Featured Book: "Me Before You" by Jojo Moyes

ME BEFORE YOU

Author: Jojo Moyes

Publication Date: July 30, 2013

Publisher: Penguin Books

Book Cover Summary: Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than her 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 he is not interested in exploring a new one. 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, Lou sets out to show him that life is still worth living. 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? 

"When I finished this novel, I didn't want to review it: I wanted to reread it... Moyes's story provokes tears that are redemptive, the opposite of gratuitous. Some situations, she forces the reader to recognize really are worth crying over... With Lou and Will she has created an affair to remember." 
-Liesl Schillinger, THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Me Before You is a book I will always remember. Even now, a year since I have read it, thoughts about the characters, about Louisa Clark and Will Traynor, their story, the feelings it gave me, have definitely stayed with me and I frequently find myself looking back at all that I have learned and experienced in reading Me Before You. 

I remember stumbling upon this book several times before I decided to take the plunge in reading it. It was a book I had little knowledge of. In fact, I hadn't personally known anyone who had read Me Before You, and therefore reading this book was not one that was decided upon recommendation. To begin with, I was simply inspired to read this book, because of its' title. The title Me Before You, deeply spoke to me. The title alone was like a phrase that I repeated over and over again to myself and heard myself saying it in so many different ways, that the meaning of it seemed to evolve, or perhaps change, depending on the tone in which I phrased it. It was like meditating on a statement or repeating a mantra, that when given some time to think through it, I found myself reflecting on all the ways in which the notion of Me Before You, meant to me. The title sparked such curiosity in me, the idea of who a person may be, before the encounter and presence of someone who becomes so significant in their life, that it changes them in the most extraordinary ways, is a relationship that interested me deeply. How a transformation unfolds from being who someone once were and who someone becomes after an unexpected yet life altering relationship is a process I wanted to witness. To acknowledge that who someone once was is no longer who they will remain to be and even more, so unlike who they have become and will be, moving forward, I think is a notion that most of us can understand, but to have that transformation be clearly linked to a singular person, that connection, that singular relationship worth such recognition and is responsible for the immense influence that alters one's life's course, deeply  fascinated me. It has made me reflect on myself and my relationships. It has made me think of who I was before there were others or more specifically, the influence of those significant relationships that challenged me and inspired me and forced me to grow and transform and become who I am today. It has made me ponder over the people and relationships that have certainly and greatly changed me, altering the direction and course of my life. How did they do that? I acknowledge those relationships were the ones I had and have invested in the most. They are with the ones I have loved the most and have willingly, surely gave my heart to. 

"Funny, surprising and heartbreaking... a thoroughly entertaining novel that captures 

the complexity of love." -PEOPLE

Since reading Me Before You, I have seen it more often in bookstores everywhere, including Barnes & Nobles and Target and Hudson Booksellers in airports everywhere, along with other books by Jojo Moyes, which means more people will get to read and experience the story of Louisa Clark and Will Traynor. They are truly characters that when thinking of them, feel so real and alive. They exist to me in the most profound ways. For me, getting to know Louisa and Will, gave me a new and deeper perspective on people, relationships, love and the different lives we live and the choices we make with them. To me, the idea that more people will get the opportunity to know Louisa and Will through the book, Me Before You, excites me. Just as people who love the same books connect, I can not wait to share this book with some of my closest friends who are also book lovers. I am certain that once they have read this book, they will love it as much as I have and there's so much more to discuss and ponder over. 

"Masterful... a heartbreaker in the best sense." -NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Since reading Me Before You, I have decided to purchase other books by Jojo Moyes. If her other books are as compelling as Me Before You, then I'm truly in for a treat and excited at the idea that there is a list of books I have yet to read by her and I may be getting to know another author, that I can follow, obsess over and add to my list of favorites! 

*Other books by Jojo Moyes: The Girl I Left Behind, The Last Letter from Your Lover, Honeymoon in Paris, One Plus One, The Ship of Brides, Silver Bay 

EXCITING NEWS ABOUT ME BEFORE YOU:

There is a sequel! After You will be released in the Fall of 2015. 

There is a film adaptation in production! The movie version will be starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin.