Me Before You by Jojo Moyes Narrator: Alex Tregear, Andrew Wincott, Anna Bentink, Owen Lindsay, Steven Crossley, Susan Lyons
Published by Viking on December 31, 2012
Length: 14 hours 40 minutes
Genres: Contemporary
Format: Audiobook
Goodreads
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.
Rose’s Review:
Me Before You continued to pop up on different websites lately and I decided to give it a listen and was not disappointed. I mean, I was disappointed in that this is not the happiest of books, but the writing did not disappoint. Because I had never read any books by this author before, I really did not know what to expect. Based on the book’s synopsis, I pegged this for a romance/love story. While there is a love story, it is not that kind of book. Usually that would have left me feeling dissatisfied with the story, but the writing was so superb that I soon found myself emotionally invested in the characters and did not want to stop listening. The story toggles between several points of view, with the main concentration on Will Traynor and Lou Clark. While I knew what each wanted in the end, I found myself struggling as these characters did with the decisions that they were forced to make. This story is not a happy one, but yet, there are happy moments and lots of comic relief. Lou is hired to be a care taker of Will. She is not happy to have to take this job, but she needs the money after her last job ended. Will is not happy about having a care taker. He is downright rude and hateful to Lou. Having been in a situation in which I hated my job as well, I could appreciate the strength of character that Lou possessed in order to keep coming back day after day. Slowly a relationship builds between Lou and Will and this is where the story really gets going. The way in which these two characters transform the other’s lives is the best part of this story. At first glance it seems Will affected Lou’s life more than she affected his. However, I think that Will being happy was a big transformation! This book is more about the power of friendship than a romantic love story. I was never sure quite how this one was going to end. While I was not happy at the end, I understood why it had to end that way. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a book that offers more than the usual fluff and chic lit. A well written, deep thinking gem of a book.
