Review - Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Published - December 2012
Movie Release - June 3, 2016

Book Summary

They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . .

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.

A Love Story for this generation and perfect for fans of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common—a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?

My Review - 4 1 /2

Me Before You was the perfect title.  Louisa (Lou) was hired to change Will's mind about living.  She thought of everything to make him happy but really Will only agreed to make Lou happy and to give her the chance to experience life.  They both were from a small town, Will is wealthy and Lou is from the other side of town from an 'ordinary' family.  Will made Lou feel he was doing for him but really he was doing for her.

I had to just live in the moment and try to encourage Will to do the same.  I had to be happy, in the hope that will would be too.   Kindle 83%

This book had great characterization.  I thought this was adult fiction, I'm glad I didn't go into thinking romance which for me it wasn't.  I do think Lou fell for Will but Will didn't love Lou, I think he was grateful and cherished his time with her but not love. I wonder if this would have met the romance fans expectation.

Nathan, the caregiver was great, I enjoyed Will's' father but I didn't enjoy the sister and mother.  And I enjoyed Lou's family.  Hearing the story from Lou's perspective was a nice touch but we then got one chapter from the other characters but not Will's perspective, this was miss.  My least favourite was Lou and her boyfriend Patrick storyline, far to much of their story but I loved when they all came together for dinner.  Will has dark English humor and it cracked me up.  Patrick definitely wasn't deserving of Lou.

I thought the ending was exactly what we should have expected but with the label romance, maybe not.  The story was heartbreaking but I understood Will's decision.  The debate on assisted suicide I think is like the debate on abortion.  I read a few other reviews, WOW on the anger.  Will is a quadriplegic, this is HIS story.  I thought Jojo Moyes did an amazing job capturing the essence of Will.

I loved being able to picture Lou with her wild, eccentric way of dressing, colourful to say the least.  She knew she was different but not worthy of discussion or how to create a life for herself.  Also, the use of social media to assist Lou with her plans was the perfect modern touch.  The amazing plans had me thinking about a true bucket list, taking the time to cherish life outside of the normalcy of day to day living.

I would have to fill those little white rectangles with a lifetime of things that could generate happiness, contentment satisfaction, or pleasure.  I would have to fill them with every good experience I could summon up for a man whose powerless arms and legs meant he could no longer make them happen by himself.  Kindle 37%

I do love my intense thrillers but this was the perfect mood book for me, I really enjoyed it.  I will wait for it to come out and watch at home though.

Another movie recommendation for those that enjoyed this.

The Intouchables