09 January 2013

Book Review: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Me Before You
Author: Jojo Moyes
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Women's Fiction/Chick Lit
Released: December 31st 2012 (reprint)
Review Source: Penguin Group
Available: Amazon


Summary: (from goodreads) 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.


At 26 years old, Louisa Clark is a friendly, sensible, ordinary girl with a flair for unconventional fashion and a desire for something more. She is still living at home, plodding through a dull relationship when she unexpectedly finds herself unemployed. With few skills, fewer job opportunities and her family's desperate need for her financial contribution, Lou reluctantly interviews for a position as a well paid day time care giver for a quadriplegic man.

Will Traynor is a wealthy 35 year old man on top of the world until a freak accident leaves him with severe spinal injury. This once independent, active man is now humiliated and embittered to be dependent on others for his most basic of needs. Will struggles with continuing to just exist when he can no longer participate in life the way he so desires. He has decided a plan for himself but what he doesn't anticipate is the girl hired to keep him company giving him a reason to love. Lou bursts into Will's life and forever leaves everyone involved changed.

I LOVED this page turner of a story. It completely caught me off guard. There were moments I laughed out loud and times where I wept relentlessly. Me Before You has an entertainingly dysfunctional ensemble cast that reminds us love can be difficult and complex, but we are always better because of it. This story made me remember the old saying, "Never judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes". It is a wise story of love that captured heart and left me feeling powerfully moved.


Thanks to Penguin, we are able to gift 1 reader with a copy of Me Before you. Enter below.

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3 comments:

  1. Fabulous review! I loved this novel. It's one of those books that sticks with you for a long time. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. This book sounds a lot like the movie Dying Young with Julie Roberts - thanks for the giveaway!

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  3. I have this book, but know I have to be in the right mood to read it. It seems to be regarded highly. Glad you enjoyed it. I look forward to your thoughts on her other book, because I have that as well.

    Irene (Boiler Repair)

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