Me Before You
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Bought
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.
The release of the film has made this book explode so when I saw it
sitting in a shelf in Sainsburys for £4, I couldn’t resist. I knew the general
storyline, which is why I couldn’t bring myself to watch the film. Somehow I
thought the book would be easier…HA. This book ripped my heart out of my chest
and left me a heap on the floor. It’s one of the most powerful, heart-wrenching
books I’ve ever read…but my god, it’s brilliant.
Me Before You is a novel written
by Jojo Moyes. I’m sure everyone has
heard of her because of what a big hit the film is. The sequel is released this
week and I am so excited to get a copy, I really hope it’s just as beautiful as
the first. I devoured this book in a day. I’d read so long my eyes were hurting
and the infamous “book headache” had surfaced but there was no stopping me.
Like Lou, I was a woman on a mission.
Me Before You is predominantly
written from Lou Clark’s perspective; a 27 year old waitress from England. She’s
content with her life and is satisfied with where she’s at. She’s been with her
boyfriend Patrick for seven years; she has a stable job in a café and loves her
family. That is until something comes tearing into her life and changes her
perspective on everything: Will Traynor
Lou is the main earner in her family, so when she loses her job in the cafe,
she doesn’t know what to do. She desperately searches for a job until one
virtually falls into her lap. It’s a good wage, good hours, seems perfect. The
job is caring for a long term sufferer of quadriplegia (total loss of all four
limbs and torso). There’s just one small problem: he hates her. Well…Will
Traynor hates everyone. He has gone from an ambitious, successful man to a man
stuck in a wheelchair, unable to move much. He’s lost his job, his girlfriend…his
life.
Lou signs up for the job for 6 months. One day, she overhears Will’s
family discussing Will’s promise of staying around for another 6 months and then
his family helping him to Switzerland so he can kill himself. Lou will not accept that and she makes it her
mission to give Will Traynor a reason to live. She wants him to have new
experiences and adventures but Will wants her to experience them too. They both
have found something that they didn’t even realise they were looking for:
someone to make them happy.
They turn each other’s world upside down and they both fall for each
other, a little more with every day. Lou thinks she’s done enough to save him…but
has she?
Lou is one of my all-time favourite characters. The things she does for
Will and the time and effort she puts in to make him happy is admirable and the
reader knows she’s fallen in love with him, long before she does. It’s
beautiful to watch their relationship blossom and see hidden parts of their
personalities flourish.
If you read one book this year, make it this one. It’s incredible. Make
sure you have a box of tissues beside you and a nice cup of tea…it’s definitely
a cry worthy book.
PS. I am now desperate for a pair of bumblebee tights. If anyone knows
where I can get a pair, let me know.
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