Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
I heard about this book from Sasha from the YouTube channel abookutopia (she's awesome) and saw it was going to be a movie. The trailer just convinced me in a heart beat. It stars Finnick Odair and the Mother of Dragons falling in love. How can I not already love it? Anyway, after my Pandemonium disaster I picked this up and fell in love immediately. It also dealt with a subject I have been quite interested in lately and recently saw a documentary of, so that grasped my attention as well. Slight warning if you haven't read the book: the theme in question is rather 'mature' (we have a beautiful word for this in Dutch but I can't find a satisfying translation). If you're an easily disturbed young person you should really think about whether or not you should give this a go. It's an adult book dealing with an adult matter (the matter does not contain sex if you wondered), so think carefully. I don't know if the theme is considered a spoiler in this book, but in case it is I'll only name it in the spoiler section. I was spoiled for the ending, but it didn't make it any less 'enjoyable' read.
Summary:
Lou Clark is this young woman (girl, really), who has not done a lot of things in her life. When she loses her job she goes to care for a disabled man called Will. He was very adventurous before his accident and his disability has taken away his joy in life. Lou tries her hardest to convince him that even if you're limited, that does not mean you are no longer capable of having a good life.
Rating:
Oh, I really don't know. Is it good? Yes. Is it a favorite? No. So I'd say around 4,35 stars or so.
This book contains series spoilers. Do not proceed unless you desire those spoilers to be in your life and never truly leave you.
For your information, the theme in question here is euthanasia.
Let's first talk about that.
Since the Netherlands is a very liberal country, we here have a system for this, and it's actually not illegal or punishable if you go through the procedure. If you're so sick you are going to die anyway, they use painkillers to speed up the process, which I don't mind, as long as the patient gave permission in a legal and acceptable way. BUT Will was not dying. Still, in the Netherlands, he could have had a place to go, namely de Levenseindekliniek (translation: Life-ending clinic). They deal with complex cases of euthanasia, like with people with extreme OCD or Alzheimer or disabilities. (I am not going into whether or not I approve of this organization.) There was this documentary about them a while ago and I watched it with my mom. (You can probably watch it online, but it's very serious and occasionally shocking stuff. The link is at the bottom of the review.) My mother and I kept talking about it for another day or two. If you're Dutch and can handle this subject (and a part where they actually film the person dying, which I turned away at), it's interesting background information to the theme of the book.
I like that the book, although not taking a stand on for or against, does acknowledge the subject and talks about it.
The romance is my only little nitpick. I didn't buy it completely. I bought that she loved him, but not the other way around or not completely. I don't know. I'm sure he loved her but I don't feel he said as much.
I knew he was going to die because I was spoiled (stupid sequel synopsis and my inability to look away fast enough), but I knew from the moment they told her he wouldn't last. With some decisions, you just can't convince a person to change their view. And what she was doing was only temporary. She wouldn't have been able to make his life fun forever and he would still be locked in that chair at all times. It was hopeless from the very start. And this book showed that so beautifully.
Another favorite aspect of this book for me is not just the whole disability deal, but also that our lovers are (a.) different ages and (b.) coming from two completely different social-economical layers of society. He's a former businessman that used to claim companies like the one her father works at. He's traveled and seen the world and she can barely go to college. He lives in a grand mansion, she lives with her sister's illegitimate child and grandpa in a house with not enough rooms.
Before we get into the nasty parts, let's start with the cheerful announcement that I learned so many trivial facts about the life of quadriplegic patients and wheelchair people in general!
The crying was ugly. Not just my Mockingjay tears rolling down my cheek. No, real Fault in Our Stars bawling and sobbing. Only with tFiOS, I had tissues. It was 23:00, in my bed, and I had no tissues in the entire room.
Right before bedtime I had reached the beach scene, and somehow I thought it might be better to continue in my room. I was so right.
So I started crying when his mom fainted, kept at it until the dinner, then calmed down. By then my blankets were already filled with tears and, let's admit it, snot. Then she told everything and her father hugged her, which set me off again. The journalists made it that much worse and Lou's mom telling her she couldn't come back gave me a boost to the sob level of Allegiant. Then she went to talk to the internet dude in the hotel and I was more wail than a human being. And their goodbye was just so touching and moving and at that point I was fearing dehydration and drowning in my own snotty tears. And of course, then we get a letter because we ALWAYS GET A LETTER and I just wanted the pain to end. By the time I finished, my sheets were a good 60% fluid and my pillow an impressionable 35%. My TBR challenge demanded a book that made me cry, which is now fixed. The conclusion to this somewhat revolting narrative is that the room of a reader should at all times be equipped with tissues. Or paper towels. Or emergency blankets.
I don't feel like this book's reviews are complete without crying people GIFs, so I will add those in for fun.
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| I was searching for the one that matches mine and I think Emma Watson does a pretty good job. |
- De levenseindekliniek
- abookutopia
- The song I listened to at the sad part: All We Do by Oh Wonder
- More information about ethanasia for those who want to learn more.
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