Books to fall for

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (Book Review)

Kat Impossible74 Comments

mby

Publisher: Penguin
Page Count: 448

There is so much hype around this book and there has been for a while, but I feel it has intensified ever since the Trailer for the movie came out. It’s as if that had been the final nudge for all the people out there who hadn’t read the book yet, including me, Cátia and Cristina as we once again attempted a buddy read together.

I was prepared with some tissues by my side and quite honestly a little surprised when it turned out to be a really easy and fast paced read. Lou’s voice is relatable and the few chapters that were thrown in from different POVs were a nice change as well, even if they weren’t always strictly necessary. I enjoyed it right from the beginning, the only thing that kept nagging me were basically all the side characters except for Nathan. I was able to get and even like some of them more by the end, but overall they were a selfish and nonsupporting lot.

The book gets more difficult as you get from page to page, asking some tough questions you will probably be glad not to have to answer for real. When I finished Me Before You, I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest, however, I did NOT cry all that much and here’s why:

Lou’s and Will’s story is heartbreaking. There is no denying that. You get to see their relationship develop over time and you want them to be happy. But the thing is, their life will never be sunshine and rainbows and glitter bombs, that’s just not how it is. And even though you might wish for it to turn out differently in the end, a part of you always knew what this whole story would lead to. So, I shed that single tear when it was over, but I also recognised what the story was about – being granted the right to make your own choices. Something that, in my opinion, many people take for granted these days. It also encourages one to live boldly, a message that I always appreciate and try to embrace as much as possible.

Finally, I am glad I picked up the book before going to watch the movie. It looks great from the Trailer and as if they stuck really close to the original story, but I am still struggling with some of the casting (not Lou and Will – they look awesomepants!). I bet it will be fun either way and not only because of the bumblebee tights moment!

4stars

Fazit: 4/5 stars! A story that will target your heart viciously with main characters that are compelling until the final page.

Have you read Me Before You? Are you excited for the movie? How many packs of tissues did you need?

74 thoughts on “Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (Book Review)”

    • I always try being as vague as possible about the content when I write my reviews. Glad you think I succeeded in that.
      Yeah, the trailer is tricky. I watched it all and then read the book and I recognised so many moments. I think they would have been a bit more enjoyable had I not known they were coming. There were still great surprises though 😀

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  4. Great review Kat ! 4 stars ? Why not 5 ? (Just wondering)
    You managed to talk about it without any spoiler ! It’s difficult haha ! This is one of my fav read for this year and it will probably stay in my top 5 for a while !

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  5. I loved the book and I agree, most of the attitudes of the side characters were so frustrating and I felt like there should have been more substance to the grandfather.

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  8. I’m so, so glad you liked this book 🙂 I can’t wait to read it, and I need to before the movie comes out. I already know I’m going to cry, a lot, because I’m way too emotional when it comes to books…. but I kind of like it, is that weird? Emotional books are some of my best reads 🙂

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    • Yes, you should definitely read it before the movie!!! And I totally get the emotional book thing, I prefer those as well. Books that make me feel something are the best, which is why I love Red Rising so much. I thought I’d hate those books and now I can never shut up about them. I somehow expected a little more from MBY though in the feels department … more along the lines of SCS, but nope …

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  9. I couldn’t agree more with this review! I went into this book thinking it would be a romance but it was so much more. I didn’t cry much either because it wasn’t really a sad book, it was a book about living life to the full while you can. The movie looks amazing too! Which of the casting are you struggling with?

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    • Glad you agree with my review 😀 😀
      Well, about the casting. I just can’t deal with Matthew Lewis as Patrick, because I love Matt, but … Patrick IS SO ANNOYING. I don’t want to have to dislike him hahaha
      Then there’s Jenna as Treena and if it hadn’t been for the end, I wouldn’t have been able to stand her either, but I ADORE Jenna Coleman. She is one of my favourite Brit actresses.
      And then finally Mr. Bates from Downton Abbey as Lou’s dad? That man was so terrible in the book. He always made fun of her in a mean way and Mr. Bates is so kind.
      I know that they are all actors and that they can play different roles LOL but I just can’t picture it all.

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  10. Great review! I think the hype killed the story for me. I could not connect to the characters, I even found Louise a little annoying (please fellow book bloggers, don’t throw stones at me, I prefer tomatoes). I did not enjoy it as much as everyone, but I am glad I read it and I’ll watch the movie.

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    • Thank you 😀
      I found quite a bit of myself in Lou, but I definitely get why she’d be annoying to you at times, because she was hahaha No one is going to hate on you for saying that!
      I think the movie might be able to evoke more emotions from me than the book thouhg.

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      • Glad to hear that! Everyone loves that book so I feel a little scared, haha!
        I hope so too, even though Emilia Clarke is not the choice I would have made for Lou. I always make fun of her emotionless face in Game of Thrones.

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      • I have no idea who Matthew Lewis is, haha. If my memory is right (for once) I think I recognized a lot of faces in the trailer.

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      • He’s Neville from Harry Potter 😀
        Lou’s dad is Mr. Bates from Downton Abbey
        Will’s dad is Tywin Lannister from Game of Thrones
        Treena is played by Jenna Coleman from Doctor Who
        and that’s basically the people I know best hahaha

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      • Haha, thank you! Now, I know! I think you listed everyone. It feels so weird to see those known faces reunited into one movie. Too many worlds colliding!

        Liked by 1 person

      • Right? It’s a lot to take in, especially since I feel they all had very “iconic” or at least memorable roles. I know they are actors and it’s their job to portray different people, but I always feel weird when they do something totally different nonetheless hahaha

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  12. i so agree with you, although I did cry a bit towards the end, especially on the epilogue and that letter. But I thought it would be so much worse. I think the whole message is the right to chose, and I’m all for that. The characters were a big problem for me as well, in the end I kind of liked most of them, minus Pat and Lou’s mom, because there was no redeeming any of those. But they’re ultimately very real, because no one is quite perfect, right? I did like Will a lot, and I can’t wait for the movie :D. The POVs from the other characters, I liked them, but I didn’t actually like the situations they were narrating at points… for instance, while Treena’s POV was super helpful, I wanted to know what was actually going through Lou’s mind, and not Treena’s perception of it, you know? Also, I loved Nathan’s POV, but that situation I wanted to read about from Lou’s POV. Another thing is that those POVs were very inconsistently placed… I either wish there were more of them, or less of them, you know? either way, I agree with you and I rated it the same. And we did good with this buddy read… sort of.

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    • Very glad we see eye to eye on that one. And yes, we did good .. sort of. I don’t think we will ever be able to really sync up our schedules. Especially reading physical books together is kind of tricky. There are times when I just want to tear through a book, but I also don’t want to read it all by myself hahaha I am a little scared of ACOMAF. I just hope we won’t need the whole month like we did with Lady Midnight.
      Also, I totally get what you mean by the different POVs issue. I don’t think they were strictly necessary. They did help make certain side characters more likable, but it would have been fine from Lou’s perspective too. Will was my favourite person. I shed more than one tear in all honesty, but I didn’t full on cry. I still miss him though. People say that After You is even better, but I can’t imagine it.

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      • The only thing I’m hoping is that her family is better for her in After You. Do you know what the book is about? I need support for ACOMAF too, and it won’t take us as long to read it ;), you’ll see

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      • I hope so too, they should support her instead of putting her down all the time. I have no idea what it is about though. I doubt I will buy it, simply because there can’t be version that fits my MBY one hahaha

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  14. […] With all the buzz surrounding this book lately, I just had to read it, right? I mean, the trailer came out, everyone went crazy, so me, Kat and Cátia decided to have our second buddy read (the three of us), and it went as well as can be expected😛 . It’s tricky to sync our three schedules, but at least it didn’t take us the whole month like with Lady Midnight😉 . You can read Kat’s review of this book HERE. […]

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    • Fair enough. It was totally up my alley. I like romance, although this wasn’t a romance book at all but I didn’t know that before, and second, I like books that evoke strong emotions. This was such a surprisingly easy read 🙂

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  17. Ohhh I definitely definitely love it! I’m one of those people who picked up this book because of the movie lol but I’m glad I did. I thought I wasn’t gonna like it but it is surprisingly light and fast paced. Well… there are definitely 3 major parts in the book that made me sob senseless aaand I ran out of tissue so I just used my blanket to wipe away the tears lol

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  19. I really want to read this book so that I can review it on my blog (bexwhittaker.wordpress.com) but I’m so scared because I’ve heard it’s incredibly moving. I know what happens but I still know I’ll be attached to everyone and everything from page one and won’t want the book to finish!

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  20. It’s interesting to read a review with a lot of the same “issues” that I had with this book. I want to believe and act as if the hype doesn’t interfere with my reading experience but admittedly it does and getting my hopes up to be devastated and wrecked led to dissapointment at the much predictable ending of this story.

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  21. I read the book a few weeks ago and definitely needed tissues! Going in from the start I refused to read the book or watch the movie with my husband around and I am glad I didn’t. I didn’t cry like a baby, but I did cry! As others have said before with all the hype, I think it definitely lessened the blow of the ending.

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  22. Thanks for your review. If not, I would never know that this book is about a girl and a wheel-chaired boy. Anyway, your review is so good & I wish can write book review like yours. Still in the baby-steps.

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