Name: Nona G's review of JANUARY 2017 BOOK CLUB by Jojo Moyes
Item: JANUARY 2017 BOOK CLUB
Rating: 2
Author: Nona G

Jojo Moyes

Taking a job as an assistant to extreme sports enthusiast Will, who is wheelchair bound after a motorcycle accident, Louisa struggles with her employer's acerbic moods and learns of his shocking plans before demonstrating to him that life is still worth living.

JANUARY 2017 BOOK CLUB

Me Before You

anne

They bore the hollow look of someone who was always a few steps removed from the world around him. Sometimes I wondered if it was a defense mechanism, whether the only way to cope with his life was to pretend it wasn't him it was happening to.

lucy sherlow gray 

look clark if you’re going to wear a dress like that you have to wear it with confidence 

only you will traynor could tell a woman how to wear a bloody dress 

grief swamped me. it overwhelmed me and tore at my heart and my stomach and my head and it pulled my under 

Charlotte 

It was only when we brought Will back home, once the annexe was adapted and ready, that I could see a point in making it beautiful again. I needed to give my son something to look at. I needed to tell him, silently, that things might change, grow or fail, but that life did go on.

"You know, you don't dress like someone from round here. I quite look foward to seeing what insane combination you're going to turn up in next." 

I still didn't know whether it made me feel happy or sad - or something a bit complicated in between. 

"He says you're trying to poison him. But he said it - you know - in a good way." 

I had been watching the female television presenter and wondering what my hair would look like dyed the same colour.

Becky

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane. Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time. Praise for Jojo Moyes- 'What a wonderful, thoughtful and moving book. I was riveted all the way through. Absolutely loved it.' Sophie Kinsella 'The Last Letter from Your Lovermanages to be a both gorgeously romantic and partner-ignoringly compulsive read' Independent on Sunday 'This poignant novel will make your heart flutter.' Heat 'A small-life-big-dreams weepie that'll have you snivelling ecstatically into your cocoa.' Daily Mail

Anna

Nona G

I beautiful love story of two people who never suspected they’d meet. 

Siri 

Very sweet. Louisa is a lovable character with believable trauma and seemingly normal reactions to things (I assume because I’ve never been in her position). I love her quirkiness and Will’s sarcasm- very nicely set against each other. 

Kristen Savage

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

Julie Twist

I couldn't put this down once I'd started it. It's the story of a man who is a quadraplegic after a road accident, and a girl who is employed, by his parents, to be his companion on a six month contract. I will say no more, other than - read it.

Taking a job as an assistant to extreme sports enthusiast Will, who is wheelchair bound after a motorcycle accident, Louisa struggles with her employer's acerbic moods and learns of his shocking plans before demonstrating to him that life is still worth living. By the author of The Last Letter from Your Lover.

Megan Parrott

There's a lot of unwarranted hype surrounding this book. Louisa and Will's relationship is far-fetched and insulting — I can't look past the whole Girl Needs a Man to Realize Her Dreams ploy. I'm not really convinced by any of the people in Lou's life, quite frankly. Why does she have to support her entire family so her sister can pursue her dreams? Nonetheless, I will most likely read the second book. I'm a finisher.

feeling like i am somewhat made worse after reading this and will of course beeline straight to the movie. sam claflin emilia clarke i kind of need to see how this plays out. also they are very british and it shows. 

karina

USA Today's top 100 books to read while stuck at home social distancing From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Giver of Stars, discover the love story that captured over 20 million hearts in Me Before You, After You, and Still Me. They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . . Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is. Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living. A Love Story for this generation and perfect for fans of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common—a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?

A Novel

Kaitlin Simpson

Great Read

This is a great book. Honestly the romance aspect of the story is a bit lackluster, but this story’s take on the ethics of assisted suicide is very powerful. I did not expect the story to go the way it did. It’s well down, and it’s a great philosophical read.

Monicap

Whoo. Okay.

So, a while ago, around when the movie came out, a friend of mine on Facebook posted an article about the movie/book. The article said something along the lines of "this is an ableist story because it's about an able bodies man who becomes disabled and decides his life isn't worth living anymore."

Like, okay, sure, fair plot description, but if that's the point you take away from the book (or the movie, IMO) I think you're missing a lot of nuance.

Vicky  Nuñez 

It wasn't what I expected. It wasn't as romantic or as sad as I thought it would be.
I blame watching the trailer before reading it.

Aparna

Me before you : A must read book 

I borrowed the book from the library,started reading it after dinner yesterday and finished it well into the midnight.I have never cried after reading the book,the way JoJo Moyes expresses love between a working woman and a quadriplegic living in a mansion.I found this story to be a constant effort needed to bring the character back to the path after being pushed off course.After Erich Sehgal's Love Story this holds a definite place in the Romance genre.
So I came across the movie adaptation of Me before you directed by a debutante (a bold decision) starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claffin. I saw it this morning and just loved it. I vouch for the book.💖

Inspirational words from this book ,
 "Push yourself,
 Don't settle,
 Just Live well" 

#favoritenovel #favoritemovie

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane. Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time. Praise for Jojo Moyes: 'What a wonderful, thoughtful and moving book. I was riveted all the way through. Absolutely loved it.' Sophie Kinsella 'Destined to be the novel that friends press upon each other. More than any other, Lou and Will are a couple who readers will take to their hearts as they did One Day's Emma and Dex. A novel that demands an afternoon on the sofa with a fistful of tissues.'Independent on Sunday 'A triumph. Packs such an emotional punch, you'll need a box of tissues.' Elle 'Magical and heartbreaking. Waterproof mascara essential.' Marie Claire

Annalissa Powner 

Hands down one of the sweetest and saddest love stories I have ever read. Maybe I cried more than I would have due to the fact I'm 6 months pregnant lol but even that aside it was truly touching. Finding a love that is so pure yet so intense is what everyone should strive to find.

Cole Stoots

chloe rae

I don't believe I have ever been so emotionally effected by a novel before. This book made me sob. This book tore my heart out. The last two chapters I had blurry vision and snot running down my face. I've cried at books before but never like this. This book was a whole new experience.
Honestly, I started out not really enjoying this story. I found the characters ok, and the situation different but nothing was really holding my attention. There's so much hype around this book and I kept thinking "Oh, great. I'm not going to like this." But I kept reading and suddenly, without me even really noticing, I got invested. COMPLETELY invested. It became harder and harder to put the book down and it was consuming. I knew how it was going to end (I think most people do) but I had to read for myself.
The way Jojo just effortlessly weaved this story together with such amazingly real and different characters is incredible. This is one of the best love stories I've ever read. And it makes you think about so many different things.
What a love story. GO READ THIS.

Maui S.

Deepika Ramesh

Although I thought this could have been a lot deeper, I still liked it. 

And, will I be judged if I confess that the trailer seems better than the book? :)

http://worncorners.com/2016/02/11/me-...

Kristy Donasco

** spoiler alert **
           One of my favorite books under romance.

I can see a bit of Will's reasoning behind his decision. I've been sick before and it sucks. It affects not only your physical but mental as well. That constant pain, and constant worry of what comes next wears a person down. My sickness wasn't even in any percent of what a man like him who ended up as a quadriplegic would feel. It only feels remotely better again when one shows signs of recovery or the doctor says "great news!" But there will never be no great news for Will. He was only getting worse.

But still, I hurt for Louisa so bad. How draining and anxiety-inducing were those six months? She was stronger and way persevering than she'll ever give herself credit.

My mind sometimes drift to what ifs. What if they met when Will didn't get the accident, or if somehow recovered? or.. and then I stop myself because I feel like they wouldn't have loved as fiercely and be so connectedly entertwined if they didn't meet at such circumstance and at such timing. As Will had said, he was "an arse" back then. And Louisa have always closed herself to feel safe after her traumatic experience at the maze. Their lives, albeit being almost neighbors their entire lives, were continents apart.

But so long as I've read their enigmatic chemistry, I will always be on that tightrope between What ifs and what already happened.

I just want to see them both in Paris... 

My score is around 4 to 4.5 just because sometimes, Jojo Moyes's writing can be too much. This is regards with how she describes so many things in between dialogues. I don't know... I just feel like that bit could've been more polished.

Till we meet again, Louisa Clark. And Will Traynor, I know you are now at peace.

l ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

** spoiler alert **
           oh my god i don’t even know where to start.

i honestly didn’t like 85% of the book. i liked the parts when will and clark went on outings and when they were happy, but i didn’t enjoy the other parts. i felt as if a lot of the characters & their issues were literally just there to fill space … conversations and entire chapters about things that didn’t really matter. me before you is about will + clark, but i actually felt like i didn’t get enough of them. i wanted more of them together. the author did give us chapters that were in other character povs, but i think it would’ve been nice to have one in wills point of view. i want to know what he thought while he was with clark, what he thought about the situation with his parents, just more about his feelings. 2.5 stars because, like i said, i didn’t enjoy most of it!

although i didn’t love most of the book, the last 60ish pages were perfect. it was an awfully sad ending but i honestly wouldn’t change a thing. i knew that will was going to die before i started reading but i still hoped that something would magically change … the part where clark confessed her love made me cry so hard. will’s reaction was heartbreaking. he was so soft & gentle with clark after all that happened and it just made me even more sad when he died. the epilogue made me smile and cry too. will made sure he’d take care of clark and that he’d be with her even after his death :,)

maddie

debre

fiona

i don’t know why but i didn’t cry. i was really into it for a while and was addicted to reading it, but idk i just wasn’t so emotionally connected to anyone ?

Patricia Nelson

Loved this book. Had me from the minute I picked it up.

Barbara Williford

Well written and captivating book. It will definitely try your emotions. Will Traymor was an energetic, successful businessman, thrill seeking and live life to the fullest until a tragic accident leaves him a quadriplegic. Loui said a small town girl content with her uneventful, small town life. She she works for him as a caregiver, both of their lives change dramatically.

Trigger warnings: some language, suicide and rape.

Alissa Maloney

What an emotional rollercoaster. ♡ I can definitely see this being a book that stays with me for awhile. The feels, the journey, the growth... just 🙌🙌🙌

Briar's Reviews

** spoiler alert **
           Me Before You was another The Fault In Our Stars for me - a fantastic, fast read that is an incredible tear jerker.

This book touches on an important issue - those who wish to die due to horrible circumstances. This isn't your typical suicide, this is a planned, medical condition suicide - and shows the steps people take to go through with this medical evident and those who want to stop them.

It is a powerful book that moved me. I cried, I laughed and then I cried again!

Jojo Meyes knows how to pull at your heart strings - she makes you fall in love with incredibly well written characters and then rips your heart to shreds. Now that's a talent.

Were there issues with this book? Perhaps. I didn't see any potential problems other than the ending (I always love a romantic happy ending) but that isn't a problem that effects the book. It simply affected me emotionally.

Overall, it's an incredible book! Five out of five stars, I would give it more if I could. There's a sequel, but I don't know how I feel about that without one of the main characters that I fell in love with. But, I have no doubt Jojo will do a spectacular job! She has convinced me to pick up all her other books with her fantastic writing in this one.

I wouldn't have bought this book had I not found it in an antiquary for a very very low price, because this kind of romance is just not my type. I enjoy a romantic novel from time to time, but tear jerking, cringe-worthy "Notebook"-esque novels are very far from what I normally prefer. (And I admit, I'm a little bit judgemental, but I call this style "books for frustrated housewives".)

I had, of course, seen the movie, in one of those weird phases I get from time to time when I watch bad romances because I need to cry. And this is one of those few, very few times I can say that the movie was better than the book. I don't know if it's because of the cast, but the novel just didn't bring me the same emotion that the movie has.

I am not going to talk about my views on the subject. I do not judge a book based on whether I agree with the characters' decisions or not. I'm also not religious so I really don't have an opinion other than each one of us should have the right to make their own decisions, even if selfish. 

But I am going to say that I profoundly disliked the characters for the way they were written. I found no depth, no consistency. I had hoped to see a little bit of character evolution, at least when it came to Lou, but that didn't really happen. Her story lacks credibility. She's just a girl who does absolutely nothing for herself until a handsome rich man comes along to save her. Movie Lou was a more interesting, colourful character and I wonder if that is not Emilia Clark's doing, because, let's be honest, the character only enhances Cinderella stereotypes. Is the writer for sure a woman?

It's a very bland book, especially in the beginning. The first few chapters are slow and grey, nothing happens and there's very little character development. It moves a little bit faster and it becomes more interesting once Lou finds out Will's secret, but not much more so. I partly blame the movie, because I already knew the development of the plot, but it is also the writer's fault in being unable to convey emotion in a consistent way. There's maybe one page in this whole book that made me feel something, and that is just bad, given the subject that is tackled here. I should have been in a roller-coaster of emotions.

And the writing... the writing is just bad. There's no flow. No intelligent prose. The phrases are something a teenager could write. I think I read "I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding" at least 3 times. that's how unimaginative it is.

Maybe I had higher expectations that I should have, given the fact that this novel does not pretend to be more than a beach read... But come on, it tackles a deep subject from an interesting perspective, so shouldn't it be a little bit more... philosophical?

You know what the worse part is? I'm the kind of woman who hates to leave things unfinished, so I will try to go through the second novel as well. Tough I am already annoyed at the perspective.

(view spoiler)[
  L.E. As it turns out, I have reconsidered. I cannot not judge Will. He is an immature asshole. He reminds me of an old boyfriend I had that was always depressed because after a certain age he could no longer do the things he did in his early 20s. The message this book sends is that, once your body cannot handle the drinking, the partying and the throwing yourself off buildings, you should just hide under a rock and die.
 (hide spoiler)]

Nona G &
JANUARY 2017 BOOK CLUB by Jojo Moyes

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Nona G &JANUARY 2017 BOOK CLUB by Jojo Moyes

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Nona G &
JANUARY 2017 BOOK CLUB by Jojo Moyes