【Book Review】Me Before You

Me Before You

Overall Rating: ★★★★★

Characters: ★★★★★

Plot: ★★★★★

Writing：★★★★★

 Louisa Clark is a woman who just lost her job as a waitress in a coffee shop in her small town. Due to the poor financial situation her family is now struggling with, Louisa, the only source of income in her family, is desperate for a job to support her parents and her sister who re-attends college with her little son. Later on, Louisa is lucky to find a job that offers a satisfying amount of pay. And that is how she meets the quadriplegic former business men: Will Traynor. At first, Will’s sarcastic attitude seems to create discord between the two people. However, Louisa later finds herself falling for the emotions and minds of Will. She then realizes the terrible secret plan that Will has always kept in mind, and she is resolved to change his mind.

    I am one hundred percent sure that this book is going to make into the TOP 10 books that I read this year. It is such a fantastic heart-gripping story. This is the kind of book that will reshape how you view the world, and influence your life ever since. The story is never boring to read, and there is always little points of excitement or humor. It is truly amazing that I didn’t get tired of reading this book considering the fact that I nearly spent two weeks finishing it. Instead of feeling relieved to finally finish the book, I was even depressed to leave the world and will not be able to read more about those characters. (I later found out that there is a sequel, though.)

    I have heard a lot of good things about this book on booktube community, and also, the ratings on Goodreads are pretty amazing. At least most of the people who I trust with their taste of books are loving Me Before You. However, the thing that truly motivates me to pick up this book is the upcoming movie adaptation of Me Before You as well as its fabulous trailer. I am not going to lie with the fact that I literally watched the trailer first and then read the book. Please watch the trailer, but if you are really sensitive and cautious about spoilers and you haven’t read the book yet, I suggest you to read the book first then watch the trailer. I highly doubt some parts of the trailer is a little spoilery.

    Now it comes to the actual content of the book. I find the protagonist Louisa extremely relatable. She is independent, brave, and potentially talented. She doesn’t realize how great achievements she can be able to accomplish at first; instead, she just wants to live her little life in her small hometown. Louisa is not the typical contemporary heroine who is always whining and hesitant to do anything. Louisa knows what she is doing, and she possess this strong determination to achieve her plan. She is willing to make self-transformations and devote her time and energy to the work she focuses on. She is probably one of my favorite female characters in the contemporary genre. In many contemporary romances, I find the female protagonist to be intolerable due to their annoying personalities. I am so glad to find a clever and self-motivated character like Louisa. As for Will, he initially appears to be a cynic person who is tired of living what he believes to be a dreadful life. I didn’t find him as agreeable as Louisa at the beginning, though his comments on Louisa always make me laugh. Through the progression of the story, I see how he suffers from his disability, and how he needs to face his terrible life after the accident that causes him to be a quadriplegic. How his relationship with Louisa changes throughout the book is definitely one of my favorite element of the story. It is wonderful that this relationship is not an instant love; it not only makes me feel the realness and truthfulness of the plot, but also adds the power to the storytelling aspect.

    The writing is very easy to comprehend. The reason for me to read this book for two weeks is not that it is long or difficult to read, it lies under the fact that I can only spend approximately half an hour per day to read during the past several weeks. I was busy with all my school work and the test preparation, and I am obviously stressed out. I manage to squeeze my time schedule so that I can write this book review. I realize I am a little stray from the point. Overall, the writing is not difficult, if you can spend an hour or two each day to read this book, you will definitely fly through it.

    By the way, I have heard about the sequel of Me Before You, which is called After You. I notice that it doesn’t get a high rating (about 3.7 stars) on Goodreads, so I am hesitant to pick up the next book even I thoroughly enjoy the first one.

    -Spoiler Discussion!-

    Me Before You is definitely not a simple romance; it touches several very serious topics, especially the issue of assistant death. I have to admit that I have never truly paid attention to the whole idea of assistant death until I read this book. I was shocked to see Will choose to die even with the presence of Louisa. Even I do not fully agree with this decision, I have to respect what he chooses to become. If that is what Will wants to be, and if he has gone through careful consideration, then maybe we shouldn’t prohibit him from doing this just for the sake of our own comfort. I have been thought about this idea for the past weeks or so. What if I get involved in a terrible accident and lose nearly everything that I own, including my friends, my dreams, and my life. What will I do? Will I make the same decision just like what Will does in the book? I have no idea what the answer will be.

    The debate surrounding the issue of assistant death is always a hot topic in the global news. Some believe it is people’s own right to decide whether they want to give up living or not; Others condemn assistant death to be a morally wrong approach. I don’t have a clear opinion in my mind. After reading the book, I accidently stumbled across a documentary filmed by BBC (I am not sure about the real company). It is hosted by Terry Pratchett, the great author who created the epic fantasy series the Discworld. This documentary was filmed four or five years ago, and it deals with assistant death. Terry Pratchett explores some of the reasons people give when it comes to why they choose to take the assistant death. The documentary also brings the viewers to Switzerland where we actually witness the process of the assistant death together with Terry Pratchett. It is a depressing documentary, and I know that Terry Pratchett died two years ago. Me Before You really makes me think more deeply which is extremely rare in the area of chick-lit or contemporary romances. It is a life-altering book, and in my opinion, it deserves every merit it gains from the readers.

    Me Before You blows my mind and changes my life ever since.