The After Series by Anna Todd

I had my ups and downs with this book, but I really loved it in the end. I didn't bother looking at the fanfiction of this on WattPad, but I heard that the grammar is bad, so either that rumor is untrue or the editor had a lot of work to do. Anyway, After is well-written and has a small place in my heart.

I'm doing a review on the series as a whole, as it seems to be a better decision than leaving my reviews of it at just the first book or bombarding you all with four reviews of an entire series.

Can I say that these are probably a guilty pleasure read of mine. There's a lot of smut and I would never recommend this series to anyone under seventeen [eighteen, more likely]. Smut aside, it is so well-written and the character development is phenomenal. Tessa of book one would not recognize Tessa of book four. Same goes for Hardin [I feel like book one Hardin with laugh his behind off at Hardin of book four]. It's difficult for a writer to create good character development; changing your initial character to fit what they go through in the story, 

In the beginning, Tessa's mind was clouded by her mother's choices for her. She was modest and young-minded. Meeting Hardin Scott was a huge steamroller to Tessa's life. Their relationship went from play to toxic just in one book. No doubt that there was an aspect of verbal/mental abuse between Hardin and Tessa. If anyone misses that, they need to wipe the dirt from their metaphorical glasses [that is, unless you do wear glasses, then I do mean your own glasses]. 

Hardin was dysfunctional to say the least. He was rude and nasty and so caught up in his own troubles that he didn't bother to stick his head out and look at the world and its people around him. Of course, it's difficult growing up with an alcoholic parent whose decisions then affected their family's lives negatively. Especially when you grow up to find out that that father became sober and well-off with a new family. 

But Hardin destroyed himself in the long run. He partied too hard, drank too much, and lied to everyone who passed by. Even the one who was most important to him, way before he knew she was that. He didn't care about anyone but himself. I think deep inside he knew it, but Hardin just didn't care anymore. 

He hurt Tessa, lied to her face and expected complete forgiveness when she found out. Now, this is a non-spoiler review, so I won't say what happened, but let me just tell you... [insert dramatic pause here where I don't continue and wag my finger at you]. But this climax to the story is one where you will either think, "She's stupid to forgiving him for that," during book two, or you'll understand why Tessa let him back into her life but didn't completely forgive him. Especially with Hardin's horrible attitude towards her.

The story just gets better with every book. It's a great book because it evokes emotion within you, whether or not you like it and whether or not it's actually a "great" book [short version of something my college English Composition II professor said that's stuck with me]. The last book broke my heart a little bit, but by the last few pages, those tears were sewn back. I love the end to After and it makes my heart swell and leaves that tiny smile on my face, you know the one that shows that you love how it ended but are so sad that it has. 

Now, before you anti-Afters get all huffy at me for enjoying a book with an aspect of verbal/mental abuse, let me clarify something. I know the pain of a verbal/mental abusive relationship. Not with a boyfriend, but with a father. I know how hard it is to love a person so wholly, no matter how nasty they can be to you. The want, the need, to keep a relationship with that person throughout the terrible things they can say and the rude way they can act, to you and anyone else. It's not easy. I think that's one big reason why I loved this series so much, because I understood that want for a better relationship, whether it be between lovers or between father and child. I loved the idea that people can change for the better so they can keep that person[s] they love to dearly.

I do understand how highly unlikely such a change in a person is. My own father still hasn't changed his ways, even after me trying my hardest to fix him. I really hope readers of this series don't get the idea that someone with such a nasty attitude and abuse problem can change so dramatically, because in all real light, it probably won't actually happen outside of fiction. But we all love to dream of possibilities. 

Honestly, I'm still not a fan of the fact that the story of After is not much more than a One Direction fanfiction, especially since I'm one, not a fan of One Direction the band, and two, I don't like the idea of fanfiction based on real people [though I'm all for fanfiction on fictional people]. But I'm so glad that I looked past that and continued the books. I did more than once consider quitting reading them for that fact alone, but I stuck through it and I'm happy about it. 

Please don't compare After to Fifty Shades, I implore you. They may both be aspects of abusive relationships, but After has so much more sexual consent [all consent, really]. The aspect of abuse in After is addressed and acknowledged, not ignored. Just had to put that out there.

All in all, I give five-stars to After and really hope more people give it a chance past the first book.