Perfection. My heart was just…I don't know how to describe it without ruining anything. Needless to say, I definitely couldn't stop thinking about this book after I finished it.  

You guys HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK. Even if you haven't read any Stephanie Perkins before, you have got to pick up her books. I definitely can't pick a favorite of the three, but Isla and the Happily Ever After is so good. SO GOOD. Both characters learn so much about life and love and you're along for the ride right there with them. So go read this book. NOW!