Book Review: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

My thoughts on the heartbreaking novel, Me Before You, written by Jojo Moyes.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a book review. When I have had time to read, I’ve had my nose stuck in a very odd book called House of Leaves that needs my constant attention! However, I recently took part in a blogger’s book swap and this is one of the books I received.

I’d actually been eyeing it up a few days beforehand in a shop, so I’m glad I never purchased it! Me Before You was the ideal book for me at the time. With my life being a bit mad lately, I definitely needed a bit of easy reading.

Except, when you read the blurb, it doesn’t really sound that light-hearted…

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 that they’re going to change each other for all time.

The book centres around the main character Lou, who, after losing her job, takes a job as a care assistant. The role is, of course is ‘looking after’ Will. At first, the job is horrendous. She’s scared of something going wrong and walks around him on tiptoes. The two don’t get along at first at all. But ever so slowly things start to change. Just as a friendship forms, Lou discovers that there’s a lot more to this job than she realised.

The two characters of Lou and Will are at completely different ends of the spectrum. Although, as you read on, you find that Will probably had a lot more in common with Lou before the accident than he realises. Quite frankly, after his accident, he’s a shell of the adventure-chasing man he used to be. He sees little point in living anymore. But Lou takes it upon herself to show him there’s still a lot left to live for.

My Review of Me Before You

This book had lots of different unexpected twists and was pleasantly inspiring. It’s based around a subject most of us don’t often think about. It definitely opened my eyes to the life of someone who has a disability. Not only that, we also learn a lot more about what Will has to go through emotionally as well as physically. I can’t say I wasn’t surprised by what this book taught me. It without a doubt got me thinking.

Without wanting to reveal any spoilers, this book also proposes a lot of moral questions. This is one of the factors I enjoyed about this story. It touched upon and featured darker subjects but it didn’t go too dark. It was moving and upsetting in places, but overall the story kept an inspiring tone throughout. I felt it wasn’t too much to read either. Its the type of book you can take a break from and come back to without worry. It wasn’t a ‘heavy’ read, but still featured a storyline that tugged at your heartstrings.

I enjoyed most of the characters in this book. I even found myself liking a few that I didn’t at first, like Will’s mother. Once I read some chapters from her point of view, I changed my opinion of her. It was the age-old lesson – you never really understand a person or see things from their point of view until you realise just exactly what they’re going through. I tend to try and remember this a lot of the time anyway, but I thought this would be a nice lesson for a lot of readers to remember. A lot of us forget that everyone battles their own demons and isn’t quite as open about them, so it always pays to be as nice as you can! 

Finally, I really enjoyed reading the way Will and Lou’s friendship developed throughout the book. When I first started reading, I assumed it would be about her ‘brightening up’ his world, and giving him a new lease of life. However, Will also changed Lou a lot too, helping her take a good look at herself and basically helping her to become inspired too.

Jojo Moyles is a fab writer and one that really managed to tackle some tougher subjects without bearing down too much on the reader. This book is also the perfect length too. I’ll definitely look into reading further fiction by Jojo Moyes.

P.S Check out the Book Reviews tag for more book reviews! Also, please do visit Hanging On Every Word – another blog I’m part of. It’s a collaborative book review blog between myself and some other bloggers and there are some great reviews on there! Please do check it out!