ARC received from publisher for an honest review

You will need to have read the first 4 books in the After series before reading Before, as there are spoilers, and you will be a bit confused about things in part one, Before.

I have made no secret that I have put off reading the After series for months and months as I had to get my head past the fact that they are One Direction fan fiction.

Over the past week I have read all the books and Before. While I did struggled with the earlier books - particularly book one, After – at the end of each book I was intrigued enough to read the next one.

Before was what I really needed for this series.

It is split into three sections – before Tessa, during Tessa and after Tessa. The during section is told from Hardin’s POV, and it was a great help in learning his motivation through the previous 4 books.

Because let’s admit it, for most of the first 4 books Hardin was a complete and utter dick. To me he was totally unlikeable, borderline emotionally abusive (sometimes there was no borderline about it) and I just couldn’t understand why Tessa kept going back.

But Before changed my opinions – slightly – on him. From “the bet” to the end of After Ever Happy, we get into his head, and it is a more messed up place then even I thought.

So if you have have read the After series, you definitely need to read Before. I am glad I – finally – read the series.