Claire LaZebnik

Jane Austen comes to modern-day Los Angeles in Claire LaZebnik's imaginative take on Persuasion, where seventeen-year-old Anna Eliot finds out whether there's such a thing as a second chance when it comes to first love. Fans of Polly Shulman, Maureen Johnson, Elizabeth Eulberg, Stephanie Perkins, and, of course, Jane Austen will love this irresistibly funny and romantic contemporary tale. Anna is tired of worrying about what other people think. After all, that was how she lost the only guy she ever really liked, Finn Westbrook. Now, three years after she broke his heart, the one who got away is back in her life—and he wants nothing to do with her. Anna keeps trying to persuade herself that she doesn't care about Finn either, but even though they've both changed since they first met, deep down she knows he's the guy for her. Now if only she can get him to believe that, too . . .

The Last Best Kiss

Connor 

Maybe 2.5? Meh. (Honestly, the line "Plus... it's hard to care about Connor" should've been a clear indication of how I'd feel about this YA adaptation of Persuasion)

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Guess who didn’t realize this was a reimagining of Jane Austen’s Persuasion? This lady. I’ve only ever read one of Austen’s novels and it wasn’t that one. I know, I know. I should be ashamed. But I digress.

This was a cute, quick, easy to read young adult romance. Finn was absolutely adorable, in 9th grade and again when he and Anna are reunited. Ninth grade Anna was shallow and allowed herself to be influenced by her ridiculously superficial friends, as teenagers often do. I’m glad we only get a brief glimpse of 9th grade Anna because I didn’t like her very much and my thoughts on the book would likely be very different if she’d stuck around too long. Twelfth grade Anna is more likable, even if her friends aren’t. Of course, now that Finn’s cute, they all want a piece of him. Ugh. If one thing drives me nuts in books it’s bad friend behavior. This book is riddled with it.

Anna’s friends, for the most part, drove me up the wall. There were a lot of characters to keep straight and other than Anna, Finn and perhaps Oscar, I really couldn’t be bothered with the others. They were too self-involved for my liking. Anna’s family was a giant mess. The only one of them I liked was her sister Molly. What I didn’t like was the way Molly’s family reacted to her coming out of the closet. Their sister Lizzie and their father were both jerks. I wasn’t a fan.

All in all, I thought this was a cute book. I had some problems with the characters, but those problems didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book. I liked seeing shallow Anna grow into someone who was more complex person who learned from her mistakes and thought about how her actions truly affected others.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Best Kiss

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