Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Woah. I read this incredible book on holiday in Italy (amazing holiday!), and it was so so enjoyable, and extremely gripping.
Me Before You tells the story of Lou Clark, a quirky, sarcastic and wonderful character who has just lost her job, and Will Traynor, who is tireless, adventurous and has just been involved in an accident that puts him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. The book follows their relationship with each other and others and their characters through moments that are both wonderfully hilarious and heart wrenching. I have never read a story like this before, and it's such a unique and brilliant idea that is very relevant to today's society I think.
I just adored both Lou and Will equally, as they are both so strong, funny and lovable. I admired Lou's determination and desperate need to help Will, and his attempts to make her feel appreciated and his interest in her I thought were so genuine and deep. Nathan as well was an amazing character, who was so easy going and refreshing, he had such a great relationship with both Lou and Will.
I thought the book involved some really really important and relevant issues, and tackled them in such an engaging and clever way. I found that these issues were brought closer to home by reading this book, as I felt so involved with the characters, I was so moved and affected by their experiences. (I don't want to give anything away to people who haven't read it!)
Whilst I was reading it, and more so once I had finished it, I thought about the story and characters a lot and it really made a big impression on me. I gave this to my sister to read, and she loved it as much as I did, and I would totally recommend it to a lot of my friends (at least one is definitely getting this for Christmas).
I know the sequel to this came out the other day (very exciting!), I'm waiting for it to come out in paperback, unless I end up in Waterstones and I can't help myself, which is likely! I think I will definitely review it when I read it though!
Also, I recently discovered this is becoming a film next year (!!!!!) and got extremely excited! I think and hope more people will be affected by it, and will realise how real the issues are. (The excitement was also partly due to the fact that Emilia Clark and Sam Claflin has been cast as Lou and Will, and both me and my sister think will be perfect! Mega exciting!)
Keep Smiling! :-)