Book Recommendation Sunday: 'Isla and the Happily Ever After'

A few years ago, back when ebooks were still an experimental medium that didn't really hold a candle to real books, I bought Anna and the French Kiss on my Nook. It was late at night - long past closing hour for a brick-and-mortar store - and immediately got to reading. The next day, I finished the book and knew it was one of my all-time favorite stories. 

Before Anna, I wasn't crazy about Paris. I had been an Anglophile since I was 15, but France just didn't strike my fancy as much. Therefore, it's not an understatement to say that my entire view of the city (and country) changed after reading the book. Stephanie Perkins was able to show me a side of Paris that I hadn't seen before, didn't know existed and now would die to experience.

Her second book in the 'series' (stand-alone companion novels, really) Lola and the Boy Next Door was pleasant and enjoyable, but just didn't hit me as a hard as Anna's tale had. But last week, finally, after months and years of waiting - which I was happy to do because Perkins was so open with her readers about her struggles with depression and subsequently, writing - Isla and the Happily Ever After debuted.

In keeping with Anna and Lola, I had downloaded it to my Nook - which I now read mostly on my iPhone and iPad - and absolutely tore through the 258 pages in a day.

There is a reason Isla and the Happily Ever After it is currently touting a 4.43 rating on Goodreads. Let me tell you how much I love this book: roll up my love for New York City, Paris, and happily ever afters and you have my opinion about Isla. 

People were saying it is structured differently than Perkin's other books, but it is still the same theme. It's about Isla and Josh figuring out what they mean to each other. Whether they're in a relationship or not while that happens is irrelevant. It's still about friendships that change over the years, and how the choices we make define us. As seniors at SOAP, they're trying to balance living in the moment and planning for the future. 

As with her other novels, the book spans roughly a year, so it does move at a fast pace. But the characters develop and evolve as they should, and we understand how their motives change over the months.

I flew through the final few pages of Isla and the Happily Ever After because it was exactly what I could have ever hoped for for these characters. It was like adrenaline was rushing through me and I had to find out what happens next, turning page after page after page.

The only sad thing about finishing Isla is knowing I won't be able to see these characters in the context of another book. Alas, they're happy where they are, and that's good enough for me.

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