“Me Before You,” prose that will make you cry

For all you sappy romance lovers like myself, I’ve got a book (or a movie) for you.

“Me Before You” comes to local theaters today, after it arrived on the shelves of many bookstores in January 2012. The romance novel was published in England and is written by Jojo Moyes. Since then, the story has been picked up Warner Bros. and made into a motion picture that includes some of my favorite actors and actresses.

Emilia Clarke – you may know her from “Game of Thrones” – plays Louisa “Lou” Clark,  a quirky young lady living in Stortfold, England, who recently lost her job. Sam Claflin, who played Finn in “The Hunger Games,” also stars in the film, as a quadriplegic who employs Louisa.

After seeing trailers for the movie, I decided I couldn’t possibly wait to know the plot behind “Me Before You.” I picked up the book and three days later had to drive all the way to Barnes & Noble for the sequel. Spoiler alert: The second book is called “After You.”

After he tries to commit suicide Will Traynor’s parents hire Louisa to a) keep him company and cheer him up, and b) keep him from having any more accidents like before. Louisa struggles with comforting Will as she attempts to make him see why life is worth living. The two find their way around Stortfold, to London and even on a vacation off to tropical islands.

During all of this, Louisa also struggles with her family and boyfriend. If you’ve ever had a younger sibling who shows you up at everything, you can relate to Louisa. Katrina plays the part of both annoying younger sister and best friend in the novel. Louisa’s entire family struggles with money and lives in a small house together. Patrick, for a good part of the novel, plays the part of Louise’s boyfriend – but as this is a romance novel, we all can guess with certainty that Louisa falls for Will and dumps Patrick.

Moyes does a miraculous job switching the point of view, from chapter to chapter. Always in first person writing, Moyes writes mostly from Louisa’s view but also those of Will, Katrina, and other family members. These additional viewpoints give the story more depth, as you can find out what makes each character tick.

Emilia Clarke plays a chatty eccentric character, who wears the strangest outfit ensembles. Her character inspires readers and viewers to wear something crazy or change up their style. Claflin’s character, though a quadriplegic for most of the film, inspires the readers to go out and try new and adventurous things as he pushes Louisa to do more with her life.

I personally couldn’t stop reading this novel, finding myself still up at 3 a.m. before finally getting to my homework. I’m interested to see how the story fares as a film. As for the prelude/teaser chapter for the sequel at the end of the first book – it will drive you crazy.

You can find the novel “Me Before You” at Barnes & Noble or on Amazon, and the movie will start playing at all Regal Cinemas today.

Advocate Staff