All great books should come with an advisory health warning;
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.
Polly's thoughts:
Reading Me Before You took me out of my comfort zone. I am a typical Erica James, Danielle Steel or Lucy Diamond reader. But after reading an article on the author Jojo Moyes in Woman & Home magazine I felt drawn in to the characters of her book which is being turned into a movie, out this year and wanted to read it. Whilst visiting my local car boot that same weekend, I saw this book for sale and I thought it was a must!
It sat on my shelf for a few weeks, thinking I must get round to reading this book. Then when a cold hit me I curled up under the covers and started. I did not put it down for 3 days (I do take along time to read). I didn’t want to stop reading about Will and Lou, or Clarke as he calls her, and their 6 months together. The way Jojo Moyes told the story was just wonderful. I felt I was in the room with them at times. It was great to read a different kind of story and it has made me want to venture into different kinds of worlds within literature and push myself more.
The empathy I felt for Will and what his family must have gone through, it has opened my eyes more to people with quadriplegia and people with mobility issues.
There is a second book out that continues the story, After You, which I have now purchased and am looking forward to reading. I know I will miss the presence of Will, but that makes this story more real; that, yes, life does change and it is not always a happy ending for everyone. The ending was sad and yes I cried for a few hours, but that was because of my understanding of how much pain a terrible accident had caused to so many people. They say some books can change your life a little... for me it made me grateful for what I have.
May cause dizziness, lack of concentration and unexplained outbursts of tears
Phase 1: Cry
Phase 2: Lie silently, running through the story over and over in your mind to make sure you don't forget any part of it
And then comes Phase 3: TELL THE WORLD!
One of the greatest gifts about being a book blogger is having the ability to share your experience and thoughts of a book with so many other book lovers across the world. It still amazes me how my little blog I write sitting in my flat reaches so many different countries. I don't think I'll ever get over that.
The exciting thing for me is I actually read Me Before You by Jojo Moyes because one of my friends had read it first and she hit Phase 3 of the hangover and shared her love for the book with me. I was then lucky enough to receive After You in exchange for an honest review. It was like fate!! So I thought, rather than reviewing both books myself, I was excited to get my friend involved, after all it was because of her that I read Me Before You!
So I am very excited to invite my friend, Polly Robinson-Gill, to my blog today to share her review of Jojo Moyes' Me Before You. Polly is such an amazing person - she is full of life, always bubbly and full of laughter and positivity. I can't help but smile when Polly's around; she is such a beautiful person, inside and out, and I am so honoured and lucky to be able to call her my friend. Polly is one of those treasures you find and just know you have to hold on to! I can't thank Polly enough for having the courage to write a review for my blog as I know she was nervous... I hope you all love reading Polly's review as much as I did, and please leave comments or questions for Polly below and I'll be sure to pass them on.
Blurb:
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.
So without further adieu, I give you, the beautiful, Polly!
Reading Me Before You took me out of my comfort zone. I am a typical Erica James, Danielle Steel or Lucy Diamond reader. But after reading an article on the author Jojo Moyes in Woman & Home magazine I felt drawn in to the characters of her book which is being turned into a movie, out this year and wanted to read it. Whilst visiting my local car boot that same weekend, I saw this book for sale and I thought it was a must!
It sat on my shelf for a few weeks, thinking I must get round to reading this book. Then when a cold hit me I curled up under the covers and started. I did not put it down for 3 days (I do take along time to read). I didn’t want to stop reading about Will and Lou, or Clarke as he calls her, and their 6 months together. The way Jojo Moyes told the story was just wonderful. I felt I was in the room with them at times. It was great to read a different kind of story and it has made me want to venture into different kinds of worlds within literature and push myself more.
The empathy I felt for Will and what his family must have gone through, it has opened my eyes more to people with quadriplegia and people with mobility issues.
There is a second book out that continues the story, After You, which I have now purchased and am looking forward to reading. I know I will miss the presence of Will, but that makes this story more real; that, yes, life does change and it is not always a happy ending for everyone. The ending was sad and yes I cried for a few hours, but that was because of my understanding of how much pain a terrible accident had caused to so many people. They say some books can change your life a little... for me it made me grateful for what I have.
xxx
Thank you so much to Polly for her heart-felt review of Me Before You and for sharing the love of a good book on my blog to share with my readers. I look forward to sharing my review of After You next week... look out for it and let me know your thoughts!
Don't stop dreaming beautifuls x