Review: Me Before You by JoJo Moyes

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes
Publisher: Michael Joseph (UK)
Publication Date: January 5th 2012
My rating: 5 stars 

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.

I don’t know why I waited this long to pick up a book by Moyes, but after the night I had finishing this book I am literally kicking myself for not doing it sooner. Even today getting up and going to work when all I had was this book on my brain, it was full of heartbreak and hope and I just want to go back and get lost within the beautiful passages without having to read the last few pages.

Lou sort of fell into Will’s life when she was least expecting to, after losing her job that she’d had for the last few years, she ends up as a carer for Will whose a quadriplegic. Will’s been battling on for two years now, he’s had his up and down days and honestly I was expecting him to have given up completely. But underneath all the battle wounds was a witty, sarcastic handsome man that I grew to love. Yes he could have his snappish out bursts, with what Will’s going through you wouldn’t expect anything less, but Lou took his mood swings in her stride and actually ended up forming one of the best relationships I have ever experienced. I loved watching Will open up to Lou, before he wouldn’t acknowledge her some days, but I loved the banter that began to grow between them and how they could say stuff to each other without getting offended. Lou not coming from the greatest background was barely scraping by, so Will being Will encouraged Lou to go for those chances and to experience life. Being a successful busy man before his accident, Will went all out to experience everything he could. So watching him trying to push Lou forward and grab hold of everything she could broke my heart.

Will being the successful guy he once was, his stubbornness still came through and this is where Lou found her back against the wall, she had six months to change Will’s mind and I had everything crossed that she would finally be able to do it. You know when you have a feeling in your gut that things are going to go that way that you don’t want them to, that was me, I had that horrid sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, but which I tried to push back, put a smile on my face like Lou often did for Will and just try to enjoy the time we had left.

These six months for Will and Lou had many ups and downs, not only were they facing a really critical decision, but stuff around them also seemed to be coming around them; Will’s ex announcing her engagement, Lou’s dad losing her job and marathon man being a nuisance as usual! But I loved all the escapades Lou would come up with, all the planning she would go to, to get Will out of the house and to make the most of it. There were many bitter sweet moments, but moments which also made me have this big grin on my face. I liked how Lou would attempt to whittle away at Will’s stubbornness and get him to try new things. In these six months I think Will and Lou got to know each other more than they had with anyone else. I became to adore Will’s sweet gestures, his witty sense of humour and his continual nagging at Lou to experience Life, it was something that I really wanted Lou to do too, but with Will by her side.

Me Before You was one of the most beautifully written reads, I know that this will be a book that I will come back to time and time again just to experience Will and Lou’s incredible story. I normally gravitate to books which leave you emotionally overwhelmed and tend to stamp all over your heart. But Me Before You was just whole another step up from what I was expecting, I was a sobbing mess until I finally turned the last page. I don’t think my review could ever live up to what a wonderful book this was, Lou and Will be two characters that I won’t be forgetting for a long time to come.