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hannalizzy's review against another edition
challenging
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
This book is the trainwreck you can’t look away from. Hot garbage. Toxic toxic toxic abusive and toxic. The writing feels like Twilight/Mormon propaganda with some wet dreams sprinkled throughout. Hardin wrote the book on gaslighting.
and yet I ate it up, left zero crumbs, and am requesting the next book on libby. I AM BUT A WOMAN and this book was honestly fucking hilarious.
and yet I ate it up, left zero crumbs, and am requesting the next book on libby. I AM BUT A WOMAN and this book was honestly fucking hilarious.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcohol, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship
viselik's review against another edition
Did not finish the book. Stopped at 36%.
I struggled even to get through the pages I did read, I should have not forced myself to read as far as I did. I read it after I saw how popular it was and was curious, well curiosity killed the cat, didn't it?
I wouldn't really recommend anyone get into this series as I don't personally see anything that is worth the price tag here. There are so much better fanfiction sites out there.
This used to be a Wattpad fanfic between a reader insert and Harry Styles, and it's still very obvious to be that! Even Hardin's tattoos are kept the same or are very similar. Do I have to remind people, by the time this book was originally written Harry Styles was a minor and the author was over 20?
The plenty of smut scenes from the small bit I read were rather boring, the level you would expect from a Wattpad fanfic.
Here are some of the notes on the bits I did read. Warning it's full of swearing and spoilers.
Tessa is a lot more judgemental than she seems to think she is.
- She is stuck up and looks down at people who have tattoos and piercings
- "he has destroyed his body with holes and tattoos" - Chapter 5
- Looked down at Hardin for liking books
- "There is no way a rude, disrespectful, tattooed jerk like Hardin could possibly enjoy those amazing works. The only thing I can picture him reading is the back of a beer bottle." - Chapter 10
- She is scarily naive.
- Hardin, is also a judgemental twat but he at least knows he is one.
- Doesn't really date but sleeps with girls constantly
- "No way. Hardin doesn’t date. He fucks with a lot of girls, but he doesn’t date anyone. Ever."
- Likes books.
- Is very active in the bedroom
- “Does Hardin have a lot of friends with benefits?” I don’t want to hear the answer, but I can’t help asking. She snorts and sits down on her bed across from me. “Yeah, he does. I mean, not like hundreds, but he’s a pretty . . . active guy.”
- The book's chapters are done in a really poor way, each chapter is like 2 pages long, and it feels like Wattpad fanfic still.
- I still cannot get over how this story was written when Harry Styles was <i>16 or 17 years old</i>.
- Chapter 18 has an attempted r*pe scene. Great.
- I don't remember if this book has a content warning for that.
- If not it really needs one.
- We kind of just move on from that as well.
- Chapter 19 is about making out with Hardin and starting to get more than just making out, Hardin is sucking on her neck, how cute Tessa is cheating on her boyfriend.
- Like she wasn't totally just nearly assaulted in the last chapter.
- She even forgets about her boyfriend for a bit.
- Girlfriend of the Year right here.
- Hardin has a boner from it but is hiding it.
I struggled even to get through the pages I did read, I should have not forced myself to read as far as I did. I read it after I saw how popular it was and was curious, well curiosity killed the cat, didn't it?
I wouldn't really recommend anyone get into this series as I don't personally see anything that is worth the price tag here. There are so much better fanfiction sites out there.
This used to be a Wattpad fanfic between a reader insert and Harry Styles, and it's still very obvious to be that! Even Hardin's tattoos are kept the same or are very similar. Do I have to remind people, by the time this book was originally written Harry Styles was a minor and the author was over 20?
The plenty of smut scenes from the small bit I read were rather boring, the level you would expect from a Wattpad fanfic.
Here are some of the notes on the bits I did read. Warning it's full of swearing and spoilers.
Tessa is a lot more judgemental than she seems to think she is.
- She is stuck up and looks down at people who have tattoos and piercings
- "he has destroyed his body with holes and tattoos" - Chapter 5
- Looked down at Hardin for liking books
- "There is no way a rude, disrespectful, tattooed jerk like Hardin could possibly enjoy those amazing works. The only thing I can picture him reading is the back of a beer bottle." - Chapter 10
- She is scarily naive.
- Hardin, is also a judgemental twat but he at least knows he is one.
- Doesn't really date but sleeps with girls constantly
- "No way. Hardin doesn’t date. He fucks with a lot of girls, but he doesn’t date anyone. Ever."
- Likes books.
- Is very active in the bedroom
- “Does Hardin have a lot of friends with benefits?” I don’t want to hear the answer, but I can’t help asking. She snorts and sits down on her bed across from me. “Yeah, he does. I mean, not like hundreds, but he’s a pretty . . . active guy.”
- The book's chapters are done in a really poor way, each chapter is like 2 pages long, and it feels like Wattpad fanfic still.
- I still cannot get over how this story was written when Harry Styles was <i>16 or 17 years old</i>.
- Chapter 18 has an attempted r*pe scene. Great.
- I don't remember if this book has a content warning for that.
- If not it really needs one.
- We kind of just move on from that as well.
- Chapter 19 is about making out with Hardin and starting to get more than just making out, Hardin is sucking on her neck, how cute Tessa is cheating on her boyfriend.
- Like she wasn't totally just nearly assaulted in the last chapter.
- She even forgets about her boyfriend for a bit.
- Girlfriend of the Year right here.
- Hardin has a boner from it but is hiding it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Rape, Alcohol, and Infidelity
Moderate: Classism, Sexism, Violence, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Drug use
readingduckling's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
0.25
Well first the one good thing I have to say about it was it was not boring, it was tedious anoing and tiering but not boring.
Every character in this book is absolutely toxic beginning with the main character, she seemed to like it to make everyones life difficult and provoce people in her proximity just to feel like the 'main character' I think the author wanted the reader to relate to this character but she was just a jackass.
Every friend and love interest ist also toxic in their own special way and in very depressed need of therapy.
Just like every adult mentioned in this story.
The writing style was sloppy the author was repeating the same words in a sentence, except for using euphemism so at least the writing style wouldn't feel that repetitive. But I think this is to much to ask. The story it self was also repetitive every chapter/part of the story was the same. The main character fights with the main love interest, they fight they make up, they make up, they do something sexual and then the circle stars over again. I was more than annoyed reading this book because ist was the same thing 100x over and over and over again.
If you are now wondering, why I didn't stop reading it, it was because some friends and coworkers recommended this book and wanted me to read it; 'because it's sooooo good'. It really wasn't!
First I thought maybe I didn't like the book because it's young adult, but that doesn't make any sense, because I often read young adult books that I really enjoy (my first 5 out of 5 book this year was a young adult book). And about half of the people recommending this book to me are older than I am.
In a way I am really shocked, that this bullshit, is a young adult book because I think it would be dangerous for young people to read this book (- series) they get the wrong idea of what a relationship in any definition of the word should look like. I don't have a a problem with toxic relationships being presented in books for teens/kids/young adults but than it should be clear that it is toxic. It doesn't happen in this book at all.
And I have a problem with this book that resembles a problem with the 50 shades series, it has a relationship that resembles a Dom/sup dynamic but has nothing that is important in this kinds of relationships, especially no after care.
All in all it is a disgrace that anyone was ever able to make money with this story, I will most definitely not read it again, I do not ever recommend reading it to everyone. And I will not read the other books in this series, or consume everything else realated to this.
Every character in this book is absolutely toxic beginning with the main character, she seemed to like it to make everyones life difficult and provoce people in her proximity just to feel like the 'main character' I think the author wanted the reader to relate to this character but she was just a jackass.
Every friend and love interest ist also toxic in their own special way and in very depressed need of therapy.
Just like every adult mentioned in this story.
The writing style was sloppy the author was repeating the same words in a sentence, except for using euphemism so at least the writing style wouldn't feel that repetitive. But I think this is to much to ask. The story it self was also repetitive every chapter/part of the story was the same. The main character fights with the main love interest, they fight they make up, they make up, they do something sexual and then the circle stars over again. I was more than annoyed reading this book because ist was the same thing 100x over and over and over again.
If you are now wondering, why I didn't stop reading it, it was because some friends and coworkers recommended this book and wanted me to read it; 'because it's sooooo good'. It really wasn't!
First I thought maybe I didn't like the book because it's young adult, but that doesn't make any sense, because I often read young adult books that I really enjoy (my first 5 out of 5 book this year was a young adult book). And about half of the people recommending this book to me are older than I am.
In a way I am really shocked, that this bullshit, is a young adult book because I think it would be dangerous for young people to read this book (- series) they get the wrong idea of what a relationship in any definition of the word should look like. I don't have a a problem with toxic relationships being presented in books for teens/kids/young adults but than it should be clear that it is toxic. It doesn't happen in this book at all.
And I have a problem with this book that resembles a problem with the 50 shades series, it has a relationship that resembles a Dom/sup dynamic but has nothing that is important in this kinds of relationships, especially no after care.
All in all it is a disgrace that anyone was ever able to make money with this story, I will most definitely not read it again, I do not ever recommend reading it to everyone. And I will not read the other books in this series, or consume everything else realated to this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gaslighting
malignant_gnome's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Abandonment, Biphobia, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
wintersummers's review
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
This book is the worst book i have ever read. The characters are shit and the story too. The realationship is presented as cute and ideal but it is just toxic. I am not recommending this to anybody. This book is just really bad. The toxitity is presented as a good thing. Or you coul rather say the toxisity is not even touched. It is not really implied that it is bad what the characters do. They just do it out of love so it is ok what they do. In this book is also much sexism and misoginy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Sexual harassment
kyarabereading's review
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I read this book series twice in my life: Once as a One-Direction-obsessed preteen and then again when the After movie came out and I wanted to remember what the original book series was like. I read them on Wattpad, so I'm talking ORIGINAL original (mainly because I would not spend my money on this trash). I have a million and one reasons why I don't like this book series, but I don't want to go through them all right now or this would be a very long review.
I reread this series purely for the nostalgia, so I wouldn't advise anybody to read it just for funsies. It's really not worth it. Even now after rereading them, I will say that I could not, would not read more than a couple of chapters a week. I would put it down for weeks or even months, because I couldn't handle how bad it was. And this is coming from someone who used to be such a huge fan of the book, I was reading chapters as soon as they came out. I'm just going to say that this is plain old bad writing, and I would not waste my time reading this book series if I were you.
I reread this series purely for the nostalgia, so I wouldn't advise anybody to read it just for funsies. It's really not worth it. Even now after rereading them, I will say that I could not, would not read more than a couple of chapters a week. I would put it down for weeks or even months, because I couldn't handle how bad it was. And this is coming from someone who used to be such a huge fan of the book, I was reading chapters as soon as they came out. I'm just going to say that this is plain old bad writing, and I would not waste my time reading this book series if I were you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Alcohol, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Gaslighting
unphilosophize's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-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
2.0
Big cliffhanger
All the characters are really annoying.
I really like the enemies to lovers //will they won’t they dynamic
Feels the same as fifty shades
All the characters are really annoying.
I really like the enemies to lovers //will they won’t they dynamic
Feels the same as fifty shades
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
mj2148's review against another edition
relaxing
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? No
1.25
1.5 Stars
It was just two days ago when one of my lovely friends asked if I wanted to join a buddy-read for After. I'd never heard of this book, and to be honest I didn't read the synopsis. But it was supposed to be cringey and I was bored so I said why not.
And wow...
I don't know if cringey is the right word...
It was just two days ago when one of my lovely friends asked if I wanted to join a buddy-read for After. I'd never heard of this book, and to be honest I didn't read the synopsis. But it was supposed to be cringey and I was bored so I said why not.
And wow...
I don't know if cringey is the right word...
The Kissing Booth is what I would define as cringey. This book on the other hand was... sickening.
After follows a college student, Tessa, who is not like other girls. She gets good grades, always finished her homework., and has a sweet, innocent boyfriend named Noah. But then she meets a bad boy named Hardin. Hardin is a walking stereotype. He has tattoos, wears black clothes, has piercings, and an emotionless jerk. But good girl Tessa falls in love with his d- *clears throat* I mean she falls in love with Hardin.
To start off, the characters were not even characters. They had two traits, horny and angry. Tessa was just wrong in every way possible. This is one of those books that actually says the words "I'm not like others girls." And you know what? It's 100% true! Tessa isn't like other girls, because she is much worse!... And then Hardin...
Hardin was abusive and manipulative. He basically raped Tessa in one scene and made her beg him for things that shall not be mentioned. I honestly felt bad for Tessa, Hardin was such a freaking jerk.
And then we have side characters. I stan Noah. I stan Steph. I stan anyone besides Tessa and Hardin and their body parts TBH.
And the plot... I am honest when I say that there was no plot. There were two events that were repeated over and over again: Hardin and Tessa banging & Hardin and Tessa hating each other because one of them wouldn't bang the other.
Nothing else. There was no climax and not one innocent scene...
The details though-
(view spoiler)
Also, let me add in this was over 500 pages. I'm glad I finished this before Valentine's Day because I do not want to tell people I spent my Valentine's Day reading this piece of trash.
And lastly, this was problematic AF. Check out more on that by searching up "After" on Google. I'm sure it will be one of the first things that pop up and beware of how much scrolling you will be doing once you find an article.
And you're probably asking why I rated this 1.5 stars? I read it with my wonderful friends (view spoiler) so it was amusing to make fun of and TBH it was so bad it was addicting in a way... But not more than an extra half star
Well anyways, the book sucked (no pun intended) yet I'll be reading the second one because it can't be much worse, you know? I lost all my brain cells and I assure you there are no more to lose.
See you After I read the second!
On a serious note, I will see you After I burn this piece of trash!
Ok... sorry you see what this collection of word porn did to me...
Bye ☺☺☺
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexism, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Homophobia, and Cursing
wrathofthelamb's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Alcoholism
sonygaystation's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I read this because I’m a masochist and like to see what all the fuss is about things that people find problematic. This is one massive yikes. Started out fun and stupid and spiraled quickly into straight up verbally and emotionally abusive. Unsure what redeeming features Hardin is supposed to have outside of apparently being attractive. Also extremely unsure if this is a relationship we’re supposed to view as toxic (if so, the author did NOT make that clear enough at all) or if this dynamic is genuinely attractive and desirable to the author. It’s books like these that I feel shouldn’t even exist because while I, as a grown adult, am very conscious of what is healthy and abusive behaviour, the 12 year olds reading this on WattPad for Harry Styles fic will not. Also weird as hell to be writing RPF in the first place, especially when you’re married and the guy you’re writing about was ~18 at the time and ~6 years younger than you. Glad I found a pdf online cuz there was no way I’m supporting her with my money lmao.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, and Sexism
Minor: Body shaming and Misogyny
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