Review: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Title: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Published: December 31^st, 2013 by Viking

Source: Purchased

Format: eBook

Genre: Romance

Group age: Adult

Grade rate: A-

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.

My Review

Oh my goodness!  This book should come with a warning or at least a book of tissues!  Now I need to tell you why I think this book was full of pure awesomeness.

I read this book during my winter vacation, while I was in Puerto Rico, and thus my whole family got to see me with red, swollen after I finished it.  This, my dear readers, is a sure sign that this was a great story.  What’s so great, you ask?  Everything!

I loved these characters, most specially Lou.  It is always so good to see so much character growth within the pages of a story.  Lou has settled for everything in life, her job, her love life, family dynamics, and her beliefs.  That all changes (eventually) when she meets Will.  Even though Will can barely move physically, he manages to induce joy, awareness, and much needed change in Lou.  It is so nice to see the interactions and the banter between the two of them.

Poor Will.  Prior to the accident, he was so active and he had such a fulfilling and amazing life that he just couldn’t adjust to life after the accident.  Nevertheless, it brought him a clearer understanding of what means to fully live life. I think that’s why he saw Lou’s potential and it bothers him to see how even though she’s whole, she wastes her life by conforming to what others think of her and limiting her potential.  The overall character development is really good.

The plot is so good and unexpected.  I have to say that while I was reading, I kept wishing for a miracle, for that magic pill or at least for Will’s attitude towards life to change.  I truly understand his decision, but it doesn’t make it any easier to accept.  The writing is easy to read, funny, quirky and so insightful and heart felt.  Me Before You is the first book I’ve read by Moyes and it will not be the last. It is a true gem.

To recap, Me Before You, is a story of finding inner strength, finding a purpose and not settling in life.  It’s a story of reaching out to the sky and grabbing what you want.  It’s a story of knowing when to let go.

About the cover:  This cover really doesn’t to a lot for me, it’s probably the reason why it took me so long to read the book in the first place.