REVIEW: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Series: Me Before You #1

Read: November 17 – December 16, 2016

Format: Paperback

My Book Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Penguin

Release Date: January 5, 2012

Genre: Women’s Fiction

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.


REVIEW

Warning – if you’ve been living under a rock and don’t know what this book is about, there will be spoilers. You’ve been warned.

 

With the movie based on this book, I heard about Me Before You everywhere. Everyone absolutely loved it and I had to read it. I put myself on the list at the library – I was something like 685 on the wait list. I ended up removing myself from the list when my mom bought the book for herself, then let me have it when she was done.

I wasn’t so sure at first that I would like the book. I mean, I love romantic comedies when it comes to movies, but but I have yet to find a contemporary romance or women’s fiction that really drew me in. Until now.

Louisa Clark is such an easy to like character. She’s naive and happy to live her simple existence in her tiny town living with her parents, sister, and nephew. But after she loses her job, she realizes she’s not really qualified to do much of anything. On a whim she interviews and is offered a job as a caretaker for a paraplegic. Enter Will Traynor.

Will is an arrogant, depressive, asshole. But I couldn’t really hate him for that. He went from an extremely active and independent life, to being a slave to a wheelchair. The common cold could easily turn to pneumonia and kill him. His existence since his accident has been nothing short of hell for him. Will is not the type of man to rely on others. Yet that is now his reality.

The main issue of this book, the right to end ones own life, is heavy and depressing. I really think Moyes did an excellent job of remaining neutral on the subject. Will is hard set on ending his misery. Louisa, ever the optimist, is convinced she can change his mind and give him something to live for.

The romance in this book is a slow build, but easy to see coming. There were little moments where Will would show just a glimmer of happiness, even if it was just a slight smile, and my hopes would rise.

If you have been living under a rock, I won’t tell you how this ends. I’ll just leave you with my final Goodreads update upon reading THE END: “I’m not crying, you’re crying! *Sniffles* What a beautiful story.”

There you have it.

Bring tissues.


Get the Me Before You here:

Amazon | Nook | iBooks | Kobo

~ Add to Goodreads ~


QUOTES

 

“Um. . . Have you ever considered joining the entertainment industry?”

“What, as a mime artist? Opera singer?”

“Actually, no. But there is an opening for a pole dancer. Several, in fact.”

 

 “Believe me, when you’ve done shifts at a chicken processing factory, working in Guantanamo Bay for six months looks attractive.”

 

“What the hell else have you been sneaking into my food? You’ll be telling me to open the tunnel so that Mr. Train can deliver some mushy Brussel sprouts to the red bloody station next.”

I considered this for a minute. “No,” I said, straight-faced. “I deal only with Mr. Fork. Mr. Fork does not look like a train.”

 

 Dear Clark,

This is to show you that I am not an entirely selfish are. And I do appreciate your efforts.

Thank you. Will.

 

 “… I cannot for the life of me see how you can be so content to live this tiny life. This life that will take place almost entirely within a five-mile radius and contain nobody who will ever surprise you or push you or show you things that will leave your head spinning and unable to sleep at night.”

 

 “There have been times when I’ve stayed over and he’s woken up screaming because in his dreams he’s still walking and skiing and doing stuff and just for those few minutes, when his defenses are down and it’s all a bit raw, he literally can’t bear the thought of never doing it again. He can’t bear it….”

 

7 thoughts on “REVIEW: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

  1. I’ve heard good things about this book. I don’t read women’s fiction, but this might be an exception, someday. Nice review!

    • I don’t read Women’s Fiction either. I’ve only had bad experiences up until this one. I bet if you downloaded the preview on Kindle or wherever and read the beginning you’d have a pretty good feel for whether you’d like it or not. I could tell pretty early on that I would.

  2. I do live under a rock, and since everyone compares and says this is a book like The Fault in our Stars, I’m not reading it, period xD

    • I didn’t read The Fault In Our Stars, but I saw the movie. The only similarity is that there’s a good chance of bawling like a baby at the end! For the most part it’s actually kind of humorous.

  3. Pingback: Déjà Revu January 15th, 2017 – Celebrity Readers

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