Book #1 of "After" series.
Rating: 5/5 stars!!!
Spoiler Alert: Medium
Summary:
Tessa is a good girl with a sweet, reliable boyfriend back home. She’s got direction, ambition, and a mother who’s intent on keeping her that way.
But she’s barely moved into her freshman dorm when she runs into Hardin. With his tousled brown hair, cocky British accent, tattoos, and lip ring, Hardin is cute and different from what she’s used to.
But he’s also rude—to the point of cruelty, even. For all his attitude, Tessa should hate Hardin. And she does—until she finds herself alone with him in his room. Something about his dark mood grabs her, and when they kiss it ignites within her a passion she’s never known before.
He’ll call her beautiful, then insist he isn't the one for her and disappear again and again. Despite the reckless way he treats her, Tessa is compelled to dig deeper and find the real Hardin beneath all his lies. He pushes her away again and again, yet every time she pushes back, he only pulls her in deeper.
Tessa already has the perfect boyfriend. So why is she trying so hard to overcome her own hurt pride and Hardin’s prejudice about nice girls like her?
Unless…could this be love?
Now newly revised and expanded, Anna Todd’s After fanfiction racked up 1 billion reads online and captivated readers across the globe. Experience the Internet’s most talked-about book for yourself!
There was the time before Tessa met Hardin, and then there’s everything AFTER... Life will never be the same.
Praises:
Honestly, I read this whole series back in 2018, but I've decided to reread it. AND OH BOY...this first book will always and forever be imprinted in my mind. Emotions were running high, and we see two beautiful souls, both clashing together and connecting with each other.
Plot and Characters
We have Tessa, who is this innocent and quiet girl navigating her way through college. I absolutely love Tessa! She's the epitome of a good girl. It was exhilarating and satisfying to see her grow so much from the beginning of the first book to the end. After she meets Hardin, her whole world changes, and we begin to see her character development. As the storyline progresses, she becomes more daring, fearless, and reckless. Her relationship with Hardin is definitely a one-of-a-kind as they both challenge each other with their differences; yet, their relationship somehow works out.
On the other side, we have Hardin. While Tessa is the representation of a good girl, Hardin is the epitome of a bad boy. He's mysterious, rash, and hot-tempered. I can almost describe him as an anti-hero as he gives Tessa a lot of hardship and problems. For instance, Hardin is the reason Tessa and her mother are driven apart, and it pained me to see a boy come between a mother and daughter bond. However, I completely understand why it happened as Tessa's mother did not accept her daughter's relationship. Oftentimes, I found myself wanting to strangle Hardin because he's incapable of revealing his emotions and vulnerabilities to Tessa. But it is who he is. Hardin struggles with his internal monsters and conflicts, but Tessa is there to help him with it.
I absolutely love the connection that develops between Tessa and Hardin in the first book!
Writing Style
Todd has written such a beautiful and angsty storyline that really brought out all of my emotions while reading. Her writing style takes readers below the surface and strips down every emotion so that anyone reading will feel what Tessa and Hardin are feeling. I love how Todd has turned a simple concept of college romance into something so much better. Something that makes readers shed tears and experience pain alongside Tessa and Hardin. I would like to specifically call out the ending of this first book as I read the last few scenes multiple times. This is because these last scenes were written in such a detailed and heartbreaking way, causing me to feel a stir of sorrow for Tessa and sympathy for Hardin.
Narration
In terms of narration, After is narrated by Tessa in first person. This narration depicts every feeling and experience that Tessa was going through. I love how we can see Tessa's thoughts on Hardin from first meeting him to the last sentence of the book.
Critics:
This isn't a critic, but I just want to suffocate Hardin for what he did at the end of the first book.
Final Review:
It's rare for me to feel warm-fuzziness or sadness with the characters. Yet, this book does exactly that. I was happy when the characters were happy; I was sad when the characters were sad...and you get the point. All I'm trying to say is that Todd has a special talent for writing contemporary romances. This story was originally published on Wattpad, but now it is a world-wide and bestselling novel! I definitely recommend this first book in the series to everyone.
Happy Reading!
Cheers,
Jessica :)
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