“There are 158 footsteps between the bus stop and home, but it can stretch to 180 if you aren’t in a hurry, like maybe if you’re wearing platform shoes.”

From Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You.

When Louisa “Lou” Clark’s café job is terminated, she is forced to look for employment in fields she never would’ve imagined. Mainly for the good money and short contract, she takes a job as a caregiver and companion for a paraplegic man named Will Traynor. Will is mean, sarcastic, and rude which pushes Lou towards quitting but when her father looses his job, she is forced to stay and work with Will. A few weeks into her six month contract, she hears Will’s parents discussing Will’s plans to end his life at the end of the contract. Horrified, Lou devise a plan to show will life is worth living even as a paraplegic; this plan includes trips, concerts, and all sorts of experiences to prove that life isn’t over. The more time Lou spends with Will, the more she relaxed she feels around him which leads to genuine conversation. While learning more about the man Will Traynor was before and realizing the woman Will knows she can be, Louisa and Will begin to discover romantic feelings for each other. Louisa knows that she only has a few weeks to change Will’s mind before it’s too late, but with various sicknesses and set-backs, will it be enough time for her to tell Will how she truly feels about him?

The story is solid, funny, and quick moving; Will and Louisa’s quick back-and-forth interactions are fun and endearing to read. Moyes moves the story along quickly, and it is easy to feel the emotions that Lou feels that as she interacts with Will. There are a handful of chapters that are written from other character’s perspectives; these are a bit choppy conspired to Louisa’s narration of the rest of the story. What starts out as a realistic love story does turn into a display of Will’s selfishness. If you want to have a satisfying and romantic end, stop reading when Will and Louisa go talk on the beach the last night of their vacation; the entire tone of the entire story changes at the point. The movie adaptation is a good introduction to the story (with many parts of the script coming straight from the book) if you’re on the fence about reading the book. Me Before You is a captivating read that will tug on your heart and emotions; pick it up, if given the chance.