A review by azileotulp
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

emotional funny reflective sad 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

4.0

I knew exactly what would happen at the end when I started the book, so I thought it would make me really sad. Honestly though, something about it just made me feel happy for Will. I thought it was such a terrible situation he was being put through, and he just didn't seem happy unless he was with Louisa, and even then there was always an air of sadness to him. I felt like he was finally free at the end. I also appreciated that we don't actually see Will's death, just the before and aftermath. I feel like it made it even a little more emotional for me.


There were a lot of things in general I liked about the book. I really liked Louisa and Will, and even if I found both of them frustrating at times, I also had sympathy for both. My biggest issue throughout the book was definitely the other characters, specifically Louisa's family. I could not stand Katrina at all, and the same thing with Patrick. I'm fine with characters being bad people, but they were both just so unnecessarily annoying and I thought it was frustrating how there was never really any justice. They were just bad people who got to do bad things without consequences. I didn't really like Louisa's dad either (not a fan of constantly calling your kid fat). I was mostly okay with Louisa's mom, and felt pretty bad for her at times, but she really bothered me at the end. Her grandpa and Thomas are honestly fine, but that's not really a compliment since they don't do that much anyway.

I did really like Camilla. Like I said before, I'm fine with characters being bad people, and while I don't think Camilla is totally awful, I can definitely see how she could be perceived that way. I feel like she had a lot more depth than Katrina or Patrick, and definitely a more tragic life, so I felt a lot more sympathy for her acting the way she did.

Overall, I did enjoy the book. There were times where I felt like the plot halted a bit, but those moments usually had nice character moments, so I can forgive it.
I think Will's letter at the end was what really got me. It was probably what stuck out to me the most.
I also think it gives you a lot to think about when it comes to assisted suicide. I'm personally fully in support of it in situations like this, but I can also see why people would disagree, and I think this book portrays both sides well.
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