Reading Group: Anyone who read After
Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
Given Summary: BEFORE Hardin met Tessa he was a raging storm. DURING those first moments they met, he realized he needed to keep her for himself—his life depended on it. AFTER they got together, the world would never be the same.
Hardin and Tessa’s dramatic love affair became a vortex pulling in everyone around them. For the first time these others are given voice as they appear before, during, and after the events in original After novels. Alongside them, Hardin’s account of his first encounters with Tessa—which will change what you thought you knew about the brooding boy and the angel who loved him.
Cover: The cover of this book is yellow and very bright. It looks almost as if someone tried to take a picture of the sun.
My Review: I bought this book when it was released and I only just now finished reading it. It took me so long to reread the first four books, but I finally did it. I loved Before because I love Hardin and his point of view. As many of you know, I got annoyed with Tessa pretty easily, but I have such a soft spot for Hardin. I love how half the time he doesn't even know how he offends Tessa and when she gets mad, he gets so confused. I also liked that the book incorporated more than just Hardin. It gave insight on Molly and Steph and so many others and it was nice to see where all of the characters came from. The 'After' section was also something I really enjoyed. I love Smith, I think he's a funny kid and I love the future Hessa stuff because that's when they're always happy and it's great. One thing I do wish was in Hardin's section was the "I love you" scene, even if it started when Tessa went to find him at the soccer field. I loved that part of After, so it would have been nice to get it from Hardin's point of view. I think this book really ties up Hessa's story nicely and hints at Landon's books enough to get everyone excited for them. If you loved After and were able to make it through the entire series, this book is definitely a great way to finish it off.
I also really wish Anna would write something about the two years when Hardin lived in Chicago, even if it's just something short and on Wattpad.
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I agree, especially about the missing events. It felt to me tyat she just ran out of time writing scenes from Hardin's pov and therefore left us hanging at some critical moments that were always confusing in After. For example I long for a good explanation of what Hardin actually told his friends about the affair and most importantly why why why the sheets??? I mean in After it seems like it must have been an ah ha moment we missed from his POV as to when he realized the sheets were proof and that he actually was ok with himself doing the most despicable act to the women he supposedly loved. Also in that same Virginity grab chapter he talks about how proud he was to make her a women and ingratiate himself into her sexual history. (Weird!) And what's worse is him going on to discuss Tessa future husband will have to know about him... Obviously not in love enough with her that he envisioned them staying together. This was extremely inconsistent with what the writer has painted about Hardin not being able to live without Tessa. I also found a large amount of discrepancies and inconsistency between the books but most obvious in Before contradicting timelines and "facts" from book #1 After.
ReplyDeleteHey plz ask anna to write before-2 plz.
DeleteYou make some really good points! And now, 4 years later I can really see that these books weren't very well edited. I understand having mistakes on Wattpad when she was updating everyday and not really planning it out too far in advance, but when the series was picked up by Gallery I feel they should have gone through it better. Too many things happen, and like you said, timelines/facts get messed up. Definitely some controversial moments throughout and some were really unnecessary
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