My Love for Stephanie Perkins Runs Deep (& a giveaway!!!)

Yes, I'm aware the title sounds creepy on a whole different level but hear me out.

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I'm the type of person who'll fan girl hard on anything that gets me hooked. Granted, one can only obsess over a number of things like TV series and music, but once I'm there -- baby, I'm there. (See how dramatic I'm getting with my intro?)

Side story: my co-worker introduced me to green apple Yakult tea some months ago and it's been my default order ever since. It's acceptable to fan girl on drinks, yeah?

This all started when I was in my senior year in college. I decided to shift degrees (I know but better safe than sorry, right?) and naturally, I had to deal with the changes. I had to pick classes and more often than not, irregular students were left with the schedules that weren't actually ideal. I ended up with a schedule that had long breaks in between classes. At first I was bummed because I didn't know what I would do to kill time. Studying is the first option but get real. It's called BREAK for a reason. (Unless I'm cramming... which happened a lot) The second option would be, of course, to read. Now, I already had a number of books lined up but when my friend introduced me to Anna and the French Kiss with A LOT of enthusiasm and encouragement, I gave in. I thought it was just one book and it wouldn't disrupt my reading schedule.

Oh how wrong was I.

Anna and the French Kiss left me feeling like I will never find a book like it ever again. It took me a few days to recover! As in, I couldn't read anything else after it because it wasn't the same. I was an instant fan. I recommended Anna to anybody who asked for book recommendations, especially if they specifically said they wanted something that had insane feels in it. I always said it was one of, if not my favorite book whenever anyone asked. To me, nothing could compare to Anna and the magic of her story with Etienne St. Clair.

But then I was wrong again.

It was Isla. I cheated on Anna with Isla. 

Let's go back to 6 months ago. I was very fortunate to have met Stephanie Perkins when National Bookstore brought her to the Philippines for a book signing tour. I was all giddy and overly joyed all throughout the week. It was all I could think of! The thought of meeting the woman who created one of the best young adult books ever (!!!) fueled me the entire week. I think I was even more productive at work because it gave me the illusion that time was going faster. Hah!

1. Stephanie said Jarrod, out of the three book boyfriends, is a lot like Cricket (and he agrees).

2. Stephanie and Jarrod are ADORABLE. When you see just how supportive they are of each other, and how cool they are together -- you'd understand why Stephanie's books are the way they are.

3. I won't get tired of saying this but... JARROD PERKINS LOOKS A LOT LIKE MR. FREDRICKSEN FROM UP!

4. Stephanie is very fond of horror books - she's a big Stephen King fan! She said that if she'll write a book other than contemporary love stories, she'll go for something with a King feel to it.

5. I asked her what her biggest challenge was when she was piecing together a story for Isla and Josh. She said it was challenging to think of a way to keep the momentum going. Isla was given her happily ever after early in the book but it was taken away shortly after. Stephanie said she had to think of ways for the story to still be interesting while Isla and Josh worked out their issues. I think she did a great job, by the way. A really REALLY great job.

Which brings me back to how I cheated on Anna. 

While I did enjoy Lola and the Boy Next Door, it just wasn't my cup of tea. It didn't give me the same kind of feels. Maybe it was just harder for me to connect with Lola than I did with Anna. Or perhaps it was my high expectations that made it hard for me to dive into the story one hundred and ten percent. I thought, maybe it's simply Anna and the French Kiss for me. But when I read Isla and the Happy Ever After, all that changed. it was like getting a flashback of all the feels I got from reading the first book. I was so torn between two perfect books that I actually felt like I was cheating on either one of them. Am I beginning to sound crazy? No judge-y eyes, please! I'm counting on you guys to understand because we're all obsessive book nerds. Ha!

Isla and the Happily Ever After solidified my love for Stephanie Perkins (as if it wasn't already). I could totally relate with Isla. Heck, I think every girl who's ever had a major crush on someone will feel the same way I did. It was after reading it that I decided I will automatically buy and read anything she comes up with. I love the way she writes stories -- effortlessly wonderful. There's not much room for disappointment, you know?  They're not too sappy, not too cute, not too fluffy -- just the right kind of feel good romance I rarely encounter in young adult books today. And I hope that with this post, I'm able to pass on the Stephanie Perkins love. Because you need her books in your shelf!

a.k.a. the book that started it all. By 'it' meaning my fan girling plus this blog. 

Yep! I enjoyed Anna so much that I decided to start a blog where I could review and recommend it (and similar books) to others.

1. PHILIPPINES residents only. Sorry!

2. One winner will be chosen.

3. The winner will be notified via email and Twitter/Facebook.

4. If the winner fails to respond after 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen

Good luck! :-)