Me Before You (Me Before You, #1) in Chicks On Lit

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Me Before You (Me Before You, #1)

Jojo Moyes

Start date: April 1, 2017

Finish date: April 30, 2017

Discussion: Archive 08-19 GR Discussions

Why we're reading this: Our April 2017 Group Read. Discussion leader will be Kasey.
[close] Our April 2017 Group Read. Discussion leader will be Kasey.

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Archive 08-19 GR Discussions

Surprise Me Chapters 3-6
By Renee · 19 posts · 14 views

last updated Oct 01, 2018 07:47AM

Surprise Me Chapters 1-3 with spoilers.
By Renee · 14 posts · 25 views

last updated Aug 13, 2018 07:47AM

What Members Thought

Jul 23, 2013 Viola rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Me Before You opens with a high-powered lawyer emerging from bed after a night with a presumably beautiful woman. We don鈥檛 know whether he is a playboy, but he certainly displays the airs of one. He quickly attaches himself to his Blackberry and departs. Next thing you know, he is hit by a car. Just like that, a life can completely change.

This is a story of a hopeless quadriplegic and a determined caregiver. It鈥檚 a story that contemplates life. What does it mean to live. What does it mean to die Me Before You opens with a high-powered lawyer emerging from bed after a night with a presumably beautiful woman. We don鈥檛 know whether he is a playboy, but he certainly displays the airs of one. He quickly attaches himself to his Blackberry and departs. Next thing you know, he is hit by a car. Just like that, a life can completely change.

This is a story of a hopeless quadriplegic and a determined caregiver. It鈥檚 a story that contemplates life. What does it mean to live. What does it mean to die. What makes life worth living and what, if anything, makes life not worth living.

Within the safe confines of a fictional world, the author tackles a controversial topic and does an excellent job with it. Fiction is the perfect medium to tackle controversial topics. It offers the opportunity to air differences of opinion and explore opposing points of view. Fiction to make you think without having to confront such a devastating situation in real life. And yet, as safe of a medium as fiction is, it takes a brave author to write what Jojo Moyes has written. I applaud her for it.

The main drawback of the novel is that the language is rather plain and straightforward. All in all, mediocre. This is definitely no Man Booker award contender. And so, the plain writing made me initially think that I wasn't going to like the book.

But despite the plain English, the characters are well-drawn, the relationships are compelling, the dialogue convincing, and above all, the storyline is completely engrossing. It's the sort of book that you just can't put down. The sort of book that you continue thinking about long after you've stopped reading.

A minor drawback worth mentioning is the author鈥檚 strange choice to stray from the predominant point of view for a few random chapters. Interspersed throughout the novel are random chapters told from the point of view of other minor characters. They are distracting, weird, and completely out of place. They add nothing to the story and the author is not sufficiently skilled to make the voices distinct. They might have been a good experiment during the writing process, but should have been dropped in the editing phase.

All in all, highly recommended. A gripping, emotional, and thought-provoking read.
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Jan 01, 2013 Melissa Rochelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, read-2013, teary-eyed

I'm not really sure how to describe this book...It's a bit of a love story, a bit of one of those Picoult-ish ethical issue books. It's a lot of great.

Our protagonist is Louisa Clark -- she's just lost her job and instead of pole dancing, she decides to take the option of caregiver. Her new daily companion, Will, isn't the most pleasant of men, but he has his reasons for not being excited about his life.

One of my favorite parts of reading this book were the occasional breaks we got from Louisa' ...more

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Oct 05, 2013 Noel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: lit-and-fiction, audiobook, 2013

鈥淗ey Clark', he said.'Tell me something good'. I stared out of the window at the bright-blue Swiss sky and I told him a story of two people. Two people who shouldn't have met, and who didn't like each other much when they did, but who found they were the only two people in the world who could possibly have understood each other. And I told him of the adventures they had, the places they had gone, and the things I had seen that I had never expected to. I conjured for him electric skies and irides ...more

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Jul 22, 2013 Lisa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A powerful book, I was feeling many emotions while reading it. You may need Kleenex....

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Apr 01, 2013 Christi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-reads

I did really like this book. I just didn't have a lot of tears at the end like most people because I figured out where the ending was going much earlier in the book so I guess I was prepared.

Wonderfully written. I highly recommend it.

Reread this book in 2019 as an audiobook. Still enjoyed it very much. ...more

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