Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Jos olisit tässä

I really wanted to give jojo moyes a try. I didn’t really like the first book and when I flew through the first 40 pages of the second book I was so relieved that I could finally accommodate to her writing style but after that I just couldn’t get into it again. so I kind of had to slightly force myself through the book. I mean it deals with really serious topics that were portrayed in a manner that I perceived as respectable. the this book really dove into detail what the ending of the first book does with Louisa because it would be too good to be true for her to just live on. it was innovative and I enjoyed that Lily and Sam were introduced into the storyline. the book is pretty okay I guess, I would’ve liked it more if the writing would be different but ig im just not a Fan of jojo moyes.

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binreads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I haven’t read Me Before You in YEARS, although I do watch the movie constantly. One of my favorite films, and in my head Lou will forever be Emilia Clarke to me.

I have had this book with me for quite a while. It has lived on my shelf for years, been with me throughout 3 different moves…possibly because I did not think this could be better than the first. I recall rushing to read the first book then passing it onto my mom before the movie dropped. And as Will would say, their story has been scored on my heart.

It was difficult for me to imagine what happens after. I feel like most of us would agree that Me Before You is a hard story to top.

That being said. I did enjoy this. It was very sad, seeing Lou go through the aftermath of Will’s passing. I did feel like it was all over the place, kinda like Louisa was. I’m not sure still how I feel about it. But, I am intrigued to see what happens next with Lou in Still Me and all the new people in her life.

I just don’t know how I feel about Lily. Like of course he has this mysterious daughter he never knew.

And the whole photos situation and the older creep…it felt very out of place and rushed???

Sam is alright but again, rushed to me. I don’t know how hopeful I am for their relationship in the next one. That was crazy though realizing she wasn’t good enough for Will to stay alive and fight but Sam believes she is. I don’t think that’s anything against Will though, mans was set on his decision before Lou was even a thought.

Oh and Lou’s father is sooooo annoying, I don’t remember him being this bad in the first book??

Because the movie is my fave, I do only picture the actors as the characters in my head, it’s cute though. Definitely want to re-read Me Before You eventually.

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hematthews's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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foxtheawesome's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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sairro10's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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renbren's review against another edition

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dark hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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alexandrasramblingreviews's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

‘After You’ takes place after the events if ‘Me Before You’, with Louisa still coming to terms with the death of Will, falling in love again and dealing with a surprise from Will’s past.

While I liked the aspects of the book, showing the process of trying to overcome the death of loved one, due to how much happens in the book I feel like it took a backseat and was not explored fully. I did enjoy the characters at grief counselling, I feel like they brought a lot of different perspectives of how people come to terms with the loss of a loved one. I also do enjoy Jojo Moyes writing style, it’s very easily digestible.

There are so many plots in this book, that I feel like it has no real plot. The plot goes like this – Louisa falls off roof, Will has a surprise child, Louisa tries to navigate a new relationship, revenge porn, creepy older guy blackmails a child, attempted sexual assault, gang/drug war, new job offer across the Atlantic and a side plot of a SAHM for years getting fed up and wanting to do something for herself for once and her husband being a misogynistic ass. As you can see A LOT happens.

I feel like this book tried to do too much, which had things quickly wrap up rather than a proper exploration of any topics it introduced. In ‘Me Before You’ I felt like the main plotline was pretty streamlined – Louisa needs a job and gets hired to look after Will, a quadriplegic, she finds out he wants to end his life through assisted suicide, tries to get him to change his mind, they fall in love but in the end his wishes are respected and both Will and Louisa grow as characters by the end. In ‘After You’ it was plotline after plotline after plotline and it hindered my enjoyment of the book.

This book also suffered from a plotline I don’t particularly enjoy and that is the surprise grown child no-one knew existed. Honestly, even though Lily is just 16 some of her behaviour made me less sympathetic towards her at times. She smokes and drinks in Louisa’s house even though she is asked not to, it’s like she feels like Louisa owes her something simply because she dated Will (even though Will himself never even knew of Lily), she’s pretty rude to her grandparents, she judges girls for having career ambitions while also like boys which just confuses me and acts pretty forceful in trying to get Louisa up on the roof even though she knows Louisa fell off the roof and nearly lost her life. This is not to say that I didn’t feel sorry for her, she has an incredibly toxic homelife and is being blackmailed with revenge porn (and by 2 different people, and one a much older man), so I can understand some of her behaviour, I just feel that she doesn’t really grow as a character.

A character who I didn’t particularly like in the first book, I REALLY didn’t like in this book and that is Trina. In my notes I have “she’s a judgmental little asshole” and I can’t find a more perfect way to describe her. She is so judgmental towards Louisa throughout this book but what annoyed me the most is when Louisa temporarily moves back home after a serious accident, she’s not even back a week before Trina is telling Louisa she needs to sort her life out and not rely on their mum and dad, however, Trina is the one who still lives at home and relies on her mother providing free child care so she can get and education and a job, her condescension and hypocrisy towards Louisa just made her a completely unlikeable character to me and she never grows and instead I feel like is rewarded. An incredibly frustrating character who I feel like I’m supposed to like but has no redeeming qualities.

The dad, who I remember liking in the first book, is a misogynistic ass in this book, which disappointed me and while it was rectified by the end, just like all the other plot branches, it feels superficial.

There are scenes of attempted sexual assault and 2 counts of blackmail with revenge porn that I felt was just thrown in the book and not dealt with properly. The way this plotline was dealt with was like something you’d see in the later seasons of ‘One Tree Hill’ and then never spoken of or dealt with again. It felt like it was added for the sake of more ‘drama’ and it wasn’t needed.

I liked Sam and Louisa and the time we got to spend with the grief group I enjoyed. I went into this book expecting to see Louisa trying to come to terms with the events of the first book and moving on and considering I liked these aspects of the book, if they were allowed to be the main plot and fleshed out properly, I believe I would’ve enjoyed this book. Instead, it tried to do too much and ended up not doing anything at all.

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