Over winter break I had the opportunity to read the novel After by Anna Todd. There are over 11 million copies sold in over 30 languages. The novel is based on the main character Tessa Young starting freshmen year of college and falling in love with the heartbreaker on campus, Hardin Scott.
Background
The novel was originally a fanfiction created on Wattpad, social storytelling platform. It was originally based on the band member from One Direction playing the lead male role. The publishing company Simon and Schuster loved Todd’s story and published the novel in 2014.
Plot
The setting takes place in Washington. Tessa meets Hardin on her first day at Washington State University. Although he’s rude and harsh towards her, she feels drawn to him. She’s eager to make friends so she starts to hang out with her roommate and her friend group, which included Hardin. Even though she’s the polar opposite of these people she still goes to parties with her new friends. During one party they play Truth or Dare. During this game, she admits her hidden secret. After this night Harden and Tessa start to get close but their relationship gets ruined as Tessa finds out a secret he was hiding from her.
Book Review
This romance novel holds lots of drama and conflicts that would be able to hold the reader’s attention and have them sitting on the edge of their seat. I was unable to put the book down and I would sit on my bed for hours and be so engrossed in the novel. But I recommend older teenagers to read the novel because there are mature parts in the novel. The negative about this novel is there was always drama and after a while it becomes predictable. Being able to predict that drama was going to happen made the novel less exciting but the words and story were still interesting to read.
Readers mostly rated this novel a five star because of the story plot. Many claimed that it was an interesting romance drama that instantly grabbed their attention. The typical good girl falling for the bad boy vibe quickly made readers fall in love with the book. The only disclaimer is the book was a little too much. The drama was dragging and caused some readers to hate the couple’s relationship.
Movie
The movie aired in 2019 and has 19% rotten tomatoes. The movie caused the book to become famous. After the movie, lots of viewers instantly became interested in the novels because of the storyline. Everyone feel in love with the characters, plot twist, and the romance drama. I never heard of the novel until I watched the movie. The movie caught my attention, and after watching it I quickly searched up if there was a novel. After reading the book I realized the movie left off a lot of information and scenes that were in the book. But in my option, I overall feel like the book was way better.
