AFTER by Anna Todd (Review)

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After
Anna Todd

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Amazon's Blurb

Experience the internet's most talked-about book, now a major motion picture, from Anna Todd, the writer Cosmopolitan called “the biggest literary phenomenon of her generation.”

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?

AMAZON

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Honest Review

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4 out of 5 stars!

The honest reason I picked this book up and started reading it is because I saw the movie trailer on Facebook. By the way, the movie looks insanely amazing and hot! #AlwaysTeamHessa

Reading the book, I was pulled in immediately. One of the main characters, Tessa, is a good girl who hasn't formally evolved into the person she is truly meant to be. Instead, not realizing, she hides behind a fabricated good girl life. Yes, she loves school, gets great grades, is truly a nice person, generous, loyal, gracious... but, she's just missing something in her life. Experience? Her sexuality? Adventure? A man who ignites fire inside of her just by his touch?

Hardin is the complete opposite. Hard exterior. Secretly soft interior. He's the bad boy every girl swoons for- the heartbreaker. He's completely upfront about not being the relationship type and only wanting one thing from women. He's a benign asshole that you just can't help fall in love with. Looks can be deceiving.  Hardin has underlying issues that forces a war with himself.

Tessa and Hardin are two people who shouldn't be together for numerous obvious reasons. But, that won't stop them from trying so utterly hard to make their relationship work. Love does crazy things to people, but it's not something you should give up without a fight. 

One thing about this book really set me off- in a bad way. They're literally always arguing. Every other page it's them fighting, making up, fighting, making up, on and on. It really drove me insane and on the verge to a near breakdown. I understand that this book is mostly about the evolution of a girl trying to find herself and a boy who doesn't know how to genuinely love and is trying to change his bad boy ways, but way less arguing would've been nice. Quite frankly, this drained me.

It was a wonderful read. It had me hooked. I felt the raw emotions displayed in this book. I'm extremely excited for the movie to come out. I will definitely be reading book 2 next!

I recommend this book to anyone who loves a drama-packed love story about two characters who are not willing to give up on love.