The weekend is almost *here*! It's supposedly going to be raining all weekend up here. You know what that means: more reading! More reading = more reviews in the coming weeks.
I would like to start off this review by saying that MB is a trooper. He is very much a trooper. Not only did he watch Crazy Rich Asians with me two weeks ago (as I babbled for the better part of the movie) but we went to see After this week.
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| Image from IMDB |
Mind you, MB and me were the only people nearing 30 at the theater. MB was one of 3 guys in the theater. To see that I was mortified to what I was about to put him through would be an understatement. (He'll gladly confirm that I was a nervous wreck for no reason other than that I could be).
Here is MB's review of the movie:
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| Image from Amazon |
My review of the movie: (from 4/19/19 - the book is supposedly being delivered today!)
Aside from being mortified throughout the entire movie, it was pretty good! It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Without having the read the book: I would give it 3.5 kernels out of 5. I wouldn't watch it again- even after I read the book. It was okay. I thought Hardin was kinda creepy...? Tess, she was okay - not my favorite character but eh. Molly though, oh my. She was really too much. She was an obvious antagonist!
I would like it to be known that I ordered the book before I saw the movie. Sadly, the book did not get here in time. So, I got to see the movie first. I was only going into the movie with this knowledge: It was the most viewed Wattpad story and it's a fan fiction based on Harry Styles. I knew nothing else about the book and I knew nothing else about the movie.
Now, back in the day (the first year the blog was up and running time frame), I would try to see if I could find articles to quote showing that the author’s inspiration was. I did this both for my curiosity and to help plump up the review. I stopped because life got rather busy. I decided for this review, I was going to try and bring that back! I was definitely interested in knowing more about the inspiration behind this phenomenon.
From what I found, Todd was a huge fan of One Direction and a fan of the fan fiction that was inspired by the boys of 1D. According to The Atlantic, (you can access the article here), Todd was growing impatient with waiting for these authors to post (That's not the best word but it's what comes to mind).
I know that the story was influenced by Harry Styles (Hardin) BUT did anyone notice that Hardin has a friends: Zed, Nate, Logan, AND a step-brother named Landon?? Was this Todd's way to inserting Zayn, Niall, Liam and Louis?? (OR was Tristan supposed to be representative of Louis because his last name starts with a T like Tristan does?)
I found myself thinking the two following thoughts:
1. Run, Tessa, RUN from Hardin! He's not stable. I can see the appeal of a bad boy but it's a known fact that bad boys are very very hard to change.
2. Oh my God. Only someone who's in their late teens and early 20s could tolerate this type of relationship.
They had a torrid love affair. In addition to the fighting, there was a ton of gas lighting. This book is not the example of a relationship that anyone would want to be in.
Maybe this is the mom in me or maybe it's the 29 year old in me but I would have liked to tell Tessa that she needs to walk away. That for her sanity, it would be best if she removed herself from the situation and walked away. Someone like Hardin wasn't worth it. Wasting her time on him wasn't going to be worth it in the long run.
Not to mention the amount of yelling that was in this book! It was CRAZY! It seemed like Tessa was always yelling at Hardin. If she wasn't yelling at Hardin, he was being a total jerk toward her. They were constantly fighting- it wasn't good fighting either. Their fights would then end in these lust filled encounters- again, another thing that you really don't want to strive for in a relationship. (Did the book really need to be 582 pages?? No. It was horrible redundant at many points)
I will say that the end of the book is like the end of the movie (the evidence and the catalyst would be the only things that were different). Molly is the same horrible person in the movie that she is in the book. Tessa's jealously toward her was off the charts!
I would give this book 3.5 coffee beans out of 5. Which is generous. If you're over the age of 23-24, I don't think that you're going to enjoy this too much. It was just too much. The yelling was too much- Hardin was too much.
Does this mean that I won't be reading the second book? Absolutely not! I will be ordering the second book from Amazon tonight. I would like to know what happens. I'm interested in knowing what Zed has to say to Tessa about what happened.
Stay tunes for more thoughts on the After Series!
~ Jillian
From what I found, Todd was a huge fan of One Direction and a fan of the fan fiction that was inspired by the boys of 1D. According to The Atlantic, (you can access the article here), Todd was growing impatient with waiting for these authors to post (That's not the best word but it's what comes to mind).
I know that the story was influenced by Harry Styles (Hardin) BUT did anyone notice that Hardin has a friends: Zed, Nate, Logan, AND a step-brother named Landon?? Was this Todd's way to inserting Zayn, Niall, Liam and Louis?? (OR was Tristan supposed to be representative of Louis because his last name starts with a T like Tristan does?)
I found myself thinking the two following thoughts:
1. Run, Tessa, RUN from Hardin! He's not stable. I can see the appeal of a bad boy but it's a known fact that bad boys are very very hard to change.
2. Oh my God. Only someone who's in their late teens and early 20s could tolerate this type of relationship.
They had a torrid love affair. In addition to the fighting, there was a ton of gas lighting. This book is not the example of a relationship that anyone would want to be in.
Maybe this is the mom in me or maybe it's the 29 year old in me but I would have liked to tell Tessa that she needs to walk away. That for her sanity, it would be best if she removed herself from the situation and walked away. Someone like Hardin wasn't worth it. Wasting her time on him wasn't going to be worth it in the long run.
Not to mention the amount of yelling that was in this book! It was CRAZY! It seemed like Tessa was always yelling at Hardin. If she wasn't yelling at Hardin, he was being a total jerk toward her. They were constantly fighting- it wasn't good fighting either. Their fights would then end in these lust filled encounters- again, another thing that you really don't want to strive for in a relationship. (Did the book really need to be 582 pages?? No. It was horrible redundant at many points)
I will say that the end of the book is like the end of the movie (the evidence and the catalyst would be the only things that were different). Molly is the same horrible person in the movie that she is in the book. Tessa's jealously toward her was off the charts!
I would give this book 3.5 coffee beans out of 5. Which is generous. If you're over the age of 23-24, I don't think that you're going to enjoy this too much. It was just too much. The yelling was too much- Hardin was too much.
Does this mean that I won't be reading the second book? Absolutely not! I will be ordering the second book from Amazon tonight. I would like to know what happens. I'm interested in knowing what Zed has to say to Tessa about what happened.
Stay tunes for more thoughts on the After Series!
~ Jillian
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