I finished me before you on the bus to work this morning and it hasn't quite left my mind yet. I loved it so much, it was by far the best book I've read in a long time. I felt so connected to it and I can tell already that it will be one that will stick with me and I will genuinely miss reading the characters that Jojo Moyes created here.
When Louisa Clarke looses her job at The Buttered Bun, the only cafe in her small town, she'll do anything to ensure she can continue to help support her family. After a few failed attempts at finding a job she reluctantly goes for a job as a carer. Will Traynor doesn't see the point in life following a motorbike accident that left him paralysed from the torso down meaning he needs constant care and can no longer lead the high flying adventurous life he was used to. He hates not being in control of his life and is ready to end it all. When Louisa discovers this she makes it her mission to change Will's mind and make him see that life is still worth living. As their relationship develops both their lives take a course that neither of them had anticipated.
It sounds like chick lit right? Girl meets boy, they fall in love, there's some miracle and then a happy ever after. That's where you'd be wrong. This is so much more than that. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me so many emotions and the overarching question of does someone have the right to end their own life was dealt with sensitively but without reservation.
Jojo Moyes has created wonderful characters in Me Before You. Every character within the book has a valid role to play and they're all perfectly rounded. However, in Louisa and Will, Moyes has created characters that I am sure I will go back to in a few years time. They are both so loveable, even Will with his cynical view and sarcastic, sometimes mean, comments. Louisa is beautifully charming, quirky, bright and funny but without direction.
The romance that is played up in promotion for this book (and it's movie adaptation) is actually quite minimal in this book. Although there is a love story what really pushes through is the freedom to make your own choices and live your own life and how that can be effected, or not, by who we meet.
Everything felt so real in this book and it comes down to the normalcy of Moyes' storytelling. There's no lofty language or over fictionalisation of anything. The conversations are normal, the setting is normal and it all works to make the book poignant and moving. It's a reminder that real people are going through what Will is going through and others have the same anxieties and concerns as Louisa.
When I finished this book all I wanted to do was go back to page one and start again. I wanted to devour Will and Louisa's story again and again. It's a must read, definitely before the movie is released on DVD.
Until next time,
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