Valentine’s Day Review – Isla and the Happily Ever After (Spoiler-Free)

Happy Valentine’s Day! 😃 I hope you guys get to stuff your faces with loads of chocolate and love today ❤️ Be sure to give your parents, friends and significant others a big hug!

To celebrate, here’s my small contribution: a cute contemporary review. Enjoy! 😊

Isla and the Happily Ever After

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…

I know what you’re thinking: “Sophie, did you hit your head? Why did you read the last book in the trilogy without having read the others?” Because I like to live on the edge!!

Actually, no, I just thought this one sounded a lot more enjoyable than the other two. So yeah.

I’m really surprised by how much I liked this. I’m not a contemporary fan so I’m bound to get bored by the ones I read very fast. And truth be told, there were times when I was a bit bored by this one. But thankfully, those were fleeting moments.

My general reaction towards this book was “THEY ARE SO CUTE. THIS IS SO CUTE”. Repeatedly. Seriously, me. A grown woman. The thing is, these two were just so adorable together I felt like scooping them into an ice cream bowl and eating them up. I was simply powerless against the cuteness.

I really liked how realistic this book got at times and how it depicted being in love in such an honest and unapologetic way. I would have liked to have explored some of the other relationships more but Isla and Josh’s took up too big a chunk of the story. Which, again, perfectly illustrates how one gets when they’re in love and so consumed by it they forget about everything and everyone else. It was intense and silly and just how young love’s supposed to be.

I liked getting to know all these characters from the previous books, all of whom I knew little of but was more than willing to get to know. Those of you who have read the first installments will surely enjoy revisiting them as well. 

I loved traveling with Isla and her friends around France, Spain and America. It was as if I was there myself, the way the author described them in such exquisite detail without making it sound exhaustively descriptive. It was incredibly cool.

I also loved the genuine appreciation towards art and how much it was incorporated into the narrative. Moreover, how big a part it played in the whole thing. TOO CUTE.

I wasn’t a big fan of the last few chapters  and that was unexpected because they were just so full of angst. And I like angst. But somehow this kind of angst just didn’t do it for me. I could somehow relate to Isla’s feelings from when I was her age, and that was nice. But at the same time, I felt they were a bit forced by the author in order to create drama.

Then again, what’s a story without some type of conflict, right? It was a bittersweet feeling because in one hand, I liked that we were seeing this other side of Isla, the vulnerable and deeply insecure one. And also Josh’s, who was such a sensitive, caring and sweet cinnamon bun. But on the other hand, it made the whole thing sound a bit too silly. 

There was also another instance around the middle of the book that I found ridiculously blown of proportion and, again, only seemed to serve to fuel more drama. But because of my limited knowledge of private schools and their internal system, I’ll allow it the benefit of the doubt.

The ending totally made up for all of it, though, and my heart was again squealing with joy. 

Overall, this is a really adorable read and one that made me really happy. Even though I did not relate to the main characters all the time, I was quite invested and wanted them to have their happily ever after. 

I recommend this to all the hopeless romantics out there. I don’t think you have to read the previous books as this one made absolute sense to me as a standalone but get ready to be spoiled.

Thank you so much for reading and until next time!

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Have you read this one? Anything by Stephanie Perkins? Let me know in the comments below! ｡^‿^ ｡