“Lou Clark knows a lot 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 finished this book a week or so ago after devouring it in
a matter of a few days. I will admit that I was one of those people who
only became aware of the book after the film version came out in theaters, when
was it, about a year ago now? Anyway, I have yet to see the movie (though
I have a friend who says she loved it). I love the casting and I may just
have to see it now that I’ve finished the book.
I went into reading this book with certain expectations
based upon my experiences with the movie previews. I expected a sad love
story. I was not quite expecting the sense of joy and the way in which
the book made me really take a look at my life and wonder if I really am living
up to my full potential – would I regret not having done something or seen
something, had a certain experience or just stopped being so worried about what
others thought? The answer is yes. I would certainly have a lot of
regrets if my life ended tomorrow (or, at the least, I was rendered incapable
of trying those things that I had been putting off or always found excuses not
to try). This made me all the more determined to try new things; and the
book was also a strong reminder to appreciate what I can do, have done, and
look at each and every day as a gift. I believe this will stay with me
long after I’ve returned this book to the library.
Moyes designed very dynamic, interesting characters that
made the story both enthralling and believable. I felt sympathy for Will
without feeling pity (something I can imagine was very difficult to do; Moyes
obviously didn’t want her readers to pity him – Will wouldn’t have wanted them
to pity him), and I thought Lou was endearing and quirky. Their
interactions were highly entertaining. They had a very well-done blend of
witty banter, lightheartedness, and seriousness – just enough where I feel like
Will was an extremely realistic character.
I almost dreaded reading this book because I had a very
strong feeling I was going to turn into a blubbering pile of hot mess – I don’t
think this is really a spoiler because it seemed like a tragic love story from
what little I gleaned from the trailers and movie reviews; this should be
pretty general info for most people interested in reading this book. I
have to say that I was WRONG. I kept waiting for the tears to come…I
almost WANTED them to come (who doesn’t love a good, cathartic cry induced by a
great book?), but it didn’t happen. I wonder if it’s because I’d worked
myself up to the expectation of crying well before I even read the first
page. Don’t take this as a negative indication of the moving nature of
the story; I still enjoyed it tremendously. Of course, I have a feeling
I’m going to bawl like a baby when I see the movie (because now I just have to)
– I could be wrong again, but I don’t think I am.
Anyhow, I loved the characters, the settings, the writing
style, and the story. The plot was interesting and the writing style was
highly readable. I sped through this book and enjoyed every minute of
it. It was filled with highs and lows with good pacing in between so I
remained interested. I enjoyed the book very much and would recommend it
to anyone looking for an honest, moving love story. Stay away if you’re
looking for a romance novel (because there is, indeed, a big difference between
a love story and a romance novel), but someone looking for some well-written
modern Brit Lit should really enjoy this book. I’m impressed with Moyes’
craftsmanship. There are snippets of warm, sunny joy which provide relief
from the potential “downer” of the subject manner; as well as moments of
gut-wrenching honesty that yank you back to the reality of the characters’
situations and smack you in the face like…well…a motorcycle (hope the simile
wasn’t too tasteless). This careful dance was artfully engineered by
Moyes.
I was actually surprised to discover that Moyes wrote a
sequel to this book! Me Before You was published in 2012 and After
You was published in 2015; per Moyes, she was inspired while working on the
script for the film for Me Before You and was answering a ton of
questions about what happened to everyone after the book ended. I
don’t know if I am necessarily going to rush out and grab a copy of the sequel
because I kind of want to “sit” with these characters and their story for a bit
(and, to be honest, I’m nervous that the book will live up to the first one – I
always feel a bit let down after an author pens another book in response to a
film). I sincerely hope the sequel lives up to the first one.
*UPDATE: So I made my husband take a time out from his video game to lend his Playstation over to a much worthier cause...I rented the film version of Me Before You from the library. I'd wanted to see this in theaters, but never had the chance. I'd rented the DVD before, but never got to watch it and had to return it before I could. This time, however, I vowed that we would use our traditional Friday night date night to eat corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes (it was St. Patrick's Day) and watch this movie. Of course, this was not accomplished without the appropriate amount of grumbling and groaning from my male counterpart. When I finally got him to put the movie on, however, I was so happy I did. I recognized so many actors! I was surprised how many familiar faces were involved in this project. We had a few from Game of Thrones, one from Harry Potter, and another from The Hunger Games, to start. Very cool. This, of course, grabbed my husband's attention (thank you, casting!) and he was a better sport after that. Let me take a moment to say Emilia Clarke has the most expressive eyebrows I've ever seen and it's glorious. We don't get to see the bubbly, energetic side of her in Game of Thrones, so it was fascinating to see her in such a different light. The movie's pacing was quicker than the book (though I'm not surprised) and a few things were left out, but I wasn't too broken up about it. Like most film adaptations (Harry Potter included), the writers and filmmakers seem to rely on the belief that most of the audience will have read the book. I'm not saying the movie was unenjoyable without having read the book, but I think I appreciated it more because I had. The biggest difference between the book and movie was the fact that I cried. I expected to cry when I read the book and I was surprised when I didn't. Boy did I cry during the movie. The casting was spectacular - I definitely enjoyed the chemistry - and I became invested in the characters. The costuming for Lou was perfect. Even my husband admitted that the movie "wasn't bad," so I'm counting it as a win in my book.
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