Me Before You

It turns out there are some definite upsides to being sick. Example: lots of reading time. Lots of Netflix time too, but let's not get into that.

I've been sick a lot lately. Nothing serious, it just seems like this is going to be one of those years. I don't know about you, but I feel like my susceptibility to viruses comes in waves. One year it feels like I catch every. single. cold. that goes around. And then I'll have 3 or 4 good years where I hardly get sick at all. This year is shaping up to be a sick year. So I have that to look forward to.

Because of feeling like crap, I took Monday and Tuesday off work this week and mostly stayed in bed, reading. Word to the wise? Me Before You is so not a book to read when you have a cold. You're already all mucus-y and when the tears start to fall? It's just disgusting. I learned this the hard way. You're welcome.

Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes is one of those books I resisted for a long time. It's been all over my Instagram feed as a must-read, OMG, this book changed my life, seriously you guys - you have to read it, overly hyped up book. I have this perverse tendency to shy away from hype. So every time I'd see an artfully arranged copy of the book, posed with a fern or some river rocks or whatever, I'd roll my eyes and scroll past. After all, some of the people recommending this book liked Twilight, so... yeah.

Somewhere along the way though, I started to get curious. And then I stumbled across the movie trailer and that was it:

I can't tell you how embarrassed I am that it took a movie trailer to get me interested, but there it is. 

Over the weekend, I picked a copy up at my local Half Price Books and proceeded to devour it. It's been a long time since I've been so totally absorbed by a book. I was almost glad to be sick because it meant that I didn't have to have such long gaps between bouts of reading.

Me Before You is the story of Lou Clark and Will Traynor. Lou's a bit of a mess. She's newly employed and directionless when she gets a job as Will's caregiver. Will is a quadriplegic who has given up on life and is waiting to die. Lou brightens Will's world and Will introduces Lou to the possibility of more. And then it's over and I'm a sobbing mess. 

If you liked The Fault in Our Stars or Bridge To Terabithia or My Sister's Keeper or any other book that made you ugly cry, you'll love this one. I loved it so much I gave it one of my rare 5-star reviews. 

Now, on to the sequel!