REVIEW: "Me Before You"

SYNOPSIS:

“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”.

Credits to Goodreads.com

REVIEW:

Girl meets boy. At first they don´t really like each other. He´s rich, she isn´t, their families are really different… But Girl and Boy fall in love. Does the story ring a bell? This is not what the reader encounters in Moyes ´novel. Indeed, the love story that it is told in Me Before You is not conventional at all.

Louisa is an ordinary girl, with a stable relationship and a job she loves. The only thing that makes Lou different from the other girls it´s her style, a little bit flashy.

One day, Lou´s routine-based life changes, as thetea shop where she works closes and her family suddenly depends on her in order to pay the bills. So, she finds a new job, helping young tetraplegic Will Traynor. What Lou doesn´t know is that meeting Will is going to change her life forever.

I watched the film before reading the book (GUILTY) and I loved it, so I promised myself that I would read it. There are many differences between the novel and its adaptation. Honestly, I think the book is more emotional and dramatic than the film and  there are many details that have been omitted in the adaptation. Besides, as it is written in first person, it allegedly affects the reader more. Indeed, some chapters are told in other characters´ perspectives, such as Will´s parents or Lou´s sister, Katrina. 

In my opinion, Jojo Moyes´work leaves no one indifferent. It is a touching and romantic story and the best thing about the novel is that the love story in it is different to what we are used to. In fact, I don´t think the novel is merely romantic, it´s more about learning about life and growing as a person. It is a type of love that differs from a mere romantic instinct. To put it in a nutshell, the two main characters  are terrific and unique. Lou and Will are really different but still they are able to safe each other from all the circumstances life throw at them.