Live Well after You

After reading Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, provoked by all the thoughts posted on Douban(A platform from China) about this book, I also want to write down some thinking of mine.

Louise was a girl overshadowed by her sister, Treena, who had a child, and then her child was several years old. I have to admit, under that situation, a newborn baby could bring a lot of trouble, whether the financial or the mental, especially towards a young woman who afterward did not get married to the man.

However, Treena looked more mature and was always the person who accompanied Lou when she needed her sister the most. Nonetheless, I have to be picky that Treena, by the privilege of being a mother, took the comfortable room from Lou, which made her always groan about her room being too small, and then Treena went to a university without considering the cost that she could not afford by herself. Treena, to some extent, manifested a little rebellious and irresponsible character that Lou, on the contrary, seemed a lot meeker to do what others said to her.

Lou was not too young, and she had worked in a café for the last six years. I think she was more like a sheep than most of us, as you can imagine, for who on earth can work as a server for six years without any complaint by living a mundane, even a little boring life like that?

She lost…… lost in the life seemed satisfied to her.

And then Will appeared, as a quadriplegic who was hit by a motor on the highway, he seemed pessimistic and held no hope towards the rest of his life, but it happened that Lou bumped into him as if she could have changed his attitude.

Without a doubt, Will was gradually becoming fond of Lou, who worked in his house as a caregiver. Under the lukewarm relationship with her boyfriend, Patrick, Lou suddenly found out she already fell in love with Will even though Will did not treat her very well initially and sometimes threw a tantrum afterward.

Will, the antagonist who was doomed to commit suicide, was not affected by the true heart of love that Lou gave to him. At the ending of this story, Lou was so terrified and desperate to accept that all she had done for Will in the last six months, trying to prevent him from dying, was in vain.

In my opinion, the choice of Will was reasonable, and I deeply understand him as a pitiable man. As to Lou, I think the six months in her life was the most invaluable and precious time for her, and without Will’s help to try to get her out of her comfort zone, to try new things, her life definitely, would not be changed too much.

I was genuinely touched by reading the scene in which Lou came back from water diving and was franticly excited about why she had not done it earlier because I was that person before who did not successfully dive underwater due to the fear. I want to try in the future with the courage given by the depiction of the author.

Even though this was a sad romantic story, and even a little not upbeat towards some readers, I still think it is an extremely fantastic story with several voices and wonderful depiction.

Thank you, Jojo Moyes, for bringing such a beautiful book to us!