Review: After You by JoJo Moyes

Let's talk about a really good book, okay? 

And you know what's better than a really good book? TWO really good books. 

There aren't that many great sequels in books. It's a lucky of draw, just like movies. 

A couple years ago, I sat crying my eyes out while reading Me Before You by JoJo Moyes, After that, I obsessively read her others, The Last Letter from Your Lover, One Plus One and The Girl You Left Behind 

I LOVED Me Before You. It was such a compassionate, non-traditional love story. I love the stories where you don't think love is even possible but then suddenly, it's there, right in front of the character and you're as happy for them as you would be if you yourself had just found the love of your life. 

After You was a little bit a curve ball, especially after the page turner of its precursor. I hated finding Louisa Clark so sad and broken at the start of the book, but I don't know why I expected any less. (I won't put any spoilers in this so you can read Me Before You, but I'll just say that you shouldn't expect flowers and sunshine right away.)

Louisa isn't fighting to be happy. She's being a bump on a log, as my mom used to say to me when I was pouting. She's just getting by. Gloomy. She's no longer the quirky girl with the interesting wardrobe. She's just sad. So it took a while for me to get into After You, but I am glad I stuck around because there's a curve ball that made things quite interesting. 

What would you do if life was asking you to keep holding on to something in your past? What if the one thing you were holding on to made it impossible for you to move on? 

I think Louisa is an interesting character because she's alive, but she's got this dead soul, and slowly, during After You, it starts stirring and slowly, you see her come back again. She was such an interesting character at the beginning of Me Before You. She's a very transitional character. It was such a relief to see her come back again in the sequel. 

Anyway, I feel like I am rambling but here's the deal. If you've read Me Before You and loved it, you'll need After Me to tie up the loose ends and check in on Louisa, because there's no way you didn't fall in love with her. If you haven't read it, then go ahead and tackle it, because it's just one of those love stories you need to read. 

Happy Reading!