Me Before You - A Book Review

ME BEFORE YOU
- Author: Jojo Moyes 
- Publication date: 30 July, 2013
- Tags: Fiction, Contemporary, Romance 

ME BEFORE YOU was an astoundingly, heart-stopping, heart-warming and heart-breaking novel. You come across so many romance novels in the contemporary genre these days, but there are so few that touch your heart quite like this one.

Now I was brought into this world because I'm always combing the internet for good reads through the various forms of social media. A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon the trailer for the upcoming release of the the ME BEFORE YOU film, that is set to come out in June of this year. As a result of what seemed to be an amazing story, as well as amazing casting (HELLO - it's Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin!), I found myself in my car and heading for the local bookstore, so I could read the book before the film came out. Mind you, I had months to do that, and I bought and consumed within days.

Now that I have told the story of how I came across it, I'll tell you what I thought about the story --- it was a stunning story. Literally stunning. I was stunned when I turned the final page and put it down. Like I flipped the last cover over, set it down in front me and sat cross-legged and stared at the wall for full minutes. Am I alone in this?

The story is set in England and told about 90% from the point of view of Louisa (Lou) Clark, a quirky young-adult who has recently lost her job, which is a problem in her household as she lives with her grandfather, parents, sister and her nephew. Money is hard to come by, so her family somewhat relies on her wages to keep afloat. With this pressure, Lou feels obligated to find employment as quickly as possible, to help provide for her family. At the job center, she stumbles across a job opening as a carer for a quadriplegic man, and after some hesitation, applies for the position. I won't pretend like this is a spoiler, cause you obviously know she would get the job, as there would be no story if she didn't - so yeah, she gets it, and the story truly begins.

The young man she is set to care of, Will Traynor, was in a dreadful accident, which left him paralyzed from his upper chest down - a quadriplegic. Meaning he has no use of his lower limbs, torso and has very limited use of his upper limbs. Lou is 'hired' to basically keep Will company, and keep him out of trouble. What I found super hilarious when starting this book, was Will's manner toward not only Lou, but everyone - he is a sarcastic and narcissistic asshole. Mind my language.

The story is truly so wonderful mainly because it makes you think, really think, about the struggles that people go through every day, and it helps your appreciate that and what you have in your life. The struggles, hardship, and depression that encapsulates Will as a character is heart-breaking to say the least while reading about it, and it was truly a gem of a book. Lou makes it her mission throughout this story, to show Will that life still has meaning, and that just because something so life-altering has happened to him, that his life isn't over. That there is still many opportunities for him, and that he can still be happy.

The transition that Will has as his relationship develops with Lou has to be the most amazing part of this book, because I ship them so hard. To the very end, I ship them. I won't say much more, because if want to read this book, you need to go in only knowing the basics, and read it from a fresh perspective, but keep your tissues handy - because it gets real.

FAVORITE QUOTE

"I thought, briefly, that I would never feel as intensely connected to another human being, as I did in that moment" - #tears

MY RATING 

- 4/5 - it was a beautiful story. There were only a few things I wish could have been done differently. I would certainly recommend this book to others.

WATCH THE TRAILER (release date US June 3, 2016)




DESCRIPTION (as at Amazon.com)

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, 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?

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