After You

Well, well, well… This was the highly anticipated sequel to ‘Me Before You’ by the international bestseller Jojo Moyes, where we are once again thrown into Louisa’s crazy world.

I finished this book in three evening sessions and thoroughly enjoyed it. I always enjoy revisiting characters and seeing what happened to them after ‘The End’, and I do wonder if that was the reason why I enjoyed this book so much. Am I saying as a standalone book it wouldn’t have been as memorable? If I was being honest, yes – there’s nothing that makes this book stand out from the other books in this genre, but to think of the ‘what if’ is irrelevant….so I’ll stop.

Following the departure of Will, Louisa finds herself in a rut and constantly thinking of what Will would have thought if he saw her now. I don’t want to give away too many spoilers… other than there’s a happy ending… because I know how many people are likely to pick this book up! So instead I shall use a similar technique as I used with The Angel Tree review and describe what the new characters bring to this story. There are two new big characters: Sam and Lily.

Ambulance Sam is the saviour of this story, not only does he come to Louisa’s rescue for medical reasons but he’s the first guy that she allows herself to relax and have fun with post Will. He’s an incredibly sweet guy; he cooks for her, looks after her garden and makes her feel like she’s the one… He’d make any girl swoon! Much like Will needing Louisa in the first book, it’s almost certain that Louisa needed Sam in this book.

Lily… well I was going to describe her as a typical teenager but she’s a teeny bit naughtier than that… she blows into Louisa’s life like a storm that catches you off guard. If Louisa needed Sam, Lily definitely needs Louisa…. Lily has had a troubled past and her present isn’t much to write about either. Louisa realises that she needs to be a big sister, a role model and the support framework that Lily so desperate needs, which means Louisa’s life shifts quickly. Like any storm, there’s always the aftermath when the sun finally breaks through and I think this probably describes teenager moods quite well… It’s not all darkness and gloom, sometimes they’ll crack a smile and following a rather disastrous evening with Lily, Louisa then finds ‘the sun’.

Throughout this book, Louisa helps Lily to meet her real family and although I was outraged and shocked by some of the introductions – I thought it carried a rather potent message – not all family reunions are like a fairy tale.

I thought this story was beautifully written; it was witty, ‘real’ and the plot flowed nicely. Jojo has a way of adding a lightness to some rather sad times. I think this book would strike a cord with anyone grieving, hiding a secret or feeling generally unloved – it reminds people that there’s always light at the end of the tunnel.

All I need to do now is watch the ‘Me Before You’ movie, has anyone seen it?

Until next time, Chloé x