See this review in its natural environment, Dani Reviews Things.

This is not chick-lit. This isn't fluffy contemporary. This is an incredibly important book on an incredibly important topic. Moyes has crafted a moving story about two people from different worlds who have to spend a lot of time together. I started out listening to the audiobook version and then was so swept up in the story that I needed to buy the Kindle version just so I could read it faster. Will, Lou and all the other characters were so incredibly well-written that I had a hard time letting go at the end. (It's a good thing the sequel came out recently!)

I don't really know what I was expecting going into this. I started off simply wanting an audiobook that fit my Sad September theme, and the reviews said tears were almost guaranteed. What I found was a book so powerful that I had to

A quick note on the narration: the audiobook I listened to was narrated by a host of people to match the different viewpoints in the book. While most of the chapters are told from Louisa's perspective, a few key ones are thrown in from other people here and there. In fact, the first one is from Will's, detailing the moments leading up to his accident. The voice actor almost put me off the whole thing, since he was a little weird... However, as soon as the actress voicing Lou came in, I was a lot happier. I don't really know what the rest of the narrators are like, since I didn't have the patience to only listen to the story in the car or on the exercise bike; I just had to get the Kindle companion and read full steam ahead!



This was almost like a Beauty and the Beast tale. Lou, in her twenties, living at home with her working-class family, recently let go from her job in a cafe, reluctantly takes a job working for the wealthy Traynor family. Will, once a successful businessman with a large life skiing and skydiving, now sits miserably at home in a wheelchair, relying on others for everything. He truly is a beast to her at first, but Will soon begins to introduce her to new experiences, like foreign films and symphonies. In return, Lou tries to help him see a life beyond the confines of his wheelchair, his curse.

Lou was so much fun! She's just a wacky, real person. She's not particularly special in any way, and she hasn't done much with her life (but there's a reason for that). She's stumbled into this job because she can't stomach another stint working in a chicken factory. Then there's the boyfriend that she no longer has anything in common with, now that he's become a fitness snob. To top it all off, she's a crazy dresser, with colours and patterns galore. Sounds like my kind of girl! I definitely felt like I could relate to her, especially as she becomes more and more embroiled in Will's life.

Will – I connected with him, too. I know I can't say that I know what he went through, but with my degree in occupational therapy (having done placements in hospitals for both mental illness and people forever bound to wheelchairs), plus my own mental health issues, I could definitely relate to him on some level. Despite what he was feeling, Will was so funny, in a dark and dry way (which I love, FYI).

Moyes definitely did her research into the life and mindsets of people with spinal cord injuries, letting the reader learn along with Lou and really showing what life is like for people and their carers (especially if they have money!). There was even mention of assistive technology and accessibility, which made me feel quite pleased, since that was my area of focus for my final year presentation at university.

Oh, and as a bonus, they even sort of mentioned my university. YES. :D

'It's in some college at Oxford. Not even the ex-poly. The actual "dreaming spires" Oxford.'

Me Before You is an important novel because it tackles a "hot topic" of today. In essence,

Spoiler

the book is about Will's desire to die with dignity – assisted suicide

. Will had made his decision before the start of the main story, and everyone else had different ideas on the matter, and on each other's ideas on the matter. The story showed how it was not just Will's life that was impacted by his accident; his family had to come to terms with a lot, adjusting to his new state, bouncing off each other, dealing with the opinions of everyone else not directly connected. Lou, upon learning about Will, makes it her mission to show Will all the things he can still enjoy in his life, with varying levels of success. In the end, it boiled down to Will making his own choice, having that control over his life that he'd lost in the accident.

I would have to fill those little white rectangles with a lifetime of things that could generate happiness, contentment, satisfaction or pleasure. I would have to fill them with every good experience I could summon up for a man whose powerless arms and legs meant he could no longer make them happen by himself.

And, OH MY GOD GUYS, they're making a movie adaptation of Me Before You with none other than SAM CLAFLIN. Gorgey gorge gorge.


Photo credit: Dave Hogan/Getty Images Europe

But not to take away from the power of this story. I loved the characters, the activities, the revelations... I even thought the ending was perfect! (Well, not what I wanted, but what it should be.) It was amazing and powerful and definitely sob-worthy!