A Romance For Women Who Want to Date Manbabies | After Part 2 

Remember kids, good books aren't always popular, and popular books aren't always good.

Remember, friends: “I can fix him” only applies if he is a cat and you are a veterinarian.

how the hell is this even less emotionally healthy than "my parents sold me to One Direction"

"She's almost used up her skank quota for the week" -The girl who cheated on her boyfriend time and time again, FULLY AWARE that what she was doing was wrong

If I had a nickel for every time KrimsonRogue reviewed a book including a selfish protagonist named Theresa, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

A lot of modern romances mistake “bad boy” with “bad person”, there is a difference.

"Hardin we had chicken for dinner why does your breath smell like tuna" bro you cant keep getting away with this 😭

"she likes the metal scent of his blood". EVERYONE'S BLOOD SMELLS LIKE METAL. TODD. IT HAS IRON IN IT.

You know what?! I'm gonna write that fanfiction! Noah's gonna get a wonderful loving gf and get over Tessa. #justice4Noah

This book can be summed up as "Doormat bellend and manbaby fight over their feels and nothing else."

After: Garbage, burn it Storytime with Tuck: Brilliant, fantastic, engaging, definition of perfection

“Hardin is a vibrator with a bad attitude” you know what from now that’s the only way I’ll describe his character

Dude, even his fur baby knows a bad book when she sees one

"the reason they can't stay away from each other is....idunno, when they were both kids, they swallowed MAGNETS" the delivery on that killed me oh my god

This story sounds like it would make a lot more sense if Hardin's dad was interested in young girls, particularly the ones Hardin dates. It would explain why Hardin hates his dad, why he's so possessive of Tessa yet doesn't want to be in a relationship with her. It would also explain why he doesn't want to introduce Tessa to his father, but also why he can't tell her the reason because "My Dad slept with my girlfriend in high school," is something you'd probably never bring up for a number of reasons. It would also explain why he's so inexplicably nice to her, to the point where he pulls strings to get her the cushiest job possible with the easiest interview in the world, and why Hardin's mom is so supportive of the relationship. Perhaps, she thinks that Hardin needs to 'get the girl' this time because he's 'owed' a girlfriend after his dad took his girlfriend from him. Plus, it would make sense that he would treat women the way he does after seeing his mom forgive his dad after what he did to Hardin's high school sweetheart. Like, seeing the woman who will probably shape your idea of what women are like essentially say: "Oh, dear, it's fine that you made a mistake and slept with your son's underage girlfriend, I forgive you," would mess up a lot of guys.

The clearest evidence that Todd has never read (or maybe just never understood) Pride & Prejudice is the "no means yes" kiss scene. In my humble opinion, one of Mr. Darcy's best features is his respect of Elisabeth's boundaries. He proposes to her, and when she says no, he listens. She falls in love with him as more things come out about his character later- as he, without any ulterior motive, works to undo the damage he's done to her family. When they eventually run into each other again, now both in love, he makes it clear that if she doesn't want him around, she'll never have to see him again. He doesn't want to pressure her, make her uncomfortable, or ever insinuate that she doesn't know what she wants. Hardin, on the other hand, starts the scene with a Darcy-style disclaimer ("tell me you don't want this and I'll go"), but when Tess says no, *he doesn't listen.* Congratulations Todd, you have utterly failed Pride & Prejudice 101

Dude Noah is the most unfairly treated third-wheel in any romance story I've ever seen. He's strung along and mistreated horribly by his girlfriend, against whom he committed hardly any infractions. If Todd wanted him to be the Billy Zane in Titanic of this plot, she failed miserably. Dude has to be completely traumatized by the end.

This book makes it impressively clear to me that Tessa has no real friends because a *true* friend would have smacked her upside the head for thinking Hardin can be redeemed after half of the shit he's pulled.

"I've hurt you so many times, and I know I'm bad for you but *if you give me one more chance* I'll change!" is a classic abuser line.

Tessa saying that Hardin does love her “in his own twisted way” literally reminds me of Harley trying to convince herself that the Joker loves her back when they were still together. If your relationship reminds me of the Joker and Harley Quinn… 🤦🏾‍♀️

imagine getting a fanfic written about you and your character is the worst person imaginable 😭 like damn

"i will RUIN HER" girl why aren't you getting a restraining order.

11:03 "I'm sorry. Do you want me to take it back?" asks the waitress. "Yes. She does." Hardin answers for me, standing up from his seat, and squaring up with the waitress. The restaurant goes painfully silent, all except for the softly, ominously sounding rumbling of the air conditioning. The air around us is thick, like gelatin, Everyone in the restaurant is visibly scared of Hardin. Except... For the waitress. We had found the enemy stand user.

Noah literally had no point of being in this story other than being a punching bag. Besides making Tessa look like a horrible cheat, he didn't push any character or background out of Tessa nor added anything to the story from his actions. She could've easily popped into this new university without a relationship considering that she was a virgin anyways and she had no friends from home at all. Plus it'd make a slight bit more sense if Hardin was her first boyfriend and she had yet to know what the hell a GOOD, HEALTHY, LOVING relationship was like.

I said it before and I'll say it again: Tessa and Landon would get together if this were a good book. Imagine: Tessa realizes she doesn't like Noah and breaks up with him. In the confusion of her self-discovery and freedom, she gets involved with Hardin...which, of course, crashes and burns. At the end, she realizes that Landon treated her with dignity and respect. Tessa asks if he was nice because he’s interested in her, but Landon (who’d be understandably wary of getting involved with her) asks if they could work on their friendship. She's crushed, but she agrees, knowing she's not in a good place for anything serious. In time, their feelings grow, and they get together. Tessa still gets the plot of this book (with less cheating,) but she gets character development and a different ending.

I feel like if “After” remained a niche-ish wattpad fanfic, it would be just okay, but the fact that it managed to get published and has been made into a franchise is the real kicker

Hardin: Gets Tessa to leave her boyfriend to be with him, literally telling her she makes him want to date where he's previously sworn off it. Also Hardin, literally less that a day later: "You thought you were my girlfriend?!" while outraged that she called him out for kissing and having another girl give him a lap dance IN FRONT OF HER.

"I don't know what Hardin was trying to accomplish by outing himself as the campus bicycle..." I'm screaming👋🏼😭

"I was worthless, just like he said." After this one, I'm genuinely worried about the author and her relationships...

For someone who supposedly doesn't drink, Hardin sure does come home drunk a lot.

So Wuthering Heights is my favourite period novel and I'd like to share my take on the ""romance"" (aka abusive relationship that destroys multiple lives) between Catherine and Heathcliff. Major spoilers ahead! 🍃 For starters, Tessa and Hardin have NOTHING against what Catherine and Heathcliff have. Granted, Catherine and Heathcliff are not healthy *at all* and the author, the characters and the reader knows that. We, as readers, see Catherine genuinely bond with Heathcliff as children, they grow up together, wild and free, and think themselves happy in their mischief. Heathcliff is an adopted son, rejected by almost everyone (except Catherine) and Catherine herself is quite a black sheep of her family, untamed and unladylike. So they bond and they become inseparable. But that's when a certain circumstance forces Catherine to leave Heathcliff's company for a long time, and when they see each other again they have both changed. Catherine doesn't want to go running in the barren moors, and Heathcliff has grown estranged and antisocial towards absolutely everyone in his friend's absence. He now feels humiliated by Catherine's newly found mannerisms, and disdains her visibly. From now on, they become extremely destructive to each other, and their relationship is *very* strongly linked to jealousy, manipulation, pettiness, anger and spite. They are both driven mad by the other's sick games, to the point Catherine dies in her petty delirium and Heathcliff almost bashes his head in on a tree as he learns of her death, begging her ghost to haunt him and even digging up her corpse to be with her (wtf man). He later on becomes insane himself and dies a lonely, dramatic and miserable death. I can't stress this enough: Catherine and Heathcliff's relationship destroys lives and poisons an entire generation. Their feelings are portrayed as too raw, too violent, too intense, too possessive. But not in the "You, reader, should want this, this is the ideal romance". No. No! It is very clear that Brontë writes this relationship as a "These two were close once, but now they are so far gone they will be the death of one another, and everyone knows that". And even when you know how deeply unhealthy and flawed Catherine and Heathcliff are, you still understand that they claim to LOVE each other because they were raised together in a dire environment as children, frequently mistreated and abused. So they clang to each other. And when Catherine "changes", they keep clinging to each other but in the most spiteful, manipulative way. You do understand how close they were once, but that is never portrayed in a cutesy, endearing way. Hell, Heathcliff is one of the villains (if not THE villain) in the novel! How is this a relationship we as readers should look up to? Even the other characters see how destructive Catherine and Heathcliff are! Back to Tessa and Hardin. What is exactly the reason they "love" each other? Why are they together in the first place? Tessa is meek, tame, submissive (even though she tries to stand up for herself a few times, she's still a doormat in the end) while Catherine Earnshaw was pure fire, pride, passion and stubbornness - you could see why they thought Heathcliff and her were meant for each other, because they were *equals* once, they always are equally wild and strong willed, and had known each other for so many years. Hardin? Just a bratty lil b*tch who thinks himself a wolf but is actually a tattooed chihuahua. Heathcliff would eat him alive and then complain that he had no flavour at all. It just angers me so much how some of my favourite books (P&P and WH in this case) are just misunderstood by authors like Todd and Meyer. They don't get the point of the plots, and it comes off as them just name dropping to sound smart, while drawing nonexistent parallels. It's so annoying. Sorry for the long comment, I love these book reviews and I do recommend Wuthering Heights to anyone who is into tragic, dramatic period stories. Also, I very much appreciated the Puppy Break. Tuck is such a sweetheart! 💕

'After' reads like a plot of an artsy psychological horror movie where the MC meets some strange person, ruins all her relationships and disolves into madness

Tuck is such a hero for keeping his humans safe

The sheer number of books is jawdropping to me. Did she say SEVEN books? Tolkien created an entire rich and varied world in 5 books, this hack needed 7 for this abusive dreck? Also so damn sick of people in any context claiming realism by having their characters all be monsters. Real people are flawed, most real people aren't THIS.

The fact Todd was like "lmfao I dunno why they're dating I've been trying to figure that out for 7 books 🤪🤪" is hilarious because girl you're the one WRITING the book??? Someone call a wellness check because oh my god it was like reliving my own toxic relationship and it's appalling that she tries justifying all of it. Especially in the last book. Chick needs therapy.

Halfway through this video I realized Tessa and Hardin's parents are in the perfect position for a "the love interests are actually siblings/half siblings and they don't know that" plot twist and I physically had to pause the video for five minutes because of how much I hope it isn't what happens

not to spoil this garbage, but lol in the last book, Todd tries to say this is *not* unhealthy, and that people just give up too easily on each other, and if you just keep insisting on the bad boy who treats you badly, they will turn around eventually. I’m not joking. as someone who’s first relationship was abusive and awful, it made me wanna scream, because this idea of “I can fix him” is very appealing to young people, and a dangerous mentality to have

The pain this man goes through to give us all this content

After: This one does not spark joy Storytime with Tuck: This one sparks joy

Someone on tiktok said something that really made sense to me. They said that younger people mistake fear for excitement. They think the adrenaline they get in the presence of someone dangerous is attraction, not realising their body is telling them the opposite. That's why these kinds of 'romances' are so popular and why people eat this shit up, because we're all broken and confused and don't know what love even is.

As someone who's done 15+ years of volunteering with teenagers, I'm shivering with horror at the thought that some teenage girl could read this and think this is how romantic relationships are supposed to go.

The author being like “yeah, of course the relationship is SUPPOSED to be toxic, duh” is so infuriating to me for some reason. Like, you know she realizes she fucked up, but then she just tries to gaslight everyone into thinking it was deliberate.

This is probably going to sound absolutely pathetic, but I think this book helped me escape my last relationship before it turned anymore abusive than it already was. I do not have a good basis for what healthy relationships should look like so I get lovebombed easily into things I really shouldn't. But it took only a month to realize this last one was deeply problematic because my last ex behaved exactly like Hardin and in book form I was able to immediately identify this was childish and nonsense. It was the moment he was tossing a chair and she was whispering a meek apology to other customers and I'd just had to apologize to people for his behavior IRL that I realized my ex was Hardin and despite all his insistence, I was not just too stupid to handle a relationship. He was just a manchild and he wanted me to be his mommy that he could throw tantrums at and get consoled by afterward. Maybe this book should be marketed as a thriller domestic abuse novel instead - one of those PSA, it's not just physical abuse that is abuse type things. It definitely has all the beats of an emotionally abusive relationship down pat. It's so concerning how many girls and women are trained to think this is romantic. Edit: Just got to the end. I'm sorry you also dated 'Hardin'. No one deserves it.

*Pulls Krimson into the hug* There's not enough comments praising Krimson for opening up about his trauma and sharing it in a productive way. Nevermind, getting through this godawful triggering book. Thank you

It would be nice to see a book with a really toxic relationship where one person slowly realizes it’s bad and leaves their ass

I swear that this "love story" has more conflict between the interests than a battlefield.

Just let Todd spend a weekend with Onision and see how her books will change genres from romance to psychological thriller

The first "real relationship" I ever had as an "adult", I was 19 so barely a formed potato but legally an adult, was just as toxic and abusive as this relationship has been written. The parallels were mind boggling to me although I didn't cheat on my high school boyfriend. Anna Todd might be under the misguided impression that the abuse makes the story quirky or relatable but having lived it, gotta call bullshit on that one. It was hell. Being in that relationship was one of the worst things I have ever lived through. I barely survived. One of the only "upsides" of that relationship was my ex was so abusive and toxic that I pretty much got a crash course on a lot of red flags in the span of two years. It's not cute, it's not quirky, she doesn't bring out his good side, or whatever excuse Anna Todd wants to use. It was horrible, I hated it, I don't tell anyone about it anymore because I never want to visit that portion of my life again. If someone told me tomorrow that my ex was dead, I would buy new shoes to go ruin because I was dancing on his grave. Tl;dr: Fuck this book. 😂

Help I can’t imagine being in the same house as Krimson while he’s filming these You’re just sitting there, doing something, and you just hear a muffled “I… I *Love you*!” Through the wall 💀

The After “Just One More Chance” Drinking game. Rules are as follows: 1: Take a drink for every time Harden ask for “One more Chance” 2: Try not to die.

No one mentions this, but it's really creepy how much Tessa is involving herself with Hardin's family. This is a move used to make someone feel trapped into a relationship. Tessa is also toxic for this move.

After is what happens when you see the relationship between The Joker and Harley Quinn as a goal.

Honestly. The moment where they are destroying the computer could have been a big character development moment for Hardin. Seeing Tessa become destructive could have been a wake up call for Hardin where he realizes that he's continuing the cycle of abuse and twisting someone he (allegedly) cares about into a monster like him. (I'm aware it's a constant fuck up, but I'm just saying) Imagine if that was Hardin's moment where he realizes that he wants to be better. And actually acts on it, becoming a better man to match the goodness in Tessa rather than be the anchor that drags her down. Maybe they start taking him to those places you break plates and hammer walls and shit, possibly push him into actual talk therapy. He realizes that people are changing around him, and he needs to heal before he torpedos himself into a place he can't return. Of course this would only work if there hadn't been a fight every three pages and Hardin's nature had been dialed way the fuck back.

jesus christ noah deserves so much better than someone who has cheated on him numerous times, breaks every promise he asks, and then ditches him for someone with the emotional maturity of a four year old

Am i the only one here who thinks that Hardin's backstory with his mother being "attacked" doesn't... make much sense? Like it doesn't correlate to how he acts at all? When writing traumatized characters, you'd expect their behavior to reflect on what they've experienced and Hardin's just doesn't-- AT ALL. For an example sake let's take a girl who only ever lived in the mountains with her parents who she loved and the only people she ever knew. One day they get killed right infront of her and she gets kidnapped. A boy saves her from the kidnappers and his family takes her in and treats her like their own. One day his family gets killed too so they're whats left. She acts extremely over protective over the boy and refuses to let him out of her sight, to the point where it may classify as an obsession. This is because her trauma over losing people she loves is causing her to fear losing him too, the boy who saved her and leaving her alone. The boy doesn't LIKE the fact that she is over protective over him as he sees it as her looking down on his own inabilities. This causes a rift in the dynamic between them where its overcome with an arc of her having to show she protects him out of genuine care and him having to realize this and her having to choose to trust him to make his own choices. That's directly correlating to the backstory. The girl's actions are directly caused by her trauma and the trauma is the direct source of conflict between her and the boy. That is a cohesive narrative. In After it's weird because Hardin displays a lot of shitty behavior that has nothing to do with how his mom was attacked by men. In real life ofc trauma manifests differently but since After is a fictional book it should follow a narrative flow that, idk, makes sense? He sees men that clearly treated his mother like property used to get back at his father. These men don't respect women even in the most basic of level. This traumatized Hardin so much, understandably, but how does this correlate to how he treats Tessa when he doesn't have any solid connection to these men so it couldn't have been learned behavior or something? His backstory just doesn't add much to his character besides shock trauma, and its so weird to me. I've been trying to look for ways to make it make sense in a narrative but i can't?

When I heard that Hardin was keeping sheets with whatever-her-name-is' blood on them, I thought he was going to get framed for her murder.

Harden is the guy you hear about in the most recent true crime documentary about the horrific murder of a girlfriend by a sadistic, narcissistic, horrendous excuse of a human being. The documentary starts and you hear about all the things he did (as discussed in the "novel") and you scream at your TV, "HOW COULD YOU NOT SEE THIS!"

the art in that graphic novel feels like something out of wikihow. Weird because the artist (outside of the graphic novel) is pretty good.

As much as I love your bad book reviews, I'm glad you're pulling the plug on this series, because it never gets better. Just toxicity and more toxicity. And as someone else who survived an abusive relationship, honestly just the lovely glimpses we get of your current relationship are inspiring, bc it shows that we CAN find our way back from terrible situations. I hate the After series so much, but I'm so glad you were able to turn this review into an illuminating and hopeful message.

I love the whiny voice you use for Hardin. It's so fitting. He is an absolute manbaby.

The ending not only is ruined by the fact there's multiple sequels.... but also by the fact that in one of the sequels he confesses to doing THE EXACT SAME THING, BUT WORSE, namely RECORDING THE ACT

After: glorification of abusive relationship Latest JCS video: reality of abusive relationship

2:44:38 Tessa's mother being portrayed as a snobby, controlling religious fanatic is how all parents in bad romances are treated. Their justifiable concern for their sons or daughters is painted as cruelly trying to stop "true love" even though the teen or early 20 something protagonists don't know that finding someone hot and wanting to shag them isn't love.

Tessa getting the job super easily could have been an interesting start to show how the nepotism that got her the job is a major double-edged sword. Sure she's got arguably a dream job but everyone doubts her skill due to how she got the job, maybe its harder than she expected, maybe her employment ends up being dangled over Hardin and his dad so the ceo can get his way on certain things. Like Tessa could end up just being a pawn in a game that she wasn't aware was there originally.

10:04 Fun fact: Apparently Anna Todd hates ketchup irl. Okay, I get adding random little details to characters to bring them to life more, even small quirks that you or your loved ones have irl. Hell, I do the same when writing my own characters. Adding something that specific to Tessa's character and calling out to it does no favours to make her seem less of a self insert for the author...which is super creepy given the fact that Harry Styles was a fucking minor when she wrote this. Same goes for Tessa's internship, which seems like wish fulfillment for the author.

For so many years, I didn't know why it was the After series that drove me up a wall where dreck like Twilight, 50 Shades, and 365 Days couldn't. And you finally hit the nail on the head why: because the After series is too grounded in reality. At least with the other main examples of toxic relationships, they were all so clearly fantastical that, while still obviously toxic and damaging to the people in them, there's still a sense that this isn't real. No matter how much they upset you, there's still the notion of this not being real that lets you separate yourself from the book's nonsense. The After series doesn't have that. Everything that happens in it feels disturbingly grounded in reality. Like this could happen to you or someone you know (and maybe already has). This would be fine if I was supposed to be creeped out, but I'm not. I'm supposed to be rooting for this relationship. I'm supposed to want these two to be together. And as a member of the target audience, that is what I find most disturbing about them. In all the years of watching you tear atrocious books apart, I don't think I could ever say one was *dangerous* before. But this series is absolutely dangerous, with it's toxic messages to both men and women alike, and it's glorifications of trauma and abuse. And I feel it is that notion, that disturbing reality, that makes this book frankly *uncomfortable* to listen to. A lot of those passages really creeped me out, and now I understand why. I am so, so sorry to hear that you went through such a horrible relationship. This book must've been so painful to read with this in mind. This book may not be the worst book you ever read objectively, but it certainly must be up there in terms of how much it pissed you off. I know it is the worst one for me at least. I am so, so thankful that my first exposure to After was through watching people like you tear it apart, even years later. Granted, this book's emotional melodrama would've made this a painful read for me nevertheless, but at least this way I go in knowing *why* a lot of it made me so uncomfortable. It is books like this that make me thankful for turning out to be aromantic in the end (and for just being too much of a video game nerd to even bother with things like Wattpad lol), and it is books like this that act as the antithesis to everything I stand for. This is easily the worst book I've ever had the misfortune to learn about, and no I haven't forgotten about Empress Theresa (which was at least more funny bad than infuriating). The only thing it is good for is working as a good manuel on how NOT to write healthy relationships if your only good option was the bargain bin. And to end things on a lighter note, good luck on your next project Krim! I missed most of the buzz around it, but from the sounds of things...you'll need it! Hopefully it will be much more fun to break about than After lol.

The story should be about Noah and how he dodged a bullet . . . and meets someone sane, and treats him well. Then he tries to help his ex get out of her abusive relationship. . . because he's a good person.

I used to date a guy who was pretty needy & codependent & it was friggin exhausting. Yet he wasn't NEARLY as awful as Hardin. I REALLY can't understand how this is an appealing fantasy in any way possible. Re the traumatic backstory, what pisses me off the most about it is not only everything you discussed, but this is something that happens to his MOTHER. But we're never gonna hear how SHE, the literal victim, has had to cope with that trauma, it's all about the pissant manbaby's pain. On the plus-side, your furbabies are adorable, & your cat's purring is very comforting.

I'd like to see a story where our lead breaks up with her boyfriend because she realizes she's not interested anymore and then doesn't immediately jump a toxic jerk. You don't have to break up with someone only because you met someone (worse). You can break up and be fine alone. Need more of that in entertainment.

Having been a victim of emotional abuse/manipulation, I can sympathize and it’s why I’m planning to avoid After, 365 Days and Fifty Shades… But holy shi-. Are you okay after reading this and retelling that thing with your ex? I hope you’re in a better relationship now.. if not PLEASE run away. I know it can skew your perspective of relationships in the future. I actually started to cry hearing your story and I was about to beg you to not continue with this, so I was relieved to know you’re not continue with it. 😭😭 Although on a brighter thing, I love listening to you talk about books. Also please never put yourself through something triggering (in the sense of something that negatively influences your mental health) just to appease your fans. Your mental/emotional/physical well-being is more important than views

Anyone else think of the scene in Titanic where Rose's fiance Caledon throws the table and screams at Rose, when Hardin kicked the chair in the froozen yogurt place? Rose was so shook up, I normal response! Tess just accepts this as normal way to behave? If he will do that in public, no way in hell he isn't going to do worse to her in private. Abusers start with throwing things and breaking things around their victims before they start hitting their victims as a way to test the waters on how much they can get away with.

AS SOMEONE WHO READ WUTHERING HEIGHTS- i have a confession i discovered that book through After. And again as p&p, Todd doesn’t know what she was talking about. This book is about generational trauma. It’s about how the actions of one generation affects the other and they are obligated to repair otherwise they would have been repeat the same pattern. Wuthering heights is not a love story, it’s a tragedy. About a boy who was abused and who became the abuser. Catherine and Heathcliff had chemistry yes, BUT IF THEY COULD BE TOGETHER IT WOULD HAVE BEEN HELL REGARDLESS.

Mewtwo, despite being the world's strongest Pokemon, would definitely work on his own problems and anyone who's lucky to earn his trust can offer some extra emotional support where needed.

Masochistic Tango series books best to worst (so far): 14. Modelland 13. Star Wars: Aftermath 12. Trigger Warning 11. The Mister 10. Handbook for Mortals 9. Twilight: Midnight Sun 8. 365 Days 7. Ready Player Two 6. Stones to Abigail 5. After 4. This is Why I Hate You 3. Reaper's Creek 2. Empress Theresa 1. 64 Squares I didn't think it would be possible for one of Onion Boy's books to be surpassed but here we are. Stones to Abigail is poorly planned with many dumb characters. The characters in After seem even worse and the plot makes even less sense. I'm debating putting it below This is Why I Hate You, but that book's climax seems too problematic to not be at its place and I think the plot makes about as much sense as After's. I could be talked into ranking it lower though.

The clip of Harley Quinn at 44:34 honestly fits the video perfectly considering the episode that part comes from, "Mad Love", is entirely about her domestically abusive relationship with The Joker and is a significantly superior showing of the Cycle of Abuse in comparison to the After series. I mean, he literally shoves her off the table immediately after she says the "Rev up your Harley." line, and moments later tries to dissolve her face with acid. And that's just one scene and it's not even the worst he did in that one episode *alone*

Really think noah should of been the mc in this story. He is way more of a likable and sympathetic character than the real mc and that way he might of actually ended up happy in the end.

The most superior take on the "men place bets on a woman" trope is Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Also, a similar, PG-rated version of this happened to me in eighth grade, but it was a prank rather than a bet. I went to a really small private school, (like, everyone knew _everyone_ in their grade,) and I had always been an ugly duckling (undiagnosed autism, woohoo!) A seventh grader was following me around and pestering me to go on a date, and "friends" came up to congratulate him even though I said no. One of my _actual_ friends told me what was up when he learned that I didn't know it was a prank, and he said that "most of the grade was in on it." Two of the four people who thought up the prank had been my friends last year (like, I was writing them as characters in my stories!) This stuff is traumatizing.

I haven't finished the review yet (I'm at 46:15) but It feels like Tessa views Noah less like a person she cares about with his own agency and more like an object of last resort. She constantly cheats on him and breaks promise after promise and still expects him to stay just in case she likes him again instead of moving on and not emotionally abusing him by cheating. And the book expects us to take her excuses for cheating and still see her as a good person like no. I feel like Tessa would also be the type to have a meltdown if Noah or Hardin cheated on her even after what she's done yet still justify her own cheating.

I’d like to think that when Tessa says “I’m helping you” and throws the monitor it was more of a last ditch attempt to get him to stop. Just distracting him from his emotions long enough to get him to realize that what he is doing is ridiculous. Kinda like when a baby is crying so you fake whine at them and they get sidetracked by confusion instead of crying. Then again, I have a hard time believing Tessa is smart enough to think of that

I’m always interested in these stories written by people that haven’t gone to college and see how they describe going to college. Every time Anna Todd describes something related to the school that Tessa and Hardin go to, it completely feels like high school, which kind of helps with the immature feel of the pair of them

keeping in mind that hardin was supposed to originally be harry styles, he’s probably written with a british accent in mind. which is hilarious to me for some reason.

Since when did it become "cool" to glorify abusive relationships? Don't any of these women (I refuse to call them authors) know that there is such a thing as EMOTIONAL and VERBAL abuse? Not just physical??? Anyone who thinks this is romance needs psychological help.

What a bizzare take on wuthering heights in this book (small spoilers ahead). Catherine DID admit that she loved Heathcliff, she just did it after him overhearing that intellectually she knew the smarter social choice would be to choose Linton. Using WH as a parallel here doesn't work because the Hardin/Tessa relationship doesn't have the genuine backgroud that Cathy and Heathcliff had. Cathy was Heathcliff's only defender and friend when he was outcast (because of his race/class) as a youth, and he was the only one to love and enjoy her wild spirit. They became thorny and messed up later in life as teenagers and then messy adults. Hardin is only outcast because he's an asshole. There's no basis to this idea that Tessa and Hardin are tied together because they are not, they just met and are nasty to each other immediately (I actually don't like WH either haha, but the messy drama of Cathy were absolutely the best parts)

I got you Krimson. One fan fic, just for you. It's a first draft, be nice. (Working Title: The Dummy) Noah clutched the wheel of his car as he sightlessly hurtled down the road. Her words echo in his mind, the look on her face as she looked at Hardin burned into his memory. A horn blares and Noah is pulled back into reality; headlights blind him as his car veers across lanes. Instinctively he wrenches on the steering wheel, throwing the car almost onto the highways shoulder. His hands shake, every mile it's harder to focus. More horns seem to scream accusingly at him, and yet they do nothing to drown her words out. He sees an exit and pulls off the high way; letting the road take him anywhere. A part of him wishes to turn around, to save her, to save what they built. He grits his teeth, and clutches the wheel. His path winds through dark country roads, and small town avenues, into quiet, dark emptiness. Soft jazz music play via Spotify on his phone, a recording of Louis Armstrong's The Dummy begins. Listening to the sibilant brass and gravelly voice, Noah begins to tap his fingers along with the music. When Louis belts out that he could assemble a 'dummy' from random trash, and still get more loving, Noah breaks. New tears pour as he laughs, Tessa had always taken his love and his support, what had she given him? Lies, deceit, disrespect and running to some idiot who openly scorned her. "Dummy" he says, an apt replacement for the words Noah longed to use. The gas light blinks on and Noah pulls into a station. He breathes the night air in deep, the tears still going. Mindless he cleans the windows as the car refuels. "You ok?" Drawls a soft voice. "Yes!" Noah flinches, responding before he turns around to see who spoke. Green eyes beneath blonde hair stare curiously, at him; a hand extended as though checking his wellbeing. "I'm fine, I just got soap in my eye-" his breath shudders, and he shrugs "I just broke up with my first girlfriend, she'd been cheating on me, she and her lover had an honest to God argument in front of me about thier relationship. I just left, ended up here." "Well sh*t, I'd say you need a drink, you 21?" Offers Green eyes. "18," Noah says "Well, I gave up a modeling career to go on a field study to rural Brazil, my professor bungled the whole thing, invalidating the findings, so I wasted three months in the jungle looking at rare cases of disease while my fiance caught the very common chalmydia bug from some random girl he met two weeks in." She speaks quickly, seemingly relieved to vent this string of bad luck. She smiles tiredly, extends a hand "Names Vanessa" "Noah" he takes her hand and shakes. "Looks like we've both had a hard time Noah." He nods. A conversation blooms between the two strangers; the unfamiliarity a safety. They vent thier concerns with out fear or inhibition. Tears flow, and hugs are given. Numbers are exchanged and the two strangers go their ways, feeling less lonely. Over the coming months texts are sent as Noah graduates and Vanessa returns to her under grad programs, the two friends grow closer, and texting turns to calls. Long chats go into the night, that vulnerability of thier first conversation a foundation for trust and respect. She recommends he come to her university; he works harder than he ever has to ensure he is accepted. Vanessa smiles as she helps him unload his car into his new apartment, laughing at some dumb joke. When he is unpacked, she says she needs to go, he thanks her and they embrace. The scent of her perfume is full, like flowers and chocolate; it intoxicates him. Her body is warm agaisnt his. But more than that, he feels safe, he has shared so much with her, he could give any piece of himself and knows she would take care, and embrace it. He sighs and the hug goes on, she makes a happy noise and leans against him. "I'm glad you are here" He smiles like an idiot "No place I'd rather be, we need to hang out before our work loads get out of hand" She nods "Definitely" The embrace eventually ends. But far too soon. The semester goes on. They study together, and hang out; both avoiding parties and focusing on their studies. The classes are difficult, but in each other they fund strength, support. They often give long good bye hugs, which turn to kisses, hand holding and so much more. Hanging out becomes dates and so much more. Soon, they rarely go long with out seeing each other. Plans for the weekend become plans for the year, the decade, for their lives. One day, as finals approached, they sat on the couch as they studied hectically. His phone rings, he answers and flinches. He hangs up with-out saying a word. "Who was it, what's wrong?" She asks. "Just some dummy, she got a new number it seems" he shrugs, pulling Vanessa closer to him. "Oh, her" she scoffs "Well, I still think I should thank that dummy, she drove you to me." "I drove myself that night!" He chuckles "Don't give her any credit" "Her loss" Vanessa leans against him "our gain." "Dummy" Noah grins as he declines another call, before blocking the new number.

Nicholas Sparks has never been a favorite of mine. However I nearly died laughing when she classified his books as nothing more than happy romances. Especially the "happy" part.

Some of Tessa's mother's behavior goes straight into parody territory. Also, if you look at the timeline of Pride and Prejudice and prior events, you'll see that only two months before the start of the book, his sister was almost ruined. Of course he'd be so foul-tempered, especially in the beginning.

This is why I work so hard on my romances - they’re honestly such a dangerous influence when done wrong. I can only imagine some Wattpad fan girls finding a boy like Hardin and instead of running like the wind, they see it as a chance to live their fantasies

The whole "its fine if this person is an asshole, they don't really mean it its how they show love, this makes them more REAL" thing is so annoyingly pervasive. its basically inescapable!

The thing about the Truth or Dare scenes is that you could very easily substitute them with Never Have I Ever, which is way more believable at a college party.

That "deleting messages" sounded familiar, and I finally found out why: In one of the Cormoran Strike novels (by not other than JK Rowling under a pseudonym) the toxic boyfriend who later becomes husband deletes Cormoran's messages, so Robin thinks Cormoran has moved on. Todd probably read that thought it was cute, completely missing the point.

Some advice Tessa (and maybe Anna Todd) should take to heart: "Live your life how you want, but don't confuse drama with happiness."- Ron Swanson

Moral of the story: NOAH DESERVED BETTER.

This book feels like it was written by someone who's only ever read 2010 Wattpad fanfictions and never a real book. Which... To be honest, is probably 100% accurate.

I would also compare the twist of After to 10 Things I Hate About You. The audience knows from the begining of the movie Patrick's intentions with Kat. But unlike Hardin who is just angry baby, Patrick at least changes as the movie goes on and genuinely starts to have feelings for Kat. Which becomes heartbreaking when Kat finds out he dated her for money.

i hate the "bloody sheets after having sex for the first time" trope. ITS NOT SUPPOSED TO BLEED GIRLY.

Boiling down Catherine and Heathcliff not being together to Catherine being “stubborn” makes me question if Anna Todd paid attention in high school Literature class.

I've just realized her name is Theresa and that makes me think about the disaster that was Empress Theresa... The flashbacks are terrifying. And I can't tell which is the lesser evil.

Ugh, it's like Todd wanted to recreate the drama and passion of Jane Eyre, and she didn't understand why Jane and Rochester work as love interests and only knew 1. Jane is a good girl and 2. Rochester is _mean_ >:(

As someone who was also in an abusive relationship I can really understand your frustration with the book. The cycle of abuse, such as him getting angry, begging for forgiveness, doing a nice thing and then back to abuse, blaming his outbursts on her, and her feeling of constantly walking on eggshells and blaming herself for his outburst if it "ruins" their good moments are too close to the reality of what true abuse is like without ever acknowledging it. It's too real, it doesn't have any of the supernatural or way over the top moments ,good and bad, like in twilight or 50 shades and not as obvious as what society shows as terrible like 365. It is a "love story" that we are supposed to want to see successed but the truth is it is way to close to what most real world abusive relationships are like and her returning to fix him and not give up easily on him, something Todd said about her later books about how people give up too easily, just encourages people to continue to put up with the cycle. I would argue that this book does more to glorify abuse then any other story because it is supposed to be a good thing we route for and is not even painted as other as something bad when other characters see it happening besides the abusive mom which was not even for the true abusive nature of it, which credit to the other books is something done in them by other characters at least once, the character in this book actually think it is a good thing because she is "helping" him. I hate it and I'm glad you where able to find a better relationship and show others just how bad this type of relationship is, and how it does get better.

As a trauma survivor myself, I can tell you right now that I don't abuse alcohol like Hardin does. I might as well be untreated, too, because I only had therapy once so I could possibly have a less...hostile relationship with my father and stepmother. I also have friends who are trauma survivors themselves, and we laugh and have good times like we're normal kids - not like we're trauma survivors. The fact that Todd went ahead and portrayed us in such a terrible light pisses me off because she's essentially labelling all untreated trauma survivors as assholes. I doubt that Todd will ever see it, but I will go ahead and comment about this to her Wattpad page because this REALLY bothers me...