Reviews with content warning for Rape - After

I might have given this a five star review but I really hate cliffhangers. The book is well written and the story starts slow but is captivating. Tessa and Hardin are a tortured couple. She's innocent and kind but way too trusting. He's hard and damaged but you never really understand why. The story is long but is only three months of time.

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aridd1's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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emviolet's review

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

This is one of the worst books I’ve ever read. The writing is not good, the characters are HORRIBLE and one dimensional, the sex is cringe worthy….I could go on. I’ve read a fair amount of other fan fiction, and I’m always baffled as to how the authors whose prose is GREAT never seem to get as much attention as authors whose prose is just littered with repetitive language, stilted dialogue, and awful spicy scenes.

This book is considered romantic by some people. There are young girls reading this and thinking “I can make a man love me if I just stay and tolerate his bad behavior.” THIS RELATIONSHIP IS TOXIC AND ABUSIVE. There is no excuse for throwing things, screaming at your partner every other day, dangling the promise of love over their head, using sex as a manipulation tactic, using past trauma/mental health to justify continuing that pattern of behavior…it’s disgusting. Tessa is manipulated into sex, gaslit, and isolated by this awful man. And considering that there are 4 more books, I’m sure she forgives him for essentially

betting her virginity to start off their ~relationship~

.

Aside from the terrible relationship dynamics, all the characters suck. I don’t know much about Harry Styles, but he sure doesn’t come off like a dick the way Hardin does. Let’s start with him. Hardin is over-the-top aggressive with his reactions to things, always starting a fight or yelling at someone. His ~dirty talk~ is TERRIBLE. Maybe it was the narrator of the audiobook, but if a man ever said “oh baby, you’re always so ready for me, oh baby, do you wanna suck my dick” I’d walk right out the door. And then we have Tessa. She’s also a trash character but for other reasons. She’s mindblowingly naive. She pretends to be so confident and sure of her choices, yet she’s easily coerced into everything Hardin wants. It’s eerily similar to the other popular fan fiction, 50 Shades, where Anna acts like she’s independent but in reality allows a man to control her entire life (also a HORRIBLE representation of a healthy BDSM contract but I digress). Tessa is also so judgmental??? Anyone with colored hair or piercings or tattoos or who’s sexually active is so awful in her eyes.

There were also so many details that simply made no sense to me. Like…Tessa bringing only a few clothes and books to college? Has the author seen how much shit college freshmen bring to dorms? And why was she paired with a sophomore? And how did all these 18-19 year old kids have tons of tattoos already? And how did Tessa go from having class every day to suddenly working this magic internship that pays AND counts for college credit (pretty sure that’s not allowed)? And what teenagers are in a relationship for YEARS and never do more than kiss? And how was her mom constantly driving down and acting wild? And THE FRAT HOUSE WAS SO UNREALISTIC. If you’ve ever been in a frat house you know that there’s like 5 people to a room, no one has a bunch of BOOKS, there isn’t a cute tidy kitchen, and the bathrooms are DISGUSTING. Also I’m fairly certain no dorms have coed showers. And how did

Tessa and Hardin move so quickly into an apartment in the middle of the year? Leases usually do not move that fast, AND if you pay for a dorm it’s for either a semester or a year, not some monthly business.

I could probably go on for even longer. I’m going to continue the series in my habit of rage reading things I hate and so I can watch/compare the movies. But don’t be fooled, I hate this book.

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martamae77's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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jessica_grace's review

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emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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isabear's review

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

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mayanisma's review

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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kathrinellis's review

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challenging emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

First of all the things I especially liked about the book were the short chapters, the suspense and the character development. I especially enjoyed the parts where the protagonists got along and everything was going the right way.
I was a bit disappointed concerning the ending and all the fights which were the same over and over again. Also, some of the erotic scenes made me cringe. Another aspect I don’t really approve of is the fact that everything in Tessa‘s life - apart from the relationship with Hardin and her mother - is too perfect: immaculate GPA, best job, dream apartment, gorgeous looks, her dorm mate being her best friend since day one, several boys flirting with her, …
Nevertheless, I finished reading this within less than 30 hours and I‘m not even a native speaker, so I would say it‘s definitely a catchy plot and I‘m intrigued to find out how the story continues!

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