Book Review: Me Before You

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

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 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?

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.

In the month of December, I was texting with someone. We started discussing our favorite movies and she was like, “you should definitely watch Me Before You. It’s one of my favorite movies. It makes me cry.” I told her that I would like to read the book first. And right then, she SPOILED the movie for me. That’s the right thing to do, isn’t it?

I think Me Before You could’ve been one of my favorite books if I hadn’t read the spoilers. Knowing what was gonna happen robbed me of an experience I could have.

However, it still was an interesting, heart-breaking, powerful and important tale. I am glad that I read this book, and I am so angry for presuming that this book was yet another cheesy romance. It wasn’t. It was a beautiful story of self-discovery, love, and heartbreak.

I finished this book about a week ago, and usually, I have thoughts while reading books and I scribble them down on my book. While reading this one, I didn’t write any of my thoughts down. I was so focused on the story even though I knew how everything was gonna play out.

I had questioned my sanity when I had decided to read this book, especially because it’s supposed to be sad and all. I can’t read sad books when I’m not in the right headspace. However, I soon realized that this book wasn’t really sad. Sure, it tackles some heavy issues that could be a sore point for some, but it was funny, full of moments where characters ruffle each other’s feathers and outsmart each other. There were so many moments where I found myself roaring with laughter in the middle of the night, and so many where I found myself tearing up in public.

There are so many things that this book gets dead on. I’m talking about the relationships of characters with each other. Jojo Moyes created multi-dimensional characters and all of them are so distinct from one another. I love Louisa’s (our main character) relationship with her family. It felt absolutely genuine. In fact, my favorite relationship from the book wasn’t her relationship with Will. It was her relationship with Katrina, her sister –the sibling rivalry, the love-hate, having each other’s back at all times made it feel absolutely real.

We also get a sneak peek into the lives of two different families. And I admire it, really. It makes a simple story so beautiful and authentic.

I absolutely loved Lou and Will. I liked the fact that they loved spending time in each other’s company. I loved their banter. I liked the fact that they had each other when they needed each other, even if it ended with a massive heartbreak. Both of them are so sarcastic and human. I loved the fact that this book wasn’t much about romance but friendship between them.

I have read so many books in which certain secondary characters are absolute jerks. I’m specifically talking about the partners/ ex-partners of the main characters. And in this book, it wasn’t the case. While Patrick (Lou’s boyfriend) wasn’t the flawlessly nice boyfriend everyone wants, he wasn’t the biggest jerk everybody detests.

I had gone into it thinking that it was a love story. However, it was the story of a girl who falls in love. It began with Lou and her struggles and her life, and I am happy that it ended with Lou.

I do not want to read the other books in the series because I think the ending was perfect for me. However, I would totally recommend this book to you if you want to read a beautiful story that will shatter your heart into a thousand chunks.

What do you think about this book? Have you read it? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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