Friday, 26 May 2017

BOOK THOUGHTS || Me Before You, JoJo Moyes

*** please note, this review may contain spoilers***

Summed up in a sentence? "Tear-jerker, if only I'd finished it!”




SYNOPSIS

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has never 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, 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 ?



MY OPINIONS

I didnt finish it.

I know, I know, I'm a terrible person for not finishing THE novel of 2016, but my heart just couldnt take it. Due to the film release and such a big hype around it, I thought I had better pick it up to see what it was like. I knew that it would be emotional and knew all about the letter, but I just couldn't find it in my heart to finish it.

I got to a certain point (in the airport scene) and just thought, you know what, if it ends here, then I'll be happy. Everyone is alive, everything seems okay, no sign of death etc, but I knew it just wasn't to be. I knew that the airport scene was most likely the start of a downward spiral and knew it wasnt something I wanted to read.

Now I totally understand just how powerful a book this is. The plot-line, the writing, the captivating characters. But the more I read it, the more I just felt myself getting more and more upset at the prospect of the ending that was before me. I know I should have just finished the book, I was so close to the end, but I just couldnt. I didn't have it in me to continue reading a novel where I knew the main character would severely deteriorate, and as I am currently in a similar family situation (sort of), I just did not want to continue.

What I did read of the book however was remarkable. Seeing this bright young girl with hopes and ambitions take on a task she had never even considered before, and tackling everything that comes with it, was something I felt would relate to pretty much any type of reader. I also adored the relationship between Lou and Will, as well as the relationship between Lou and Wills' parents. They understandably have a lot to deal with, as well as bringing in someone new to care for Will, that also just wants to let him see the world in a way that he perhaps once knew, without all the backstory his parents had known. One issue I had with this however, was the way in which they deceived Lou into believing this was a position of care, rather than a position of persuasion. Obviously if she knew from the beginning what her role really was, then she would most likely have not taken the job. Maybe I am just being picky now, but I just had to get that off my chest!

To be fair to JoJo Moyes, the part of the book that I did complete, I absolutely lapped up. Her writing style kept me wanting more after each chapter. The way she developed her characters throughout the story was also interesting. I found myself becoming more and more attached to the characters and their “realness”, to the point where sadly I had to stop reading. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the novel and writing style, because I did, I just wasn't emotionally prepared for the books ending.

MY RATING


Overall, I feel this book deserves to be finished by me eventually. I'm rating it three out of five stars. Whilst I did enjoy the writing style, and the progression of characters, along with the reality of the backstories, I felt the direction in which the novel was heading was set up for heartbreak, and I just could not face that. It is most definitely a tear-jerker, if only I'd finished it.

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