Me Before You by Jojo Moyes | Review

Piafhodihf aurhefea. Someone give me another box of tissues and some chocolate because this book. Guys, pick this up.

I'm having trouble putting this review into actual, comprehensible words because when I think about this book I think in unintelligible sentences and sounds (see above). I was going to give this book 4 stars, but then I sat on it and read the bit at the end where Jojo Moyes talks about why she wrote the book the way she did. Then I understood, and I couldn't not give it five stars because even though it wasn't the most enjoyable book until 120 pages in, it was masterfully so.

Let me explain: for the first 120 pages, I completely hated basically every single character save Will Traynor and Nathan. Louisa was horrible, her boyfriend was worse, and her entire family is dependent on her. (Also, she's like 26 and still lives at home, and she was basically everything that I never want to be.) Louisa was ignorant and slightly rude and boring. She's never done anything, and she's never gone anywhere. However, Moyes uses that later in the story (aka the point when I am forever in tears) and it's absolutely beautiful.

So, to everyone who says that has started this book (or is thinking about reading this book), I have a few things to tell you. Cue the list!

It's okay to hate Louisa at the beginning because I did too.
Also, it's okay to hate everyone in this book (except Nathan) because Moyes created people trying to deal with this horrible situation, and she created real people, selfish people, people that just want what they think is best.
Get to chapter 12. If you're not totally feeling the book before then (mainly because of the characters) then read through chapter 12. If you don't like it past that point, I give you permission to give up.
Get tissues and chocolate. (I know I said this earlier, but it's very important so do it.)
You will want the movie as soon as you finish reading it. (It doesn't come out until next summer, and we still don't have a trailer. Cue more tears.)
It's not all tears. There are so many happy, cute moments throughout the book. Will is actually hilarious at points and will make you want to put down the book just so that you can laugh out loud for a little while.
This is a book I will carry with me (emotionally) for a very, very long time. ("You are scored on my heart...")

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (Me Before You #1)
Published: 1 January 2012 by Penguin Books
Format - Pages: Paperback - 369
Source: Target
Genre: Adult Fiction, Romance
Goodreads - My Goodreads Rating
Buy it! - Amazon, Kindle, Barnes and Noble

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has never been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair-bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

A love story for this generation, Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common—a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?

Have you read this book? I need people to talk about it with! Tell me your thoughts (keep it spoiler-free) in the comments if you've read it (or are interested in reading it!) so we can chat!