USA Today’s top 100 books to read while stuck at home social distancing From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Giver of Stars, discover the love story that captured over 20 million hearts in Me Before You, After You, and Still Me. They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . . Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady … 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?
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Beautifully written, funny and sad.
Re-read this recently in the mood for some unconventional romance, which this has in buckets. As heart wrenching as it is heart-warming, for me this is Moyes most extraordinary exploration of what it means to be human, fragile, breakable and strong. No plot notes, as anything at all would be a give away, but get out the tissues, and don’t read the ending alone. You’ll need someone to give you a hug.
Loved it!!
All time favorite!! Positively loved, loved, loved this book!
you need to read this book and her others could not put it down great book!
Wonderful book, but don’t bother with the movie
Love. Love. Love this book!!!
Read this a year ago, but the characters are still with me. Great book.
I loved this book. I wish I hadn’t seen the movie first, but then I probably would never had known such a beautiful and heartwrentching story. This book made me cry and made me think of story’s by Sparks but just something different and special!
Had to get the next book! Fantastic, must read.
I loved this book. The author’s character’s dialogue was very witty and believable. These people stayed with me for a couple of years – if fact I still think of them. It is a difficult subject handled with real sensitivity. This is true of the following books that the author wrote in this trilogy.
Funny, touching and talks about important timely issues.
A beautiful story that forces us to examine quantity of life against quality of life. Anyone who knows someone battling medical issues will connect with Lou as she navigates how to cope.
Wry and thought-provoking. Not your typical subject matter.
It takes more than a little bit of courage to write about a young man’s choice to end his life rather than continue as a helpless quadriplegic, but Moyes takes on the task and succeeds admirably, presenting both sides of a most difficult question. Will Traynor is living large until he’s struck down by an auto. Louise Clark is trying to balance a job and an unsatisfying romance with a fitness nut. She answers an ad for a caregiver without really knowing what she’s getting into, which is a home situation with Will, who wants to end what for him is an intolerable life, against his family’s wishes. Louise becomes deeply attached to Will, but how does she feel about his choice? “I want him to live if he wants to live.” This story plays out with moments of agony balanced by moments of joy. Moyes does quite a good job with a wrenching subject.
4+ stars to Jojo Moyes’s Me Before You. I saw a glimpse of the movie preview and had perused a few online reviews of the book when I added it to my “To Read” list. I had to read it before I could watch it which means moving it up quickly. It seemed like a good choice yesterday morning and soon it became my Saturday read!
Story
Will was hit while crossing the street ending the extremely adventerous part of his life and leaving him a quadriplegic. His friends slowly disappeared and Will was stuck moving back home with his parents living a very minimalistic life where he basically sat in his chair staring thru the window all day long. He comes to an agreement with his family about his care for a 6 month period where he will try to be a little more positive but afterwards, they must accept his choices.
Louisa was content with a simple life supporting her parents and sister but suddenly lost her job and had to find something to be able to help survive. She had very little hopes and dreams mostly because she just addressed each day as it came never really focusing on her own future. She accepts a job as a caretaker for Will where she’s supposed to just try to keep him a little cheerful but fights with the decision to take on this type of role for a 6 month duration.
They of course mix like oil and water at first but in time find a way to tolerate one another. Their relationship eventually gains depth and learn they need one another to keep going forward. But Will’s ultimate plans are not what Louisa expected, and she struggles with how to accept his choices. The story takes you on a path of romance, anger, hope and despair ending in a very emotional place but opening the door for a sequel to see what happens after this experience.
Strengths
For most readers, this book will take you away from your own life’s troubles giving you something much more intense in which to immerse yourself. The pacing, timing, setting, character development and imagery will capture your attention and make you realize you likely have it pretty good in your own life. While you’ll understand enough of the pain and barriers people with physical disabilities experience, you will also learn what it’s like emotionally to handle such a huge change to your lifestyle and relationships. By the end, your problems will seem far less dramatic and you may even walk away from the book feeling energized to be more positive. (And yes, you’ll spend most of the book crying and sad!)
Weaknesses
With full caution, I may not be aware of what life is like in towns like the one in this book and thus this may not actually be a weakness… however, Louisa’s family and hometown seems a bit unrealistic. I get that she has two parents, a grandparent, a sister and a nephew living with her and times are tough financially. I get that parents sometimes tease their kids about life choices. But there’s a clear love between the family at the same time as a clear favoritism for Louisa’s sister over Louisa. Many pages are devoted to how intelligent and beautiful her sister is and why the family needs to spend more money and love on her. Louisa may act a bit plain and simple, but she’s the one supporting the family. And then when the mother reacts to Louisa’s choices at the end of the book, I was confused as to why she would be so divergent. Yet the scene where Will comes to Louisa’s birthday party were incredibly touching to a point where I really liked her family. It felt a little bit yo-yo-ish for me.
Final Thoughts
To love this book, you have to love emotion. You have to be OK with crying and getting angry. You have to be OK with accepting how other people have a right to make their own choices. You have to realize people are different. You have to understand that yes, there are people in the world like this and just because you haven’t met them or interacted with them much doesn’t mean they aren’t there. What I loved most about this book was the beauty and pain from which I am often sheltered. And when a book makes you get out of your own skin, you have to acknowledge its strengths.
I really liked the characters and the way the author wrote the story. Despite it being heart-wrenching, the ending was as it needed to be.
This is a beautiful story. I loved it. I read the next two in the series.
Was so surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. Great characters and there was such a twist to the story. Really made me think about how difficult live is for one of the characters and how much he did for Louisa to expand her horizons.
Such a good book. I gave to a client, and she then passed it along after she read it. A great book!