From the 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.Louisa Clark arrives in New York ready to start a new life, confident that she can embrace this new adventure and keep her relationship with Ambulance Sam alive across several thousand miles. She steps into the world of the … Ambulance Sam alive across several thousand miles. She steps into the world of the superrich, working for Leonard Gopnik and his much younger second wife, Agnes. Lou is determined to get the most out of the experience and throws herself into her new job and New York life.
As she begins to mix in New York high society, Lou meets Joshua Ryan, a man who brings with him a whisper of her past. Before long, Lou finds herself torn between Fifth Avenue where she works and the treasure-filled vintage clothing store where she actually feels at home. And when matters come to a head, she has to ask herself: Who is Louisa Clark? And how do you find the courage to follow your heart—wherever that may lead?
Funny, romantic, and poignant, Still Me follows Lou as she discovers who she is and who she was always meant to be—and learns to live boldly in her brave new world.
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½
I have to admit I didn’t have high expectations for this third and again unnecessary continuation of Me Before You. I hadn’t planned to read it but a very favorable review from a trusted book club friend convinced me that it was worth the read.
And yes, it is very worth the read.
In my opinion, Still Me may be more accepted by apprehensive readers as it reads very much like a standalone novel. Yes, there are flashbacks and mentions of characters from the first two books, but it feels far from a “continuation”. I genuinely enjoyed following Louisa as she navigated in and around relationships, work, and self-awareness. The characters she meets along the way are easy to invest in whether you hate them or love them. I shed a few tears and I wasn’t ready for this book to end. As a reader who was vocally disappointed in Jojo Moyes’s decision (or maybe her publisher’s decision) to push Me Before You’s success into a series, I am now surprisingly eager for another installment. Louisa has finally found herself and I for one love her. Check it out!!
My favorite quote:
“I thought about how you’re shaped so much by the people who surround you, and how careful you have to be in choosing them for this exact reason, and then I thought, despite all that, in the end maybe you have to lose them all in order to truly find yourself.”
I thought the story was pretty well told in Me Before You, but was pleasantly surprised at how much more there was to tell in After You. I was utterly shocked when I found there was a third book! I couldn’t imagine where this book would take Lou, but I was SO impressed. This book was fantastic and showed just how much Louisa still had to do to find out who she was on her own.
I really struggled with how I felt about Agnes throughout the whole book. At the end, I still wasn’t sure. I definitely did not *like* her, but I’m not sure if I even understood her and where she was coming from. Joshua rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning. I did love Ms. DeWitt though!
I just think this book was so touching and so relatable. I think Ms. Moyes has done it again in this series.
I think fans of the original book will enjoy following Louisa as she learns and grows!
Why This Book
I enjoyed the first two books in the ‘Me Before You’ series, then I won the third one, Still Me, by Jojo Moyes, in a Goodreads Giveaway. I was quite excited and nervous, as I adored the first book but thought the second was just decent/good. I am very glad to say this third one is much closer to the first!
Approach & Style
I read an advance copy of this ~378 page paperback novel in about 5 hours during a two day period. It goes very quickly as the story is quite intriguing — the writing feels effortlessly natural. It’s broken into ~35 chapters, which makes each about ten pages long. The book is told in first person POV with the perspective focused on Louisa. A few chapters have letters, emails or news articles to help push the story forward. It’s the third in a series and well-worth the read to spend with the brilliance of the characters and the backdrop.
Plot, Characters & Setting
Louisa moves to Park Avenue in NYC to help her friend Nathan who looks after an upper class family. She’ll be a ‘friend’ or ‘assistant’ to Agnes, the younger second-wife of Mr. Gopnik who was mentioned in the second book. There are various other staff in the Gopnik household and apartment building who Louisa interacts with, as well as some new friends she makes in NYC. Lou goes home for Christmas to visit her parents and sister, as well as continues to date Sam, the paramedic, from prior books. The story is about her acclimation to a different kind of life than she had in England, as well as the process to help her figure out who she wants to be. Despite all that’s happened to her, she still has more to learn… I love that about this story! There’s romance, mystery, secrets, friendships, touristy fun, and decisions to make.
Key Thoughts
Jojo Moyes is a phenomenal storyteller. I adore her characters, settings and scenes. I may be partial as I know a lot of the places in the book since it takes place in NYC; however, even when Lou is just wandering around with no real plot, it’s brilliant writing. The setting is always described in the perfect amount of detail with just enough for my imagination to fill in the blanks.
The characters are very real and familiar. I’ve seen them before in reality and other books, but there’s something special about their dialogue and how they relate to one another in this book. I whipped so fast through Still Me, as I just couldn’t put it down…. you think ‘I’ll just spend 30 minutes before bed,’ then find yourself 200 pages in and ready for more!
Lou’s journey is a combination of the first two books. It takes the reality from the second book with the emotions from the first book, then smashes them together in a final wrapper on discovering what makes Lou ‘still me.’
I can’t say enough good things about this book… I won’t spoil the ending, but that may be the only thing that I was a little ‘eh’ on, in terms of how she ends up relationship-wise. In this book, she struggles with long-distance Sam, meets someone new, and has to figure out what’s right for her. Part of me saw a different ending, but this one still worked. Ultimately, I love Lou… she might be one of my favorite literary characters.
Summary
I will definitely pick up another Moyes book… after the three in this series, I know she’s an author I will enjoy for many years. I’m grateful to the friend who introduced me to this series. 🙂
I adored this book. I wanted to find out what happened to Luisa Clark after losing Will in “Me Before You.” The characters are written so well and the events were so real — I couldn’t wait to turn the page to each new chapter to find out what would happen next. This author’s plotting is so fresh and her pacing are superb and she really makes you care about her characters. I highly recommend Jojo Moyes.
Still Me by Jojo Moyes is the third book in her series, Me Before You .
We pick up Louisa’s story after she has accepted the New York job offer. Louisa and Sam have agreed to work on their relationship long distance. They have plans to email and video-chat. Visits planned for long weekends. They can do this. They both promised to try.
Louisa’s life working for the Gopnik family is busy, complicated, she must support the new Mrs. Gopnik out in society as best she can while maintaining a distance of employee/employer relationship.
Confident that everything at home is worked out, Lily is with Mrs. Traynor, Treena and Thom are living in her flat in London, Sam is just a phone call or text away. She can do this!
We follow Lou through her introduction to New York high society (as the help), see her compassion reach out and work it’s magic on those around her, and . see her make the absolute most of what life has to offer her.
It isn’t long before things take a downward turn but in true Lou Clark fashion we watch ehr handle it with a British stiff(~ish) upper lip and find the best solution for all involved.
I couldn’t put this down, and absolutely devoured this third installment of Lou’s story. Enjoy!
My first Jojo Moyes read. I found out after purchase (at the airport for a juicy read on the plane) that this was the third in a series. Yet it was fine as a stand alone. There were references to Will and I suppose I would have better understood that relationship with the main character, Louisa Clark had I read the first books. It was obvious this man had an immense impact on Louisa and was her purpose for starting a new life in New York.
This novel explored wealth and relationships. Trust, loyalty, honesty were all relevant issues. I saw a little of myself in Louisa. I suspect I’m not alone in this and that’s a big draw to Moyes novels. Her MC is just so real. Her insecurities will have you chuckling out loud and nodding your head.
Louisa learns lessons she hadn’t planned on. Do we ever plan to learn lessons though? Not at all. This heroine is no different. I enjoyed how author Jojo Moyes tied up all the loose ends and there was a purpose for everything that happened to Louisa and everything she took an interest in along the way.
I will be reading more of this author. Her writing style reminiscent of the late Rosamunde Pilcher and the late Mauve Binchy, authors of some of my all time favorite novels.
I read this book on the beach, and it is a good beach read. It is a coming of age tale, but for a woman, not a girl. Louisa radically changes her life when she leaves small town Britain to work for an immensely wealthy family in NYC. As she learns more about people so different from herself, she also seeks to understand who she is. Issues are her self indulgent and miserable employer, her fascination with vintage fashion, the lonely and seemingly bitter lady with the yapping dog down the hall, and not the least, Sam the Ambulance Man back in the UK. As she merges and blends all that she is learning, she comes to know herself.
I loved this trilogy!
I loved this one even more than the first two!
We’ve known Louisa Clark for years now and shared her pain and uncertainties. In Still Me, she struggles to come to peace with everything she’s gone through by taking a new job in a new location, challenging herself to live up to Will’s final wishes and hopes for her. But what about Sam? What about her sister and her nephew? Will New York be the setting for new heartbreak or new beginnings? I finished Still Me yesterday, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I’ve grown to love Louisa, and I’m pretty sure her story is now complete – an idea that is both wonderfully satisfying and also very sad. Ms. Moyes did a fabulous job throughout all three books, bringing a compassionate, inquisitive, and always refreshingly honest character to life and making her readers feel like they have a real life bestie they’re rooting for with all their hearts. What a wonderful conclusion to a magnificent saga. I’ll think about Louisa for years to come.
It was interesting to find out how Louisa moved on with her life after Will’s death. The book also tells us about Will’s parents and introduces new characters. Good storyline, easy read.
In the beginning I thought this book began a little slow, however once I got into it, I loved the book. I also realized I started with the last book first which could have been the reason it started slow, I may have missed some things. I think it can be read as a stand alone but I felt like I must have forgotten what happened to a few people and now I think maybe it wasn’t me. I look forward to going back and reading the first and second book in the series, and I think this will make better sense to me but I still could not put it down. Lots of great lessons learned, and I really liked the characters.
I loved Me Before You. I loved After You. It should not come as a shocker that I loved Me Still. I did find this novel more relatable because I’m a young woman in my twenties and move around for work all the time. Louisa has had to reinvent herself in each step of her life and I feel that with each new place I travel too, but I constantly get to grow. This is a great feel good novel with some super witty commentary/actions.
I have read several books by JoJo Moyes and have enjoyed each one. You get drawn into the story and become part of it.
It is the third in a series…you should really read the others first!
Great end to the trilogy. I could read about Lou forever but this will do. Absolutely adore this book and the writer
ABSOLUTELY witty, funny, entertaining… everything in the book was realistic and easily relatable. Couldn’t put it down and extreme tear-jerker!
A young ladies discovery of what she really wants. I enjoyed it
If you’ve read Me before You, then you have to read this one!
Still Me (Me Before You #3) was a great read by Jojo Moyes. Louisa is headed to New York to start a new life and new job. She hopes that she will be able to continue to have her relationship with Sam but knows that this is something that she needs to do. She winds up working with the super rich Leonard and his younger wife, Agnes. She wants to get everything she can out of this new adventure. She meets Joshua there who brings her past into her mind. Louisa is trying to find out who she is and where her heart is leading her. I absolutely loved reading more of Louisa’s story and can’t wait to read more by Jojo Moyes.