Isla and the Happily Ever After - Stephanie Perkins

Isla and the Happily Ever After –Stephanie Perkins

Isla and the Happily Ever After is the final book in Stephanie Perkins series. Following that of Isla Martin, who we very briefly meet in Anna and the French Kiss. This story focuses on the relationship of Isla and Josh, the boy she has fancied since the very start of her time at SOAP.

‘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.’

Isla is completely different than the other female protagonists Stephanie has provided us with in this series. Isla is a lot darker and moodier, her  low self esteem, lack of confidence and believing she is not worthy to be loved make this a much darker and challenging story compared to the other, somewhat easier reads. A lot of Isla’s traits i found relatable, which could be why i really enjoyed her as our main protagonists, her shyness was endearing, and yet her lack of self worth, left me wanting to shake her to make her see just how great she was. Just because you may not have a plan for the future does not mean you are not worthy, if anything it means you are yet to find one thing to focus on, as the possibilities open to you are so vast it is impossible to just select one, and that is not a negative. If anything it means more opportunities to discover yourself and have fun whilst doing so, and not a lot of people have that opportunity.

Josh was a mysterious character; we know he is a nice funny guy from when we met him in the first book; however this book it really takes a while until we can start to figure him out. There is a dark side to him, an almost depression as such, with the life he leads, the distance with his parents and with his friends leaving him behind at school, he wants nothing more than to leave himself. I really felt through this book that Isla became that ray of light for him, making him have a bit more joy in his final year, attending class, and on time at that. That is was sad when everything started to fall apart.

It is a much faster paced romance in this novel, unlike the previous two where the relationship is a slow build and only really resolving at the very end, this was instant. To which left me wondering just where the story would go, and what challenges we would face. It saddened me greatly that one of the causes of the turbulent journey in this book was that of Isla and her own issues with herself, and not feeling worthy of being with Josh. It was incredibly frustrating reading the conflict knowing it is really over something so small, but to her it meant a great deal. Another way that Stephanie Perkins approaches that of relationships, the big self destruct we can cause ourselves from our own insecurities.

I really found this to be a fun and adorable read, i devoured it within a day, just like her other books, and i am devastated that i have finished the series. I absolutely adored the ending, with all characters from each book coming together for that final chapter, and you certainly got all the warm fuzzy feelings with the ending too. 

I have certainly found this series a feel good romance series, that i have thoroughly enjoyed reading, to the point i was to just pick them up and start them over as if i had never read them, just to enjoy that journey all over again. For this being the first books i have read by Stephanie Perkins, it has certainly put her on my radar for books to look out for from this author, as i loved every second on it all.

I would say if you like romantic feel good YA books, brilliantly written with such diverse characters and journeys, then pick up this books series as you will not regret it. It really is a quick easy feel good read, and i cannot stress enough how much i have loved reading them.

I have given this 5 out of 5 stars.