After My Thoughts 💭:

Title: After

Author: Anna Todd

Published: 2014

Pages: 592

Genre: Romance Novel / Fiction / Contemporary Romance

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis:

There was the time before Tessa met Hardin, and then there’s everything AFTER… Life will never be the same. #Hessa

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, and tattoos, 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?

“I can’t help but think of the phrase ” sometimes it is better to be kept in the dark than be blinded by the light.”

My thoughts 💭:

Ok, so I was introduced to this book by my 16yr old 😳. Yes I did say 16yr old. I had no idea this book even existed or that they were in the process of releasing a movie for it. I was basically told “mom this is such a good book you should really read it” 🤔 ok I thought. Why not?

So this is basically a story about a girl (Tessa) who is going away to college for the first time. She is what I would call as innocent and naive as they come. When she gets to her dorm she meets her roommate who is the total opposite of her. She’s provocative, with tattoos and piercings and not a care in the world. She also hangs out with a group of friends that consist of the boy (Hardin) who little did she know, would turn her world upside down.

So when I started reading this I had no idea what I was getting into 😅. There seems to have been a lot of controversy about the book promoting emotional abuse. So this is just my opinion on how I personally felt. I actually enjoyed the book. To be honest I couldn’t put it down. While it is not the best written book, it definitely keeps you wanting to read more. I think if your reading it to critique the writing don’t bother.

It was more of a fun read for me. There is a lot of sexual content which I was shocked to know that my 16yr old read this (I actually cringed every time I read a sex scene knowing my kid read that😣) However, I personally loved the back and forth between Tessa and Harding, the constant fighting and making up, the I hate you I love you 😂. People may argue that there was emotional abuse but I have to disagree.

I mean yes, it was a very dysfunctional relationship, and no one should try to strive for their relationship to resemble this but both characters have their equal share of fighting, and let’s face it, this is a book meant for enjoyment not to be taken literally. I personally enjoyed it and can’t wait to read the next one. Would I recommend it? Yes. If your not sensitive to these things, but if you are then definitely not. I gave the book a 3 star rating because of the sensitive content which I understand could be triggers for some people, and also the writing.

Feel free to leave a comment. I would love to hear your thoughts if you’ve read this or heard anything about it.

Until the next one🤗🤗