Me Before You Book Review

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has never 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?

I read this book last year when I was in book rut while I finished my master's degree courses. And by 'read', I mean this was my first audio book. I was very busy back then and I had gotten an audible trial period with amazon and decided this was the perfect way to get through this book. I would listen while I showered, cooked, drove, etc. I think it was about 20 hours long. So it took me a while to get through it, but it was worth it!

I could have easily flown through this book in a day if I had had the time, but I am so glad I took my time. It really gives you a lot to think about and there are a lot of topics and situations that require you to absorb the moment and think before moving forward. This book was beautifully written and the way everything plays out and moves forward piece by piece. You really do get the entire picture as you keep reading/listening. 

I am a huge romantic, so this sort of story was right up my alley. And it's a tear jerker. This book tugs at the hearts strings of even those reluctant non-romantics with cold hearts. And not only in the heartbreaking part. This book makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it makes you angry, and it will drive you crazy! There got a point when I wanted to do nothing else but listen to the story. 

My favorite part has got to be the character development that Jojo Moyes achieved in the story. Their emotions and reactions felt realistic every step of the way. It was easy to relate to them, laugh with them, cry with them, and even feel heartbroken with them. I think what I liked the most is that a lot of the characters were brushed with the type of humor that you would find in comic fiction, but balanced with a hard dose of reality. 

The truth is, this isn't your typical cheesy love story. It is also a coming of age story. It has so many lessons about life, living in the moment, enjoying the opportunities you have, and not wasting a single second. So this love story does not revolve around their love, it revolves around life and the hard choices you need to make along the way. Mostly, about the importance of having choices. 

Also, in my opinion, it doesn't glorify assisted suicide like many have said when the book became highly popular due to the movie adaptation. After reading the book, seeing all these comments and stories published about the end message being that a disabled life is not worth living makes me incredibly sad. It may just be me and my highly optimistic mind, but that is not the way I saw it. A choice was made, and we all wish it would have been a different one. But what is important is that there have to be choices. It is important to have choices. And not only have them, but have the liberty to make them yourself. 

Will made a choice, and he enjoyed what he had left of life. Others may not have chosen as he did, but we have to respect his choice. In the book we see that there are others who choose to live boldly and fully. To me, the end message is that we need to have choices. We need to have that liberty to choose. 

It was this choice that left me crying (sobbing) for hours after the book was over. I felt so empty inside, helpless. This story I had been invested in for so long was suddenly over and what an ending. It was that final letter that he gave her what did it for me. And what did the letter say? Well that is something you're going to have to read the book or watch the film in order to find out. 

I recommend this book 100 percent. Although, the film is not as thorough as the book was, it was a decent adaptation. I still rather read the book again than watch the film. But one thing is for sure, the film got the characters just right.

Have you read the book? Watched the film? Let me know in the comments what you think about it? I would love to make this into an open discussion. 

I'll write to you all soon. 

Love, Nashi