After by Anna Todd

After by Anna Todd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an interesting blend of BEAUTIFUL DISASTER and 50 SHADES OF GREY (without the BDSM) for me. It's really angsty, emotional, and there's a ton of poor decision-making occurring on everyone's part. Characters are so damaged by their pasts that they don't always behave lovingly, or as expected, in fact, they rarely manage to take a deep breath and figure out what is going on before overreacting.

Honestly, I thought this was going to be yet another boring NA that was so married to a common romance trope that it failed to be anything more, but I was wrong, as I was completely obsessed with this story and couldn't put it down. So long story short, I brought a lot of doubt and judgment into this read, and while there are behaviors I still don't condone, I was wrong on most counts about this being an interesting read. There's even a part of me that wants to go back and reread it with fresh eyes, after knowing how it all works out. But I can't do that, as I have already moved on to book 2 and need to know what happens next.

At the end of the day, I always prefer an emotional story with seriously flawed characters over a story that has flat characters and makes me feel nothing. Can I see some behaviors here that are red flags in a real relationship? Absolutely. But this is not a real relationship, and red flags don't always lead to crisis. Both characters know how to stand up for themselves, so nobody is being walked on, even if I don't always love and/or understand their decision-making during heated moments.

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