Me Before You (Me Before You Trilogy)
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Giver of Stars and the forthcoming Someone Else's Shoes, discover the love story that captured over 20 million hearts in Me Before You, After You, and Still Me. 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. A Love Story for this generation and perfect for fans of John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn't have less in common--a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?
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Community Reviews
Fuck this book. It was so good and I started to feel really nervous when I had 25 pages left and Will was still off to Switzerland. I started losing hope. Then Lou traveled there and it gave me hope again. My naïveté kept me thinking all was well in the end. Until I read the epilogue. I'm so mad but I think that's what the author wants. To make us feel how Lou feels. So so mad. But it was so good. DAMMIT.
Read this a 2nd time as part of my February "Love Month" in which I re-read a large chunk of the books I've marked as favorites over the years to see if they are still truly favorites or if they were only a favorite because they struck at the right time/place in my life.
Huh. What to say? What to say?
I didn't sob the way I did the first time I read this. I don't know if this is because I already knew the ending? Or because my husband, whom I love dearly, was irritating the living snot out of me because he has this relentless cough that interrupted my thoughts every ten seconds, and he flung open the bedroom door (which I had closed to try to drown out the sound of his coughing) when I was four pages from the end? Likely a combination of the two. BUT I did cry. Big splatters that marked up the chest and shoulder areas of my shirt. So I'm not completely heartless after all (YAY!).
I still really love this book. I like the relationship between Lou and Will, and the imperfections of not only these two characters but the supporting cast as well. I like the dialogue. I like the funny moments and the touching moments.
What I really liked this time around, however, was the conversation around assisted suicide. I imagine I did the first time I read this as well, but I think I got caught up in the romance and the sob story more then than I did this time around. This time I had to wonder what I would have done. I thought about the struggle for control in this situation. I wondered who we should really be living for - ourselves or others. One reason suicide is so heavily frowned upon is because of the effect it has on those who love the person committing it. Often less consideration is given to the person who commits it and why this would be a "good" decision. This is where assisted suicide becomes especially murky because it is someone who could very much so have a legitimate reason to want to die. The argument in this book is a combination of Will's constant pain/discomfort and his previous lifestyle which he can no longer live. This wasn't a fleeting thought Will had (to end his own life); it was very well thought out with reasons on why it was the best decision for him even if it didn't feel like the best case for those who loved him. Essentially Will would get to end his pain while they would have to live with the pain of losing him. So who is selfish in this case? Can there be one guilty and one innocent party?
There seems to be a lot of anger from some readers that the author is saying that anyone in Will's situation would be better off ending their life...I don't get that impression at all and think it's quite the reach to have gotten that out of this book.
I'm still going to leave this as a favorite but this time it's less because of its ability to make me cry and more due to my appreciation of how sensitive topics were handled and the thoughts the book provoked.
5 Stars
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Original Review - May 2, 2013
Holy crap.
I feel like I just got hit by a bus. I probably look like I have, too.
I had to leave the living room to go sob in the bathroom. And then even when I came downstairs, I lost all composure and made my fiancé hold me in the middle of the kitchen.
I thought I was prepared for this book. After all, there were so many crying gifs that I figured this wouldn't have the happy ending I would hope for. But I was just absolutely, 1000% BLOWN AWAY by this book. It was spectacular. 5 stars is not even close to being enough. I have not felt so wrapped up in a book in a very long time. I'm not going to do a neat summary of it because it's so easy to give things away. Just know that you will be invested the story and the characters.
Just read it. Do it. You won't regret it.
And to think that my dad recommended it to me. Huh. Who knew he had such good taste?
Huh. What to say? What to say?
I didn't sob the way I did the first time I read this. I don't know if this is because I already knew the ending? Or because my husband, whom I love dearly, was irritating the living snot out of me because he has this relentless cough that interrupted my thoughts every ten seconds, and he flung open the bedroom door (which I had closed to try to drown out the sound of his coughing) when I was four pages from the end? Likely a combination of the two. BUT I did cry. Big splatters that marked up the chest and shoulder areas of my shirt. So I'm not completely heartless after all (YAY!).
I still really love this book. I like the relationship between Lou and Will, and the imperfections of not only these two characters but the supporting cast as well. I like the dialogue. I like the funny moments and the touching moments.
What I really liked this time around, however, was the conversation around assisted suicide. I imagine I did the first time I read this as well, but I think I got caught up in the romance and the sob story more then than I did this time around. This time I had to wonder what I would have done. I thought about the struggle for control in this situation. I wondered who we should really be living for - ourselves or others. One reason suicide is so heavily frowned upon is because of the effect it has on those who love the person committing it. Often less consideration is given to the person who commits it and why this would be a "good" decision. This is where assisted suicide becomes especially murky because it is someone who could very much so have a legitimate reason to want to die. The argument in this book is a combination of Will's constant pain/discomfort and his previous lifestyle which he can no longer live. This wasn't a fleeting thought Will had (to end his own life); it was very well thought out with reasons on why it was the best decision for him even if it didn't feel like the best case for those who loved him. Essentially Will would get to end his pain while they would have to live with the pain of losing him. So who is selfish in this case? Can there be one guilty and one innocent party?
There seems to be a lot of anger from some readers that the author is saying that anyone in Will's situation would be better off ending their life...I don't get that impression at all and think it's quite the reach to have gotten that out of this book.
I'm still going to leave this as a favorite but this time it's less because of its ability to make me cry and more due to my appreciation of how sensitive topics were handled and the thoughts the book provoked.
5 Stars
------------------------------
Original Review - May 2, 2013
Holy crap.
I feel like I just got hit by a bus. I probably look like I have, too.
I had to leave the living room to go sob in the bathroom. And then even when I came downstairs, I lost all composure and made my fiancé hold me in the middle of the kitchen.
I thought I was prepared for this book. After all, there were so many crying gifs that I figured this wouldn't have the happy ending I would hope for. But I was just absolutely, 1000% BLOWN AWAY by this book. It was spectacular. 5 stars is not even close to being enough. I have not felt so wrapped up in a book in a very long time. I'm not going to do a neat summary of it because it's so easy to give things away. Just know that you will be invested the story and the characters.
Just read it. Do it. You won't regret it.
And to think that my dad recommended it to me. Huh. Who knew he had such good taste?
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