Me? I'm Sobbing
Why not start summer reading with a good old-fashioned sob story? I just read Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, which has recently been made into a film starring Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke. I could tell from the trailers alone that I would end up crying, but I trudged on, and seriously did cry at the end. Moyes knows how to tear you up.
Will Traynor was a world traveler and successful businessman until one fateful day in London. After a near-fatal crash, he's left as a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the upper chest down. Louisa Clark is an almost entirely ordinary girl, from an ordinary tourist town. She dresses eclectically, but lives a quiet life still in the her same childhood home with her parents, sister, nephew, and grandfather. When she loses her café job, Lou (as she's called), her nearly fruitless job hunt leads her to becoming something of a caregiver and companion for the wheelchair-bound Will Traynor. Over the course of her employment, the changes they both work on each others lives expand horizons and put them on new paths for the rest of their lives.
I was surprised in more ways than one by this book. I'm not traditionally a mushy gushy book sort of person, so I didn't think I would love the writing as much as I did. But Moyes' characters were fierce and witty and flawed and enormously relatable. I loved nearly all of them. One of the quirks of the book was that a few chapters were not from Lou's POV. I loved these chapters, as they gave us more characterization for supporting characters as well as giving us a new look at Lou and her situation. This book was riveting, funny, heartbreaking, and encouraging all at once. I loved it. Go read it- and make sure you have tissues nearby.
Will Traynor was a world traveler and successful businessman until one fateful day in London. After a near-fatal crash, he's left as a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the upper chest down. Louisa Clark is an almost entirely ordinary girl, from an ordinary tourist town. She dresses eclectically, but lives a quiet life still in the her same childhood home with her parents, sister, nephew, and grandfather. When she loses her café job, Lou (as she's called), her nearly fruitless job hunt leads her to becoming something of a caregiver and companion for the wheelchair-bound Will Traynor. Over the course of her employment, the changes they both work on each others lives expand horizons and put them on new paths for the rest of their lives.
I was surprised in more ways than one by this book. I'm not traditionally a mushy gushy book sort of person, so I didn't think I would love the writing as much as I did. But Moyes' characters were fierce and witty and flawed and enormously relatable. I loved nearly all of them. One of the quirks of the book was that a few chapters were not from Lou's POV. I loved these chapters, as they gave us more characterization for supporting characters as well as giving us a new look at Lou and her situation. This book was riveting, funny, heartbreaking, and encouraging all at once. I loved it. Go read it- and make sure you have tissues nearby.
(picture courtesy of goodreads.com)
Comments
Post a Comment