Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Genre: Contemporary, Young adult.

Publication date: August 14 2014.

Publisher: Usborne.

Pages: 375.

My Rating: 3.5/5 stars.

Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last? 

Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart. 

Featuring cameos from fan-favorites Anna, Étienne, Lola, and Cricket, this sweet and sexy story of true love—set against the stunning backdrops of New York City, Paris, and Barcelona—is a swoonworthy conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series.

In Isla and the Happily Ever After we meet the shy, quiet girl that we read about briefly in Anna and the French Kiss. 

Isla has a big crush on Josh Wasserstein and has for a couple of years. I didn't expect her to like him that much at the beginning but she was obsessed with him. 

Isla has a best friend named Kurt. They live across from each other and have been friends since they were little. Also this year Isla's younger sister Hattie has started in SOAP (School of America in Paris). 

Josh and Isla grow closer and closer and it's obvious that they have feelings for each other.

 

I'm not sure is Isla and Josh are the best couple. They have cute, romantic moments but also have moments were they can sometimes act a bit immature at times when they are arguing. 

Isla kept brining things up about Josh's past and they weren't that nice and also were unnecessary at the time. She kept talking about his previous girlfriend, Rashmi, even when they were having a romantic moment. Where as Josh almost never brought up Isla's previous boyfriend. 

I felt that Isla made bad decisions when talking about things with Josh. But Josh did also. 

I really liked how we already knew Josh from Anna and the French Kiss. I felt like we were reading about and old friend. I loved how he mention his friends like Étienne, Anna,Meredith and Rashmi. 

Josh was always trying to do good things for Isla, even if they didn't end up good at the end! I also enjoyed how he was to Kurt. He invited him to his from to study along with Isla and invited him to go places with them. I felt he was very respective of Kurt.

The chapter or two with Anna, Étienne, Meredith, Lola and Cricket were my favourite! And there was one scene in particular that I loved! (I'm not going to say it incase someone hasn't read it!) 

I found Isla very annoying at times. But I really liked her at times. My opinion of her changed all the time. At the beginning of the book I thought she was very obsessed with him and barely ever talked to him, but I liked her. But near the end I found her nice and I liked her more. I loved how her and Hattie's relationship grew over them bonding and talking about the tree house. But I did not like Hattie at all at the beginning!

I gave this book 3.5/5 stars because even though I really enjoyed it, I felt it was a bit of a let down in comparison to Anna and Lola. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who has read Anna and Lola. Also to anyone who's looking for something fun and easy to read!