Isla And The Happily Ever After Summary

For this assignment, I decided to read Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins. Isla Martin has had a crush on Joshua Wasserstein for as long as she can remember, and for three years Josh has never seemed to notice her. This is probably for the best. Isla is soft and sweet, nothing like Josh’s ex-girlfriend, Rashmi. But when the two meet in New York the summer before their senior year, something clicks. The two teenagers spend their last year at The School of America in Paris (SOAP), falling in love with each other, and with themselves. The story takes place in both Paris, and New York. The two cities are home to both main characters. The novel starts with their chance encounter. Later the author writes about wonderful dates, and innocent attraction. The relationship between the two escalates, and each character goes through their own challenges. While Isla has trouble finding her spot in the world, and in Josh’s life, Josh can’t find a way to eliminate his past at school. The climax occurs when the two take a forbidden trip to Germany, and get caught when they
return home. Josh is forced to go back to America and finish his schooling back home. From this point on the couple go through smaller problems, such as: family drama, uncertainty about their futures, and the doubt of their place in each other’s lives. The book ends with the two reconciling and finding a balance together. Isla finds her place in the world, and Josh is right next to her through it all. The character I most identify myself with is Isla. Towards the end of the story, Isla and Josh argue about Isla’s doubts. Isla doesn’t quite know who she is, and part of the reason is because she seems to always take the safest route while facing her decisions. Josh knows this and tells Isla, “Take a risk, because if you keep playing it safe, you’ll never know who you really are.” To a certain point I can relate. I try and stick to the normal side of things, and that’s okay. One day I hope to grow a little more outside my shell to experience more of who I am, just as Isla did at the end of the story. Something I learned from this particular story is that love truly does conquer all.
This concept is something so beautiful and sweet, that I really enjoyed reading about. This story is written around Josh and Isla, and their own love story. In the beginning of the thirty-first chapter, the author begins by depicting a scene. This scene is the proposal of Anna and Ettiène, Josh’s long-time friends. The author writes, “I’ve never experienced a moment like this. Anna’s eyes suddenly shine, and we all laugh at how foreign and lovely this is. It’s like discovering a new culture or language. And we don’t know how it works, but it feels good so far.” Those few sentences show me how amazing and wonderful love is. It shows me how love can be so many things in one instance, and how it marvels us into who we are. I enjoyed reading this book for many reasons, but mainly because it kept me close to
love.