Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

4/4 stars

I’ve been completely and utterly obsessed with this story ever since I saw the movie back in 2016, and this book has just been collecting dust on my shelf, so I thought I’d see if the book would wreck me as much as the movie continues to. I was not disappointed.

It was so wonderful. I cried, laughed, shipped like crazy, and stayed up very, very late finishing it.

Louisa Clark is such a cute and humorous heroine without trying to be. She has natural charisma but also seems to be one of those who constantly finds herself in awkward situations.

The story is about Lou, who needs a job, and Will, who needs a carer after an accident, paralyzed him. Completely unable to move anything below his mid-torso, Will longs for death and wants to go to Switzerland to put an end to his misery. Horrified by this discovery, Lou sets out to improve his life and give him a reason to live and look forward to each day. Their relationship is told in such a wonderful way and develops through several stages, each filled with hilarity.

This novel is filled with lighthearted and ridiculous situations that we expect to find in comedic fiction. Still, it is also balanced out with hard reality and an emphasis on life and the importance of choices. It makes you realize things you didn't before, such as the disgruntling commentary on the lack of wheelchair use in most venues.

The story is one that I have continued to think about for years. My heart constantly aches at the take Moyes has on the right person, wrong time. I want so badly for Lou and Will to be able to have the ending they deserve, but I also can’t think of their story ending in any other way.

Me Before You will continue to make me feel all of the emotions humanly possible. Read this book if you want to have a good laugh/cry scenario.