REVIEW: After Ever Happy (After #4) by Anna Todd

It’s never been all rainbows and sunshine for Tessa and Hardin, but each new challenge they’ve faced has only made their passionate bond stronger and stronger. But when a revelation about the past shakes Hardin’s inpenetrable façade to the core—and then Tessa suffers a tragedy—will they stick together again, or be torn apart?

As the shocking truth about each of their families emerges, it’s clear the two lovers are not so different from each other. Tessa is no longer the sweet, simple, good girl she was when she met Hardin—any more than he is the cruel, moody boy she fell so hard for. Tessa understands all the troubling emotions brewing beneath Hardin’s exterior, and she knows she’s the only one who can calm him when he erupts. He needs her. 

But the more layers of his past come to light, the darker he grows, and the harder he pushes Tessa—and everyone else in his life—away. Tessa’s not sure if she really can save him—not without sacrificing herself. She refuses to go down without a fight. But who is she fighting for—Hardin or herself?

My Thoughts:

When you love people, you don't let them destroy you along with themselves, you don't allow them to drag you through the mud. You try to help them, try to save them, but the moment that your love is one sided or selfish, if you keep trying, you are a fool.

So, here we are at the end. What a ride it's been!! A journey of emotions for me. So many emotions. I've only just now turned the last page and already I'm feeling a little melancholy. I'm gonna miss these guys!! 

When I neared the end of After We Fell, I was so happy and satisfied with Hardin and Tessa and the progression they'd made. Hardin had grown and changed so much. I loved him and his determination to be a better person. But then we had that huge bombshell dropped into Hardin's lap and I just knew that things were about to get a whole lot of crazy. If there's one thing that Hardin's an expert at it's self destructing and sabotaging the good in his life. And man, doesn't he do it good this time around!! I really wanted to throttle him. He was at his very self loathing, destructive best.

It's impossible to change people who have their mind set on who they are. You can't support them enough to make for their low expectations, and you can't love them enough to make up for the hate they feel for themselves.

Tessa still managed to frustrate me at almost every turn. There were times when her decision making left me scratching my head. Even up until about eighty percent through the book I wanted to curse at her. But after the events that go down in London, does she deserve the way Hardin treats her? Hell no!!! Sometimes despite loving someone so completely, we get to the point where we say enough's enough. Your heart and your soul can only take so much pain and hurt.

I'm nothing! I'm a fucked-up piece of shit with fucked-up parents and a fucked-up head.

Hardin Scott. Where do I start with him. Frustrating, infuriating, maddening, exasperating... But boy, I love the guy with everything that I have. I cannot express my love for him adequately. I seriously didn't think it was possible to fall in love with him more than I already was, but as I was getting towards the end of After Ever Happy, my heart was so full of him. It was fit to burst. The growth of this man was phenomenal. He is loving, patient, caring and considerate, all while maintaining that Hardin edge. And gosh do I love his dirty words!!!

I have to say that I hadn't cried a great deal throughout these books. Yes there were moments when a got a bit teary, but there was always a million other emotions going on at the same time. But reading the epilogue took me forever. I cried so damn hard!! Happy tears, sad tears, frustrated tears, angry tears. I cried them all. And even now just thinking about it I'm getting a bit emotional.

No two relationships are the same. We can't tell the heart who to love and who not to love. It has a mind of its own. We love who we love and that is that. Relationships and love come in all forms. And even though Tessa and Hardin's relationship was at times volatile and destructive, their love was a constant. Even through all the bad, and there was lots, I never doubted that love. When they were on, it was a beautiful thing to read. 

I'm so grateful to Anna Todd for giving me all the Hessa feels. Thank you for the 2587 pages of insane angst and emotional turmoil. But above all, thank you for giving us, the reader, the chance to take the journey of love with Hardin and Tessa.  

Whatever the hell our souls are made of, they are the same.

5/5 All The Feels Stars!!

A huge thank you to Simon & Schuster Australia for providing me with a review copy.