Book Review: Me Before You & After You By Jojo Moyes

Everyone seemed to love my Harry Potter & The Curse Child Review so I’m going to make a book review a bit of a feature on my blog now, perhaps fortnightly – what do you think? I am quite an avid reader and I’ve also signed up to something called NetGalley where you can get sent books to read and review prior to their release date which is always something that has seemed quite exciting to me! Todays review is of a pair of books by the author Jojo Moyes that have been on my to-read list for quite some time now and I finally got round to reading them both this week!

The first book is Me Before You, which is probably a book a lot of people have heard of, especially as it has since been made into a film! The books centres around Louisa, a young girl who’s quite happy plodding on in life with not much excitement, and Will a successful business man who became a quadriplegic after an unfortunate accident in his thirties. Having experienced a high-flying life, Will has become very withdrawn since his accident and Louisa takes it upon herself to try and get him out and about again having adventures, having been appointed as his carer. A really lovely British book that will tug at the heart strings of anyone who reads it. I have to say that, despite being a very emotional person, I have never ever cried at something fictional quite as much as I did this book. I’m not talking stray tear, i’m talking all out bawling my eyes out with Tom having to pat my back. So, a little word of warning, probably read this book in private rather than in public as you could get some funny looks!

The second book is After You and to be honest, I didn’t know whether I would like it as the first book ended with all my questions answered! However, it was really really well written and the story line was quite unique. Jojo Moyes adds an element of humour to both her books despite discussing quite serious topics such as disability and even rape. I think the tone of the books would have been completely different without these one liners and there really were some laugh out loud moments in both books! This book focusses on Louisa and how she’s trying to find a new direction in her life. She’s moved out of her tiny little town to London and is trying to succeed on her own when in fact she’s just relocated herself to London and carried on with her same mentality. Again, this is a book with a serious message but written in such a way that it’s easy to digest. There are a few underlying storylines in this book which keep it interesting as there isn’t one main one like there was in Me Before You. Although it’s completely different to the first book, I really liked this one too as it answered questions that I didn’t even know I wanted answering and left the characters in a place where the reader feels content.

I would definitely recommend these books, they really are like nothing I’ve read before and really gave me food for thought once i’d finished them. I actually couldn’t stop mentioning them for days after as bits were still on my mind. That’s the sign of a good book in my opinion! Have you read these books? If so what did you think? Also, make sure you watch the movie too as that is acted out brilliantly!

Much Love

xoxo