Perfect. TOO perfect.
I read it in 5 hours, and cried for about three.
It also came out today, if that helps show you my COMPLETE AND UTTER DEDICATION to this book.
I swear, I'm going to have to start drawing fanart for this, it was so good.
(This entire post is basically gonna be a big spoiler of the book. You have been warned)
So, Isla's basically had a massive crush on Josh since her freshman year of high school. Like, she's seriously crushing. The kind where she gets all tongue-tied when she talks to him, and her heart does literal anime DOKI's when she even thinks about him. During the summer before her senior year, she had an encounter with him. Not the one she wanted, though- she was really, REALLY high when she approached him (On painkillers of course. Another good point to bring up- Isla is a serious goody-goody, who is afraid to really take risks). But luckily, rather than creep him out, she ends up attracting him.
She doesn't have another encounter with him until school starts up again (which, by the way, is in Paris, France. It's basically this huge, preppy school for rich, elite Americans. Isla's father is the head of a music equipment company, and Josh's father is a US senator). She and her best friend Kurt (who is named after the one and only Kurt Cobain) pass by him numerous times in the hallway, but don't really say anything to him. However, Isla and Josh finally end up talking to one another, but under rather unpleasant circumstances- Josh is waiting to talk to the Principal about his absences from class, and Isla is waiting to check up on her sister in the nurse's room, after she reacted badly to eating a cake that included nut products. Anyway, the two engage in [painfully] awkward conversation, but it's a start. The two begin to talk more, and less awkwardly, and eventually, Josh invites Isla to hang out with him. Isla, of course, is dying on the inside. And after clearing up a misunderstanding, (Josh thought that Isla and Kurt were dating, but they weren't because they're strictly friends) Josh and Isla confess their desire towards one another. They go out the next weekend, where they *finally* kiss and make things official.
Kurt, in all this, is feeling pretty left out. He has high functioning Autism, and is a man of routine. So Josh's pretty abrupt appearance is throwing him off his groove. And Isla is definitely spending more time with Josh than with Kurt. Josh is a good guy, and doesn't want to come between the two of them, so he tries to get them to resolve things, but things still aren't really resolved. I'll tell you more about that later.
Josh invites Isla on one of his weekend trips out of the country, and she happily agrees. The two go to Barcelona and enjoy a day of love, adventure and SINFUL LUST. I'm just kidding about the sinful part. But not about the lust part. Oh my heavens, do they lust after one another. And after a month of dating, they have sex in Spain.
After that blissful night, however, EVERYTHING TURNS FOR THE WORSE. The two check their phones only to find out that Kurt accidentally blurted about their leaving to Isla's little sister, Hattie, who in turn told Nate, who in turn told the Principle, who then called both of their parents. Basically, they get into a crap-load of trouble and it sucks. They both dread the consequences, and they prepare themselves for the worse- Expulsion. They vow to always love each other just before their nightmare becomes a reality- Josh gets expelled. And is dragged back to America. Where he only has VERY limited connection with Isla. Needless to say, Isla's pissed. She's pissed at Hattie for telling, pissed at Kurt for not being able to tell a lie for once, pissed at herself for being pissed at people- it's awful.
And Kurt is really hurt. After Josh's department, she basically ignores him. All she cares about is Josh and his life (she sees snippets of it on CNN, because Josh's father is running for re-election), and not much of anything else. Though Perkins didn't go too in-depth about Kurt's feelings, I still wanted to mention him because I feel like he'll be underrated.
Isla returns to America for Thanksgiving, where she was supposed to be able to hang with Josh, but isn't able to- Josh has to go to DC for thanksgiving. However, upon arriving home, she receives a parcel from Josh. Inside is a shirt and a part of the first draft of his comic book, which was about all the explicit details of his life in Paris. In it, she finds out about this entire life that Josh had before her- and the graphic details of a previous relationship. Needless to say, she feels awful. And she feels awful for feeling awful because he took a risk when he shared that manuscript with her.
After sulking about the draft for quite some bit, Isla finally gets to see Josh again. She's overjoyed to see him, but is extremely self-concious. What if, like Josh's previous girlfriend, she is just a phase of his life? Josh takes Isla to a party with tons of government officials, and as she sees this entire part of his life, this part she's not in, she feels worse than ever. She feels unworthy.
At the end of the night, as Josh and Isla are driving back, Isla picks a fight with Josh. She criticizes his comic, shares her feelings, and ultimately breaks up with him, saying that she is a phase, and he'll move on. At the end of the night, they're both left heartbroken.
Josh, of course, still really wants to get back with Isla, but he gives up after she ignores his attempts. But she doesn't really ignore them. She notices them, and dies a little bit on the inside.
Isla returns to school in a deep state of depression. Her thoughts are consumed with Josh. (At this part, I was just so DONE with her. I was literally screaming "OMG NO U LOVE HIM HE LOVES U JUST GET TOGETHER AND HAVE MILLIONS OF BEAUTIFUL OFFSPRING!", much to the annoyance of my family, who were trying to sleep). But, after talking to Sanjita, a girl who she used to be friends with during her freshman year, Isla comes to some realizations. 1. That she should take a risk for herself, (She was accepted into Dartmouth, but was afraid to go because she and Josh had been talking about future plans there before they broke up, and she didn't want to seem like she was going for him) 2. That she had broke up with Josh because she felt unworthy and was afraid of taking a risk, and 3. That maybe her sister was such a brat because she treated her like a child. She didn't really have that second realization until she hung out and made up with her sister, and found out that her sister sent a package to Josh with a pseudo-love letter to him, from her. And after Josh called her asking if she was free right then because Hey! He was in Paris with some friends.
And that she sooo wanted to take a risk for Josh.
So Isla ran to see Josh, and was greeted by him and his friends who happened to be St. Clair, Anna, Lola, Cricket, and Meredith. Those five were in Perkins' two previous books, and seeing them return brought out ALL THE FEELS. They had a nice, partially awkward dinner, until St.Clair and Anna left early. The remaining five trailed after St.Clair and Anna to witness ST.CLAIR PROPOSING TO ANNA AND DURING ALL THIS I'M JUST DYING BECAUSE ANNA AND ST.CLAIR ARE MY OTP AND
Everybody leaves for the night, happy.
Josh walks Isla back to the dormitory, and hands her a new manuscript of his comic. He tells her to call him when she finishes. She's sure that there's no hope for the two of them until she sees the changes he's made in the comic. He includes all of the awkward encounters they had before they finally got together, including some from previous school years. And he retells the magic he felt when they got together, the sadness he felt when they broke up, and, in penciled pages, the joy they would feel after she read the new manuscript and called him and found him waiting outside of her window. Isla looks out the window, and there he is, waiting. She rushes out the door and the two pounce on each other, and EVERYTHING IS HOW IT SHOULD BE.
Josh stays at Isla's dorm VERY secretly for the next two weeks, and the two just relish one another's company. Isla also finally tells Josh that she's going to Dartmouth, which is just a few miles away from where he plans to go. And he just crumbles with happiness. The two also give into SINFUL LUST again. Haha.
Kurt is also happy with Josh's return, saying that Isla's been terrible company since he's left. I feel like throughout the book, Kurt is rather unappreciated, so I thought I'd include his feelings on all this.
The book ends with flash forward to June, where the two have just graduated. They meet at the same restaurant that they had their first real encounter in, and run into each others arms and everythings all happily ever after.
Words cannot even express how much I love this book. Seriously.
IT LITERALLY MAKES MY THIRTEENY-ANGST-FILLED EXISTENCE WHOLE
So, of course I give this book a 5/5.
In fact, I give it a 6/5.
READ IT!
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