I just realized that I never posted my review of of the concluding book of the After Series by Anna Todd.
I know. Lame right? I can’t believe it either.

My overall thoughts on this series:

The drama between Hardin and Tessa drove me crazy! I lost sleep over it.  And I loved every minute of it.

Now, my thoughts on After Ever Happy:

This book begins with Hardin, his thoughts on the BOMBSHELL (I kind of saw it coming) that was so cruelly dropped on him the the very end of book #3, After We Fell.

In typical Hardin fashion, he does not take this life-changing news very well. He’s devastated and completely loses his perspective on everything he’s got going on in his hard-won relationship with Tessa.

When Hardin is hurting, his first reaction is to hurt the people around him. He is essentially a broken person and that’s what hurting people do–hurt other people. And since hardly anybody can stand to be around Hardin, save Tessa, she is in his direct line of fire when he blows up.

The bulk of this story is just painful to read. At this point in their relationship, Hardin has already hurt Tessa so much and so often, that he is literally changing her. Half way through this book, Tess is a walking pile of scar tissue.

When Tessa once again finds herself homeless and heartbroken for too many reasons to list, she finally takes stock of her life choices and realizes that she doesn’t like herself very much anymore.

I knew it. I freaking knew it!

As I read the previous books, I kept saying to myself, “This girl might love Hardin too much.” She regularly lost herself around him, not that she really knew herself to begin with. And there was something in the way the author built the fabric of this plot. I could see the threads forming together, thickening like rope in this final book.

Tessa’s constant state of heartbreak became the noose that choked the life out of their relationship.

Hardin only sees what a terrible mistake he’s making when he stops being selfish for a half-second and looks at Tessa. 

I get it, Hardin. There’s a HUGE learning curve where you’re concerned, but that doesn’t make it any easier to watch what you do to that poor girl.

And then he’s right back into begging mode, doing anything and everything he can think of to win her back. But this time it’s different. Tessa is different. She’s been through too much and cannot take Hardin back. What’s worse, she’s not sure she wants to.

The timeline of this book is unlike the others. The previous three were play-by play’s, day-to-day pacing of the story, where as  this concluding book takes place over a matter of years.

And let me just say, that I am SO HAPPY that this book didn’t end the way the Wattpad version did because–no disrespect to the author–that ending was crumby. It lacked the much needed resolution that Tessa, Hardin, and we readers so desperately deserved. 

So I was totally stoked to find that this book offered a meatier ending as well as the in-depth prologue that flitted from year to year, jumping ahead by more than a decade by the end of it all, and finally leaving me with a satisfied feeling.

Though I was sad to see the ending of Tessa and Hardins story, I was very glad when I got to it.

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