Title- Kisses and Croissants
Author- Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau
Series- standalone
Rating– 3.9/5Genre- YA contemporary romance- clean
POV- first person, present tense
Trope- coming of age, parent who doesn’t understand me, finding a path in life
Steam level- 0/5
Cover– Ballet is a huge deal with her story, yet I didn’t expect that from the cover
Comps– “Love and Gelato” which is set in Italy, not Paris
First chapter thoughts-
This feels VERY young adult. Which is fine, I just expected a little less than it feels. Mia is already forced to be room with her nemesis in a fancy Paris dance school before senior year of high school. Her mom doesn’t believe in her. The teachers are tough. There are hints that she may discover her long lost relative will have secrets about their ancestors being famous ballet dancers which will somehow alter her course. The writing feels immature but hopefully there’s some cute romance to hook me in.
Character Development- She needs to find her balance between passion and life
Best part- Touring France and the shop names when they eat at cafes and get ice cream
What I would change- some twists thrown in to keep the reader on their toes
Quote- none note-worthy
Setting- Paris! I loved the cobblestone descriptions
Prose- underwhelming. Too much telling
Character goals/motivations- Mia wants to earn an internship at a prestigious NYC ballet academy
Theme- follow your dreams
Vivid sensory descriptions- sometimes when they were walking the streets of Paris
Dialogue- underwhelming
Diversity- I believe there was a character from Brazil. Also one of their role models was mentioned as a women of mixed background. There were dancers represented behind the scenes in the classroom from countries around the globe. I believe each main character was white/European descendant. I don’t recall LGBTQ representation. I also don’t remember any characters with disabilities shown, however I could be mistaken.
Ethics/morals- parent pressure to succeed
Conflict/tension/obstacles- not many. She had it overall easy. I did enjoy her agency of learning about her ancestors.
Pacing- fast/light/easy read
Thoughts while reading-
Page 45- I understand why the author translates every phrase from French to English but I wish it was just in French and the reader can figure it out on their own. It messes with the flow to read it twice.
Page 66- Louis is her adorable distraction. I love that he’s taking her on an adventure and the story isn’t just about her in dance classes only
Page 94- this reminds me of the movie “Black Swan,” with Natalie Portman.
Page 122- I’m guessing mom will have an empathetic story later on that Mia wasn’t aware of in her past.
Page 144- I love that I’m getting a mini tour of Paris & want to write down these little cafes in my journal to visit someday
Halfway- it’s a cute story, a bit lacking in surprise, depth, twists , and obstacles so far. Maybe the second half will show more struggle
Page 280- a bit predictable and cliche … but when in Rome… (or I guess Paris)
Ending- Page 311- it was all tied in a lovely pink bow as expected. Almost every little detail turned out the way I guessed.
Cassie Swindon 