A book loved by millions hits theaters Friday, April 12, appeasing fans all over the world who having been waiting five years for this special day. Written by Anna Todd, “After” follows the traumatic love story of Hardin Scott and Tessa Young as they navigate a love neither of them thought would consume them as much as it did. The movie and the book were totally different, but each was good in its entirety. Anna Todd takes you through a relationship full of fights and disagreements, love and passion, and a devastating heartbreak that changes Tessa and Hardin for the better.

  The book series started on a writing website called Wattpad. The series “After” has over 1.5 billion reads on Wattpad and later was published into a series by Simon and Schuster. The series includes After, After We Collided, After We Fell, After Ever Happy, and Before. The book series has sold over 11 million copies and counting. With a huge fan base the book begins to grow thanks to the release of the new movie of the first book in the series “After”.

  Hardin and Tessa don’t start out on the right foot, and when Tessa is invited to her first college party by Steph, Hardin just happens to be there. After a game of truth or dare, which started The Bet between Zed and Hardin to take Tessa’s virginity, Hardin and Tessa’s relationship starts to bloom. With much fighting, a whole lot of growing together, and learning to navigate a relationship between two polar opposite human beings, Hardin falls in love with Tessa. Even though that was not his intention, everything falls apart when Molly tells Tessa that Hardin was playing her for the first part of their relationship.

  The movie portrays The Bet differently than it is in the book. In the movie, The Bet is based solely on a dare to get Tessa to fall in love with Hardin. In the book, The Bet is based on whether Zed or Hardin can take Tessa’s virginity first on a dare that asked if Tessa was a virgin or not at her first college party.

  Tessa and Hardin are drawn together through their differences, and they just can’t stay away from each other. Hardin takes Tessa out of her comfort zone and teaches her that she has no one to impress but herself. As Hardin tries to get Tessa to fall in love with him so he can take her virginity, he finds himself falling in love with her. This rattles him and he doesn’t understand how to handle this feeling he has with Tessa. So he does it the best way he knows how – being a jerk. Even though Hardin is pretty terrible to Tessa, she finds a way to love him for who he is and help him change his angry ways.

  In the movie, the characters in the book were portrayed differently then the way they were portrayed in the movie. In the book Hardin is angrier, tougher on himself and Tessa, and doesn’t seem as approachable. Tessa is much more independent, tells Hardin he’s wrong when he is, and doesn’t let Hardin push her around. Tristan in the book is the boyfriend to Steph but in the movie they changed Tristan’s gender and made him a girl. The change of the characters disappointed me because I’ve read every book and for the movie not to portray the characters the same is frustrating.

  I also believe the movie could have been made longer to create a connection between Hardin and Tessa because I felt disconnected from their relationship. Also the movie cut time out of extra characters that created the story in the first place, like Steph, Zed, and Molly. In the book I was able to make a connection with their relationship and with the characters which made the book enjoyable for me. When in the movie I found it harder for me to find a way to connect to the movie when I knew there were parts from the book missing from the plot of the story.

  Even through all these changes the movie was still beautifully made. There were parts in the movie that were created that weren’t in the book and it was interesting to see a different side of their relationship through those different scenes. It gave a different insight to Hardin and Tessa’s relationship.

  Overall, I really loved the movie and would recommend for everyone to watch After first before reading the books. Fall in love with Tessa Young and Hardin Scott’s story just like I did. It’s not like any love story you read and it will have you crying one second and happy the next. After is a story many girls (and guys) can relate to through Hardin and Tessa’s relationship and the many problems that occur through Hardin and Tessa’s friends and family. I hope you find the time to read and watch the movie because I promise you won’t regret it.