I’ll admit, the reason I picked up this book was because I immediately fell in love with the Me Before You trailer. The movie comes out in June and it stars Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) and Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games Franchise). Emilia plays Louisa Clark, which is a little ironic considering they have the same last name, while Sam will be portraying William Traynor. He really seems to enjoy playing characters named William. Anyway, the trailer looked so cute and adorable that as soon as I heard there was a book, I immediately went online to buy it.
I brought Me Before You to the pool/beach with me to read while on spring break. And it’s been a really good time for books, because I’ve absolutely loved all three books I’ve read this break (Lady Midnight, First and Then, Me Before You) hopefully I’ll love Never Always Sometimes just as much.
I certainly did not regret bringing this book with me. It, as mentioned before, is a wonderful book. The characters are quite easy to sympathize with, and I found myself growing attached to the relationships rather quickly. Jojo Moyes has a very excellent writing style, it’s quite elegant and I really flew through this book. I do intend to read more of Jojo Moyes’ books in the future. Starting with the sequel to Me Before You. I highly recommend not reading the title of the second book until you finish the first. The name itself contains some spoilers. I kind of expected of what was to come after reading the title of the second book.
Louisa Clarke is an average girl. She has a solid life. Works in a cafe. Lives with her parents. And she has a boyfriend- their relationship is going on six years. Her life is turned upside-down when she’s fired from her cafe job and must find a new one. The new job she finds is taking care of a quadriplegic man. A rather difficult man at that.
Will Traynor used to be a very outgoing man. He was the partner of a successful business, and went on exotic adventures all the time. These adventures included mountain climbing and cliff diving. That all ended when he got in a motorcycle accident and lost the use of all of his limbs for the rest of his life.
I fell in love with both characters almost immediately. I love Louisa’s quirky fashion and attitude towards life, and I really enjoyed getting to know all the different sides of Will.
The plot and pace of this book was fantastic. Not too fast and not too slow. I was invested in the characters and story line after only a short period of time. If you’re not a patient reader, this is a good book. If you are a patient reader, this is still a fantastic book. I highly recommend to anyone and everyone.
For the majority of the book, we see the story from Louisa’s point of view. However, there are a couple chapters that come from other points of views, including Camilla Traynor and Katrina Clarke. Looking back, I really wish I could’ve seen what Will thought of all of this.
Though the characters in this story are already adults, this is really a story about growing up and stepping from one’s safe bubble to try new and daring things. It’s a sweet, well written story, one that many are sure to fall in love with.
Jojo Moyes’ writing was especially good with conveying emotions, as well as making the reader really feel and sympathize for the characters. Part of a good book is feeling a good connection to the protagonist, this book made me feel like I had an excellent connection with Lou.
I’m giving Me BeforeYou 8/10 stars. It was an immensely enjoyable book, and I really cannot wait to read more from Jojo Moyes, as well as see the movie. I went back and watched the trailer as soon as I finished the book. It looks pretty accurate to the story, even directly quoting some of the lines from the book. It’s a rare occurrence to find a good book to movie adaptation, and I have confidence in this one.
Anyway, here’s the synopsis:
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.
SPOILERS BELOW FOR ME BEFORE YOU
Okay, so I already knew how this story would turn out. I knew Will was going to die. I mean, the title of the second book kind of gives it all away- After You. But the whole book I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, Will would change his mind and Lou and him could be happy together.
Another thing I was expecting was a letter from Will to Lou by the end of the book, after he died. But I was not mentally prepared to read the letter. I had glassy eyes while I was curled up in the bathtub, reading the letter part. Jojo Moyes is quite good at extracting emotions out of me, I’ve found.
Anyway, thanks for reading,
-Anj