Dopo di te

Me Before You #2

by Jojo Moyes, Maria Carla Dallavalle (Translator)

Quando finisce una storia, ne inizia un'altra.

Come si fa ad andare avanti dopo aver perso chi si ama? Come si può ricostruire la propria vita, voltare pagina?

Per Louisa Clark, detta Lou, come per tutti, ricominciare è molto difficile. Dopo la morte di Will Traynor, di cui si è perdutamente innamorata, si sente persa, svuotata.

È passato un anno e mezzo ormai, e Lou non è più quella di prima. I sei mesi intensi trascorsi con Will l'hanno completamente trasformata, ma ora è come se fosse tornata al punto di partenza e lei sente di dover dare una nuova svolta alla sua vita.

A ventinove anni si ritrova quasi per caso a lavorare nello squallido bar di un aeroporto di Londra in cui guarda sconsolata il viavai della gente. Vive in un appartamento anonimo dove non le piace stare e recupera il rapporto con la sua famiglia senza avere delle reali prospettive. Soprattutto si domanda ogni giorno se mai riuscirà a superare il dolore che la soffoca. Ma tutto sta per cambiare.

Quando una sera una persona sconosciuta si presenta sulla soglia di casa, Lou deve prendere in fretta una decisione. Se chiude la porta, la sua vita continuerà così com'è: semplice, ordinaria, rassegnata. Se la apre, rischierà tutto. Ma lei ha promesso a se stessa e a Will di vivere, e se vuole mantenere la promessa deve lasciar entrare ciò che è nuovo.

Questo romanzo appassionante e mai scontato è l'attesissimo seguito del bestseller internazionale Io prima di te. Jojo Moyes ha deciso di scriverlo dopo che per tre anni è stata letteralmente sommersa dalle lettere e dalle e-mail di lettori che le chiedevano che fine avesse fatto l'indimenticabile protagonista Lou.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Audiobook, Adult, Book Club

456 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 23, 2015

About the author

Jojo Moyes is a British novelist.

Moyes studied at Royal Holloway, University of London. She won a bursary financed by The Independent newspaper to study journalism at City University and subsequently worked for The Independent for 10 years. In 2001 she became a full time novelist.

Moyes' novel Foreign Fruit won the Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) Romantic Novel of the Year in 2004.

She is married to journalist Charles Arthur and has three children.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars. It's hard to have to say this, but it's not completely unexpected either. When I finally gave in to the hype and read Me Before You a couple years ago, I absolutely and unapologetically loved it. Like many of its fans, I've been waiting with bated breath for this sequel. But it just isn't strong enough or... needed.

That's what it comes down to. After You was written to satisfy a craving in the minds of Lou and Will's fans. When we've loved a book, we all have those questions: what will the characters do now? What comes next? But these are natural questions following all loved books. It does not necessarily mean a book should be written to answer those questions. (Cinderella II: Dreams Come True, anyone?)

The result of Moyes trying to create a new episode of the story out of such questions is a book that feels like fanfiction, not a worthy sequel.

This book attempts to tie up all loose ends in Lou's life. It's quite enjoyable because Lou is as comical and lovable as we remember, but a certain humourous spark has disappeared now that we don't have the wonderful Lou/Will dynamic. Despite the lingering sadness of Me Before You, I didn't find it to be a depressing book. After You, on the other hand, is much more depressing for the most part - a fact that does not add depth to it.

There's just not that much story to the book, except for the contrived "surprise from Will's past" showing up, and that just turned the book into About a Boy with female characters - lonely woman in her thirties gains new purpose from helping a problem kid.

The new love interest is a nice guy, but is forgettable and I never felt much chemistry between them. Also, I tried really hard to sympathize, but I just despised the selfish, bratty Lily.

Everything in this book feels unnatural - created by the author to extend a story that had already been told to its full potential. The various subplots feel like extra padding and seem pointless. What was all that about Lou's mother discovering feminism and refusing to shave her legs? Aside from the cringy portrayal of feminism, why is that even in there?

I understand why fans of Me Before You will feel the need to read this book, but I just don't think it's necessary. It's mildly entertaining at times, but nothing valuable has been added here.

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[Kristie · Rating 4 out of 5]

***If you have not read Me Before You, please note that there are spoilers for the end of that book in this review. ***

I have seen a lot of negative reviews for this book, most of which compare it to Me Before You. I get it. Me Before You was amazing. I fell in love with the characters too. This book, however, is not Me Before You.

So many people loved Lou from Me Before You and wanted to know what happened to her after the book ended. Then, when they are given a book that tells them what happened, they automatically compare it to the first one that they loved and realize that it falls short. These people are disappointed in the story because they expect the greatness of Me Before You to continue. Well... I think you need to enter this story knowing that a book that you fall that deeply in love with is a rare thing and it is unlikely that a follow up story will evoke the same emotions. (Please know that, yes, I realize that this does not apply to everyone. Some people will simply not like the story. I am only referring to a specific group of people here...you know who you are.)

This book is no exception. It did not evoke in me what Me Before You did. However, it was a good story on its own. If not comparing the two and only looking at After You for its own merits, it is a good story. Maybe it was more about other characters than you had hoped? I enjoyed meeting new characters and watching Lou's life expand.

I thought this story was very well done. It showed Lou's struggle with moving on after Will's death. It showed how his death affected other characters and how people struggled to relate following such a tragedy. I still love Lou's character and there are other character's in this book that I really enjoyed - Sam, Donna, Jake... I didn't love Lily, but she grew on me later in the book. I enjoyed the characters in Lou's group and their interactions. Mostly, I enjoyed seeing Lou's struggle, how she was stuck, and how she grew.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and think it is worth a read. Please know if you intend to read it that this is not Lou and Will's story. This is Lou's story of growth and Lily's story of growth, as both learn how to move on from their pasts.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Original Review:
Part of me is very excited that this sequel is being written, because I really love Me Before You. However, part of me is really concerned that this sequel is being written, because I love Me Before You. That story had a definite beginning, middle, and end. I really hope this story doesn't spoil that one some how. Oh, how I hope I love it

[Shelby *trains flying monkeys* · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I first heard that Me Before You would have a sequel I wondered how Jojo Moyes would be able to pull it off. It either could go fairly decently or be a big old hot mess.
How do you top a book that was perfection to me?


The author does have a bit at the beginning asking readers to not spoil anything for other readers and I will respect that, because just because a book doesn't work for me doesn't mean that everyone will feel that same way.
It's just that....I felt so personally invested in that first book.
When this one started out I was okay. Lou was battling her grief over Will's death. I know how hard losing someone can be. It's devastating. Hell, Will was a book character and I shed a whole lot of tears over him myself.
I feel like JoJo Moyes should have had a best friend that just stopped her when she presented the idea of this book to her. Instead of encouraging her....


Because, it did not work. AT ALL.


Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.



My friend Magdalena did enjoy this book. She writes an amazing review at the link provided. I think it's just up to the individual reader on this one.

[Virginia Ronan ♥ Herondale ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

”Sometimes I felt as if we were all wading around in grief, reluctant to admit to others how far we were waving or drowning.”

Okay, before I start this review I have to admit three things:

1.) “After You” wasn’t what I expected it to be and headed into a completely different direction than I assumed.
2.) I think Jojo Moyes was very brave to go into this kind of direction and I appreciate her realistic approach.
3.) This might turn out to be a rather personal and subjective review.

I know it would be easy to say that I didn’t like Louisa in this book and a lot of reviewers before me actually did. They said they didn’t like how much she changed, that the happy girl was gone, that she wasted the gift Will had given her, that she was merely existing and not living her dream. Not doing, what Will wanted her to do before he died.

“Live boldly. Push yourself. Don’t settle. Just live well. Just live.”

But what a lot of readers didn’t get – and I'm glad they didn't seem to get it because I’m speaking from personal experience here and I truly wish no one to make an experience like that– is that she was grieving. Yes, Will’s death didn’t come unexpected. It was planned, they all knew it would happen but that didn’t change anything about the fact that she loved him and that he still decided to go. I wasn’t surprised that Lou is a mess at the beginning of this book, I wasn’t surprised, that she didn’t see the world like she planned to, that she didn’t live her dream. Because honestly: How could she? The person she loved, her first and one true love was dead and there was nothing she could have done to stop him, nothing that would have changed his mind.

”How could I explain to this girl what Will and I had been to each other, the way I felt that no person in the world had ever understood me like he did or ever would again? How could she understand that losing him was like having a hole shot straight through me, a painful, constant reminder, an absence I could never fill?”

To lose the person you love? It changes you, it alters your perception, it makes you realize how short life is, it forces you to acknowledge that you won’t live forever, that everything could be over in nothing but a second. You know that you should move on, because life moves on regardless if you want it to or not. If there’s one thing death teaches you, then it’s that life is merciless and doesn’t pause for the living!

”So what was the hardest part?” Mr Gopnik said.
“I’m sorry?”
“Of working for William Traynor. It sounds like quite a challenge.”
I hesitated. The room was suddenly very quiet. “Letting him go.” I said. And found myself unexpectedly biting back tears.

So, yes Louisa is a mess! She’s still so very young and innocent and has to deal with the loss of the man who stole her heart. Of course this experience changed her, of course she isn’t the same person she was before and yes, she is fighting depression! But she is doing everything she can in order to deal with his loss and that’s admirable and needs to be acknowledged.

I know a lot of readers might have wanted the book to go in another direction and truth be told I wanted to see a happy Louisa too, but that’s not how things work, that’s not how mourning works. That would have been unrealistic and it would have devalued the love Lou felt for Will. So, is this book an intermediate phase? Yes, it is! But it is necessary! Lou has to grieve in order to be able to move on and to heal and she ultimately does! Boy, how she does!

It might have been sad to read her journey, it might have been depressing but it was realistic and wholesome and I can’t thank Jojo Moyes enough for this kind of representation! Because that’s what happens when you lose the person you love! You try to get back on your feet, you try to live on, you fight to be able to enjoy your life! You learn how to cope with your loss, to turn it into something positive! There are days you take one step forward and two steps back, but you learn to be thankful for the fact that you’re still alive! That life is still ahead of you! That the time you spent with your loved one - no matter how long or short lived it might have been - was precious and a gift! And eventually… well eventually you accept your loss and you move on. You finally live the life you know your loved one wanted you to live all along.

I could write about Lou’s love interest or the rather unexpected twist that happens right at the beginning of the story. I could write about Lou’s funny family and all their antics, but I think I’ll just leave it at that.

For me “After You” is a book about grief and healing. About learning how to live with your scars and about accepting them as a part of you. The loss of a loved one might push you into the abyss but it’s up to you if you fight and crawl out of them or stay there and get lost. It’s a fight no one can help you with, a fight you have to battle on your own. But let me tell you this, it’s a battle that’s always worth it. ;-)

So thank you Jojo Moyes, for tackling such a sensitive and serious topic with genuine humour and tentative prudence. Thank you for giving us hope. I can only speak for myself here, but my teenage me really would have needed and appreciated your book! It might be too late for me, but I’m sure many other people will find comfort in your words!
And sometimes, well sometimes that’s already enough. =)

___________________________________

It only took me about five years to get over the first book but I’m very optimistic that I’ll be able to read book two without suffering another severe trauma crying my soul out.

I mean it’s got to get better, right?
Lou will get happy in this one, she has to!

If not I might just end up throwing another book against a wall. >_<
Urgh, the heartbreak from “Me Before You” still feels so fresh… and this after five freaking years.

I’m going to read this but can anyone hug me when it gets too much? *makes huge puppy eyes*
Wish me luck, guys! I get the feeling I might need it. T_T

[Heather K (dentist in my spare time) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to upset fans of Me Before You (hell, I'm a huge fan of Me Before You), but this was a very underwhelming sequel. I think if you are expecting the emotional punch of the first book you are going to be sorely disappointed.

I'm not ashamed to say that Me Before You had me up reading until very late at night and then crying my eyes out until very early the next morning. It was the kind of book that sticks with you, the kind of book that is extremely hard to follow up. It ended on a very powerful note, so any book that calls itself a "sequel" has to match that kind of power. This didn't, not even close.

We follow Lou's life a year and a half after the death of Will, and we see what her life has become. Honestly, I didn't enjoy this Lou very much. Gone is any spark, any vitality, any humor, and without those aspects of her personality I had trouble staying engaged with her. I didn't like this pushover Lou, and I barely recognized her from the previous book.

Her life is wholly depressing. Lou is stuck completely in this sort of limbo, and reading about her mostly boring day to day things felt one-note and tedious. Lou's family details, like her mother's newfound feminism and her sister's meddling, seemed contrived and almost silly. I didn't get what those side plots added to the story, and I didn't find them compelling.

Lou's love interest was just... there. He was sexy in a classic romance way- the patient, motorcycle-riding savior- but I simply didn't feel the chemistry between him and Lou. It felt like a relationship without weight, certainly without the intensity of Lou's relationship with Will. If you are going to present a love interest to follow the one from Me Before You, it would have to be absolutely epic... this wasn't.

And don't get me started on Lily. No spoilers from me, but Lily just irritated me to no end. She was SO selfish, and I struggled to feel much sympathy for her rich-girl plight. I know the author tried to give us reasons to empathize with Lily, especially near the end with her convoluted backstory, but I was rooting for Lou to branch out and have more of the story-line to herself.

However, this book's greatest crime, IMO, was that it was boring. I kept putting this book down and starting other stories, only to force myself back to this one after a few hours. And though this book has brief moments of greatness, and it wasn't bad or offensive in any way, it also failed to grab me the way I was expecting it to. After the way Me Before You gripped me, I think this was the biggest let down of all.

**Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

[Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I really, really didn't like ME BEFORE YOU.

It was heartbreaking, but it was the heartbreak of an impartial observer. I liked Louisa Clark, but, for whatever reason, I never connected with her the way I do in a well-developed story, and the story itself was so . . . unlikely.

I suppose it felt like tragedy for tragedy's sake.

And that shit pisses me off.

If you're going to ground my heart into the pavement, there had better be a damn good reason for it.

But ME BEFORE YOU was like Moyes thought to herself:

1. What's the most impossible falling-in-love scenario I can come up with? Excellent, let's do that.
2. How can I make moving the relationship forward equally impossible? *is gleeful* Let's do that, too.
3. And how can I make the whole thing pointless, from start to finish, while inflicting the most emotional damage? Wheeeeee! Best! Plan! Everrrrrrr!

And look at the title: ME BEFORE YOU.

It's deceptively selfish. It's meant to be a love story, right? So it should be YOU BEFORE ME. But the eye glances over it, and the brain makes excuses, so that you don't realize until it's too late that it's a one-sided love story.

Or maybe it's ambiguous, and my interpretation is a reflection of my overall experience.

Whatever. *kicks aluminum can*

The point is that I didn't read AFTER YOU b/c I loved the previous book. I read it b/c I couldn't stomach abandoning Lou under the circumstances ME BEFORE YOU ended on.

I saw the same spark Will had seen in Louisa, the unrealized potential, and I decided to give Moyes the chance to cultivate that potential.

I. Am. SO. Glad.

There's a subtlety to AFTER YOU that was missing in ME BEFORE YOU. It allowed Moyes to craft something entirely different, something that felt real, even after the meticulously crafted WOE of what came before.

Louisa Clark transformed from a cardboard placeholder into a person of flesh and blood. Treena, previously, a stock baby sister, spoiled and selfish, became a bright young woman struggling with the consequences of a teenage pregnancy. I could feel her despair and guilt wrestling with her love of the son that had complicated her life. Her parents were equally changed, as were Will's.

Then there were the new characters, like the members of Lou's weekly group therapy meeting, who we spent little time with, but who were all clear, individual personalities.

And Lily . . . ye gods. That girl broke my heart worse than Will Traynor ever did.

But this time I laughed as much as I cried. At the meandering tangents poor Marc (unsuccessfully) tried to rein in during the Moving On Circle meetings. At Thom's boyish antics, the looks exchanged between sisters, Mrs. Clark's refusal to shave her legs after taking a night class of the feminist variety, and a dozen other things besides.

And that laughter made the pain bearable, the pain of truths that were ruthless in their simplicity. A child who knew that her mother loved her, but not as much as she loved herself. A group of strangers bound together by grief the rest of the world had forgotten:

“I think people get bored of grief,” said Natasha. “It’s like you’re allowed some unspoken allotted time—six months maybe—and then they get faintly irritated that you’re not ‘better.'"

The loneliness of a young women trying her best 'to live,' but lacking the heart to do it properly:

Without someone to talk to, every sight I saw—whether it was the Trevi Fountain or a canal in Amsterdam—felt simply like a name on a list that I needed to check off.

These were smaller pains, but they were no less potent. They were familiar hurts, relatable, unlike the crafted pain of ME BEFORE YOU.

I've always internally scoffed when I've heard or read about someone not realizing they were crying until their face was too wet to ignore, or some Good Samaritan gave them a tissue--how can you cry and not know it?

But AFTER YOU taught me that there are some hurts that sneak up on you, that are subconsciously recognized, even when experiencing them vicariously, and several times throughout the reading I found myself similarly effected as those I'd previously ridiculed.

Then Treena would give Lou a look that I've received many times from my own sisters:

She pulled the kind of face at me that told me simultaneously that I was an eejit, and also that this was no surprise to her whatsoever.

And I'd be snorting those tears up my nose, b/c laughing.

I've seen in several reviews that some readers were disappointed with AFTER YOU, that it didn't deliver the same emotional kidney punch. I'm not going to argue that point, b/c I agree. Instead of the manufactured grief that resulted from a series of events so horrifying that you couldn't help but react to them, regardless of how foreign that grief is to your own life experience, you get the pain from the aftermath of that loss.

It's a real pain that few of us aren't familiar with, and that made me feel it all the more deeply.

But it was the potential that made the real difference. The potential for something more than unremitting pain.

SO. My recommendation is this:

1. If you rely on the author to create an emotional response that you're incapable of drudging up on your own, skip AFTER YOU. You'll only be disappointed.

2. If you independently FEEL all the things, and don't mind a bit of turmoil on the path to a happy ending, read AFTER YOU immediately.

It is lovely.

And frustrating, and heartbreaking, and REAL.

And in my humble opinion, that makes AFTER YOU an infinitely better story.

My review of Me Before You

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s very rare that I love the second book, in a series, as much as the first. Yet, here I am, handing out five well deserved stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!!! Lou is the best character. She has such an amazingly wonderful heart. While she lost some of her fun spunky bumblebee tights wearing self, she still has those moments of hilarity. 😉 Ambulance Sam ❤️ will leave you swooning a thousand times over this patiently understanding man!! ❤️ So many things happened in this second book, there were wonderful additional characters and settings that just made it feel like a whole new book. Bravo Jojo!! 👏👏👏

[Danny Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bueno, bueno, este libro lo comencé hace mucho pero no me atrapo y porque sentía que no era la Louisa que ya conocíamos y lo deje por casi un mes pero decidí darle una oportunidad más y no me arrepiento, la verdad es que puede parecer un poco extraño leerlo al principio pero conforme vas avanzando te va atrapando y enamorando de nuevo esa escritura de Moyes y por supuesto a Lou, vemos lo que pasa después. Es obvio que después de que Will muriera Lou no iba a estar super feliz. Y poco a poco vamos conociendo vamos viendo lo que es lidiar con eso.

La verdad es que si, no tenía porque existir este libro tal vez porque con la historia en el primero quedo perfecta pero este libro sin duda esta muy bien también, a mi parecer, nuevos personajes de los que te enamoras y los viejos que vuelves a leer con cariño, la verdad es que a mi me gustó a pesar de todo, pase un buen rato leyendo y volviendo a vivir con Lou recordando porque me encantaba tanto en el primer libro. Se los recomiendo.

[Alejandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Louisa Clark returns!!!


This novel is the sequel to “Me Before You”, so you need to read that book first to be able to engage into this one.


BECAUSE LIFE DOESN’T END LIKE BOOKS

I am truly glad that Jojo Moyes, the author, decided to write this sequel, since while Me Before You has a proper closure and you could be totally satisfied there, well, life doesn’t have “endings” like the books, and certainly while Will Traynor’s storyline ends there, Louisa Clark have a whole life in front of her and it was thrilling to know how was it, without having to guess.

And also, not only Louisa, but the entire Clark Family, the Traynor Family and even other characters like Patrick and Nathan. All those support characters that you learned to love or hate, all depending of your very personal point of view, all of them, their lives carry on too, and you’ll know what happened with each of them.

And you can trust that Louisa Clark’s life is like her clothing…

…anything but boring!

And since I won't make any spoilers, I only can tell you that you'll have a lot of surprises!


PEOPLE GOT OUT, PEOPLE GOT IN

Obviously, like in life doesn’t have “endings”, also you never stop to meet new people, and certainly, here, in After You, Louisa Clark will meet several new people, and all of them will make impacts on Louisa’s life, and you have to know that not all impacts are negative, there are positive impacts too.

And the best of that?

That like in life, you can’t foreseen how each of those new characters will turn in the developing of this sequel, like in life, you just have to be careful, to do your best effort to keep on, but always following your heart and insticts, since at the end of the day…

…there is nothing more important than being able to watch yourself in the mirror and being sure that all what you did in the day didn’t cause any hurt to others.

Nobody is a saint, but we don’t have to be, only avoiding to provoke suffering without need to any person which doesn’t deserve it.

Never is easy, many times the easiest path is too tempting, but only you will know if you’re calling the right decision when stressful situations arise.

And nobody has to tell you how to live your own life, since only you would know if you’re truly happy and…

…if you’re happy with your decisions and don’t causing sorrow to others…

…how much else you really need in your life?

When somebody who has been too important in your life, in your heart, is gone, you may think that being happy without that person isn’t respectful for the memory of that person, but that isn’t the case, everybody deserves to be happy and if you keep in your mind and heart the memory of that person, you won’t be “betraying” that person if you find happiness in a new person, even more if you do all what you can (and sometimes even more than that) to protect the legacy of that person which isn’t here anymore.


THE PATH TO DO WHAT'S RIGHT

The path to do what's right isn't easy, and it's testing, but when you trust that you're doing wha'ts morally right and you can be yourself at ease on the mirror, at the end, it will be worthy.

And don’t rush up to judge others, since in most cases, you won’t really know them, what’s in their minds, hearts and souls. Judging is easy. Helping isn’t.

If you think that you’re not up to lend a hand, don't do it, don't torture yourself, but then at least don’t judge since that won’t help neither.

Nobody expects that you save the world, but as Oskar Schindler found out…

…to save a life is to save the world.

And not lives needed to save from a physical wound, some lives needed to save from soul wounds and sometimes they are in such dark place that they put themselves beyond of accepting help and they can be testing, but if you think that it's the right thing to do, not matter the outcome, it will be worthy too.

Maybe you won’t be in the position to do something as dramatic to save a life, but any positive impact in another’s life…

…you’ll never know how much will help others in the future.

Nobody will do what you need to do in the world. If you don't do those things, nobody else will do it. You're unique in the world in ways that you wouldn't believe it. For better or worse. It's A Wonderful Life! (and nope, it's not that here you'll have a parallel dimension situation! I just think that the thought that nobody else will do what you must do, it was right to apply here).

And again, always think if whatever you do, you’ll be able to watch yourself in the mirror.

Since you are the only one able to judge yourself and your own actions.

Other people and their actions and repercussions? Only God can judge them.

[Ella Zegarra]

+ INFO

[emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

(This review contains spoilers for Me Before You.)
With unexpected sequels like this one, I suppose it comes down to whether the sequel adds anything to the original. And I’m going to say this one doesn’t.

https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.co...



I recognize the temptation to write a follow-up to Me Before You. That one smashed it, a rare combination of being a Goodreads ratings darling and having commercial/bestseller success. It’s an absolute goldmine. Of course you’d want to beat that particular dead horse. But I don’t have to appreciate your treatment of that poor equine corpse. (And compare those GR ratings - a lot of readers don’t like it either.)



”But that’s just a fairy-tale ending, isn’t it? Man dies, everyone learns something, moves on, creates something wonderful out of his death.”



An interesting sentence, that. Its intention is to explain the “need” for a sequel, when, in actuality, it’s making the reader feel guilty for loving the first book. Or at least liking it enough to appreciate its follow-up. I was already sensitive to criticisms of the first book, because I hate liking things that could be problematic in any way. (I didn’t even like the movie, which drew the most ire, and I still feel guilty!)



Let me explain my love for Me Before You so I can carefully outline my qualms against this follow-up. Me Before You is quite the love story - I don’t feel emotions very often, and I definitely felt something while reading that book. It made a claim for the humanity of assisted suicide, which is a cause I believe in. And it had a nice theme - we only have one life and we need to live it.



This book was 400 pages of the latter, again. Because apparently, the reader isn’t intelligent enough to infer that Louisa Clark mourned, and then made her way to living her fullest life. No, we had to follow along as she monotonously ambled through it. There was no grand love story. (Though there was a forced and un-interesting one alarmingly close to the first book.) The attempt at social-issue appeal was an alarmingly outdated subplot on a housewife’s introduction to basic feminism that bordered on circus sideshow in sheer goofiness. Also, some heavy-handed looks at, like, violence? Maybe gangs? I think I detected what may have been a soon-removed effort to discuss mental illness.



And there’s the kicker - this book should, at its core, discuss grief and mourning. Instead, it inserts truisms. Its “Moving On Support Group” is a joke, cycled through a repetitive storyline in the hopes it’ll make sense when Lou makes progress. (It doesn’t.)



This made me realize that I don’t even like Louisa Clark. I liked Will Traynor. Or did I? I liked their romance. Or did I? The worst kind of sequel is one that casts an uncertain light on your feelings for the first book. God, I’m so unhappy right now.



I feel bad for my family - in day two (three?) of my post-wisdom tooth surgery recovery, I dragged my swollen face about the house complaining about how I didn’t like this book. My mom, a fellow Moyes appreciator, wisely told me to stop reading it. I can’t, I said, filled with mistaken confidence. The entire appeal of this book is in the promise of character development. HA, HA, HA. GOOD ONE, ME.



Lou completes this book worse off than in Me Before You - even in her state of quasi-full recovery, she’s lost her light, her large personality. She’s like an entirely different character. Really, this felt like reading a wholly different world from the first book.



Most of the story is Lou’s obsession with devotion to a sixteen year old miscreant misunderstood lovebug. She hangs on this girl’s every word, smokes weed when she’s asked, forgives a series of misdeeds ranging in severity - all for a girl she doesn’t know. She sums up her thoughts on her participation in the pot-smoking with: “Afterward, I couldn’t believe I had been manipulated by a sixteen-year-old. But Lily was like the cool girl in class, the one you found yourself trying to impress.” From a thirty year old. From a grown ass woman.



Looks like I’m not leaving the ruination of some of my favorite books by shitty follow-ups in 2016.



Bottom line: If you loved Me Before You like I did, swaddle yourself in that love. Ignore negative reviews, and especially ignore the existence of this book.

[Lindsey Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

I laughed, I cried, I laughed so hard that I cried, and then I sobbed ridiculously. This book has some of the best examples of female friendship I have ever seen in my life and I absolutely love Lily and Lou's friendship. So beautiful! The only problem I had was that near the end of the book something SUPER DRAMATIC happens that didn't need to happen and I was just like ugggggh.

[Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louisa Clark is now living alone after the tragic incident she had to face. This Louisa is not a charming and humorous one like the first book. The tragedy has shattered her. She is just barely surviving. She feels beleaguered in her life. She thinks that her life is burlesque due to her callow nature. Many of us won't like such a protagonist in a romantic novel. But the author has brilliantly portrayed the grief stage of Louisa's life. Then to make things worse, she lands up in a terrible accident. Will Lou be able to find love again in her life. How will she overcome the grief stage? The author tries to explain all these through this novel.

I think that this book is the most important book in this series. This is sadly the one that the majority of the people disliked the most. It is mainly due to the shift of pendulum to depression and tragedies of life from the first book's romantic theme. This book tells us perfectly how to handle the grief stage of our life. I appreciate the author's courage to deliberately focus on such a theme, fully knowing that there is a high chance that it will backfire.

“The only way to avoid being left behind was to start moving.”

[Elyse Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the start of "After You", I told my friend Iris..."well, it's not as bad as I was expecting". I never thought it was a great idea to write a sequel to "Me Before You"...
a 'favorite' book by many people.... drawing conversations about 'the ending' from people all over the globe. For one thing, "Me Before You" was never written 'with' the intention of their being a follow up. "After You", was an "After Thought".
Expecting a complete plane crash...I found myself interested & engaged in the beginning -keeping an opened mind.
Louisa has an accident early in this story ...( so I was hooked)... however from the get-go, I kept asking myself though, "why did the author start "After You" 19 months 'after' Will died in "Me Before You"? To the extent Louisa was still grieving, it would have been more realistic if Jojo Moyes began this story about 6 or 7 months after his death.
By 19 months ...her whining should have decreased substantially. Besides, Louisa only knew Will for about 6 months in "Me Before You". The real power of "Me Before You", was *Will's* story anyway...so the author was going to need to generate almost a complete new story line for Louisa.
I saw potential .....( starting with Louisa's accident), .....not like Will's....but there was substance, in which to move the plot forward. ( in the beginning)...yet the story moved on so fast....( there was never any real agony that we felt for Louisa...she would recover quickly)...
Moyes wrote several incomplete plots, with a variety of characters.... with too many storylines.

Basically, this novel lacked a powerful focus!!!
It lacked powerful - fresh- insights! ( something that made "Me Before You", brilliant).
It was like an 'ok' meal. ( filled your belly at the time, but not one that you'll probably think about - one way or another - good or bad - much again).

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Me Before You, I couldn't help but want to keep the story going. Lou was charming and understandably heartbroken, and despite knowing that sequels rarely live up to the original, I decided to give it a go.

After You is so different from Me Before You that it often felt like a standalone more than a sequel...which was both good and bad. It was good in that I didn't feel like I had to spend the length of the read constantly comparing the two in order to determine whether it was a good follow up. But I also felt a bit let down. I had become so attached to those original characters that to be thrown in with a seemingly new group was maybe a bit weird.

That being said, I found this book to be thoroughly enjoyable. I wouldn't, though, put it in the same class as it's predecessor. It's different, it's a fabulous story, but I didn't feel the emotional pull or the need to devour it that I had before.

Quite honestly, I think I give this one a hard time because my expectations were so high.

What did I think?: This book is far from a disappointment. It's a fun, easy read and if you loved Me Before You, you'll likely enjoy this one too. It wasn't at all what I expected, but that didn't take away from the enjoyment of it. It did feel a bit rushed to fit in a second storyline almost, but since I enjoyed this story as well, I really didn't mind too much.

Who should read it?: If you've read Me Before You, I definitely think you should give this one a read. It's a fun story that will have those that loved it's previous book will love knowing what happens afterward.



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[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review after the read

3 - Because I love Jojo Moyes - Stars


I'm sorry, I'm very sorry to say that I would've preferred that this book was never born. I'll try to forget. For me Lou & Will's story ended with the last page of Me before you. I don't think we needed a new story.

I'm not saying this is bad, it's Jojo - it can't, but it just kind of ruined part of what I imagined for Lou after the end of the first book. And every single time I read Will's name in this my heart skipped a beat, and I confessed I was a little bit annoyed with all those characters, it was like if they were "intruding" our story. And I'm sorry to say that the most annoying and boring part was Lily. I couldn't care less about her. And surprisingly my favorite part/character was Sam, the one that I should've hate but instead I adored.

I really don't know what to say about this book, probably I shouldn't have read it, but I couldn't resist. So, if you loved the first book and you're not sure about this, I'd say that you can easily skip this one and continue to imagine what you want about their lives... because it's probably better of what really happened. But if you really want to read it, then read it like if this is a new story and you don't know who Will was, even if it's impossible, you have to forget everything you knew about them.

Anyway, if you read it prepare your tissues, it's always Jojo Moyes ;)



------------------------



I'm gonna die.



I'm happy



and scared



because I can already imagine what's going to happen... to me.







I'm not ready for this.

[Arlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

You are going to feel uncomfortable in your new world for a bit. It always does feel strange to be knocked out of your comfort zone… There is hunger in you, Clark. You just buried it, like most people do. ~Will...

Nothing short of beautiful! An emotionally charged story about healing and learning to believe in yourself after a painful loss. I am in love with this story!

After You was definitely my most anticipated releases for 2015, and it absolutely didn’t disappoint one bit! I fell in love with Me Before You and remember wanting just a few more chapters of Louisa’s life after that climactic ending. Well, the sequel After You feels like the epilogue I desperately needed!

This story picks up about eighteen months after the ending of Me Before You. I’ll try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, but to get straight to the point, Louisa is truly struggling with moving on from the events that unfolded with Will Traynor. She’s working at a job she has no interest in and is floundering from day to day just trying to keep herself from an impending downward spiral.

After a fateful night where she suffers from a horrible accident, she returns to her hometown to recover and there begins her attempt to heal from her wounds both physical and emotional. Through her recovery, she meets a cast of wonderful characters that slowly become the foundation for her new life.

There were so many layers to this novel that only created a feeling of being fully invested in Louisa Clark’s life. After Will Traynor’s fateful decision in Me Before You, we get to journey with Louisa during her road to recovery. She meets Lily Houghton-Miller and Sam Fielding, who I absolutely adored because in their own ways, they brought back the Lou I knew from the first book. I appreciated how Lily challenged Lou to try and move on without a feeling of guilt clouding her every move. I also enjoyed seeing Sam break down Lou’s walls and teach her to love again. Beautiful set of characters that were a perfect addition to this story!

There was also another set of secondary characters that added a whole new flavor to this novel. The Moving On Circle was a breath of fresh air! Daphne, William, Natasha, Fred, Marc and Jake each complemented the story with their own journey toward recovery. I enjoyed their therapy sessions that revealed their insecurities, fears and hopes. It was all so serious, yet shared with a level of brevity that kept the story flowing with ease.

Louisa’s journey wouldn’t be complete without a few scenes with her quirky but loveable family! Adored them! This family was absolutely flawed to perfection! It was quite clear they cared about Louisa and her struggles. It’s nice to experience a story where family is still one of the most important things in life.

Finally, the spotlight deservedly belongs to Louisa Clark. Throughout this entire journey, she showed compassion, bravery, determination and heart. There wasn’t one moment where I faltered in my allegiance to her plight. I wanted her to become not only the Louisa we knew and loved in Me Before You, but an even better version of that character as she worked hard to recover from a painful experience. Lou has become my favorite female character of 2015! Loved her!!

There were moments and passages in this story that truly hit me hard. JoJo Moyes clearly has a skillful way of cutting to the core of her readers’ emotional pockets with quick punches that leave you breathless for air. After You had many of those moments of brilliance. Overall, I believe fans of Me Before You will enjoy journeying with Louisa Clark as she learns to fall in love and believe in herself again. Beautiful… absolutely beautiful!

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars to Jojo Moyes's After You, the follow-up to Me Before You, which was a very popular book made into a movie earlier this year. The "After You" sequel is good (not as good), but for a different reason. Many folks complained about the need for this second book, and with the first one being made into a movie, it may have been a required follow-up as opposed to a story that yearned to be told... either case, I did enjoy it. Let's dive in...

Story
The book opens about 18 months after the first one ends, which was when her patient and soul-mate, Will Traynor, committed suicide. (If you are reading this review, it's not really a spoiler as that's the whole point of Me Before You -- how will she handle the tragedy of being with him... and if you haven't read Book 1, stop now and go back and read it even before this review of Book 2. You can also check out my Book 1 review in the link below).

Are you listening? :P

Louisa (the girl who fell for Will) has been on the outs with her family due to her role in Wil's suicide, and she took a year off to travel and try to move forward. Of course, it never happens, and she goes back to the quiet and sheltered life she had before she met him. When she accidentally falls off her roof, it sets into motion several challenges for her to face. Some think she tried to kill herself. Some think she is rotting away her life. She goes back to a very sad job where she's yelled at by a nasty boss all the time. She tries to get better by going to a self-help group for people affected by a loved one who died. She meets the ambulance medic who saved her after the fall. She gets a job offer to go to NYC. And she meets Lily, the secret daughter Will had that no one ever knew about. While Louisa tries to figure out her life, she learns all the lessons she needs to be able to move on... but when it all comes together in the end, and she has to make a choice on her own future, will she be able to? (And that's for you to find out when you read the book... I can't give a spoiler away, right?)



Strengths
1. Lou is a fantastic character. She's flawed which makes her real. She's whiny yet she stands up for herself. She's smart and she makes dumb decisions. She's got potential but she lets it waste. We can all find a piece of Lou's personality in our own, which makes reading about her and understanding her actions all the more interesting... because you can question whether you would have done the same thing or made a different decision. She's quite relate-able... on may levels.

2. The plot is great, especially as a follow-up to Me Before You. It could have gone in many directions, e.g. a trial/lawsuit from the family or the government for her role in his death, a barrage of press harassment, the anger of her family, etc. Instead, the book gives us an 18 month break from the last one, and its inherent immediate reactions to the death, which also allows the reader time to grieve and want to see Lou move on. So... the plot had room to be widely open, but needed to be connected to the first one -- a mysterious unknown daughter -- while over-played in movies -- isn't so common in books... and I enjoyed watching it unfold.



3. It's witty. Dialogue is on-target. Characters are bold but also complex. The story is consistent. It holds interest. It retains some of the sadness of the first book but brings you to a middle / average level of how you feel about the pain... and leaves you thinking "these people are real." And that's what I enjoy in a book. I don't want to feel harsh and judgmental of character actions, or find myself in love with something perfect that doesn't really exist... yes, literature is often supposed to take you out of reality and into something fantastical where you feel magical... but for me, the very nature of fiction does that -- I enjoy the great sweeping arcs of magic, but when the story is simple and beautiful, it's even better.

Suggestions
I don't believe there should have been a follow-up to Me Before You, and I'm a serial-fictionist... as well as a lexiconnoisseur neologist (apparently, I make up words like serial-fictionist). The first one was so good as a stand-alone, I don't want to compare anything to it with the same story and author being involved. Perhaps if I just picked up After You, I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much without knowing what happened to Lou in Book 1. Book 2 (After You) is a good story with good writing, but there wasn't anything special about it, hence why I have it a 3. If I hadn't witnessed her struggle in the previous book, it wouldn't have been as powerful in this book to watch her recovery.

Final Thoughts
So... with it getting a 3, and with me not having anything truly remarkable to say about it, I'd recommend it to folks under certain conditions:



1. If you read Me Before You, you should read After You. If you love Louisa and her family, then why wouldn't you want to read another 350 pages about their life... it's like having a friend who lives far away and just happens to be in your town and may never be again for years. It's there... It's a day's read. It's enjoyable. It just isn't the same as it was the first go around. But you still want to know "how is that friend of mine different these days..." - so go see that friend.

2. If you love the author's style, read After You. It's a well-written book and has a few good characters you will root for.

3. If you can accept the original is the best, and know that you won't always get the same vibe and attraction to its successors, then you probably have an open enough mind to check out what happened in her later years.

But if you are looking for an amazing follow-up with an absolute blockbuster of a story and ending to Lou's life... you will be somewhat disappointed. After You is a slice of what happens to her in a 3 month period set nearly 2 years after the first one ends. It's nice. It's a good read. But you won't walk away with the same level of emotions as you did with Me Before You.

About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.

[ZaRi · Rating 1 out of 5]

یک ادامه بسیار ضعیف برای یک کتاب ضعیف.
کتاب«من پیش از تو» اگر از نظر محتوایی و ساختاری هیچ چیزی نداشت لااقل عنصر کشش در نوشتش خوب بکار گرفته شده بود تا مخاطب را تا پایان همراهی کند اما موقع خواندن این کتاب حس میکردم یک نفر نویسنده را به زور وادار کرده (احتمالن هم آن یک نفر کسی نبوده به جز خود نویسنده همراه با قلقلک های حساب بانکیش پس از فروش من پیش از تو!) ) تا بنشیند و برای کتابش ادامه بنویسد.
خواندن یا نخواندن این کتاب هیچ تاثیری بر زندگی هیچ کس نخواهد داشت. مدتهاست دیگر میدانم زمانی که نام یک کتاب همه جا بر سر زبان ها می افتد و فروشش به طرز عجیب و غریبی بالا می رود نمی تواند چندان پرمایه باشد.باید یپذیریم این روزها ،زردها هستند که می فروشند؛خوب هم می فروشند.

[Tim Null · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, how did Jojo Moyes stumble from a five to a three rating? Her main character, Louisa Clark, orchestrated that fall. Louisa seemed to be incapable of learning any of life's little or big lessons. At the end of the epilogue in Me Before You, Louisa seemed to be in a good place. That book left us with the confidence that Louisa would be able to handle the challenges that faced her.

Apparently, in the time between the first and second books, Louisa had crashed and burned emotionally, but I didn't pick up on this until about chapter six. I wish Moyes had started the After You novel with "Louisa was a wreak"; rather than, "The big man at the end of the bar is sweating." This poor reader needed a helping hand right from the start. On my own, I wasn't successful in making the transition from the first book to the second.

Then, when I met Lily for the first time, I thought, "I'm not ready for this!" Gawd, my daughter was a teenager once. You think I want to live through that again? (If my granddaughter ever starts acting like a teenager, I'll scream, "Daughter, your daughter!")

Now, don't even mention the group! In writing 101 classes, don't they teach new writers that shrinks and therapy groups are B-O-R-I-N-G boring? Gosh, I was so grateful when Louisa fell off the roof. I thought, "Oh, what a relief this is!"

But Louisa lived, and that ended up being a good thing because we met Sam and Donna. Sam not only saved Louisa, he saved the novel.

Later, we were reintroduced to the Clarks and Traynors, and we caught up on what everyone had been doing. This brings me to the best part about this novel; that is, the way family life is presented. In my always less than humble opinion, the Clarks and Traynors are the best literary families since I Remember Mama (John Van Druten; 1944 play, 1948 film, 1949-1957 TV show) and A Raisin In The Sun (Lorraine Hansberry, 1959 Broadway play). I loved watching how the Clarks and Traynors pulled together and pushed apart.

Will had told us that we shouldn't let bad experiences define who we are, and just in the nick of time, Mum Clark remembered Will had also said, "You only have one life." (Damn, I was hoping we got at least one trial run.) Mum Clark added, "...make the most of things. Learn a little. Take the rubber gloves off once in a while." That last bit would make a pretty good needlepoint, don't you think?

On the back cover of After You, Entertainment Weekly is quoted as saying, "After You may not be the sequel you expect, but it's the sequel you needed." (This quote suggests to me that dissatisfaction with this sequel was widespread. Fortunately for me, I was forewarned that there were problems with this sequel, and I was prepared to forge ahead and wade through the troublesome parts.)

I know I don't know much, but I expect that people who read After You as a sequel will give it a lower rating than someone who might accidentally happen to read it as a stand-alone book. (What? You've never given a special book to a special relative?)

Now I'm moving on to Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere. (I've been forewarned that this novel is crawling with babies, so I might be flicking through some of the pages.) I'll also be reading two plays: I Remember Mama and The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window.

The next time I'm in a New York state of mind, I'll read Still Me, the final book in this Jojo Moyes trilogy.

[Suz · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Only cause it can't live up to book number one, nor should it have to.

I was absolutely impressed and delighted with this sequel. As we all know, this was one hard act to follow. Jojo Moyes had not planned to offer a follow up to the perfect Me Before You, but as Lou and Will were so wonderful to read about, we were lucky that she decided to write again for us.

My thoughts are that this does not have to live up to its predecessor, it’s its own story, and I loved it. Lou is unique and wonderful and her continuing journey was a joy to read about. Full of quirk and down to earth characters, I was a happy reader. I love these attributes. Things did fall neatly into place at times throughout, but I was happy this was the case. It was sweet, nice and all things good.

I recommend this continuing tale, it's a lovely story written very well, and I was hooked from start to finish. This lady is a talented author and I’m glad I’ve read a lot of her work - even better that I have lots more waiting for me!

Those who've not read this author should jump on the band wagon quick smart.

[Jln · Rating 2 out of 5]

So disappointing....


Jojo Moyes is one of my top favorite authors, I have loved every book I have read of hers up until this one. Me Before You is in my top five favorite books of all time, I still get emotional just thinking about that story. I wish so much that I could say this novel was a worthy sequel, but to me it just wasn't, not even close. This sequel in my opinion, is the exact reason that kind of perfection just shouldn't be messed with. Me Before You was written as a stand alone, and after reading this one, I honestly feel it should have been left that way. I know that Moyes wrote this story in response to her fans who wanted more of this story that they loved, but that doesn't mean it was a good idea to go there. Me Before You had my all time favorite epilogue, and I can say that re-reading that evoked more emotion from me than this entire sequel did. After You was not only unnecessary, but it felt contrived, and to be honest, I'm sorry that I read it.

On a positive note I am looking forward to the film. I plan to watch it in my own house on dvd after everyone else is in bed, with a box of tissues, a gallon of chocolate ice cream, and maybe some wine.



*sniff* that was my favorite scene from the first book.

Please don't open this unless you want spoilers. Here's my spoilerish emotional outburst, or the rest of my review.



My main issue with the book was that I couldn't stand the Lily story line. Nothing about that felt authentic to me. I felt like it was just a cheesy way to try to keep Will and his family in the story. If you hate that part of the story, it's really hard to like the book because it really takes over. And the fact that it was Lily who was there when she fell? Oh, brother. And holy hell, how many different characters did she need to bring into this? I don't care about Will's father either.

Also, I think I just missed Will. I liked Sam, but I just really didn't feel their connection. This was supposed to be about Louisa's journey after Will, and she wasn't even the focus of the book.



Thanks to the girls from the br, I hope you will like it better than I did! :)

*edit 10/1/15 this is a review written by my friend Maida who so perfectly summed this up.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Maria Clara]

Terminado y, lo siento, pero no lo voy a puntuar. Sinceramente, podría darle cinco estrellas a la historia, pero ¿qué hago con ese final?

[Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora) · Rating 2 out of 5]

“I loved a man who had opened up a world to me but hadn’t loved me enough to stay in it”.

Hay libros y películas que deberían quedarse sólo con su primera parte. Nadie necesitaba La Cenicienta II, ni Pocahontas II... y pasa lo mismo con Después de Ti. Creo que la historia de Will y Louisa debió haberse quedado únicamente con Yo Antes de Ti. Si bien todo lo que sucede en el primer libro es absolutamente devastador y nos deja con ganas de llorar hasta que cambie el final, la historia en sí misma no era depresiva. Sí, era una historia triste, pero en el fondo había luz y comedia y ganas de vivir.

Todo lo contrario sucede en Después de Ti, pues aquí nos encontramos con una historia gris, depresiva y francamente aburrida. Ha pasado un año y medio desde la muerte de Will y, si bien Louisa intentó seguir sus deseos y viajar, la vida real la recibe como un puñetazo en el estómago cada que se despierta. Atrás ha quedado a Louisa alegre, de outfits escandalosos e ideas locas, y ahora sólo tenemos a una sombra de la persona que solía ser. Lou está viviendo sus días en automático, trabajando en un bar de aeropuerto y, además, recuperándose de un extraño accidente que algunas personas califican como un intento de suicidio. En medio de todo eso, Lou va a encontrar una parte perdida del pasado de Will que la va a obligar, de una u otra manera, a volver a interesarse en alguien más e intentar cuidar de esa persona. Todo mientras va a un grupo para manejar el duelo y se da la oportunidad de salir con uno de los paramédicos que le salvó la vida.

Sé que cuando acabé de leer Yo Antes de Ti quedé con muchísimas preguntas sobre el futuro de Louisa o de la familia de Will, pero, honestamente, podría haber vivido sin esta secuela. Cuando empecé a leer el libro y vi cómo Lou ahora era una persona apagada y triste, pensé que estaba bien. Estaba viviendo un proceso de duelo e intentando encontrar la manera de vivir sin una persona que amó como a nadie. Sin embargo, a medida que avanzaba el libro (no digo la trama porque creo que no hubo ninguna que valiera la pena) lo único que sucedía es que Lou seguía estancada. Aparecían un par de personas aquí y allá, pero no me interesaban ni a mí ni a ella.

Una de las grandes "revelaciones" de este libro es la existencia de Lily. No les diré exactamente quién es ella, pues es un spoiler, pero lo que sí les voy a decir es que nunca había leído a un personaje tan desesperante. ¡Es una niñata egoísta, estúpida y aprovechada! Ay, sí, que le han pasado muchas cosas malas en la vida y pobrecita... ¡pues no! Se las ha buscado todas y cada una de ellas a pulso. Me daba muchísima ira ver cómo se aprovechaba de Louisa emocionalmente y la manipulaba para que la aceptara una y otra vez. Ugh, de verdad. Y sí, sé que sobre el final vive algo bastante pesado, pero aún así no logré que me cayera bien ni por medio segundo.

En fin, creo que lo único que medianamente me interesaba era la relación-no-relación de Louisa con el paramédico (¿se llamaba Sam?). Eran los únicos momentos en los que sentía que volvía a resurgir una mínima chispa dentro de Louisa. Pero, de nuevo, todo era muy frustrante porque Lou no podía dejar de pensar en cómo estaba traicionando a Will si se permitía estar feliz en compañía de Sam. Todo era muy difícil. Y Sam... ay, era un encanto. Un chico guapísimo, paciente, atento y tremendamente consciente de lo que el duelo puede hacerle a una persona. Pero, en el fondo, la química que había entre él y Louisa era mínima. Él lo sabía. Ella lo sabía. Todos lo sabíamos. Y es que ¿saben qué? Jojo Moyes debió pensar un interés romántico absolutamente épico si quería que los lectores (y Louisa) superáramos a Will, pero sólo nos dio a un chico adorable que vamos a olvidar tan pronto cerramos el libro.

Lo último que diré es... ¿por qué demonios existe un tercer libro de esta historia? ¿Qué tanto se puede alargar una historia que debió morir con Will en el primer libro?

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars!

***This will contain spoilers for Me Before You, for those who haven't read it yet***

"Sometimes I look at the lives of the people around me and I wonder if we aren't all destined to leave a trail of damage. It's not just your mum and dad who fuck you up. I gazed around me, like someone suddenly handed clear glasses, and I saw that pretty much everyone bore the brutal imprint of love, whether it was lost, whipped away from them, or simply vanished into a grave. Will had done it to all of us, I saw now. He hadn't meant to, but even in simply refusing to live, he had."

This is the sequel to Me Before You. I was pretty nervous going into this. MBY didn't have the cliche happily ever after ending, but after my re-read of it, I ended up liking the way things turned out. I felt good about Lou's future prospects. Enter in this sequel...

It's been 18 months since Louisa lost Will. She spent the first little bit of time traveling around Europe before using her money from Will to buy a flat in London. She is bartending in an airport bar and just basically going through life day by day. She's stopped dressing like her old self and doesn't have much contact with her family. A drunken accident forces Lou to return home to her parents house. She feels like she's right back at square one and some members of the local community won't let her forget the past...to them, she is still that girl who stood aside and did nothing as another willfully ended his life. She is basically in a dark place, internally.

"Now, when I read newspaper stories about the bank teller who had stolen a fortune, the woman who had killed her child, the sibling who had disappeared, I found myself not shuddering in horror, as I might once have, but wondering instead at the part of the story that hadn't made it into print. What i felt with them was a weird kinship. I was tainted. The world around me knew it. Worse, I had started to know it too."

Once she is healed enough to return to London, she goes under the condition that she will attend meetings with the Moving On Support Group ( through which she meets Sam, the paramedic that had a hand in saving her ).Then a very unexpected figure from Will's past, a girl named Lily, comes barging into her life, disrupting her plans and propelling her in a new direction, giving her a new purpose. Lou will learn to deal with a bratty teenager and possibly even learn to open up her heart to love again.

I'll admit, this went in a very different direction than I was expecting. I know firsthand that people deal with grief in many different ways and for varying lengths of time, but I really was very frustrated by Lou for a lot of this book. And Lily...I wanted to just smack her ( though not as much as I wanted to strangle Lily's mom )! Even when the reasons behind her brattiness and behavior were explained, I still wanted to tell her how stupid she had been. I didnt really start to warm up to her character until the last few chapters. So I'm torn...I would've been happy with just Me Before You's ending, assuming that Lou led a big life with a lot of adventures after having her outlook on life changed by her time spent with Will. But I'm happy I read the sequel, which painted a more realistic picture of Lou's life after, how Will's death affected her and the rest of his family as well. I do feel like the ending of After You opened up more questions rather than closure for me, mainly concerning Lou and Sam and their budding relationship...It makes me almost curious if there might even be another book about Louisa Clark in the future. I didn't quite like this as much as MBY, but it was good, had some humorous moments, and had some tender moments too. Would recommend to fans of Me Before You.

[Magdalena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jojo Moyes has written at the beginning of this book that she doesn't want anyone writing a review to spoil what happens in Me Before you, the first book in the series. And, I fully understand that. So that left me with a choice to either write a review that more or less didn't bring up anything that happens in this book that could spoil the first book or spoiler tag the whole review. I have chosen to write a review that doesn't spoil the book.

First of all, do I want to say that you need to read the first book; do not attempt to read this book without having read the first book. Some books are standalone, some aren't.   This one should without a doubt be read after Me Before you.

The book is wonderful. I had no idea about the story before I read the book. No clues about what would happen and that was a real treat not knowing how or if Moyes would be able to write a book as gripping as Me Before You. She has! I had to fight back tears several times when I read this book, and I pride myself on not being a crier. Lou Clark is such a wonderful character and I loved getting to read about her and her family and friends in another book.

I loved this book. It was such a treat to get a sequel to Me Before You. And, I hope for a third book!

I received this copy from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review! Thank you

************************************

Update 3/9 2015: Approved! I'm amazed, not only that I got the book from NetGalley, but also that it only took a day or two to get approved...



--------------------------------------------

Jojo Moyes After You is now on NetGalley



But you can't request the title yet...



So now I have to wait for it to be available to request...

[Giselle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Electronic Advance Reader Copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for review.

There's this version in my head where the actions from the previous book Me Before You is irrelevant. Readers who have read the book know exactly what I'm talking about, that moment in the end where things could have ended differently. Way differently. And then I realized there was going to be a sequel. How would life go on after everything that happened? How would each and every one of the characters move on? I couldn't fully comprehend the need for a sequel, but my friend pushed me to read it, so I ended up requesting it on NetGalley.

I knew from the moment I read the first paragraph I wouldn't stick to reading it for too long. This one would be read quickly and devoured. Hoping that I would be released from the clutches of emotional turmoil Me Before You entailed. I was wrong of course. Jojo just knows how to stick her hands into your heart and wrench it. There's one part where I couldn't bare to read that I literally left my iPad on the table for twenty-four hours because I had to come to grips with what just happened or what was said. It brought up all the emotions that I felt for the characters and I couldn't help but cry. Yep, I knew I wouldn't last long. Moyes delivers a story that will have you nodding your head along and making sure you'll be the cheerleader the characters need. I love her writing. I will forever cherish this book only because I remember feeling all the feels for one particular character. I have to remind myself that Will isn't real, but the thing is, this person could be anyone in my life, and in a little way it could even be me.

Get ready to be brought into a new whirlwind romance, but that doesn't stop there either. There's more family, friendship and obviously a lot of healing needed to be done. This is the story of what happens after someone you love has passed away. Don't say I didn't warn you that it has its twists and turns.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

You never know what will happen, when you fall from a great height.

***Actual rating: 3.5/5 relieving stars.***

I didn't plan on reading this today, or any time soon, but when I suddenly had an entire afternoon in a bookstore, AND this beautiful book happened to be there in front of me...how could I resist? So I quickly skimmed through the entire book and gladly, many parts of the story caught my undivided attention.

Apparently, we followed Louisa Clark's life without Will's company and even after 18 months, she found herself unable to truly live her life to the fullest. For me, a majority of the plot was too dramatic and full of so-so events among the new characters(like Lily and Sam); however, another small part of it reminded me of our beloved Will Traynor and immediately brought back bittersweet, heartfelt emotions to me. That's why I liked this book. Besides, I loved how much stronger, tougher, braver Lou had become and how she eventually learned to let bygone be bygone.

As for the romance, I personally think it was a little bit abrupt. That is, Lou seemed to just trying to distract herself from facing the music so she was simply playing his heart and didn't really mean to take it seriously. Thankfully, both of them plucked up the courage to spill out secrets and deepest thoughts to each other; as a result, a firm relationship was established. By the way, how their love turned from utter excuses to something real moved me a lot because only the kind of love enduring all the hardship and trials would last longer.

All in all, this isn't as disappointing for me as for others, though I do prefer the first book more. Enough said, it's still a highly-recommended series for all of you!
Here's my most favorite, most satisfying part of the book:

Lily was the first to step forward, holding her white helium balloon. She lifted her arm, then as an afterthought, stooped and picked a tiny blue cornflower from one of her pots and tied it carefully to the string. Then she straightened, raised her hand, and, after the smallest hesitation, released the balloon.

I watched as Steven Traynor followed, saw Della's gentle squeeze of his arm as he did so. Camilla released hers, then Fred, Sunil, Georgina, her arm linked with her mother's. My mother, Treena, Dad, blowing his nose noisily into his handkerchief, and Sam. We stood in silence on the roof and watched the balloons sail upward, one by one into the clear blue sky, growing smaller and smaller until they were somewhere infinite, unseen.

I let mine go.

Anecdote
When I found this on the bookshelf, I was too excited to bother seeking a comfy seat in the reading area, so I simply stood in the corner and buried my nose in the book. After what felt like an hour, a pretty foreign girl walked toward me, pointing to the book in my hands and asked me where I found it. Then I took her to the shelf and she was, obviously, more excited than I was when seeing the exact book she was looking for. And guess what? It was Me Before You!!! So I kept telling her how great it was and blah, blah, and she bought it without hesitation. Anyway, I felt extremely good after discussing books with someone in real life and I think we indeed all need some bookish friends anywhere and everywhere. :D

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 1 out of 5]

So let’s talk a second about my newfound dabbling in the world of audiobooks. I have long-since learned the words to every single song in the history of the world and wanted something different for my morning commute instead of this . . . .


(That is 100% the look my husband gives me when I insist on singing too!)

Anywho, please note said commute is still not very long so, at best, I get through one “part” of an audiobook each weekday. Despite having both an e-version as well as a paper version of an advanced reader copy of After You for over two years (Dear Publishers, never give me anything because I truly am the worst), I couldn't bring myself to read it. I knew I had to be far enough removed from Will's death in order to give this a chance. When a combination of me finding out a third book in this series was soon to be released as well as the audio popping up as both available and recommended to me on the library website I figured what the hell - it was probably time to bite the bullet.

I had every intention of giving After You 2 Stars because Jo Jo Moyes obviously has a ginormo set of cajones to even attempt to follow up the perfection of Me Before You. But then ELEVEN FARKING DAYS of listening went by (I know my reading log doesn’t reflect that, but it’s because I’m stupid and forgot to add it) and everything that was magic about the first book was tainted and cheapened and Louisa wasn’t adorable and quirky, but instead insufferable and pretty much a failure at being a grown-up and then Lily (FUCKING LILY!) showed up and I have never wanted to smack the crap out of a child as much as I did her little entitled ass and all of the men were vile and WTF happened Jo Jo – your husband cheat on you or something?!?!?!?! Not all men are awful FFS! Anyway, this was just gross. I am crossing my fingers that this was the “filler” book (although 100,000,000% unnecessary) in Lou’s story so she can get here happily ever after in #3. This one, though????



On a positive note, the narrator (Anna Acton) had the most pleasant voice and I would love to listen to her read again. Just not a big stinking pile of turd like this one.

[Rebecca Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incase you somehow missed the fantastic first book - "Me Before You" - "After You" is the follow up. Just as tear jerking and funny as the first, "After You" catches up with Louisa after the events of the first book. We discover how she's coping without Will to care for, and whether she's doing as he instructed her to do - to just live. It's great to catch up and revisit the Traynors and Lou's mad but loving family, and see how they are all coping in the aftermath of Will's decision, as well as meeting some new characters such as the Moving On Circle.

Jojo Moyes is one of those authors with a special touch, she can make you tear up on one page and have you giggling on the next. I find her similar in style to Marian Keyes, Moyes is just as capable of tackling meaty serious subjects, yet can also look at the little nuances of life and have you laughing out loud. Or if reading in a public place, attempting to cover up your laughs so as not to look like the loon in the room/on the plane/train/coffee shop...

Initially I have to admit i was a little skeptical when I heard there was going to be a follow up to the powerful "Me Before You". I worried any sequel wouldn't live up to the engrossing and moving first book, and was in two minds about bothering to even read it. Sure, there are some "as if" moments where you think that's totally implausible, and it's not quite as hard hitting or emotional as the first book, which was so unique and raw it stayed with me for a while after finishing it. Yet this is still a thoroughly enjoyable read and it works because you want to know how all the characters you got to know in the first book are doing.
All in all a great follow up to the first story and I'm looking forward to the third book "Still Me".