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jennyfields76's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
linaver's review against another edition
3.0
(If you haven't read this or the first book in the series (namely "Me Before You"), this review might spoil some things for you. You've been warned :))
"After You" is a sufficiently great follow up to a marvelous first book. It's written, as always, in an easy flowing hand of Jojo Moyes, and makes for a great page-turner. It shows you the aftermath of lives of the people Will leaves behind, focusing of course on Louisa, and introduces some new great characters.
However, I found that the book picks up a lot of important topics (like grief, letting go, moving on, coming of age, s*xual, emotional and financial ab*se, guilt, falling in love again after great heartbreak, women emancipation etc) and, unfortunately, explores them only half-heartedly.
I mean, Jojo Moyes is a master in showing normal, every day kind of people with full, fleshed-out and (mostly) believable lives. Their writing makes you feel like you're reading about people you might know or meet in real life. I've come to admire that about their books.
That said, I think this book had slightly too many characters and slightly too many topics. I wish Lou's grief was explored more and deeper. Had we sat in it with her a little while longer, moving on from it would have felt a bit more true as well. Some of her decision making was literally making me sweat and my blood boil, the way it felt random and forced just so that we would see her as this lost and boring, no-life-having person. But didn't we explore that enough in the first book already? Didn't we see her grow from there in that same first book already?
Lily's story was interesting but the ab*se felt not really necessary (again, already touched upon in the first book), and her character arc and sudden growth at the end felt rushed to me as well. I understand it might have felt like the writer had/wanted to fit a lot in a book, but wouldn't it then mean that editing some things out might have worked better?
Adding different POVs that sparsely was unnecessary either (this stuck out to me in the first book as well). I mean, we're 256 pages in and suddenly we get first POV change to Lily's? Why?
And, well, to not end the review on a negative note (because despite all this I really enjoyed the book), here's a beautiful quote that really touched me, and kind of summed up my thoughts about "Me Before You" (the 1st book in the series):
"I loved a man who had opened up a world to me but hadn't loved me enough to stay in it."
"After You" is a sufficiently great follow up to a marvelous first book. It's written, as always, in an easy flowing hand of Jojo Moyes, and makes for a great page-turner. It shows you the aftermath of lives of the people Will leaves behind, focusing of course on Louisa, and introduces some new great characters.
However, I found that the book picks up a lot of important topics (like grief, letting go, moving on, coming of age, s*xual, emotional and financial ab*se, guilt, falling in love again after great heartbreak, women emancipation etc) and, unfortunately, explores them only half-heartedly.
I mean, Jojo Moyes is a master in showing normal, every day kind of people with full, fleshed-out and (mostly) believable lives. Their writing makes you feel like you're reading about people you might know or meet in real life. I've come to admire that about their books.
That said, I think this book had slightly too many characters and slightly too many topics. I wish Lou's grief was explored more and deeper. Had we sat in it with her a little while longer, moving on from it would have felt a bit more true as well. Some of her decision making was literally making me sweat and my blood boil, the way it felt random and forced just so that we would see her as this lost and boring, no-life-having person. But didn't we explore that enough in the first book already? Didn't we see her grow from there in that same first book already?
Lily's story was interesting but the ab*se felt not really necessary (again, already touched upon in the first book), and her character arc and sudden growth at the end felt rushed to me as well. I understand it might have felt like the writer had/wanted to fit a lot in a book, but wouldn't it then mean that editing some things out might have worked better?
Adding different POVs that sparsely was unnecessary either (this stuck out to me in the first book as well). I mean, we're 256 pages in and suddenly we get first POV change to Lily's? Why?
And, well, to not end the review on a negative note (because despite all this I really enjoyed the book), here's a beautiful quote that really touched me, and kind of summed up my thoughts about "Me Before You" (the 1st book in the series):
"I loved a man who had opened up a world to me but hadn't loved me enough to stay in it."
honey_sineke's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
mrmmreads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Honestly I think this was the best way to write this book. Will wasn’t dragged or forgotten. But Louisa moved on.
frtps's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
1 - 2 DNF 2-3 Entertaining 3 - 4 Literary merit 5 Life-changing
Louisa is an endearing, funny character, wearing her heart on her sleeve as she struggles to get back on her feet. But somewhere in the second half of the book I felt that the story turned into an everywoman tale of families, teenagers, romance, jobs and for me it lost a certain charm and became just a little ordinary. The last few chapters I kept expecting that the story was over, before yet another chapter with yet another loose end tied up. Look, the book's heart is in the right place, and I appreciate that readers wanted to find out how Louisa ended up after the first book, and this story is as good an answer as any: everything worked out OK. But it lacked the bite of the first book.
Louisa is an endearing, funny character, wearing her heart on her sleeve as she struggles to get back on her feet. But somewhere in the second half of the book I felt that the story turned into an everywoman tale of families, teenagers, romance, jobs and for me it lost a certain charm and became just a little ordinary. The last few chapters I kept expecting that the story was over, before yet another chapter with yet another loose end tied up. Look, the book's heart is in the right place, and I appreciate that readers wanted to find out how Louisa ended up after the first book, and this story is as good an answer as any: everything worked out OK. But it lacked the bite of the first book.
charissam's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
shailydc's review against another edition
2.0
Jojo Moyes should never have written this book. Lou pretty much sucked for the majority of the book and Lily is a spoiled brat that I felt no sympathy for.