The movie was a based off of a book with the same title, obviously, and the only thing I can say about the book is that it was beautiful. The story was lovely but also hard. Heart warming but also heart breaking. People may write off the story as just another romance novel but that's not all this book is and that's what I think I love most about it.
First let me introduce our main characters Louisa Clark and Will Traynor.
The first character we meet is Will in the prologue which is set in 2007, 2 years before the book itself takes place. He lives the Good Life in London, has an amazing job, makes lots of money that kind of thing. Will is a bit of an adrenaline junkie, he loves things like bungee jumping, sky diving and mountain climbing. In the prologue Will is getting ready to go to work, talking to his girlfriend Alicia (Lissa) hoping to make plans for a weekend get-away depending on how work went that day. He would normally take his motorbike to work but the rain in London that day was torrential so he decides to just to get a taxi but the worst thing possible happened.
Louisa Clark is 26 when we first meet her, living at home with her mum, dad, her sister Katrina (Treen/Treena), her nephew Thomas and her grandfather. She works in a cafe called the Buttered Bun and really does love her job and interacting with the different people she meets though she loves the routine of her regulars.Money is a big issue in her family - as in they barely have any so when Louisa lost her job at the start of the book it was a right punch in the teeth for her already financially struggling family. Lou is a very sweet character I think, very much her own person despite the fact she's not one bit sure who she is. She wears whatever clothes she likes, no thought to the current trends, has a very bright and bubbly, talkative personality. I love her.
The book deals with a lot of difficult and complex matters ranging from disability, depression, sexual assault and suicide. The biggest being Will choosing to go to Switzerland and to Dignitas.
Dignitas for those who don't know is an organisation based in Switzerland that allows people who suffer from terminal illness to die with dignity and of their own choosing rather than suffer in unmanageable pain for God knows how long. It is a very controversial practice and the families of those who take part in assisted suicides in the UK can face prosecution on the count of murder (I think).
I really loved this book. I thought it was different from the norm, was very well written and was written with respect for those who aren't able bodied. Will wasn't in a wheelchair purely to gain sympathy from the reader, Will was in a wheelchair to showcase the struggles that people who have disabilities go through.
There's a great ebb and flow to this book, between Lou and Will. It isn't an instantaneous fall in love at first sight type of book, its a slow burn with the romantic element being kept towards the end of the book.
Have you guys read Me Before You? Have you read the sequel? I'm quite scared to, I cried enough at this!
You can find me on instagram as belovdbooks, I post daily. I don't have a twitter (should I have a twitter?)
Let me know what your current reads are, I'm always on the hunt for new books!
Thanks for reading :)
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