Me Before You – JoJo Moyes
Published: 5th January 2012
Source: Bought
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
My Rating:
Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.
What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.
Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.
What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.
This book made me an emotional wreck and I adored every second if it. JoJo Moyes is a genius, she can make you weep uncontrollably but laugh at the same time and I can’t help but question why I haven’t read one of her books sooner. Was I daunted by the length of the books? Did I get put off by the covers? Was I too critical of the blurbs? Who knows. For whatever reason I had written JoJo Moyes and her work off and that was my error.
It Was Utterly Brilliant And I Can’t Explain Why
The story was utterly brilliant. I had heard it was a book which required tissues (it does, that isn’t a lie) but you don’t require them for much of the book. Most of the book is this heart-warming tale of a woman, Lou, in her mid-twenties who has gotten stuck in life. She thought she was happy with her little job in the local café with her exercise obsessed boyfriend whilst she lived at home with her parents in the box room. It isn’t until she loses the job she loves and is forced to look for work (job seekers is brutal) that she becomes a carer for a paraplegic Will. Very slowly the pair begin to bring out another side of each other. Will forces Lou to try things she could never have hoped of doing, things she’d written off as not for her. Lou forces Will to see that although he’s accident means he can’t do many of the things he used to, there is still hope for him.
I want to really fangirl like crazy and say everything that happens, but if I manage to convince any of you that you should read this book then I really don’t want to spoil a single moment of it. I can’t even hint at parts of the story, I can tell you this book makes me sad thinking back on it (seriously, if I think about it too long I want to cry ugly tears) but feels me with immense joy. I want to run and get the sequel to it, but am filled with this immense fear that that it will be disappointing, but I can’t say why I think that.
So Let’s Go With What I Can Say
I will instead tell you why Lou and Will are awesome. Lou is fantastic because she is one of those ridiculously optimistic people, but she has bite. She can be sarcastic and funny too, but she seems to think that there is always something good out there. Will, on the other hand, is darker. He had the most amazing life and now is trapped and he hates it, he is a very dark character, but when he lets his personality out he is truly amazing. I loved them both because when they are together in the book they bring out the best side of one another. It is apparent to everyone and it makes me incredibly happy thinking of their intertwining stories, and that is why I will read After You… soon(ish).
Who Needs Solid Explanations When I Can Summarise My Feelings Like This?
In the end, this is a wonderful book which makes you want to try new things. Lou spends her life living in her small town and never leaving, and reading about it scared me into thinking that could be me. I don’t want the emotional rollercoaster she experiences to force me to do things, but I do think I should. Much like Just One Day inspired an insane sense of wanderlust upon finishing, Me Before You makes me want to go out and follow my impulses because one day you might not be able to. I love when a book can inspire that kind of feeling within you and I want to embrace it and get everyone else to read this book because JoJo Moyes deserves all the attention she has received.
Have you read a book lately which just hit you with all the feels, what was it? And do you like when books inspire you or is it just a short-term feeling which passes once you start a new book?
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