Review ARC : Kisses and Croissants

Disclaimer: Bear in mind that some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a little commission at no extra cost from your end. 😊

Description Summary | Charming one day read that promises an escapade to the City of Love, a lovely YA about chasing your dreams and owning your destiny no matter how the circumstances turn up.

Rating

Book Summary | (Skip to Review)

Seventeen-year-old Mia, an American girl at an elite summer ballet program, has six weeks to achieve her dreams: to snag an audition with one of the world’s best ballet companies. But there’s more to Paris than ballet—especially when a charming French boy, Louis, wants to be her tour guide—and the pair discover the city has a few mysteries up its sleeve.

In the vein of romances like Love and Gelato, this is the perfect summer adventure for anyone looking to get swept away in the City of Love.

Review

Review

Review

Kisses and Croissants may not be the Next Great American Novel, and it doesn’t have to be. This follows the light hearted (some might argue “on the surface”) stories found in books like The Kissing Booth and To All the Boys I Loved Before. I read this in almost a day and it’s a perfect summer’s escape read if you’re looking for some armchair travel.

However, I do think this would appeal to younger teens and as a twenty-something year old it did impact on how “gripping” this book was to me.

Setting

Possibly one of my favorite things about this book. The setting is gorgeous and it shows that the author knows the city; I’ve already added some must see places in my travel bucket list! I like it when the author puts some effort to look into the setting of her story especially in contemporary books rather than just having it as a backdrop for the sake of having an “exotic” and “unique” story.

I loved how she added extra descriptions and notes to some of the Parisian monuments; it makes you feel like you’re really there.

Story

I think the story was well laid out, was the ending predictable? Yes. Did it matter? No. Regardless I enjoyed this book and though to me I didn’t find it so romantic as much as it was cheesy, I do think Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau made a strong U.S debut. I think a lot of teens would enjoy the ambiance and youthfulness this book brings out in its plot and characters.

There was a twist in the end that made the book stand out a bit more and present it’s message of taking your own destiny and believing in the bigger picture far better.

Writing

If I could describe the writing in any way it would be this: light buttercream frosting. You’d eat this up in a minute because of how easily the writing and pacing is from chapter to chapter; it felt like reading a novella from how seamlessly everything was tied together.

When Mia speaks about her passion in ballet the writing changes in it’s tone and words; it makes the reader understand just how important this dream is to the MC. But with the Parisian adventures it shifts back to this jubilant tone that gives the book its airiness.

I loved how Jouhanneau took her time to describe and point out concepts and movements in ballet, it gave me a newfound appreciations to ballerinas everywhere!

Characters Development

Usually with characters I like analyzing them and writing about them in my blog reviews but I wanted to highlight something especially different here. At first I was skeptical to how Mia would develop in the book and there wasn’t much going on with her (Ballet was her “personality” so to speak). But I was pleasantly surprised to how Jouhanneau handled her character ARC and I especially liked how the mean girl trope was destroyed (more girls supporting girls please!).

You can definitely tell how chapter 1 Mia is infinitely different than chapter 35 Mia; there was a point in the book where Mia returns to the exact same spot she first went to at the beginning of the book and you can just tell from the body language described how much the character grew and changed. I think this particular fact is what makes it a better YA romcom than most.

Do I recommend? If you loved TATBILB and cheesy romcoms like Emily in Paris, you’ll enjoy this. It’s also a good choice to get you out of a reading slump.

Thanks for Reading! Tell me, Did you read Kisses and Croissants? Are you adding it to your TBR?

---