The first thing to remember is that Hollywood will change stories. It's an inevitable part of the process and is always a divisive move for fans of the original work. If you've read the stories, you may feel cheated - Tessa features so little in the story of what was her life. It's so unlike the works that came before it, as though the producers knew that Hero was the star to rely on for one more round. Their golden ticket. But, it's important to remember that it's deviated from the original plot since it's inception. It's all part of the transition from novel to screen and until this point, it's still managed to pull in our heart strings and give us enough of the characters to keep us on the edge of our seats.
I loved that 'After Everything' felt like an homage to 'Before', giving an insight into who Hardin was and how he became the villain we grew to love. It's his redemption story and Hero played the character he's worked hard to build, fantastically. But ultimately, the final part of the story was too rushed and I couldn't help but feel like the soundtrack overplayed it's hand throughout. It took away from what could have been an important and fitting ending to the story.
Whether you're a fan of the books or not, as a romantic movie, it failed to deliver that satisfying closer that we all hope for. It forgot what it was trying to achieve in the previous films, which is what took away from what could have been a real happy ever after.
