From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…

Me Before You (Me Before You, #1)

Jojo Moyes

Discussion: 2016 Challenge prompts

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2016 Challenge prompts

A book with a protagonist who has your occupation...
By Danah · 8 posts · 184 views

last updated Jan 27, 2017 08:22AM

The first book you see in a bookstore
By Juanita · 64 posts · 492 views

last updated Dec 29, 2016 04:24PM

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What Members Thought

Mar 04, 2016 Chazza Everafter rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own-in-ebook, womens-fiction, general-fic, favorites, 2016-read-list

I first heard about this book from women in a little online group I'm part of, and I wasn't sure what to make of it. Another friend of mine had seen the movie trailer and told me she already started crying just watching that and encouraged me to sneak a peek. I admit: the premise, the snippets, the sneaking suspicion I had that this story would be dealing with a woman who falls in love with a man contemplating ending his life after I heard the ominous line of "I promised them six months." Nevert I first heard about this book from women in a little online group I'm part of, and I wasn't sure what to make of it. Another friend of mine had seen the movie trailer and told me she already started crying just watching that and encouraged me to sneak a peek. I admit: the premise, the snippets, the sneaking suspicion I had that this story would be dealing with a woman who falls in love with a man contemplating ending his life after I heard the ominous line of "I promised them six months." Nevertheless, the trailer moved me to being teary-eyed and so I kept the book in the back of my mind, filed under "maybe I'll read this..."

And now I've got a bit of time, so I have. It was beautiful. It was tragic. It left me gutted, aching, and wrestling with some hard questions. The author, whom I have not read before, tackles very sensitive topics like assisted suicide, the disabled, and the complexities of love so artfully. I found myself laughing at times, crying at others, and all along the way, I found the characters and their reactions relatable and believable.

Will Traynor is a 35-year-old man who lived what he calls a "big life." He was a hotshot, making money and living up an adventurous sort of life when an accident takes the life he knew and twists it into the unexpected, and for Will, the unacceptable. Suddenly a quadriplegic, he is bound to a wheelchair, entirely reliant on both modern medicine and the assistance of others to do every small, simple thing.

Louisa "Lou" Clark is a 26-year-old woman who really starts the novel off as a girl. She's described as an ordinary girl, living an ordinary life, which she likes just fine, thankyouverymuch. She takes a job as Will's caretaker/companion for the money, since her family relies on her financially (though they don't seem to regard her much highly for nearly anything else). For her, this tale is something like a coming of age story as she really develops into her own person. Her transformation from someone living a small life into someone willing to embrace it, even as she must try to convince her charge that life--changed though it may be--is worth living.

This is the sort of story, that if you let it into your heart, can pierce you and broaden your scope as your mind begins to contemplate the questions posed here. Or, it can simply be a really touching emotional journey to follow. In either case, the writing is lovely, the characters breathe and jump to life on the page and it's probably going to be a story that will stay with me all year because it forces the reader to consider quality of life, assisted suicide, and what does it mean to love and support someone even when what they want is in direct opposition to what you would want. I couldn't put down and ended up finishing this book in 3 days... and I haven't been held captive by another novel like this since Mockingjay was released... ...more

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Jul 06, 2015 Lisa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-on-kindle, sad, realistic-fiction, contemporary

Sometimes a book is a strange mixture of enjoyment despite the apparently eventual sadness that the story must hold. This is how I describe this story without spoiling it in the least. The characters quickly go from these flat, generic characters acting in their roles to people who are heartbreakingly real.
I liked how; as the story progressed; each of the main characters told part of the story from their point of view. It gives insight into what drove the person as events unfold and fully forms ...more

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Jan 27, 2015 Becca rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary-literary-fiction

Rarely has a book touched my heart as deeply as this one. I found myself thinking about it during the day when I wasn’t reading it, worrying about the outcome. It’s the kind of story you find yourself identifying with in all sorts of ways - the dilemma of the characters, the decisions they have to face, the courage they ultimately demonstrate. Well written, well thought out, very emotionally affecting. I loved it.

Jo Jo Moyes is a new author to me, and I will definitely be looking out for her oth ...more

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Mar 06, 2015 Sam rated it liked it

I don't often finish books in 3 days and this really is a 3 and a 3/4 starred book for me. It's like a can of Pringles so delicious and salty and not all that great on the nutrition scale but damn they satisfy a craving. Sapping with all the feels of a romantic comedy co-staring Jack Black this book makes you wonder what you'd do when faced with a life changing injury. Plus a good syrupy love to boot. ...more

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Jan 26, 2020 Korie Brown rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Really well written, really well developed, really sad.

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Jul 03, 2016 Jane rated it really liked it

Thought it would be sort of light-weight...not really. Found it moving and funny and honest. Occasional wonderful sentences...and when a friend told me it was clear where it was going...well I didn't. I absolutely thought it was going somewhere else. A wonderful anti-love love story. I read it because of the reading challenge I've undertaken, and this is a book that's being made into a movie this year. I'll be interested to see how the movie unfolds...what scenes tell the film version...and what ...more

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Jan 25, 2017 Melissa Carroll rated it really liked it

This book was a quick read. Definitely a page-turner despite being slightly predictable. I love the use of different POVs throughout the book. Towards the end be sure to have the tissues handy as this tactic has you feeling a connection to each of the characters in a different way.
My advice though, don't see the film - it is like reading the cliffs notes for the book and (SPOILER ALERT) you lose a lot of key points seaming together Louisa's journey to become her best self. ...more

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Nov 13, 2016 Debbie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

** spoiler alert ** Devoured this book in less than 48 hours because I had a book club meeting on the horizon. :) Lovely little romance, but quietly stuffed with lots of questions about family responsibility, patient's right to death, and class and gender roles. I'm afraid the end is exactly what it should have been, and that's probably a spoiler. I don't know if I want to read the entire next book, but I read the first chapter at the end of this one, and the way After You's first chapter mirr ...more

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