'Me Before You': 7/10 'After You': 5/10
Overall Thoughts
When I first came across the 'Me Before You' movie trailer, I instantly thought to myself that I had to get my hands on this book. Even though I've read multiple sad love novels (mostly by Nicholas Sparks), 'Me Before You' is definitely a good read, albeit a heartbreaking one. In many ways, reading this novel made me realize how short life is.
The story revolves around Louisa Clark, a charismatic young lady who has never fully lived her life, and Will Traynor, a man who was living the time of his life with a wonderful career, beautiful girlfriend, and going on crazy adventures, who unfortunately became quadriplegic after a horrible motorbike accident. After losing her job, Lou ends up being Will's caretaker; and she tries her best to put up with his bad temper and bitter attitude. As with all cliche love stories, Lou and Will grew close to one another, sharing their stories and opening up to each other, and Lou eventually finds herself falling for this young man. When Lou discovers Will's intention to end his life, she struggled to change his mind and prove to him that their love for one another was a good enough reason for him to keep living.
The story revolves around Louisa Clark, a charismatic young lady who has never fully lived her life, and Will Traynor, a man who was living the time of his life with a wonderful career, beautiful girlfriend, and going on crazy adventures, who unfortunately became quadriplegic after a horrible motorbike accident. After losing her job, Lou ends up being Will's caretaker; and she tries her best to put up with his bad temper and bitter attitude. As with all cliche love stories, Lou and Will grew close to one another, sharing their stories and opening up to each other, and Lou eventually finds herself falling for this young man. When Lou discovers Will's intention to end his life, she struggled to change his mind and prove to him that their love for one another was a good enough reason for him to keep living.
On the other hand, 'After You', in my personal opinion, was not a good follow up. This book focuses on Lou trying to move on from what happened to Will. Instead of fulfilling Will's request to live her life, she ends up with a crappy job at an airport pub with a horrible boss. She joined the Moving on Circle, hoping that it would help her deal with grief. Upon an unforeseen accident - falling off her balcony and breaking her hip - Lou soon finds herself being caught in a complicated situation after her encounter with an unexpected visitor (no spoilers!). Lou struggles to balance between her responsibilities towards this "visitor", and her opportunity at a promising job in New York and a chance at falling in love again. Should she put her happiness on hold for someone she cares about?
Note: Prepare tons of tissue before reading these novels!
Favourite Quotes from 'Me Before You'
"I will never, ever regret the things I've done. Because most days, all you have are places in your memory that you can go to."
"I thought, briefly, that I would never feel as intensely connected to the world, to another human being, as I did at that moment."\
"You make me happy, even when you're awful, I would rather be with you - even the you that you seem to think is diminished - than with anyone else in the world."
"... I told him a story of two people. Two people who shouldn't have met, and who didn't like each other much when they did, but found they were the only two people in the world who could possibly have understood each other."
"I placed my face so close to his that his features became indistinct, and I began to lose myself in them."
"I held him close and said nothing, all the while telling him silently that he was loved. Oh, but he was loved."
"I thought, briefly, that I would never feel as intensely connected to the world, to another human being, as I did at that moment."\
"You make me happy, even when you're awful, I would rather be with you - even the you that you seem to think is diminished - than with anyone else in the world."
"... I told him a story of two people. Two people who shouldn't have met, and who didn't like each other much when they did, but found they were the only two people in the world who could possibly have understood each other."
"I placed my face so close to his that his features became indistinct, and I began to lose myself in them."
"I held him close and said nothing, all the while telling him silently that he was loved. Oh, but he was loved."
Favourite Quotes from 'After You'
"I was tainted. The world around me knew it. Worse, I had started to know it too."
"How could she understand that losing him was like having a hole shot straight through me, a painful, constant reminder, an absence I could never fill?"
"I want him but I'm frightened to want him. I don't want my happiness to be entirely dependent on somebody else's, to be a hostage to fortunes I cannot control."
"Sometimes I look at the lives of the people around me and I wonder if we aren't all destined to leave a trail of damage."
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