isla and the happily ever after by stephanie perkins

I kept hoping that Perkins would say “You see all the obsessing that Isla has been doing? It’s been unhealthy and wrong!” but instead it was made okay and even desirable and cute. That love is about obsessing over others because magically they’ve always loved you back? I’m sorry but no. I couldn’t support was being preached in this book. In Isla? I saw an obsessive crush happen and then explode into instalove. About the characters better knowing themselves so that ultimately? They can find love.

The only moment I felt the passion of the area was in that Barcelona moment and it was glorious but it was a dying spark of hope.Ĥ) The Themes: Not a single person on this planet is denying that Anna, Lola, and Isla are loves stories. NYC is a place I’ve personally visited, a place that is wonderful and dirty and grimy and amazing and here it was meh.

In Lola it wasn’t AS impressive, but the sense of incredible atmosphere was still there! Not here in Isla. I’ve said it a thousand times, and I’ll probably end up saying it a thousand more times: In Anna, Paris isn’t just the background, it’s a character. Everyone felt like an important piece of the puzzle, and even if I didn’t know a character fully because it wasn’t their story (e.g./ Meredith,) they felt dear to me and as though they would have an important story someday -that they weren’t just here as a supporting character to someone else’s story.ģ) The Setting: I mean. And that is tragic, because one of the things I loved about Anna and Lola is that everyone felt important. Her sisters? Meh! Her supposed “best friend”? He felt like a random side character. But Isla? Who was she? I still don’t really know her. Clair and Lola and Cricket is because they feel real. I sincerely didn’t know it was possible to say this about a Stephanie Perkins novel. Things were happening, I suppose, but never excitingly.Ģ) The Characters: I didn’t care about the characters. I never felt that we were moving somewhere, I never felt a legitimate progression of time. So I’m left looking back at wonderful snippets - seriously, Barcelona, ohmygod - but not really caring about the plot overall. Stephanie Perkins kept showing me why I love her in specific moments - like Barcelona, ohmygod - but as a whole this story was badly paced and badly plotted.

This didn't.ġ) Certain Scenes vs The Entire Plot: My biggest sentiment with this book was that I LOVED a lot of scenes, but didn’t really like the plot overall. But those moments came mixed together with depth. Anna and Lola also had cheesy and wonderful moments. Stephanie Perkins knows how to write some truly adorable moments. I flew through the entire thing in one day. My order is officially Anna, Lola, and then Isla.īefore I get into the meat of this all, please know that I didn't hate it. Let me start with the question everyone wants to know: is this your new favourite Stephanie Perkins? Unfortunately, not even close. MY HEART IS BROKEN, BUT MY HEART IS TRUE.

Isla and the happily ever after by stephanie perkins