Louisa Clark has never been out of her hometown and she never saw any reason to. Soon she finds herself changing for the better and that all by the man that she should be changing. Disabled in a wheelchair, Will Traynor has lost his interest in life and Louisa tries her best to make him think differently again. What they don't know is that both of them are in for a ride full of emotions and life changers. Both want the best for each other: Will wants Lou to live life but Lou wants for Will to find that passion about life again. Yet soon they find themselves battling against the other to make them realize life can be perfect, but not easy...Yes. I have seen the movie first. I know. It's not okay! Of course I loved the book more but let me just explain. I was going to read the book first but I just didn't get around to buy it and there was a day where I just wanted to watch a movie... so it actually just kinda happened?
First off, I'd love to talk about Louisa Clark because this character was my absolute favorite! Not only because of the way she dresses, but also because she's such a deep character. You'd think a girl that wears the clothes she wears is confident. If I would wear the clothes she wears, I'd be judged and watched and I'm not even kidding about that! But we see that Lou actually isn't that confident about herself. The book will really show us so many facets of her insecurity and I was so keen on it. It often felt like she just didn't want to try something new because she thought she wouldn't belong.
My heart rooted for this character! She's very special, and I really saw that in her insecurities that alternated with her determination. As the synopsis tells us, Louisa goes to a new job with a disabled man who doesn't love life anymore. This will affect her deeply and will show us many times that Louisa is actually a much stronger girl that we might once have thought.
The thing I didn't like with Louisa, and this isn't anything directed to this character, was that she keeps being tossed from one to another. It was always her that needed to do things because the family needed it, because she shouldn't be selfish, because it's her duty and so on. I really felt with this character because of this, I wanted her to discover what she loved and what she wanted to do in life but many other characters held her back. And the good heart she has, she lets them.
Louisa Clark is really the character that makes you recognize things in yourself. She's a very reliable and realistic person and that's really what made this character amazing and deep and strong. Lou really sees the good in everything, she'll try everything she can and would put her whole life to a stop for someone else. Amazing character!
Another character I love to discuss is Katrina Clark, Lou's sister. Not for the same reason as Louisa really because I adored Louisa but I hated Katrina. In the movie, I didn't feel bothered by this character but as always, the book goes a lot deeper than the movie. Katrina is horrible. There isn't anything I love about her.
Katrina is the younger sister of Lou and during the book we often get the impression that she's the "better" one of the family, aka better than Lou. She's also a mother of a 5 year old which I don't mind. It does show us the reality of it all, people can have kids. But it's really the fact that Katrina is one of the people that stops Lou from doing whatever she wants to be doing. I really find her egocentric and selfish and there's nothing I can tell more about Katrina. She pushes Lou into everything, tells her she needs to do this or that for her own benefit. She always wants everything and is selfish. But we do see some change in a positive way at the end of the book.
This character of course gives us a very good impression on the insecurities of Louisa so Jojo Moyes did do a great job on Katrina Clark. The contrast between these two is very big and therefore very distinct which I loved. It gave us a much deeper level of understanding and it's something that I appreciated. But I just didn't grow to love that character because I always was team Louisa!
Then we have Mrs Traynor and this is a character you really grow to understand. In comparison to the movie, I feel like she wasn't pictured right at all. We know her son is disabled and how he feels about life and the movie really just shows us she doesn't want him to feel like it. The book goes into that so much more and explains how she feels. But the most important is, is that really reflects what she must feel like and how she tries to handle it.
There was also a part in the book where Mrs Traynor got her own chapter and explained her feelings and her posture and so on. She really does want the best for her son, that's also why Camilla is so weirded out and surly towards Louisa. The bonding between mother and son is reflected well and emotionally, to my opinion, which was a great asset to the book.Three down, two to go! Will Traynor, in the movie played by Sam Clafin which is my bae, is great. Just fantastic. We all get a certain picture of how someone might feel in this state, and I'm pretty certain it's far worse than what's been shown in the book itself. Yet I really loved to read about it and to get descriptions of the hospital appointments, the meds and the things he goes through. If these descriptions wouldn't have been there, I'd feel like this book would be very superficial but it is there and it gives a certain depth to it.
The grumpiness of Will was something we grow to understand, it's not only because he doesn't enjoy life, there's more to it than that. That was something you really can understand and makes you see things in his perspective. A great asset to the story to my opinion! But his mood will lighten from time to time, which I was happy about because really... I love Louisa and he was mean to her...
What I loved about this character was that even though he doesn't enjoy his life anymore, he will try to make Lou come out of her comfort zone. We know now that Louisa is held back by different people and even though he's disabled, Will will try to make her understand that things can turn out differently in just a second and that you need to make your life worth it. It's not only amazing to see and see her transform in a certain way by him, it's also a very nice and emotionally loaded message that's so important and greatly transferred to readers by the author.
Lastly, I really want to discuss Nathan. He's another caretaker at the Traynor's and god, he was amazing. I loved his accent in the movie, but also the book gives us a bit more perspective on this character. Nathan also had a little chapter in which he gives us clarity on what he is thinking and feeling and how he wants this to turn out. I'm really happy we got to see a bit more of this character because he has to go through this too and understand what's going on. Although I did miss him a bit at the ending of the book, but I also missed him at the end of the movie. So not much has changed.
As for the plot, what can I say? It was great. Firstly I'd like to discuss the fact that some characters got there own chapter. I already said that Nathan and Mrs Traynor had their own chapter. But also Katrina and Mr Traynor get their own chapter. I'm a big fan of this because it created a bigger point for us, we knew more, we felt more, we got more into the story and got a lot out of the story. It's really amazing to see how the other characters think about this or that, and how they feel about it. Some even compare things to their own life which was also an interesting thing to know, in my opinion.
Although I wish there was a chapter by Will too! He's a very important character and I hoped we'd know more about how he thought about Louisa for instance or about her efforts. All we knew was his mood and sometimes he'd say something, but I feel like his inner emotions will always be a big mystery for us. But I can see the fun in that too, now we can imagine ourselves!
Another thing that was really present in the book was the discussion about euthanasia and I was a great fan of this being presented in the book. The story takes place between 2007 and 2009, so the mentality about euthanasia was different. The book really clears things for us and how the mentality is about doing this to yourself. At a certain point in the book we also see a big contrast between the people who are okay with it and support the person who wants it because it's his decision. At the other side of that we see the people who disagree and say it's not morally right to do this.
I really was keen on seeing the contrast and just in general to see this topic, which is still very sensitive for some, presented in the book. Some might be shocked that it turns out a certain way, others might not be shocked because they support. This book really makes you think about that and see the reactions. It might even make you feel very, how do I say this? Loaded? If you agree or not, it will give you a certain feeling. I loved that!
Further more there is the whole Louisa has a boyfriend and works with Will situation. I have to say I didn't really like her boyfriend at all. It's not that he's a bad person, I do generally think he's an okay guy. I just thought he thought a lot about himself and his interests and never really saw what Lou felt or wanted. The relationship between these two will be accentuated at a few moments and give a certain heated situation to the book I never expected.
As for the relationship between Will and Louisa. I was just all about that! Seeing these two grow and see their relationship grow from nothing to real friendship? It's too good for words. This book really shows us how slow the process of a very close friendship can be and what can all get in the way. Will and Louisa are an amazing team although they something didn't want to admit it, they just work.
The plot will try everything to make Will love his life again. Louisa tries to do a lot of things, mostly get him outside of the house and it's really working out for the both of them in a certain way. I really was keen on Lou planning all these things because it showed her determination but it also did things to Will which gives the plot an interesting turn of events. What I loved most was the fact that Louisa was in contact with other people that were in the same situation as Will. It gave a bigger picture of it all and also showed many ideas of what can be done and what can't be done. The activities Louisa plans really gave us a funny feeling or a very loving feeling and I was also very happy about that.
Trying to make Will love his life again gives us also a very emotionally loaded and important lesson with the book, a moral. When books give you a certain lesson, I'm always grateful for it. In some ways you've experienced it through another body and another story, even though it's fictional. Me Before You shows you this on a very different way and it shows you the road down to a happy ending and a non happy ending. It really approaches both and closes with the moral of the story. Absolutely appreciated this!
I think we can conclude this book with saying that it's an emotionally loaded book but that has a very special and fantastic message in it. The characters were very deep and because of added chapters in other people's perspective there came a new level of depth. We understood them more and saw them handle things in the way they wanted to. Not only that, we also saw how and why they acted the way they do and see them come to their closure at the end of the book. The plot shows us the growing bond between the characters and represents this realistically, added with some humor at times. Above that, an asset to the book was a very sensitive topic which will make you see the pro and cons about it and makes you feel very loaded and self-conscious. I really loved this book because it was so emotionally, sensitive but funny at times and because you could really relate to characters and feel with them. I therefore also really recommend this book to everyone!
“Push yourself. Don't Settle. Just live well. Just LIVE.”
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