Name: Brianna Grimm's review of Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
Item: Isla and the Happily Ever After
Rating: 5
Author: Brianna Grimm

Stephanie Perkins

Isla and the Happily Ever After

Brianna Grimm

A conclusion to the trilogy that began with Anna and the French Kiss finds hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh embarking on their senior year in France and confronting the painful possibility that their relationship may end.

Vicky  Nuñez 

There are no words. A perfect ending to a perfect series.
I look forward to anything by Stephanie Perkins.

maryam

Here's the deal. I waited for this book for three years because Stephanie Perkins has probably written the best YA chick lit there is. The characters always have so much depth and color, and the plot doesn't run with the typical, formula that every other YA literature does. So I was suuuuuper excited. And then I started this book.

And I devoured it, obviously. I love Perkins's writing, I love how she writes a first person point of view that doesn't make me dislike the character, because I feel like I personally get very turned off by the main character that way. I really liked Isla. Not as much as I remember loving Anna or Lola, but I did like her. She's a sweet, awkward, shy character whose obsession with her crush is very endearing and reminiscent to me.

But I didn't particularly like the flow of the story, nor the development of the plot, or the conflict, which shouldn't have been the conflict. I don't like how powerful words were exchanged in the very beginning of the story, because it didn't feel like it built up enough.

I loved how in Anna, Paris was such an important part to the story, and I understand that this being the third book, maybe it wasn't supposed to have a focus point, but it would have been really nice to see these places come more to life. Paris and New York City, more could have been done.

I LOVE Kurt. I love my side characters, and the best part about Anna was that the side characters were really important to the story. Kurt was in the beginning a lot, but I think he kind of got lost towards the end. His conversation with Isla about being replaced was never really fully addressed, again, I think due to the pacing.

Overall though, I just love Stephanie Perkins, and this story was satisfying. Reading it made me feel a lot of the same emotions as the characters. Perkins does such a good job engaging her audience. I can't say enough about how much I adore her writing. I'm gonna go back and reread the first two books she's written and wait until she comes out with something else.

chloe rae

It took me a while to really understand how I felt about this book. And the honest truth is, I found it a bit disappointing.
I know what you're thinking: "You found a book my STEPHANIE PERKINS a bit DISAPPOINTING? IS SUCH A THING A POSSIBLE?!"
And before I read this book I would've agreed with you 1,000%. I didn't think it was possible. But this book just didn't do it for me like I had hoped.
My main problem was with Isla. I don't feel like I know her. Who is she, really? I never really fell in love with her character because I just found her confusing. I couldn't picture her in my head. I also felt this way with Kurt and Isla's sisters. I don't know but to me everything felt a bit rushed or something.
I LOVED Josh, though. His character was glorious. Their love was definitely intriguing and beautiful. I felt I understood him more than I did Isla. I loved his passion for art and just the way he was described.
The best part of the book though? When all the main characters from the first two novels showed up! St. Clair, Anna, Lola, and Cricket! Ugh, my fangirl heart was in heaven.
Long story short, I seriously enjoyed this book. Like a lot. But I didn't looove it like the others.
One thing I can tell you for sure? It's definitely still worth the read. I promise.

Isla has had a crush on classmate Josh since their freshman year at the School of America in Paris, but after a chance encounter over the summer in Manhattan they return to France for their senior year where they are forced to confront challenges every young couple in love must face.

Isla and the happily ever after

Nessa Luna

Last year I read a book called Anna and the French Kiss because I had heard so many great things about it, I had gotten very curious. While the main genre of the book wasn't really my thing, I enjoyed the book a lot and decided I would pick up the second and third book as well. Book two, Lola and the Boy Next Door, wasn't as great as Anna, but this third book picked up a bit in my opinion.

Isla and the Happily Ever After tells the story of Isla Martin, who has had a crush on Josh ever since she can remember. The only problem was that he already had a girlfriend. Until now. What happens next is a whirlwind relationship that could go anywhere. I honestly have to say that I liked this relationship best, because they got together pretty early on in the relationship. With the previous two books, the couples only got together at the end of the story, after flirting with each other for almost the entire book, and that's honestly what I don't like so much about these romance books. So thank you Stephanie for not doing that to me again with this book! (And no this is not a spoiler, it's sort of in the summary already).

Both these characters were already introduced in Anna; we knew Josh because he's St. Clair's best friend, and Isla was mentioned a couple of times in the first book as well (I believe Anna stopped a person who was bullying Isla or something like that). So from Josh's side we didn't need much introduction. Isla, however, was only a cameo in the first book, so we got to know her a bit better in this book. I liked her, but there were some things that bothered me. (view spoiler)[Like her kind of obsession with Josh throughout the book, even when they were in a relationship. (hide spoiler)] But her friendship with Kurt was great, and I honestly wished there were more male/female friendships in books like that.

The book took place mostly in Paris, at the American school that we read about in Anna, and honestly I wasn't really happy with it. I would have loved a new location, but of course Josh and Isla were still in school and there wasn't really anything we could do about that. I loved their little trip to Barcelona (view spoiler)[apart from the fact that they basically went there to have sex, after being together for like a month or so? (hide spoiler)] and the holidays spent in America of course.

I have to admit, Isla and Josh's relationship moved fast, perhaps a bit too fast in my eyes. I don't mind them getting together early in the book, but I don't know it kind of felt rushed at some points, so yeah even though they didn't have the typical romance-book relationship, it still wasn't the greatest relationship ever. (view spoiler)[And when Isla broke up with Josh because of some thing that she'd made up in her head, that bothered me so much. I honestly wouldn't have blamed Josh if he hadn't gotten back together with her at the end. (hide spoiler)]

In the end, I really enjoyed Isla and the Happily Ever After, but honestly I don't think that this book, nor Lola, was as great as the first book. If you love romantic books, and you love Paris, you should definitely pick up this series!

My opinion in one gif:

alexandra

(spoiler free)
isla and the happily ever after was  so so  good. it filled me with too many feelings and really was a perfect ending to this marvelous series. so glad there is a happily ever after for everyone!
throughout the book, i was actually like:


read my full review here! 

xoxo,

alexandra

buy books here♥ // instagram // blog

i’ve been reading so many books where the main characters are seniors in high school recently (because i’m a senior in high school) and i really appreciated that isla didn’t know what she was doing with her life after high school. a bunch of the other main characters all pretty much had a plan or at least a goal. i personally have absolutely no idea what to do with my life and my only goal is happiness. anyways it was refreshing i guess.

“I’m beginning to think that maybe it’s okay to be a blank canvas. Maybe it’s okay that my future is unknown. And maybe it’s okay to be inspired by the people who do know their future.”

Rachel Braithwaite

it was romantic and comedic.

- the beginning was intriguing

- the middle was boring

- the end was amazing

i’ve been reading so many books where the main characters are seniors in high school recently (because i’m a senior in high school) and i really appreciated that isla didn’t know what she was doing with her life after high school. a bunch of the other main characters all pretty much had a plan or at least a goal. i personally have absolutely no idea what to do with my life and my only goal is happiness. anyways it was refreshing i guess.

“I’m beginning to think that maybe it’s okay to be a blank canvas. Maybe it’s okay that my future is unknown. And maybe it’s okay to be inspired by the people who do know their future.”

Isadora Cal

What did I think? hmmm...
It is like Anna and Lola and Isla are one book and Isla is truly the happy ending. I cried with the ending, but I'm a marshmallow.
Also it feels like Anna and Lola and Isla (the books, not the girls) are one person, a teenager who is growing up. So Isla is this more mature... story. It's still about teenagers, so don't expect a lot of rationality. It has far more sex than the others. It actually surprised me, because I just feel a lot of YAs are still so... prude. Isla felt honest to being seventeen and in love. Madly in love. And being madly in love is one of the best feelings ever and we don't get to feel that for a long time, so I love it when I read a book and I get this feeling.

Also, and here comes some spoiler, I like the way Stephanie did it this time. She showed us that even teenagers (and YA writers, for that matter) can see that you don't get to truly love and know someone with so little time. That you can't have a month of swooning and make out sessions and then base your entire future on that. I do believe in couples that meet in high school and stay together forever -- I do because I know some. But it takes far more than all these swooning and kissing under the moonlight and teenage intensity. I guess that's what Isla shows us; Isla, the character, she doubts herself because she doesn't really knows who she is. First she goes for the obvious, she thinks she is only someone with Josh. That Josh is her world, her home, her reason for making choices. Then she does something really stupid but so so necessary! And he gets mad, which is new -- he is not the perfect prince charming. And when she thinks she lost him for good, she realizes she's someone without him. She wants him, but she doesn't need him. She can be without him. It's not what she wants, and that's perfectly fine, but she can make her own choices and move on and live. And that's the only way, in my opinion, that you can be with someone. You have to be whole first. Like, two unities together. If she was half and he was whole, they wouldn't fit.

Anyway... I'm kind of emotional here. That's it. I love it. One day I'm gonna hug Stephanie Perkins so tight and then I'm gonna hug Jarrod too because I cry with every acknowledgment, but this last one... GEEZ! If he's the one inspiring her, then he deserves my best hug.

“Stephanie Perkins’s characters fall in love the way we all want to, in real time and for good.” —Rainbow Rowell, Award-winning, bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and Fangirl A New York Times Bestseller Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last? 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.

Frederikke nørholm

Sofia Nunes

Rachel Kanyid

My favorite of the three books, by far!!!
I loved every second of this one! Except for the times that I wanted to kill ISLA for being an idiot! But otherwise, loved it!

Ivy X

I loved this book so much. It may not be everyone's cup of tea compared to Anna's story and Lola's but I really liked it because I could connect to so many aspects of Isla and her story. First of all, the feeling I got reading this book after a trip to France is amazing because I recognized certain places that Isla and Josh went to such as Notre Dame and so forth. The things they ate became more familiar and the lifestyle that is romanticized is also more familiar. At the same time, I also could relate more to Isla's relationship at times and I understand where her insecurities are coming from.

I liked how this book had parents who didn't have a good impression of her in the beginning and are still pretty neutral to her presence throughout the story. It allows more diversity in girlfriend-parent relationship books. It's not complete hate and it's not complete love. 

I laughed so hard at the whole rabbits deal that Isla had after reading Josh's drawing book. 

I loved so many things about this book. Barcelona. The tree house. Her room. Everything seemed magical. I loved the characters too because they felt real. Even Hattie who was obnoxious in the beginning came to really be quite a personality at the end. I loved that Isla was very deep and I got a lot of deep moments from it. The romance was also very cute and the lengths Josh went to show her that he loves her and that she's worthy of love was swoon-worthy. (view spoiler)[ I mean, come on, a boy waits in the snow FOR HOURS for you to finish reading a book that he drew chronicling his 4 years in high school....OMG YES.  (hide spoiler)] 
I loved this book so much for those reasons. 

As for the problem in the book, it could've been easily solved but I can also understand why there was that problem. It's mostly emotionally and psychologically based and built on insecurity. (view spoiler)[ Like they've only been dating for a month and they went to such lengths that involve trust. (SEX)  (hide spoiler)] At the same time, I also liked Kurt. He was a side character but his presence is always there like a best friend should. Sometimes a best friend cannot always be by your side and especially in a case where Kurt is of the opposite sex.

It was also great to see all the characters throughout the series at the end and I loved the situation for Anna and Etienne. It's also really interesting how in every book, the guys are portrayed as perfect. Etienne was like this perfect guy for Anna and Cricket was this perfect guy for Lola. But it's really interesting, because every time you see the relationship from another person's perspective...the guy's not that big of a deal. Etienne is often emphasized for his shortness with Lola and Isla but in Anna's story you don't really notice that he's short because his good traits are more emphasized. And in Lola's story, Cricket was like this perfect boy-next-door...and then you read Isla's perspective and it's like Cricket is some lanky ass stilt-standing skinny giant. So I wonder if Josh is really as dreamy as Lola makes him out to be. It's pretty interesting. LOVE MAKES YOU BLIND. <-- I'm clever.

Talia Dominguez 

OMG! THIS BOOK IS SOOO SWEET! I LOVED JOSH AND HIS 'SHYNESS'! 
Isla Martin has had a hopeless, all-consuming crush on Josh Wassertein since their first year at the School of America in Paris. After years of pining, Isla has grown used to watching Josh from afar.
Then one magical, painkiller-fueled, chance encounter in New York the summer before their senior year, changes everything.
After years of bad timing and missed connections, Josh and Isla are finally together. But with false-starts and near-misses aplenty, neither of them is sure this relationship is meant to last. Isla doesn't understand how someone like Josh can ever feel as deeply for her as she does for him. Neither is sure how to deal with the growing pains and doubts that stem from their new, intense relationship.
With uncertain plans for college and the future looming, Josh and Isla will have to learn to be apart before they have any chance of staying together in Isla and the Happily Ever After (2014) by Stephanie Perkins.
While much of the story focuses on Isla and Josh's fledgling relationship, Perkins also artfully explores changing friendships as well as the complexities relationships with sisters. Kurt, Isla's best friend, is an especially wonderful addition to the story. Isla's panic at facing her future both in terms of college and life beyond is authentic and well-handled throughout the story.
Although Josh and Isla are perfect together, Isla's growth is happily a solo endeavor as she is forced to acknowledge her flaws as well as her strengths and wants. Isla (and Josh) are often foolish and make mistakes but they also both learn and begin to thrive because of them.
Perkins is a master when it comes to writing clever, swoony romances. Josh and Isla are perfect counterpoints to each other in this story about first love and growing up.

Emelie

1,5owls.. Did not like this book at all.. So im satisfied i read it all, even if i wanted to dnf it every second page! 

Although im happy i've finished this triology, cause that means i wont have to read it again :)

I dont want to sound harsh on these books but There was literally nothing i liked about them and i guess that makes me one of a kind since everybody Else seems to love them! Haha! :D

Menna Khaled

This book was really the true sequel to anna and the french kiss
I don't know why but it had that feel 
Seeing josh again 
Seeing the school 
Seeing nate 
Talking about rashmi
Talking about anna and st.claire
Events happening in the same classrooms 
It gave me a nostalgic feeling 
I read anna and the french kiss 2 years ago so I didn't remember that isla was there tho I remembered that there was this girl anna saw that drew josh's tattoo on her wrist 
I loved this book so much 
I am also so glad to meet kurt
To see cricket and lola and collipe again
I loved this book

Nicole Dykeman

I was gonna stop reading and go to bed but I couldn't. I love love love Stephanie Perkins' work, it's cute and lovely and makes me feel all bubbly and happy inside. It's not angst-y at all, but there's still enough conflict to keep you reading. Literally could not put it down. I finished it in about three hours.

Lauren Tabor

Debbi

** spoiler alert **
           A. This book is spectacular. It showed the great and also, not-so-great sides when it comes to love and the future between two people.

B. I especially love how it included Anna and Lola.

C. The three books should be made into a movie. You know like how films like Valentine's Day, Love Actually, New Year's Eve where they depict many people with their different lives? 

D. But then again, not all books need to become a movie.

E. I love how Isla thought that Josh has no idea whom she is, when really, he notices her. And for all the right reasons. 

F. I was a lot like Isla when it comes to how our minds work. Josh is the Senator's son, and Isla felt that he was "acting" and "being nice" to the important people at this important party. When actually, he wasn't acting; he was being himself. He was being genuinely nice to the people who are important to his father. The people who helped his Father become whom he is today. 

G. We will always get insecure when it comes to love. And we will always worry that we love the other more than they love us. 

H. But I think we shouldn't make the topic on love for comparisons. We love with all we have. That's all that matters.

I. I love you are three very important words. Say it often.

J. Contrary to popular belief, Happily Ever Afters do happen. When it comes to love, it takes two to clap. And this book shows us that. I haven't found the one like Anna and St. Clair, Lola and Cricket and Isla and Josh. But I believe that he will show up soon. I believe he's out there. 

K. When he finally shows, I'll remember this novel as it showed me the Right Way to love and life.

*Written on February 1st, and because Valentine's Day falls on the 14th, I have all these feelings in me.*

Cassidy

Regina

I was honestly sooo looking forward to reading this book after I finished Lola and the Boy Next Door last year, but in the end I was just really disappointed? I don't know, I guess I was expecting way more since there was quite a lot of hype around this book. I am not saying the book was bad, because there were parts I enjoyed but I couldn't really get into the book, and also found Isla a bit annoying here and there.

Tameka Young

LOVE. Stephanie Perkins always manages to write books that I want to live inside. Loved this just as much as Anna and Lola for completely different reasons.

Livie Isbill

I have never related to a character more than Isla. She has the same red hair, love for adventure, and fear of the unknown with her future, haha. Stephanie Perkins is brilliant as always. The cameos were perfect and this was definitely a happily ever after to one of my favorite series.

Jaclyn

Awwww! LOVE THIS!!! There is nothing like a Stephanie Perkins book. There is something so magical in the way she tells a story & the setting is always so so beautiful. I absolutely loved getting to see the development between Isla and Josh individually & together as a couple! I really loved seeing their relationship & crying with them as they fought and grinning with them at all of the cute parts & guys there were SO MANY! THEY WERE SO SO SO CUTE!! Just AHH Josh is so soooo SWEET!!! & I cant express how amazing all of these books have been to read!! Oh & HOW INCREDIBLE IT WAS TO SEE ANNA ST.CLAIR CRICKET AND LOLA & ALL OF THEM TOGETHER! JUST OMG I was sobbing! Throughout this book I cried,squealed,smiled, and felt for everyone....ahh I loved this so much & I want moreeee! These books always leave my heart just so happy & full of love. I also loved how this book was not just about the relationship but everything that comes with it & loving yourself too. Such a beautiful book! ❤️
"I'm beginning to think that maybe it's okay to be a blank canvas.Maybe it's okay that my future is unknown. And maybe, it's okay to be inspired by the people who do know their future."

Natasha S

This was a fun ending to this series. I love Stephanie Perkins' continuity of characters/story lines within her books (Isla was mentioned in the first book and now she and Josh get their own story). 

This story follows Isla, a petite redhead, who has had a crush on Josh, an artistic dude, for the past three years. We see the crush develop into a relationship and it's all just really fricken cute! I feel like the conflict in this story was realistic (I mean I know I felt similarly to Isla when I was in high school). I appreciate the consequences of actions and characters growing and developing. 

All in all, this was a wonderful culmination of the series. I really enjoyed watching Isla and Josh's relationship unfold and the fact that Anna, Etienne, Lola, and Cricket made it into the book too!

Skye

I enjoyed this book, I really did but I found myself craving more right up to the very end. 

I adore Stephanie Perkins' writing style and the way that I get lost in her stories. I always feel that I'm a character playing a part. 

But I felt a lack of depth in this one. I also felt a lack of connection with the characters. Don't get me wrong, I was interested in the story and strongly desired the happily ever after but I didn't feel connected to Isla or Josh. I also couldn't stand a majority of the secondary characters like Kurt and Hattie. To be completely honest, I didn't like Isla very much. From the beginning until the end, she was self conscious, fickle, and needy. She seemed to constantly need affirmation in all of her relationships, not just Josh. I liked Josh and some of that stemmed from his connection in the story already. I went in knowing I liked him from "Anna and the French Kiss." Perkins did a good job at allowing us to get to know Josh and addressing some questions I had about him from "Anna." If anything, we didn't get to see enough Josh. I never quite understood what it was about Isla that he loved so much other than her smarts and interest in comics. That's enough for a schoolboy crush but love-of-your-life status? I think not. 

I love "Anna" and "Lola" because those seemed like realistic situations with a natural progression. In "Isla" it felt like two people who became so obsessed with one another and convinced themselves they were soulmates. Yes, I know that happens in real life but it didn't fit the series. The neediness, obsession, and jealousy felt so unhealthy. There was one part that made me laugh out loud because it was so cringeworthy. It had to do with making out and rolling in cake; yes, cake. 

We see a little progress in the end when Isla begins discovering more about herself, but she's still convinced that she can't know who she truly is without Josh being in her life. 

Don't get me wrong, it's not all bad. I absolutely loved the way Perkins tied all three stories together in this one. We were able to hear about all of our favorite characters and my heart exploded with joy when they all came together near the end. And **spoiler** who wasn't over the moon excited when St. Clair proposed?! It gives me hope that Perkins will write a follow up. Maybe a wedding novel? Oh please please please!

This wasn't my favorite book in the series but I still liked it! I could definitely see myself rereading all three in the very near future. I'm sad it's over!!

Let me start by saying, this wasn't bad. I did enjoy it! But. I just felt that it fell short when compared to the other two. I think a big thing was that I was semi-disappointed to find out it is set more in Paris than New York. However, I did enjoy this book. And thought it was fun and cute.

Brianna Grimm &
Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

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