Isla and the Happily Ever After

By: Stephanie Perkins

Narrated by: Grace Experience

Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Featuring cameos from fan-favorites Anna, Étienne, Lola, and Cricket, this sweet and sexy story of true love - set against the stunning backdrops of New York City, Paris, and Barcelona - is a swoonworthy conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’ beloved series.

©2014 Stephanie Perkins (P)2014 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"Stephanie Perkins is the Jane Austen of our generation. Her stories ache, soothe, and leave you breathless with joy; there's true magic in these pages - it's an experience you won't soon forget." (Tehereh Mafi, author of the best-selling Shatter Me series)

"Realistic characters, spot-on dialogue, and a truly delightful romance make for a novel that will delight the author’s fans and win her legions of new ones.” (School Library Journal, starred review)

"Engaging teen characters with page-turning love lives offer ample vicarious pleasures. A satisfying dose of first love’s physical and emotional thrall." (Kirkus Reviews)

Great book ruined by a terrible narration.

Would you consider the audio edition of Isla and the Happily Ever After to be better than the print version?

Absolutely not.

What didn’t you like about Grace Blewer’s performance?

This book was read in a flat monotone. The same voice was used for every character making it difficult to keep up with who was talking.
She did not attempt to make the characters sound like young adults. I kept picturing Isla as a uptight middle aged woman. Very frustrating.
Blewer was unable to capture any emotion which is such a huge part of why this series is so popular. Again, very frustrating!
This book deserved better.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I was home sick with the flu and was excited to remember this book had just been released! The thought of spending the entire day listening to this story made me feel much better...then I heard it. I had to take many breaks because I had to escape that voice! I want to know what comes next, I just can't bring myself to listen.

Any additional comments?

I'm about half way through and I will probably be returning it to buy the print version.

Listen to the sample before purchasing!

Such a perfect ending to the series

This book was adorable from start to finish. It kicked off with what is one of the cutest scenes and the cuteness just did not end throughout the entire book. What a great ending to the series!

I loved this book for a combination of reasons: the love story, the characters, the interactions. I swear I had tiny little hearts floating all around me as I read this book.

I want to say that Isla is my favorite heroine in this entire series, but I think it is more Isla and Josh together that made me love her so much. Then again, I’ve loved Isla since her brief appearance in Anna and the French Kiss. When I initially saw she had her own book, I was super excited about it.

The pacing in this story was perfect. It absolutely flew by for me, yet it didn’t seem rushed at all. It didn’t take any time at all to pick up. I was hooked right from the start and there were zero lulls as I was reading. I constantly wanted to know what was going to happen next.

I really enjoyed many of the other characters in this book, though not as much as I did in the previous two books in this series. Likely because this was so Isla-and-Josh-centric, that we didn’t really get to know Isla’s family too well. It didn’t really bother me too much, not getting to know her family as well, but I do wish there was a little more about Kurt, Isla’s autistic best friend. I really wanted to learn more about him and their friendship.

Anyway, If you are in the market for a classic story about an epic love, I highly recommend Isla and the Happily Ever After.

Audiobook Performance:

It is a wonder that this audiobook reader didn’t ruin the entire book for me. And that is something to be said for the book itself since the reader sounded like a robot and I could rarely differentiate between Isla and Josh through many scenes!

Not a fan of the narration

The story is nice and sweet, like the author's other books. But the narration made this audiobook one of the worst I've ever heard. The narrator didn't change the tone of her voice and made it very difficult to understand who was saying what in the dialogues.
I would suggest reading instead of listening to this book.

Teen Romance

If I had to order my favorites of this series it would be
1) Anna and the French Kiss
2) Isla and the happily ever after
3) Lola and the boy next door
so it is obvious that I liked Anna's story better than the other but this one was decent and I actually enjoyed the relationship between Josh and Isla .. so I finished this well-written triology and I sure do recommend it to all of you romance junkies out there :)

I'm a little biased

I'm a little biased because this series means so much to my best friend and I, who is expecting her first child, a daughter, and she's going to name her Isla. this book does take a little longer to take off, but when it does, oh boy. I like that we don't have to wait for them to get together until the end like first 2. the narrator wasn't the best.

Enjoyable

Such a sweet story. Fun characters in Paris. Plus a visit from past characters. Loved this series.

Perfect novel! Horrible narrator.

Absolutely phenomenal novel by Stephanie Perkins. I am madly in love with it. In fact, it’s my number one favorite novel of all time, but this audiobook version is one of the worst things I’ve ever heard with my own ears. Thank god I read the book on my own first because I would have abandoned this audiobook almost immediately and missed out on an amazing story. I don’t even have the words to describe how awful this production is. It’s unfathomable and completely inexcusable.

I highly recommend you avoid this horrendous monstrosity and read the book instead. This novel is not to be missed! But you should run away from this audiobook version as fast as you can.

SWEET STORY ...NEEDS RE-RECORDING

Would you listen to Isla and the Happily Ever After again? Why?

I don`t know, probably not...I have reread and listened to the audio versions of "Anna" and "Lola" several times and have enjoyed revisiting the stories, but I don`t feel like I would revisit the audio version of "Isla".....not with this particular narrator....

What did you like best about this story?

The sweetness and the heartbreak you feel for the young couple...That first Great Love!!

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Narration was Flat and Uninspired....I might as well have listened to "text- to- speech" for voice on my kindle....it was just that bad.

Any additional comments?

I feel so bad for Stephanie Perkins.....I can`t speak for her, but when you pour your heart and soul into your work, it must be so disheartening to receive bad reviews....Amazon/Audible should definitely reconsider re-recording this audiobook....I would NOT recommend this version to anyone...do not waste your credit......buy the Hardcover, Paperback or Digital version..

Definitely Enjoyable.

Any additional comments?

Supposing that you're already a fan of Stephanie Perkins novels by the time you get to this book, you probably have high expectations for this "happily ever after" installment to round off all three stories. On that note it definitely was enjoyable to see Anna and Lola and "the gang", in a really cute meetup location (which I won't spoil for you), and it definitely did give a sense of closure to our favorite characters with some pleasant surprises (involving a certain gold medal for a certain figure skater and a certain proposal in front of a certain French church). As far as Isla and Josh's own story go, it's definitely different from the usual "we both like each other but it takes forever for us to actually get together because there's always a big misunderstanding and probably a boy/girlfriend that needs to get out of the picture" take (although rashmi's presence was felt as an ex). They got together quite swiftly, and admittedly I thought it was a bit underdeveloped in the sense that "Isla is only with josh because of her big whooping romantic crush on him and josh is with her only because he has no one better to hang out with", but this problem was addressed later on in the book and I actually grew to really really like that, because I thought it gave the romance more depth and more room for personal character growth, e.g. Isla learns to take risks and be more confident, and also the couple seeks and finds peace with friends and family (as there was definitely some drama going on there). But the friends and the family were amazing amazing characters!!! I always liked the "sidekicks" our beloved author was able to throw into her stories, and this time Stephanie did not disappoint there. Umm although i wasn't sure if they should've rly gotten back together at the end realistically speaking, the fan girl in me did relish in the happily ever after. So as an overview this story was definitely incredible enjoyable and hard to put down for me. I also found myself constantly running back to Anna and the French kiss, I mean I reread it twice just for this book, and that was cute seeing the interweaves stories. In terms of narration the voice didn't bother me or distract me too much, but to be honest I thought she was a little tiny bit plainer with the emotions and sounded a little tiny bit too "young" like she was reading a more childish book... I mean it was just so flat and not the soft considerate and passionate Isla that I should've been hearing. But it was fine, it was clear and straightforward and didn't annoy me as long as I was concentrated on the story. Which once again I loved! Time and money/credit well spent.

Happily ever after...

Although I do hope Stephanie Perkins continues this series, as it has been a delight to escape into beautiful love stories!