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After Ever Happy by Anna Todd
4.0

“You won’t know how lucky you are to be able to spend your life with the other half of your soul until you have to spend your life without them.”
― Anna Todd, After Ever Happy

Yeah okay, I finished it basically in two days because I saved the last 10 pages until I was emotionally prepared for it.
A lot happens in this book even though it's like 300 pages less than the other books and honestly, I really enjoyed this one. It was an actual good book not just for a romance. It was like Anna todd finally got better at writing and it didn't feel like I was just reading fanfiction anymore.

Hardin and Tessa are way better in this book. I think reading this book makes the other books better if that makes sense. Like it's finally shown that Hardin and Tessa have learned from their mistakes and we're shown that they're actually only kids trying to deal with the shit that's put in front of them the best that they can and this doesn't happen overnight and maybe that's why the books were so long.
The first half of the book is the end of their struggles really and the second half of the book is about them getting to a place after their struggle is finally over. It's about taking time to leave behind all the pain and hurt they caused one another in that year and finally being able to try again.

Now I must say this was incredibly painful to read and I honestly cried on several different occasions during the second half of the book. Once was when Tessa needed space for the first time and the break was from April to June and I put the book down in shock that they didn't talk for that length of time. But then they did a 2-year break and I know realistically from experience that this is what happens in life but from reading these books you're so accustomed to Hardin and Tessa barely being able to spend a few days apart let alone 2 years. I was properly shaking from this break. It was such a shock.

But the biggest shock of this entire book wasn't Tessa's dad dying although it was an amazing storyline that really pushed Tessa in the direction that she needed to go. The biggest shock of this book was learning that Hardin wrote After. I mean it was insane and I only saw it coming one page in advance.

This book was just really good and I honestly didn't like the other ones that much but I can happily say this is a good book. There was just a lot of loose ends tied up like learning that Vance was Hardin's real father and it gives an insight into why Ken drank so much and wasn't able to stop. Everyone's stories intertwined in this. The best character development in this book would have to be Landon though. When he told Tessa that she was being incredibly selfish and involving his family constantly in the mess that was her and Hardin it just shocked you. Because Landon throughout this entire series has basically been the gay best friend whose purpose is solely to aid the main character's story so it was nice to see him bring Tessa back to reality like that.

I don't think we really needed the epilogue if Anna had written some shit about them trying again or finally getting back together I would have been happy enough. But that's just my opinion.
Overall I would give it a 4/5.