Me Before You by JoJo Moyes – Why Can’t I Stop Crying?

Published: December 31st, 2012 

by: Viking Adult

Genres: Adult-fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Women’s-Fiction

Format: Hardcover 

Source: Purchased

My Rating: 5 Stars 

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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.

 

REVIEW

What do you do when a book tears you apart? How am I going to recover from this? Please tell me what to do. I’m so lost right now. No one said it would hurt this much.

Forgive any misspelling or other errors, because I’m just not all together. I shouldn’t even be typing this review while bawling my eyes out, but I had to get this down.

Me Before You is one of those reads that leave you thinking about life and death. I hope that I won’t spoil this for those who haven’t read it, but it’s hard to make points when the things you want to discuss are so vital to the story. I’m not sure how much I can say that others haven’t already said. And I can totally see a lot of people disagreeing with the choice that was made in this book. Everyone has their views on the subject, but until you have been in such a life altering situation, I’m not sure you can really just….get it. Me personally? I would have made the same choice, so I can’t judge anyone for wanting to do the same. 

I connected so much with Lou, that it was like staring in the mirror. I’m a middle child, so feeling like the one to always put the family first is something I get first hand. And to even voice these things makes people think you are selfish. It’s quite the opposite, actually. I’m just so glad that Lou had Will to push her in the right direction. I don’t hate her sister, Treena – no matter how much she played the single mother card. I admire her for going back to school, but I don’t like the way she jumped down Lou’s throat when she was about to quit her job. Sibling rivalry isn’t what I’d say it was between them; but there was this feeling of inadequacy from Lou’s perspective. I really don’t like Patrick. The guy got on my nerves so badly, and I hated every moment that he and Lou spent together. When he met Will, I was just so mad that he manipulated Lou. When Will made a move, Patrick countered. He had to up his game, even though he didn’t want to. He couldn’t stand the thought of Lou with Will. I was screaming for Lou to wake up and cut him loose!

As far as Lou’s parents go, I really like them. Even when her mom did that at the end, I still like her. I get her point, but I also get Lou’s point. It’s like going around in circles. Lou can’t change Will’s mind, Lou’s mom can’t change her mind, Will’s parents can’t change his mind. I don’t really have anything to say about Will’s parents or his sister. That whole charade was just so absurd. Everyone always thinks about what society will think about them. It wasn’t for Will’s benefit, I know that much. I do like Nathan, and was surprised with his lack of presence at the end. Still, I can get why he wasn’t around. I respect everyone’s debates about Will’s situation. There are no right or wrong answers, because no one knows what it’s like. I just knew that he and Lou would be so perfect together. That wedding dance scene made my heart go pitter patter. I’m not sure if I’ll survive this movie that’s about to be in theaters. I’ll make sure that someone is there to hold me up. This is just too hard.

That’s the best I can do without spoilers. This story cracked me open, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever be the same again. I’m not sure how long it’ll take me to read the sequel. Heck, this book sat on my shelf for 3 years, so maybe I’ll wait another three to even read After You. This book is heavy, I won’t lie. But I feel that everyone in the world should read this book. One man’s choice – that’s all you get. I won’t say anything else. Highly recommended!