Published in: 2012
Pages: 369
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
My rating: 4/5

Synopsis:

They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . .

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

My review:

This book had me laughing out loud on a train, and crying on a train. Maybe don’t read this in public…

So. This book. I was obsessed with it for a good couple of days and couldn’t put it down. I did laugh through pages of this book, this had my sort of snarky sarcastic humour that really just makes me grin. Then… well, I refused to finish the book for 3 weeks.

If you’ve read this book, you’ll know why. You’ll also work out which part I stopped reading at. Part of the reason was that I couldn’t cry on the train again, people would start to wonder what was wrong with me (lol).

So. Lou is a spitfire of a character, she’s lost and just coasting through life. She’s someone who has the potential to live a big life, but she doesn’t. She lives a safe and comfortable life with little-to-no ambition or dreams. Then there’s Will, who had the big life, who lived to the extreme, but can’t anymore. They are the opposite of each other, and of course that works out. Will teaches Lou how to live and do the things he can no longer do.

The problem, as I see it, is that you get so invested in these characters and in Lou’s mission – to make Will’s life better – and in Will’s mission – to make Lou experience life – and then the emotions come in and, well, be prepared to cry. Ahhh.

But I loved the book, I really did. Even if I perhaps wanted a different ending.

So, after this book, there are two sequals (Yes, it’s a trilogy apparently) so you know I’m going to have to read those soon.

And, there’s a movie version, from 2016, starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin. You know I’m going to have to watch that too, see how it translates to the big screen!

Links:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17347634-me-before-you

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2674426/

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_Before_You

Author’s website: https://www.jojomoyes.com/books/me-before-you/

Penguin Books: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/me-before-you-9780718177027