What better book to begin my book blog with than a review of Jojo Moye's Me Before You? I do not know where I was living, perhaps under a rock, but the first place I heard about this book was a friend's post on Facebook. She mentioned wanting to read it before the movie was released. As soon as I saw her post, I made the connection that the preview I had seen for an upcoming movie was adapted from this novel. Of course, I immediately decided I had to read it. I have a goal to read the books of all the movies I want to see. I do not know why I always insist on doing this because I am almost ALWAYS disappointed and I know my constant critiques of the movie adaptations drive both my husband and my best friend crazy. I apologize. It is like being stuck in a catch 22. I cannot wait to see the movies but then I know they are going to be horrible compared to the books. (i.e. Divergent series....do not even get me started. I am still angry over these.) Anyway, I seem to have become sidetracked...Basically, as soon as I discovered the link of the movie and the book, I knew I had to read it and I put it on hold at the library. By the time I obtained a copy of the book, I was 9 months pregnant and let me tell you, this is not a book you want to read in that condition.
***SPOILERS MAY OCCUR BELOW...READ AT YOUR OWN PERIL***
The hot button topic surrounding this book is whether or not euthanasia is essentially assisted suicide.A lot of people are up in arms about the idea of it showing that disabled people should not live or have a desire to live. While I can see the valid points from all sides of the argument, I chose to not focus on these aspects and read the book for what it is, a piece of well written fiction. I truly enjoyed this novel and thought the character development was amazing. Will Traynor's wit combined with Louisa Clark's quirky personality was a force to be reckoned with. It has been a long time since I read a book that had me both laughing out loud and bringing tears to my eyes. The thing I enjoyed the most about this book is the fact that while it is well written fiction, it did not have your typical run of the mill "happy ending." ***SPOILERS MAY OCCUR...IF YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO THE FIRST WARNING, THAT'S YOUR FAULT. IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY READ THIS BOOK, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?*** Although it did not have a traditional "happy ending," I still believe the ending of novel to be happy and provided closure for the readers and Clark. The book had a predictable ending but it was done in an unpredictable fashion. The raw emotion leading up to the climax of the book was amazing and I feel like this is something the movie definitely did not include or do justice. At the end of the book, I found myself racing to find out what was going to happen and yelling at Clark to get on the plane and get her butt there! What was interesting to me was how throughout the book, you often find yourself angry with Will Traynor for his behavior and his thoughts of going to Dignitas...but towards the end, I felt the tables had turned and I found myself angry with Clark. Now, that is fantastic writing and character development! This book makes you dig deep within yourself and ask the tough questions, "what would I do in this situation?" and "what would I hope to do in this situation?" Through her writing, Moyes has you conflicting with yourself on whether or not you think Will Traynor is selfish or justifiable in his requests. Overall, I gave this book 4 stars out of 5. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a good read. You do not have to be a romantic to read this book. However, you may need a box of tissues and a pillow to throw.
Now for the rant portion of my blog post...the movie adaptation.
Do not get me wrong, I rather enjoyed this movie. However, that could be because it was the first movie I went and saw after giving birth to my daughter. This was the first child free afternoon I had with one of my girlfriends in two months or so...so perhaps I am a little biased. There were a few things that really ground my gears about this movie adaptation.
Of course, we always hear the excuse that "if movie producers put everything from the book into the movie, it would be too long." Yes, I understand that and can appreciate that fact. What I cannot understand or appreciate is when characters are stripped of their traits and stories that make them come to life. Many of Louisa's self doubts came from her successful sister and an unfortunate incident that happened to her in the maze. The callous behavior of Will Traynor's mother came from not only her son's tragedy but the infidelity of her husband. I believe these stories could have been left in the movie without making it cumbersome. Without Clark's self-absorbed boyfriend, we are unable to see Clark's growth as a character as she becomes more confident in what she is doing and finds strength in her ability to succeed. Ugh. However, the icing on the cake for me...the scene that really ticked me off is when Louisa Clark, who is suppose to be a bookworm, dog eared her book's page. THAT'S RIGHT...DOG EARED THE PAGE. Can you even? I can't.
However, she does get props for reading a Marian Keyes novel. She is one of my favorite authors.
Until next time, happy reading.
