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    Isla and the Happily Ever After
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    Isla and the Happily Ever After
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    Isla and the Happily Ever After
    Audiobook8 hours

    Isla and the Happily Ever After

    Written by Stephanie Perkins

    Narrated by Grace Experience and Grace Blewer

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Falling in love in the world's most romantic city is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year at the School of America in Paris, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to deal with the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren't always forever. Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateAug 14, 2014
    ISBN9780307968593
    Unavailable
    Isla and the Happily Ever After
    Author

    Stephanie Perkins

    Stephanie Perkins worked as a bookseller and a librarian before becoming a novelist. She is now a bestseller in the US and Australia and has a huge online following for her books that include Lola and the Boy Next Door and Anna and the French Kiss. She is also the editor of the collection of YA short stories My True Love Gave to Me, and the author of There's Someone Inside Your House and The Woods are Always Watching.

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    Reviews for Isla and the Happily Ever After

    4/5

    312 ratings35 reviews

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    • 5/5
      For more reviews, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.Actual Rating: 4.5 stars. My persistence with Stephanie Perkins totally paid off. I was so afraid I would be the black sheep on everything, but apparently Anna and the French Kiss is the only one for which I have mixed feelings. Lola and the Boy Next Door was adorbs in so many ways. Isla and the French Kiss was the perfect fluffiness and purest pain pretty much the whole way through. I’m hard-pressed to say which one was my favorite, because Isla definitely gave me the most emotions but I actually think Lola was a better novel. Make of this what you will.Isla’s narrative voice was one of those that captured me immediately. Though she’s probably the least overtly vivacious of Perkins’ heroines, underneath Isla’s as lively as any of them. Not only is Isla shy but she’s introverted. Part of her journey is the realization that it might not hurt to let a couple more people in because friendship is really nice. As an introvert, much as you love your closest friends, it’s sometimes hard to find the motivation to try to make more friends, but that can really screw you over if your friends move or there’s drama or something. Much like Cath of Fangirl, I suspect some extroverts may have trouble relating to some of Isla’s choices, but I totally felt along with her the whole way.As I mentioned in my post on instalove on Thursday, I do think that Josh and Isla are a case of instalove, BUT I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Josh and Isla fall in love over the course of about a month, which is pretty quick but not necessarily instalove levels. However, both swear they’ve been in love from the very beginning which is instalove and, likely, retconning. Despite the fact that I’ve been pretty vocal about my abhorrence for instalove, Perkins has done it right.With Josh and Isla, I can see their connection unfolding and I can feel the passion they have for one another. In this case, I actually think these two crazy kids stand a chance of lasting, perhaps not forever but for a good while. They are one of the cutest couples. In fact, they would be nauseatingly sincere were it not for their awkward moments and light banter. Perkins strikes the balance between these things perfectly, so that even a grump like me can read Isla and be charmed rather than annoyed. Either that or I’m softening in my old age (I’m 27 now, guys, so maybe I’m different).The other aspect of the instalove between Josh and Isla that makes it work in this instance is that you see them having to adjust. They were in love with what they knew initially for sure, but what they’d previously observed wasn’t the whole person. Isla didn’t know Josh’s past or he Isla’s. They were in love with the surface-level things and they need to deal with the rest. Everything is not perfect between Josh and Isla. They have issues they have to work through. I like how Perkins shows that they’re in love but that have to get to know each other and that the instalove might not be enough. It also helps, I think, that they’ve both been in relationships before and have something to compare their current feelings to.Actually, I love books about characters that get together at the beginning because it happens so rarely. Much as I love my genderbending and hate to love romance tropes, they tend to have the couple getting together at the very end and you never really get to see them together and dealing with the reality and difficulties of an actual relationship. Though it might seem highly dramatic, it’s wonderful to watch Josh and Isla work through her insecurities in the relationship and the trouble that Josh’s past causes logistically. The barriers to their relationship are largely internal and all completely believable.On top of the romance, I loved the lessons about friendship wholeheartedly. It’s highly powerful that Isla’s just about as jealous of Josh’s friend group as she is of his relationship with Rashmi. I love Isla so much for her friendship with Kurt and how much she values it. I love too that Perkins made Kurt a real, non-stereotypical character. Watching Isla’s relationship with her sister Hattie grow gave me all the feels, as did her discussion with Sanjita, though those feels were bittersweet. The romance is the main part of the book, but the bits about friends and family are strong and touching. They give the book additional depth and power.Unfortunately, I wasn’t a huge fan of the last four chapters or so of the book. I thought I would be rating Isla and the Happily Ever After five stars, but then the ending happened. I’m going to have to go into spoiler tags for details, but the short version is that it’s cheesy and feels imbalanced, losing the awkwardness and banter and going full-on schmaltz. First, St. Clair and Anna get engaged, which, seriously, BARF. They are NINETEEN and have been dating for less than a year. Not fucking necessary, kids. I really try to not hate them and they make it impossible. All I want is to see them going through a divorce or not going through with their engagemnt in a later Perkins novel, much as that will make me unpopular.THEN Josh and Isla disappoint me. She gives him some good literary criticism on his graphic novel as well as hurt girlfriend feels. He edits it and gives her the new version to show that he still loves her and makes it ALL ABOUT THEIR ROMANCE. He even tells her how she’s supposed to respond. It’s vomitous. The graphic novel sounds SO much worse. It’s retconning to the max and I cannot even with how it starts:“There’s the page that I’ve seen before of him racing home to draw me, but then there’s a new full-page illustration of me with the garden-rose halo. I glow on the page like something sacred. Josh is on his knees at the bottom of the illustration, looking up at me, weeping, his hands clasped. The word Salvation pours from his lips.”THIS SERIOUSLY FUCKING HAPPENED (on page 321 of the ARC). I was SO on board this ship and now I kind of want to get off, because why the fuck is Isla Jesus now? Then Isla’s all “I like it more not because I’m in it so much now but because it’s better.” Lies, girl. LIES. So yeah, the ending was upsetting. However the rest was all so good that I’m going to try to forgive the book for that.Isla and the Happily Ever After is where the adorable and sexy and painful feels live. It’s the best example of instalove in contemporary YA perhaps. It’s also a bit obnoxious at the end, but, hey, nobody’s perfect.
    • 3/5
      Passed around at work - another super cute love story by Perkins, read in one evening.
    • 4/5
      This was entertaining but forgettable. I didn't really like Isla or Josh - they were both a bit self absorbed and thoughtless. I'm all for teen romance, but it was hard to root for these two.
    • 3/5
      I am actually giving this around 2.5 stars, as I thought this was ok. I was really happy that this book involved characters from Anna and the French Kiss. I felt instantly more connected with Isla and Josh than I did with Lola and Cricket. This was cute, but not much happens. If you love a romance with no twist or turns, then you will love this. Normally I prefer something else thrown into these reads to keep my interest. I was finding myself bored at times and was only reading the dialogue of from the characters at times. I know it was brief, but I still loved the relationship with Josh and St. Claire. I loved the small twist thrown in with Anna and the older characters. The ending was my favorite part when they were all together.Overall, I just did not love this series like everyone else. It was only ok in my opinion.
    • 5/5
      Oh my god I love Isla and Josh. I love this book. I love how this book tied in Anna and Etienne and Lola and Cricket. Stephanie Perkins has made me fall in love again, and not just with Isla and Josh, but I was able to re-fall in love with Anna and Etienne, and Lola and Cricket.

      Isla and Josh have been going to SOAP since freshman year, and the summer before their senior year they accidentally meet, at Kismet. Once school starts up again they start talking to each other and then start dating. But problems arise with Isla and Josh. Josh, a senator's son, convinced his parents to send him to school in Paris but, he has been regretting that choice ever since. And Isla a girl whose dad is American and mom is French, and she feels like she doesn't belong anywhere. Isla doesn't know what she wants in life while Josh has everything planned. Isla and Josh's story is one filled with beauty and heartache and makes people remember what it's like to be young and in love.

      The story mainly surrounds Isla and Josh, but with mentions of St. Clair and Anna, who are Josh's friends. And in the end all three couples, Isla and Josh, Anna and Etienne, and Lola and Cricket, come together with a beautiful ending for each. All three couples had me believing in love and happy endings and wanting my own Etienne, Cricket, or Josh. I loved this book and the two previous ones and I am so sad to see that it's over. An engaging and beautiful story with wonderful characters who will make you fall in love again and again.

      5/5
    • 4/5
      This is the third and final book in the Anna and the French Kiss series. I really enjoyed this book but it was my least favorite of the trilogy, I just loved Lola and the Boy Next Door so much.I think part of my issue was with how quiet and passive Isla is; I had a lot of trouble engaging with her as a character. I also thought Josh was a bit of a jerk at times; even if maybe that was more just how he was forced to act based on his surrounding family circumstances.I did enjoy how both characters worked through all their imperfections and enjoyed that the story ended in a very uplifting way. The ending did feel a bit rushed but it was okay. The story did end with a very happy fairy tale like ending.Overall this was a well done conclusion to this trilogy. I enjoyed every book in this series a lot. I love the different interesting locations the stories are set in and enjoyed the uplifting feel to the stories. I would recommend to those who enjoy contemporary YA romance.
    • 3/5
      I don't have much good to say here. The romance is cute though. But that's all there is. :(

      In reading romance, I like the chase more than anything else. I just felt like in this book, it's like, voila, Josh likes Isla immediately and they hit it off in just a couple of days.

      Then there's that godawful breakup. I mean, okay, here's an insecure, oh-pity-me girl. I pretty much just sucked it up the whole time. But then she just goes ahead and causes collateral damage which extends to people who really love her. (I'm a really mean person.) In the end I'm glad Isla got over it- but still, it took a boy to make you realize your self-worth.

      Girl, that job should've been yours alone.

      There was also one passage that made me cringe- I can't really remember but the main thought is somewhat like Josh being Isla's whole world. *shudders* NO. I guess there are some stupid things people say when they're in love, but come on. That way of thinking's worrisome. She was actually dead serious when she said that- probably thinks she's being poetic and shit.

      I did love one part!!! The whole gang got back together- St Clair, Anna, Lola, Cricket, even Mer. AND ST CLAIR AND ANNA GOT ENGAGED. WHOA, MAN. These two are still young yet so sure of themselves... but still, that proposal was heartwarming.
    • 3/5
      isla was a bit annoying sometimes, and it definitely wasn't as good as the previous ones, but i enjoyed it
    • 5/5
      Officially my favorite of the trilogy! I loved Isla and Josh as individuals and as a couple. So many feels!
    • 3/5
      I liked the beginning and the end, but I could have done without the middle.
    • 4/5
      The companion novel / sequel to Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door. I liked it.It's set between New York, where Isla lives, and Paris, where Isla goes to school. It has quite a different quality to the previous two books, and much of that is to do with Isla herself. She's quiet and studious and fiercely loyal towards her childhood BFF, Kurt, who is on the autism spectrum (I'm always excited to see people with autism in fiction). She is half-French, which affects the relationship she has with Paris - it is home, not a new place to explore - and perhaps, also, affects some of her attitudes.She has a long-standing crush on Josh. And although this story is Isla's, Josh plays a pretty big part. I liked the focus on his art - especially the way it becomes a tool for communication - and I was interested in getting to understand his attitude towards school.
    • 5/5
      I was worried Isla would not live up to the expectations I had for it, but it did. I loved how different this book was from the previous two, and yet also how similar it was in the ways that mattered. I loved that Isla and Josh's relationship started right away. It wasn't a matter of admitting they liked each other and faithfully feeling each other out. instead, it was about how much they loved each other, but hos they needed to both learn more about themselves before really surrendering to that. the book was fun, and sexy, and honest. I loved it.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyed all 3 books in this YA series. Characters were easy to love & root for. The settings were wonderful.
    • 5/5
      It's official. I am in love with Stephanie Perkins' writing, and obsessed with her books! Honestly, I literally could not put this one down. This book made me long for my first love to happen, for that feeling of bliss and happiness when you first fall in love (I wouldn't know, but that's how I've heard it described).

      I think out of all three, I connected with Isla (Eye-la) the most, who we first meet in Anna and the French Kiss. She does not have any quirky, definable trait that the other two have. She is this shy, reserved, not exactly adventurous human being; not quite as confident as Anna or Lola; and who has spent most of her boarding school career in love with Josh Wasserstein. I loved her immediately.

      Their romance was so sweet; the first half of the book was the beginning of their relationship, the sweetness and absolute bliss of being in love for the first time. The second half is when the drama begins, and I was holding my breath in dread for the time when it would happen, dreading it. At times I wanted to shake Isla and ask her what the heck she was doing!

      I loved Josh in this book! I want to date Josh *laughs*, but then, I think any book I read, I want to date that guy at the time, though he has to be my favorite Perkin's boy. She was his entire world, it was the sweetest thing. You can tell that they are really in love, that they have been for quite a long time.
      I love Stephanie Perkins' books, not only for the her writing, but also for including issues that people are uncomfortable with. In Lola, it was her being raised by her two gay fathers. In Isla, it was Kurt's high functioning autism. I loved Kurt. He is brusque, states things as they are, and is Isla best friend since they were in diapers. (I kind of want a book for Kurt!). I loved that he is the one that talks sense into Isla when she is being ridiculous. (Pretty please can I have a book for Kurt!)
    • 5/5
      Isla isn't a big risk taker, she would rather read about someone else's adventure than venture out on her own. That is until Josh, her crush for the past four years, reveals his true feelings for her and they begin the greatest adventure yet. Happily ever after. I have had this book since it's release date back in August of 2014, I picked it up after reading Anna but before reading Lola. I sat it on my shelf and it has starred at me for the past 5 months. I finished Lola and it starred at me. I picked up the book next to it and it starred at me. I got myself in an awful reading slump and it... winked at me. I loved Anna, I adored Lola but Isla has got to be my favorite Stephanie Perkins character. Isla instantly pulled me out of my reading slump and I no longer found myself sitting alone, wearing my pj's in my favorite reading chair but dressed to the nines, walking down a cobbled Paris street, watching her and Josh fall head over heels in love with one another. I related to her instantly, she's shy, awkward around the guy she likes and of course she has unruly red hair. I loved how she carried around this crush for Josh for nearly 4 years before anything became of it. They made such a cute couple I found myself grinning from ear to ear while reading. I loved Kurt and how Isla would never allow someone in her life who would look down on him or treat him with anything but respect. They both had their ups and downs (what love story doesn't?) but Stephanie writes with such grace and elegance that it doesn't matter if she ripped out your heart two chapters ago and smashed it into little pieces because once she puts it back together it's better than it was before. The cherry on top was of course the sneak peek we got into the previous main characters lives. I won't go into too much detail but I will say it had the perfect story book ending, which of course isn't an ending at all, but a beginning. Until next time, Ginger
    • 5/5
      Nothing makes me emotional like Stephanie Perkins' writing. Isla and Josh's story is passionate and beautiful, both heartwarming and heart-breaking. It's also a nice change from her will-they-or-won't-they set up of the previous two books - instead, it's will-they-work-out-their-issues-before-it's-too-late? I love it. Just leave me here to cry in peace.
    • 4/5
      Summary: For Isla, a rising senior at the School of America in Paris, her classmate Josh has always seemed out of reach. She's had a crush on him forever, but he's always seemed kind of aloof, focusing more on drawing his graphic novel autobiography and his upperclassmen friends than on his schoolwork, and Isla's way too shy to actually talk to him - the only person she really trusts is her best friend Kurt. But when Isla and Josh run into each other in New York over the summer, things may start to change, and hidden attractions start to come to the surface. But senior year of high school is a tumultuous time to start a new relationship, with the accumulated drama of high school, family issues, and questions about college and the future and what's going to happen with the rest of your life looming over everything.Review: These books are a lot of fun, simple and sweet but with characters that are believable and sympathetic. Out of all three books in this series (it's a very loose series - characters from previous books make cameo appearances in later books but each one can certainly be read independently), Anna and the French Kiss is still my favorite, but I definitely sympathized with Isla the most. I remember that anxiety, that fear about the future, about how do you make those choices, and what if you make the wrong choice, and what if it's not really you deciding, but just circumstances pushing you in one direction and then those circumstances change, and what do you do then? I remember that from when I was a high school senior trying to make college choices. Hell, I remember that from yesterday: I'm twice Isla's age and I still have that anxiety when it comes to making major (or even not-so-major) life choices. (As Isla says: "It's impossible, the not-knowing, but it's better than getting the wrong answer." I hear you, girl.) So I sympathized with her pretty strongly, and immediately recognized the way those sorts of uncertainties can affect your relationships with everyone around you. I also attended a boarding school - albeit not one in Paris, alas - so I also recognized the ways that dorm life, the sense of being together constantly with strict rules but also no parental supervision - can intensify the drama a high school relationship. Early on, I was worried that Perkins was setting up the boyfriend-is-jealous-of-the-relationship-with-the-male-best-friend angle as a major plot point, and I was poised to start disliking Josh if that turned out to be the case, but fortunately she dealt with that swiftly and awesomely within the next twenty pages. The main drama, the main conflict in the book, from some perspectives might seem to be manufactured drama. And in some ways it is, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's unrealistic; I absolutely believe that Isla as characterized would have exactly the kind of reactions that she does. (That doesn't mean that their fight isn't silly, when seen from the outside - but no more so than most seventeen-year-olds' relationship drama is.)So, I quite enjoyed this book. It's fast, it's fun, it's got some genuinely sweetly romantic parts, it's got interesting and relatable characters, and it's the perfect kind of light book to get absorbed in when you want to escape for a few hours to a happier place. 4 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: I don't read a ton of contemporary YA lit, but I think Perkins's books would appeal to anyone who likes the genre, likes real teenagers with snarky senses of humor, and likes stories with a happy but not sappy ending.
    • 5/5
      Stephanie Perkins writes some fantastic contemporary romance YA noels. The series started with Anna and the French Kiss and continued with (possibly my favoritest of favorite books) Lola and the Boy Next Door and now concludes with Isla and the Happily Ever After. Though it is a 'series,' each of the books can be read as a standalone. The main characters from the previous book(s) do appear and are a part of the new characters' lives, so new readers won't have the backstory.While both Anna and Lola were very realistic, great romances, Isla and the Happily Ever After felt a bit less fairy tale. The characters are still perfect, mainly because they have flaws and are not perfect. There is still the falling in love that will make you fall in love with the characters.But there's also difficult moments, the characters struggles with their relationship, each other and, even, themselves.Isla drew me in right from the beginning. I love that when the story starts, she is not quite herself. Yet, if she had not been in such a state, things never would have happened as they did and such a perfect setup could not have taken place. I was immediately pulled into Isla's story and her life. Her friendship with Kurt, her issues with her sister, her crush on Josh all come together to make her a very realistic character, person but still cooler and more interesting than most.From the beginning Isla and Josh's romance is the kind that you want to read about, that you dream can actually happen. Yet, there were moments when I was not sure how I felt about them together (and because of that, how I felt about the book). There were times when it was hard to know if this thing they wanted and you, as a reader, wanted was really what they needed.In spite of those moments of indecision - or possibly because of them - I really, really enjoyed Isla and the Happily Ever After. I hate that there won't be any more stories with the SOAP students but I couldn't be more pleased with how Isla and Josh's story happened and how it all concluded. (Okay, maybe I could if there had been some sort of bonus Lola and Cricket epilogue but I just love them that much.)9/10
    • 5/5
      Isla has always had a gigantic crush on her sensitive artist classmate Josh, but he had a steady girlfriend. When Isla and Josh finally get together (quite passionately) at the beginning of their senior year, Isla believes it's too good to be true. Josh is creative and rebellious, with a clear idea of what he wants to do with his life. Isla is indecisive and boring, and hasn't the slightest clue what her purpose is. What could a guy like him possibly see in a girl like her? Why isn't he in class today? Why hasn't he called her? Is he getting back together with his ex-girlfriend??This book resonated with me on a much more personal level than Perkins' prior two books. Isla's struggles to confront her insecurities, find self-confidence, and accept other people's love is something I've dealt with as well. Isla as a character is much more realistic than perfect Anna or eccentric Lola. There is also an introspective depth to IatHEA that was not present in AatFK or LatBND. The previous two books follow the following, tried-and-true, deliciously fluffy formula:Girl thinks she knows herself --> meets boy --> finds herself --> gets boyWhile IatHEA follows a different path:Girl gets boy --> doubts herself --> ???? --> ???? (I can't give everything away, now can I?)This difference is probably a reflection of the struggles that Perkins went through while writing the book (the release date was pushed back multiple times due to her battle with depression). I believe it shows maturity and real growth as a writer, and makes me even more excited to see what she offers next than I already was.
    • 4/5
      Isla has had a crush on Josh ever since she was a freshman at the School of America in Paris. When she has a chance encounter with him in a Manhattan cafe just before their senior year, she dares to dream that a relationship might be in the cards for the two of them. Sure enough, they go from swapping smitten stares across classrooms, to hanging out together at the comic shop, to making out in school broom closets and anywhere else that provides a modicum of privacy. Theirs is an unexpected pairing: Josh has carefully cultivated a bad-boy image, while Isla is the responsible, studious one who is likely to be valedictorian. In a classic case of opposites attracting, they are both head over heels with each other. But when a disastrous choice puts an ocean between them, Isla's doubts begin to surface: does Josh really love her, or was he just going out with her because she was there?As with Perkins' other books, there's a lot to like here. Isla is sweet and funny, and her insecurities and concerns about her future make for a convincing teenage character (it's okay not to know what you want to do with your life at age 17). Isla and Josh's relationship is a lot more steamy and physical than Anna and St. Clair's or Lola and Cricket's, but it's described in that same delightful way that will have readers swooning. Also, I would really like to read Josh's graphic novel memoir now! There are cameos by Anna and St. Clair and Lola and Cricket, too, which are lovely but brief. All in all, I found this a satisfying romance, and it made me want to go back and reread the other two to see all the ways the three books fit together -- though I think that readers new to Perkins can start with any of the three books without missing too much.
    • 4/5
      You wouldn't necessarily think that introspective artist Josh and the quiet middle child Isla would click so well, but in Perkins deft plotting, they sure do! Isla's relationship with her best friend Kurt has derailed other friendships not as strong, and even as Josh seems to imploding a bit personally, his efforts to include Kurt are one of his many great qualities. With his father's re-election campaign under way, it turns out the School of America in Paris isn't far enough away to keep Josh out of trouble when his coasting ways don't work anymore. Isla too, begins to challenge her future plans as their infatuation becomes more permanent. And I'm a sucker for those happy endings, whether they happen to the characters in this book, or just from the continued arc of Anna, St. Clair, Cricket and Lola. I like that closure from characters that were too good to leave in their one book.
    • 5/5
      Isla has had a major crush on Josh since her freshman year at the School of America in Paris. So when she randomly runs into him in a cafe in Manhattan on a steamy night while a little high on the pain meds from her wisdom teeth removal, she might be a little more flirty than her very shy self would normally be. That random encounter leads Isla and Josh to a place where they do more than have annual awkward encounters. But can she have a relationship with the boy she's loved from a distance for three years and actually have it work?I've been counting down to the release of this book since I turned the last page of Lola and the Boy Next Door for the first time and I'm happy to say I'm satisfied. While Josh didn't leave me swooning over him like St. Clair (sigh) or Cricket, I enjoyed the adorableness of the growing relationship between Isla and Josh. I also found myself really identifying with Isla, which went a long in my enjoying the narrative. Fans of this loose trilogy will definitely want to pick up this book if only for cameos from characters from the previous books but I think they will also find the charm in the sweet and (occasionally) awkward romance of Isla and Josh.
    • 2/5
      I am so over this series.There, I said it, and I feel good. Or at least better.Yes, I am apparently the only person who has read this series who doesn't think that Stephanie Perkins is a goddess when it comes to YA contemporary romance. I've read Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door, and while I don't think they are BAD necessarily, I certainly don't think they are all that good, either. There's just something about the author's writing style that I just can't get into...or maybe it's the fact that (mostly) everyone is white and filthy rich, and I just cannot identify with that. I just cannot. But, like I said, the first two books weren't BAD. This book was worse than both of them, for sure. I don't even know where to start in my review.Isla. Let's start there. At least in the other two books, the main female protagonists always felt somewhat real - unrelatable, but real. Isla does not feel real. She has very little personality, and the whole "love story" with Josh just felt weird and forced to me. Isla comes off as something of a stalker to me, and I just do not find that attractive, and we're done. The only good thing I can say about Isla is that she is a good friend to Kurt, her life-long friend who has high-functioning autism.Josh. Meh. He felt really self-absorbed and shallow. I actually kind of liked him in Anna and the French Kiss, but not here. And I am just not buying his relationship with Isla. Not at all.Anna and Etienne get engaged. What. They are nineteen years old and haven't been dating for more than a year. Seriously. Seriously. Grow up, kiddos.Nothing about this story attracted me or kept me engaged. In fact, as I'm writing this review, I really don't understand why I am giving this two stars instead of one. Honestly, I can't see myself picking up another book by this author again. I'm just done.
    • 5/5
      This is a perfect ending for three perfect novels. It brought me to tears
    • 3/5
      I loved both Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door. as the third book , Isla's story was so disappointing. Isla is whinny and increasingly less intelligent throughout the story. She's irresponsible, rude to her only friend, and awful to her family. definitely not as good as the other 2.
    • 4/5
      Parts of this book was like reading pieces of my own relationships over time, so points for realism. I liked it. Read it in a matter of hours. That said, I need to recalibrate emotionally after reading two of her books back to back. Return to non-fiction should do the trick.
    • 4/5
      4 STARS

      I think I just fell in love... *sigh*
      This book was just so ADORABLE, the main characters were soo cute!
      of course the story had its ups and down, it wasn't a perfect one.
      but well no one's perfect.
    • 5/5
      Originally seen on Emily Reads Everything These books just keep getting better. This is the first series I've read one at a time and then reviewed each one. Honestly, I'm glad I picked up this series because it was such a great way to start this. I read Anna and the French Kiss and I liked it but I didn't love it. Then I finished Lola and the Boy Next Door and I was hooked. I was sure it was the peak of this series. How could the next one compare? There was no way in my mind that this book could beat it. I was content with the knowledge that the series would be going downhill.I was so so wrong.Isla, whose name is pronounced Eye-La, is adorable. She's a good girl, an all A student, a quintessential middle child. She is shy, reserved and the peacemaker of her family. She doesn't have a lot of direction or plans for after graduation. The one thing that she is absolutely sure of is that she's been in love with Josh Wasserstein since the moment she first saw him. Josh on the other hand doesn't know she exists, or so she thinks.Josh likes to pretend he's a bad boy, that the façade crumbles quickly under Isla's inspection. He's an artist first and foremost with a passion for graphic novels. He started writing and drawing a memoir of his high school days starting with his Freshman year. He's still working on it when he meets Isla but doesn't think he will ever finish it.I absolutely adored watching these two connect with each other. They fall for each other hard and fast and it was so fun to read. Then after they are absolutely gone over each other, life gets in the way. It so often does. Isla and Josh have an idyllic start but soon have to navigate parents, friends and something that breaks up even seasoned couples; separation. This book really demonstrates how love is so easy when its just the two of you but gets complicated fast when there are others involved. When I finished this book, my first thought was, this can't be the last book. There has to be more. What about Meredith?? She can't be left alone. With everyone else so happy, I just can't stand the thought that she doesn't have anyone. It doesn't seem fair. So I have my fingers and toes crossed. I just can't believe this is the end.All in all, everyone is right. This series is a must read for romance fans.
    • 5/5
      Love the story ?

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    • 5/5
      amazing!