Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

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.

I buddy read this book with my bestie, Karina and I am so glad I did. Experiencing all the feels with someone alongside me definitely helped. I had the displeasure of being spoiled for this book when some heartless reader shared the ending in the first sentence of their review, but that did not take away the attachment and heartbreak of this book.

“You only get one life. It’s actually your duty to live it as fully as possible.”

First of all, I really enjoyed this book, a lot.  I thought the writing, pacing, characters, plot, and overall message of this novel was amazing. I have read many negative reviews surrounding this book and was fully prepared not to love it as much as so many others have, but it gives me great pleasure that I did not share those same opinions. I felt the ending of this novel was perfect and I wouldn’t change any of it.

“Some mistakes… Just have greater consequences than others. But you don’t have to let the result of one mistake be the thing that defines you. You, Clark, have the choice not to let that happen.”

I found this book to be quite relatable. Louisa is a 26 year old who has no idea what kind of life she wants to lead. She finds herself in a completely brand new job that she knows nothing about with a man who seems to hate her. I enjoyed reading Lou’s struggles trying to get Will to open up and be somewhat polite to her. Their relationship was enjoyable. She was also quite the determined little thing, wasn’t she? She wouldn’t give up on Will and that was exactly what he needed in his life. Someone to brighten his dark days, especially with her brightly colored fashion.

Will, on the other hand, was a riot. I could not get enough of his banter with Lou. He was very charming when he came out of his shell and we share a great friendship between him and Lou. His gifts to Lou on her birthday were so adorable I couldn’t stop smiling! I did feel an ache for him though. He was so miserable and was dealing with so much more than just not being able to walk. All of his medical struggles were just so much that you can hardly blame him for being so depressed and horrible. Every time he was hurting, or got sick and he was in so much pain I wanted to cry. Poor Will 😦

“All I can say is that you make me… you make me into someone I couldn’t even imagine. You make me happy, even when you’re awful. I would rather be with you – even the you that you seem to think is diminished – than with anyone else in the world.”

I really loved all the relationships in this book. Will and Lou, Nathan and Will, Nathan and Lou. Even Treena finally redeemed herself and pushed Lou to get over herself and do what was right. Although she was insufferable at the beginning. It really upset me that Lou’s parents made her feel so responsible for their finances and Treena didn’t help with her selfishness. Good God I wanted to shake her until she was dizzy for all her tantrums she threw when she wasn’t getting her way! Thank God she finally matured a bit and got a little bit better.

“You are scored on my heart,Clark. You were from the first day you walked in,with your ridiculous clothes and your complete inability to ever hide a single thing you felt.”

Overall, this book was great. The writing was simple and easy to get into. Moyes really knows how to punch you in the gut with this touching story. I won’t give any spoilers but I will say that I 100% agreed with Will’s decision. In the end, this book really made me think and if that’s the case, then Moyes really did her job. Fantastic read.

Now I can continue to watch the trailer for the movie and cry my eyes out. I can’t wait until the release where I am almost certain will be the death of me.

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Have you read this book? What did you think?

Enjoy the trailer? Because I personally think Emilia and Sam are the perfect Will and Lou!

Here’s the trailer, in case you missed it, because why not?

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Until next time,