After Ever Happy (After series, The)

I stumbled across this series when I watched After on Netflix. As soon as the movie was over I was instantly googling “After movie” to see if there was a 2nd movie. I was soooo emotional attached to Hardin and Tessa I needed to know if the movie was suppose to end the way it did or if there was more!!! I was literally jumping up and down in my living room when I found out there was 5 books to this crazy, loving, dramatic, stubborn couple. I’m a complete sucker for bad boys with a dark past that thinks it’s impossible to love. I absolutely loved Travis in Beautiful Disaster, Gideon Cross in the Crossfire series and of course Christian Gray so Hardin definitely had a soft spot with me. In book 2 After we collided there was multiple times I had to put the book down and not pick it back up for a few days. I wanted to slap, punch, and yell at both Hardin and Tessa!!! I think I was just sooooo tried of them going back and forth, there was ALWAYS something!!! It wouldn’t matter how big or how small they was always fighting and then running away. I tried to remind myself of their age bc running from their problems became a habit for these two. In After we Fell they were literally separated almost the whole book. Not my favorite of the series lol bc of course I’m here investing all my time for them to be together and be happy!!! After ever Happy is my favorite of the whole series!!! The first 456 pages r them trying to put their lives back together only to have be set back by Hardin finding out who his real dad is, Tessa finding out she can’t have kids, Tessa finding Hardins book he has been writing about them. Literally from page 457-500 is them happy, living together with kids!! I really really wanted After Ever Happy to be completely about how much they have grew up and about their lives “After”. Instead I got 50 pages 😕. I’ve literally reread the last 50 pages about 3 times bc it’s the best out of the entire series. The author could have cut some of the unnecessary stuff out in After We Fall and put the first 456 pages of After Ever Happy in After we Fell and gave us a whole book of them being happy and raising their family together. Overall I loved this series and I will definitely watch all the movies when they are released!! P.S my husband is going to kill me for writing this review on his account lol

I want to start off by saying I have never written a book review in my entire life, but this is worth writing. As an avid reader, I have never been so intertwined with two characters; I mean NEVER. Once I started reading the After series, I literally could not stop. I found myself reading until 3 AM each night just to find out what happens to these two star-crossed lovers. The different references and allusions to classical literature such as Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice and the mentions of authors like Hemingway take this book to another literary level. The connections to other couples like Heathcliff and Catherine or Elizabeth and Darcy make a literature lovers heart sing. It’s so beautiful! I’m not going to lie, all of their fights and hardships sometimes left me without an appetite, literally...but to see an actual real relationship portrayed though such vivid imagery and raw emotions was incredible. The authors ability to tell a story of two young adults who are struggling to make it through life while trying to hold onto each other because of their immense love was earth-shattering good. Tessa and Hardin’s life/love story is nothing short of mesmerizing, addicting, and quite honestly heart-wrenchingly painful. But that’s what real literature does to a person. It makes you feel every emotion, even the painful ones. These two couldn’t be more opposite but at the same time their souls are immensely connected. As the author says “Whatever our souls are made of, hers and mine are the same.” If I could give this 10 million stars I would. Bravo to this author. Thank you for reminding people of what true, unconditional love means.

one of my favorite book and movie

By the beginning of After Ever Happy I was thoroughly over Hardin Scott and in particular the way women were putty in his hands. And I was frustrated with Tessa for being so vulnerable to him and so easily hurt by him. But Hardin's growing maturity and determined effort at self-recovery brought me around to his side. His more so than Tessa's although the purgatory she puts him through is a big motivator in his personal reform. Tessa's journey to maturity is less compelling but then she's always been a less compelling character than Hardin. Plot twists and turns are stomach churning and keep the reader swiping the pages. The writing can be lyrical in places containing deep thoughts and observations on life and relationships of all kinds: lovers, parents, children, friends. And while the characters laugh and tease each other, the narrative is told in deadly seriousness, lacking humor and irony. It's always impressive when a female writer can create an authentic male character and the author does a superb job here. Hardin's narrative and comments and outlook make him a real person, he dominates the story and he's ultimately its star. He is the reason for the international success of this series and the movies based on the books. A major disappointment was no description of Hardin and Tessa's wedding. As a continuing topic of discussion between the two of them for the second half of the book it just seems odd not to give the reader the satisfaction of being at their wedding with them, told from Hardin's point of view. Landon's wedding is told in detail but, again oddly, his wife is never named. It's for this reason I gave the book four stars. Otherwise this is a satisfying end to the tumultuous tale of Tessa and Hardin.

Finally after all the drama and the angst we come to the end of Tess and Hardin's story in After Ever Happy and this is by far my favorite book in the series! Now I'm not saying that there is not drama in this book, because c'mon.. this is Tess and Hardin we are talking about, but for once everything that they go through makes sense and takes them to where they need to be! After Ever Happy picks right up where After We Fell ended and Anna Todd takes us on one last final crazy ride with these amazing characters. Hardin's character really stuck out in this book and he shows how much he has grown and changed throughout this series. Sure we all probably hated his guts after finishing After We Fell, but the way he comes through time and time again and the way he is there for Tessa time and time again in this book really shows he's not the punk kid we met in After. I fell in love with him all over again in this book and I wanted to strangle Tessa so many times for pushing him away. Granted, I understood her reasoning and I think what she did ended up helping everything in the end, but man I wanted to slap her so many times in this book! Without giving anything away, I will say these two go through more in this book than I think they did in any of the previous books, but they handle it so much better. We get to see them grow, and truly come into their own and seeing the growth in both of them is beautiful. Seeing them stand on their own, learn from their past mistakes and build relationships around them is amazing and heartbreaking at the same time (trust me, you'll understand once you read this book). This was a beautiful ending to Hardin and Tessa's story and I didn't want it to end, but the way it ended was AMAZING. I loved the extended epilogue and how everything fell into place exactly as it should have. If you haven't one-clicked this series yet, trust me, you need to (unless you hate drama and angst). I got sucked in and haven't been able to put these books down! I definitely will be picking up Landon's stories soon because well, I need to see who he ended up with as well!

5 stars for After Ever Happy by Anna Todd. This is book four in the After Series. “It is ironic, really: the man who hates the world is most loved by it.” This has to be my favorite book from the series. This book had a somewhat different feel to it from the first three books. There is still drama and so much heartache but with a somber feel. After everything that has happened to Tessa from Hardin finally breaking her, finding her father dead, and everything else it has changed her. She is forced to take a look at everything that has happened in her life. Her relationship with Hardin is toxic. She decides to make a change, but she does still love Hardin. “ I feel like I’m drowning, and it’s hard to keep myself above water, especially when I’m fighting against the current to save him rather than myself.” This part had me feeling empty. I thought they were done, and over. I was devastated, what was going to happen between these two. I don’t want to give too much away, but this book will break you and slowly put you back together. I can not explain how much I loved and hated this book . I don’t know if a book has every made me question so much. Will these two end up together, will they separate, will they move on , just so many questions. Is this an example of the saying “sometimes love isn’t enough” true for Hardin and Tessa. This series is gut wrenching, drama filled, heart breaking, and so filled with love. While reading you will feel as though you are a part of this relationship with these two. Great Job Anna Todd

“’After’?” “It’s about my journey, after meeting you.” I am not sure where I even start writing the review for After Ever Happy, book four in the After series by Anna Todd, because to be honest, I am truly a blubbering mess. I had no idea when I started this series just what an effect these two characters would have on me. I fell into a love/hate relationship with them early on and this journey with them has been one hell of a ride. If you are new to the After series, it is the story of Hardin and Tessa….it is their love story. I am not going to lie and say it was an easy road for these two. Both Hardin and Tessa had so many obstacles to overcome that the fact they even made it to a book four is a testament of their love for each other. For me, the relationship between Tessa and Hardin was one of the most angsty and volatile ones I have read. I am not kidding when I say these two went back and forth, back and forth. There seemed to be very little peace between these young lovers that at times I had to take a break just to regroup because seeing the hurt they were causing each other was tough to read. Anna Todd did an amazing job at capturing the essence of these two and what loving so fiercely at such a young age can be like. I said it in another review of this series, but playing house and grown up isn’t always easy. There is no denying that Hardin was a broken guy. His upbringing and choices he made throughout his life would make anyone act insane as him sometimes. Everything finally comes to a head in After Ever Happy and we finally get the last of the puzzle pieces that makes Hardin who he is. When circumstances finally give him the clarity he needs to truly fight for Tessa, his time is up. And here is where I have to applaud Anna and her writing. At about 40% of the book, she changes up gears and takes out the fighting factor. She gives Tessa the wherewithal that we have wanted her to have for a long time. Reading Tessa look back over her mistakes and take ownership with her decisions was very enlightening. I truly loved the direction the book took. Hardin now has his “fight or flight” moment and what he chose was such a courageous and mature path, my heart swelled for him. Maturity shines in the last half of this book and it shows that even the most broken of people such as Hardin can make a change. I had no idea that Anna would take the direction she did in the last half of the book and it was just sheer brilliance in how it ended. Tessa and Hardin would never have made it on the path they were headed down and their lives would have been filled with angst and anger. Hardin was an angry, angry guy coupled with an addiction…he needed to change and Tessa needed to not be his enabler anymore. That is what made this book standout for me….that Anna gave them the coping skills and maturity level to recognize this. Whenever we as readers invest ourselves in a series, we connect with the characters, we live their lives, we root for them, we mourn with them and most of all we love them. I loved how Anna gave us some flashbacks to some wonderful times in their relationship for us to remember it always wasn’t all fighting. I knew going into this last series it would break me, but I didn’t realize to what extent that would be. I already miss Tessa and Hardin. Throughout over 2000+ pages there was one variable that stayed constant…their love for each other. It was beautiful and tragic at the same time. And the heartache that follows them through life only made that love stronger as time went by. I am not sure what Anna Todd has up her sleeve next, but I will be watching from the stands and cheering her on. 5 #HESSA FOREVER stars for After Ever Happy and the After series! “I thought that we could make it. I thought ours was a love of the novels, a love that no matter how hard and fast and tough it was, I thought we would survive anything and everything and live to tell the story.”

I watched the movies BEFORE I read the books, just the opposite of what I usually do. Mainly, it was because I had never heard of this series and got hooked when I randomly chose the second movie on Netflix and watched it first, out of order, because I didn’t even know there was a first one called “After.” This series is a soul wrenching, crying, laughing, yelling out loud, put the book down and go find something else to do because you know what is coming but can’t stand to see it or hear it, kind of series. It is rare to find something that just dares you to put it down. Even if sometimes it is raw and painful to read, somehow the author manages to pull out the good in her very flawed characters. The main character, Hardin, was probably the most despicable, selfish, uncaring SOB I have ever encountered in a book. His polar opposite is a beautiful, innocent young girl that he used in the most vile way, but in doing so fell head over in heels in love with her. Hardin was totally unfamiliar with love on any level. He didn’t even love himself. At all. An alcoholic, he lived solely for his own pleasure and cared for no one but himself. The depth of forgiveness in her soul is a beautiful thing to see. She manages to see beyond his scarred surface to the wounded child beneath, and her love heals him. In the movies, they do not end up together. I guess maybe they are planning on a 5th movie? Anyway, I was so happy that this book actually has them working through all their demons and maturing into whole, productive people who stay together happily. I recommend this series, thought not for young people. The language and sexual content is, in my opinion, for mature audiences only.