After

Anna Todd

Oct 2014 · The After Series Book 1 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

Experience Anna Todd’s million-copy-selling story that started it all.

Tessa goes off to college with a dependable boyfriend waiting at home and her life and career neatly planned out. On her first day on campus, everything shifts when she encounters Hardin. With his disheveled brown locks, cocky British charm, and a canvas of tattoos, he’s a stark departure from her familiar world.

But Hardin’s rudeness borders on cruelty, and Tessa resolves to hate him. At least until they share a charged moment alone—and suddenly, Tessa is questioning everything she’s ever known about herself.

Despite his hot-and-cold attitude, Tessa is drawn to uncover the hidden layers within Hardin. In the midst of her newfound independence and electrifying uncertainty, Tessa’s connection with Hardin feels like the passionate love she’s been looking for. With her carefully laid plans forever disrupted, what comes after?

Ratings and reviews

A very exhausting read with some troubling content. The protagonist, Hardin, is plagued by his own issues and deals with these issues through violence and anger. He emotionally abuses Tessa while employing coercive control tactics. While it is an easy read, very raunchy and makes you want to continue to see their relationship improve, you are often left disappointed and can't help but feel the monotony of the author's writing.

Reading this first as a teenager, this book was the perfect mix of humor, drama, and romance. However, this book has to be simply a one-time read, as the use of excessive tensions between the love interests does not create angst for the readers as may have been intended, but rather creates a toxic relationship. The drama between the love interests gets so intense to the point where readers start questioning the need for the characters to be together versus having their peace of mind.

Though many may hate me for this, I hate this book. It's so unoriginal and the first version on Wattpad was full of incomplete sentences and rather improper grammar. It could have the potential to be better, but it's basically the same storyline as every fanfiction and romance book. I personally have nothing against Anna, but the portrayal of Harry or rather Hardin, is very crude and simply unappealing to me.

About the author

Anna Todd (writer/producer/influencer) is the New York Times bestselling author of the After series, the Brightest Stars trilogy, The Spring Girls, and the After graphic novels. The After series has been released in thirty-five languages and has sold over twelve million copies worldwide—becoming a #1 bestseller in several countries. Always an avid reader, Todd began writing stories on her phone through Wattpad, with After becoming the platform’s most-read series with over two billion reads. She has served as a producer and screenwriter on the film adaptations of After and After We Collided, and in 2017, she founded the entertainment company Frayed Pages Media to produce innovative and creative work across film, television, and publishing. A native of Ohio, she lives with her family in Los Angeles.