JOJO MOYES’ “ME BEFORE YOU”: SO MUCH MORE THAN A (BORING) ROMANCE

RATING GUIDE:

 

6 – Life-Affirming and Life-Changing!

5 – A keeper!   

4 – Very good

3 –  Passable

2 –  I’d rather read a telephone book

1 – An absolute bomb.  Read at your own risk!

0 – Nothing will compensate for what I lost reading this book 

It’s a shame that Jojo Moyes “Me Before You” is marketed as a romance, for that makes it appear as if it’s just one of those Boy Meets Girl stories that we’ve grown so used to reading about.  The truth is, “Me Before You” is so much more than your garden variety (read:  boring) romance.  It’s an extraordinary tale of love and friendship that also explores the complex and controversial issues of human dignity and the right to die.

“Me Before You” is the story of Lou, a young woman with a lot of potential … the problem is, she’s stuck.  She suddenly loses her job at the beloved café she works for, just when everyone in her family needs her to be the breadwinner.  Lou hasn’t graduated from college yet, and her prospects of finding a decent job appear dim.  She’s definitely on the road to nowhere.  Out of desperation, Lou takes on a job as a caregiver of sorts for a thirty-something man named Will Traynor.  Unlike Lou, Will has led a very rich, BIG life.  He had the kind of life every man would envy --- he had the looks, the wealth, the power, the prestige, the hotshot career, the gorgeous girlfriend … until an accident turned him into a bitter, depressed quadriplegic.  

Lou’s new role as caregiver is off to a rocky start, for Will proves to be a sarcastic bully; but as time passes, Lou and Will develop a friendship.  Then comes the startling truth about the nature of Lou’s job.  She wasn’t really hired to be Will’s caregiver. She was hired to try to convince Will not to take his own life at the end of six months.

Like I said, “Me Before You” is wrongfully marketed as a romance.  It really isn’t a book about “kilig” moments (even though there are a few sweet moments here and there).  It’s not something to cry about, however, for Moyes gifts her readers with characters who are so well-thought of, they seem to be real, like people you might actually know.  None of them are stereotypically good or bad.  All of them are people you might not necessarily like, but definitely people you can relate to and maybe sympathize with. 

“Me Before You” is a highly moving and thought-provoking book that stays with you long after you’ve turned the last page.  In my experience, it raised a lot of questions about many things --- about love and sacrifice (What are you willing to give up for love?  Can you compromise your own principles for love?), about what defines a well-lived life (Is it living large but living mainly for yourself, or living an ordinary life in service of others?), about the dignity of human life (What do you consider to be a dignified existence?  Can you be dignified even if your health is failing?), and of man’s rights (Is it really one’s right to take one’s own life?).  

RATING:  5 1/2