Isla and the Happily Ever After

Book title: Isla and the Happily Ever After
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary (with spoilers):
Isla Martin attends the School of America in Paris with Josh, a talented artist and Isla's long-time crush. After getting her wisdom teeth removed, Isla runs into Josh in a cafe, and has the courage to talk to him because she is a bit loopy from the medicine she is taking.

Once they get back to school, Isla has trouble talking to Josh, but he knocks on her door and asks her out to the local comic book shop. Once Josh realizes that Isla's best friend Kurt really is just her friend, Josh and Isla start dating. They share several sweet moments, like their first kiss on an escalator (even though it ends in a bloody nose for Isla), Josh painting the "treehouse," and  both recounting favorite childhood memories.

Isla and Josh decide to spend the weekend in Spain, breaking the school's rules about traveling. When Isla's sister Hattie starts asking about Isla, the school realizes that something is amiss, and confront Kurt about Isla's whereabouts. This results in Josh's expulsion from school. His parents are furious and confiscate his phone.

While Isla and Josh are separated by an ocean, Josh's dad is running for senator. Isla watches the news around the election, which includes a clip of Josh saying he doesn't have a girlfriend (which he later claims he did to protect Isla from nosy people in the political world). When Isla is back in the US for a holiday, she receives a package with a copy of Josh's autobiographical graphic novel. Isla is upset at the presence of Rashmi in the novel, especially since there are nude drawings of her. While being driven home from a posh political party, Isla picks a fight with Josh, and breaks up with him, fearing that it is only a matter of time before he would have broken up with her.

However, Isla is still very much in love with Josh. She buys him a signed copy of a graphic novel, which Isla's sister Hattie sends to Josh. Josh visits France during the Olympics and meets up with Isla. After they watch St. Clair propose to Anna (who gleefully accepts, of course), Josh walks Isla to her dorm and hands her his revised graphic novel, telling her to read it right away and call him after she is done. His novel ends with Josh declaring his love for Isla and waiting outside for her to call. When she peeks out of the window, Josh is actually there. She runs outside and tells him that she loves him.

My Thoughts:

Unlike most romance novels, the focus is on the relationship after Isla and Josh get together. Perhaps this is a play on the "happily ever after" title, since most novels would end right after the protagonists get together. Although it's interesting to take a look at this side of relationships, the plot still needs conflict to move along. That conflict comes in the form of relationship issues between Josh and Isla. Many of their issues are shallow but accurate for teens. (Six months does seem like forever when you're a teen. Not so much as an adult.) I'm not sure that I buy that Isla would really break up with Josh, just to avoid being hurt later. He's her dream guy, and he clearly is happy to be with her. The break up is really about her issues with self confidence.

I thought Josh's character was well drawn. (Pun intended.) While reading Anna and the French Kiss, I was intrigued by Josh, so I'm glad he got his own book. I also really liked Isla (shy, smart, and short), even though she had some annoying moments.

The best part of the book was Josh's graphic novel. It was easy to envision the artwork, and I loved reading the story of his life described in comic book panels. The ending of the book with Isla reading Josh's novel was just perfect.

I enjoyed reading about Isla's relationship with Kurt, and I liked that Isla was respectful of his autism. It was refreshing that Kurt and Isla actually did have a platonic relationship and weren't secretly in love with each other or anything like that.

Overall, I liked this book more than Lola, but Anna is still my favorite.