Review: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Because I loved Girl You Left Behind so much, I immediately began reading Me Before You, another book by the same author.

It’s a very different story from Girl You Left Behind, but equally wonderful and beautifully written.

Me Before You is the sort of book I want to tell everyone to read, because it’s really that good and I want to be able to talk about it to my friends.  But it’s so intensely emotional.  I don’t cry easily.  I sometimes say I cried when really I meant I could have cried, but I didn’t allow myself.  I had no choice in this matter.  By the end of this book, I was a sobbing mess, lying on the bed, so emotionally drained, I couldn’t think clearly.  Any book that has that kind of effect on a person is a book that needs to be read.

But at the same time, I know there are people who avoid things that make them feel that deeply.  I’m a cold-hearted person, and it broke me.  I can’t imagine what this would do to someone who actually has a healthy, normal relationship with their feelings.

This is the story of Lou, who needs a job after the café where she’s always worked shuts down.  She is hired to sit with Will, who is paralyzed from the chest down and confined to a wheelchair.  He already has a nurse, his family just wants someone to spend time with him and keep him company during the day.

One day though, Lou overhears a conversation in which she learns Will has decided to end his life in six months.  Hearing this, she decides to make it her mission to change his mind, to show him that his life is still worth living. 

Before his accident, Will had a big, bold life.  He had an amazing job, he went on exciting adventures.  And he lost everything that he loved about life one rainy morning. 

But in Lou, he sees potential.  She’s chosen to put her life on hold, and Will can’t stand to see that.  She has the chance to do all the things he couldn’t do and she chooses not to. 

And this is the story of the two of them trying to show each other how to live again. 

I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll end my summary of the book there.  I’ll only say this story is beautiful.  It’s well worth reading.  This is being added to the list of my favorite books.

I received a review copy via NetGalley.