Review: After You (by Jojo Moyes)

My Rating:  3 stars

I had actually read this book more than a year ago, not too long after reading the first book Me Before You, however I had put off writing a review for it because of several reasons, the main one being that I was seething mad that this sequel even existed.  I enjoyed Me Before You immensely and even though at the time I read that book, I may not have been as emotionally invested in it overall as other readers were, I still felt that there was a “specialness” to Lou and Will’s story that was uniquely and irreplaceably theirs.  Despite the controversial ending, that book worked perfectly fine as a stand-alone novel and I finished the book feeling that there was enough closure for this to be a memorable read that was not overdone.  But then I found out that there was a sequel and despite my misgivings due to a general disdain for sequels/spinoffs/follow-ups that involve the same characters and story, I decided to go ahead and read After You anyway – once again, my curiosity got the better of me.  My very first reaction after finishing the sequel was that I wanted to throw the book against the wall (yes, I was that upset) – the only thing that prevented me from doing so was the fact that I had bought a paperback copy of the book at the airport (I was coming home from a business trip) and seeing that it cost way more than I should’ve had to pay for it, I didn’t want to ruin the physical book itself.  To me, the entire story in After You was totally unnecessary and it frustrated me the direction that Moyes decided to take the sequel, introducing characters that I felt did nothing to enhance the original story.  In fact, I felt like the way things went down in the sequel actually eroded some of that “specialness” that had made the first book so good and memorable.  Also, there were too many times throughout the book where I felt like the story was being dragged out unnecessarily and I actually started to lose patience.  Worst of all though, this sequel ended up tainting my memory of all the characters from the original story -- by the end, I was so irritated and annoyed with Lou that it was hard for me imagine her as being the same “special” person she was in the first book.  If After You had been a completely separate story, a stand-alone that had nothing to do with Me Before You, I think I might have been able to overlook some of the things that frustrated me about the story (i.e. some of the plot points that were a bit far-fetched) and maybe, just maybe, even like the book. But I guess it was not meant to be….

So then, since I obviously didn’t like the sequel much and procrastinated on writing this review because of it, why did I decide more than a year later to finally put my thoughts to paper?  Well, I just found out (and very shockingly so) that Moyes will be coming out with a THIRD book to this series (the third book is titled Still Me and is scheduled for publication in January 2018).  Of course, my first reaction to this news was – REALLY??? ANOTHER SEQUEL???  Do we really need a continuation to this story?  Part of me wants to steer clear from the third book because seeing how my reaction was to the second book, I’m pretty sure this go around is going to be the same (reading the summary for the third book didn’t help things either) and I’m not keen on the idea of putting myself through all that frustration again. BUT of course, once again, my curiosity got the better of me, plus the fact that I’m already so “invested” in this franchise from reading the first 2 books, I feel like it’s impossible at this point not to read the third book too.  I’m not sure what to expect (in a way, I don’t WANT to expect anything) but I’m going to try to keep an open mind and hope for the best….

(Read in August 2016)

Review: Me Before You (by Jojo Moyes)

My Rating: 4 stars 

I actually read this book last summer during some down time I had while waiting for my flight at the airport. I will admit that amongst all the choices of books at the airport bookstore, I chose to read this primarily out of curiosity, as I had heard about the "hype" surrounding this book (especially the debate over the topic of assisted suicide, which plays a key role in the story) and wanted to see for myself what the commotion was about. Surprisingly, this actually ended up being an enjoyable read for me – a book I finished in one sitting because I just couldn't bear to put it down. While the story itself is not unique and the writing not particularly profound, I couldn't help being drawn into the main character Louisa Clark's supposedly "ordinary" world and seeing how her life changes after she meets Will Traynor. To be honest, neither Louisa nor Will were particularly likable characters (though in the case of Will, there really wasn't much character development at all outside of the surface-level stuff) and more often than not, I actually disagreed with the viewpoints and actions of both characters – yet somehow I found myself "rooting" for both of them and hoping that things would turn out well for them in the end. It's hard to explain and there is no rhyme or reason for it….simply put, that's just the way I felt by the time I got to the end of the book.

In terms of the writing, one of the things that I felt the author Jojo Moyes did a relatively good job with in this book is striking the right balance between lighthearted humor and the seriousness of some of the characters' situations. There were funny moments that made me smile and serious moments that got me teary-eyed, but both were appropriately balanced without going overboard in my opinion. True, there were inconsistencies with the writing and some parts of the plot weren't very logical (for example – the often-mentioned part about how Louisa could become Will's caretaker given her obvious lack of basic qualifications), but overall, the story still worked, which I guess is the most important selling point of the book.

As for the "debate" concerning the ending and the type of message it supposedly sends – well, for me at least, it was a moot point, since I didn't take this book that seriously to begin with. From the moment I started reading, I approached this book as a "casual read" to kill time and never expected to get anything profound out of it – by the time I reached the end of the book, my sentiments were still the same. Taking the story purely by itself (stripped of all moral debate and personal feelings), I actually felt the ending made sense given the events that led up to it. With that said, if the book had been written differently – like perhaps telling the story from Will's perspective rather than Louisa's and making his inner struggle between the life he had before versus after the accident be the primary focus – my opinion would definitely be different.

Overall, I would categorize this book as a worthwhile read with a good story, decent writing (with some of the dialogue being quite memorable), and somewhat relatable though not necessarily realistic characters. Regardless of its flaws, I still enjoyed the book and don't mind reading it again in the future.

(Read in August 2016)