After You: Book Review by Dinh.
Summary:
The conclusion of the first book Me Before You (2012), left a very sad and very emotional ending with the death of Will Traynor.
After You follows Louisa Clark’s life as she struggles to cope with the aftermath of his death.
We find Louisa living in a flat in London, a year and a half after Will’s death. She bought the flat with the money Will had left her.
Louisa works as a barmaid at the Shamrock and Clover, an airport pub.
In a drunken state one night, Louisa falls off the flat’s terrace roof and is taken care to the hospital by a very capable paramedic, Sam Fielding.
Returning to home to her family in Stortfold to recover, Louisa feels like she is where she started.
In trying to jump start her life again Louisa joins Moving On, a support group. Here Louisa see Sam again picking up a kid she assumes is his son from the group.
Louisa’s plans for her future is put on hold as a 16 year old girl named Lily turns up at her doorstep revealing a secret.
Review:
After reading the stellar book Me Before You, the sequel After You, by Jojo Moyes was a letdown.
How does one continue with the story of Louisa Clark’s life with the same amount of emotional intensity?
Me Before You was an emotional ride that made you laugh and cry, and a page turner with a great ending. After You lacked all these elements that you love in the first book.
Whilst I do like the breezy way Moyes writes, I found that the story line should have focused more on Louisa than the side characters, and their side stories, that didn’t work.
Take for example, Louisa’s mum who became interested in feminism. It was uncharacteristic and didn’t make her character believable. Louisa’s parents from Me Before You were what you expected them to be – traditional working class, and in the sequel their story just veered off and didn’t make sense.
And what’s up with the character Lily?
I’m not sure whether adding Lily, a young girl that is part of Will’s past, should have been in the book. It took the book a completely different direction from what I had imagine. Instead of Louisa moving forward with her life, she was moving backwards by sorting out Will’s past history.
I was expecting Louisa to be in her new world as Will envisioned.
“Live boldly. Push yourself. Don’t settle. Just live well. Just live.”
She was not living the happily ever after that Will envisioned.
And don’t get me started on Sam Fielding, the new love interest!
How do you go from Will to Sam? Though Moyes inclusion of Sam bought some love interest that gave the story a plot, I was disappointed that it was not a strong kind of love that move you. Sam, on one level seem well fitted to Louisa; a capable ambulance medic who understood Louisa and liked her for who she was.
Louisa liked Sam but not enough to stay with him.
So Will leaves Louisa in the first book, and now, Louisa is leaving Sam in the second book. I predict the next book will be the happy ending that we are looking for her.
Perhaps the trilogy’s focus will be when love is enough…
Let’s focus on the the good points!
What I did enjoy was the depiction of Louisa’s heartache since losing Will. After You, tackled the hard subject of death, and bought forth the theme of death and its aftermath, for the remaining people.
We all deal with the aftermath of death differently. For Louisa, she traveled to Paris as Will had wanted her to do. She then came back to England and didn’t know what she was going to do. She was in limbo and still trying to recover from the loss of Will.
Moyes portrayal of Louisa being lost after the death of Will was realistic and understandable. Louisa is the complete opposite of what she was like in Me Before You and this made it realistic.
My Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed reading the sequel After You. Although it was not as good as the first book Me Before You, I would still recommend Jojo Moyes fans to read it because I was interested in what happened to the girl we loved in the first book.
After You follows the life of Louisa after Will’s death. Although the story line did not compel me, the book’s ending was a set up for book three. Will Louisa fall in love again?
Get a copy of After You book. Or listen to it for free with an Amazon Audible trial.
If you haven’t read the first book, check out my review review of Me Before You!
Did you read Me Before You or After You? Let me know if you enjoyed Jojo Moyes’ books.
One of the best romantic books I’ve read in a while!
Hi James!
I am glad you enjoyed After You.
I don’t usually read that many romance books but it’s nice to find a good one. 🙂
It’s a shame this novel couldn’t be as good of a continuation to the series as you wanted it to be. It sounds like it kind of went off on a tangent, really focusing on the secondary characters and developing them, though at times it made them seem unrealistic in doing so. But I guess it’s good that you could see some of the after effects of book one, nonetheless.
Hi Olivia!
Don’t you find that the sequel is not always as good as the first book? It was enjoyable but didn’t have all the things I liked about the first book. Someone had mention it was a rebound book and I think it was that. Hopefully, when the third book comes out Louisa will find love that is meant to be.
Thanks for stopping by!
I love romance books but if I know it’s going to be a sad book I just can’t read it. I tend to cry for hours if I become invested in the characters and something sad happens to them.
I am not a big fan of rebound books myself or the books like I love you but not enough for me to stay type books. I enjoy the romance novels where the characters fight to stay together more than the ones that let the other go so easily.
Great review. I enjoyed it.
Hi Michelle!
After You is a bit of a rebound book as Louisa doesn’t like Sam enough to stay with him but goes for the job.
I love books that make me feel some sort of emotion, whether it is sad or happy. I cried a lot in the first book Me Before You. It’s a real tear-jerker and the ending is not a happy one.
I like romance books where the character fight to stay together too. I like slow build up as well so we know the character well.
Thanks for stopping by!
I have been searching for another good book to read and your review popped up the the perfect time! This sounds like a great read and I would love to try it!
Hi Emma!
I would definitely recommend starting off with the first book Me Before You and then with After You.
I am glad it piqued your interest and sounds like something you would enjoy. Moyes is a good writer and I like her no fuss easy to read books.
Thanks for your comments and for stopping by!
What? Will Traynor dies? Nothing squeezes the heart of readers like a death of a beloved character. Don’t worry, you didn’t spoil it for me. *wink* Do you know how much time passed between Will’s death and Sam’s introduction? I’m all about second chances and finding love, but this sounds like a rebound book? 😀 Great review Dinh! I think if I read this, I’d only read the first book and not the whole series.
Hi Lonna!
The book is set about 18 months after Will’s death.
Louisa has done some traveling and then settled in London. Meeting Sam is somewhere after that 18 months.
I do agree with you that it’s a rebound book!
I think you’ll prefer the first book Me Before You. It’s so much better. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
Dinh, I always look forward to your book reviews. I sometimes feel like you are the author. Lovely review and it sounds like another book to read. I am expecting her to fall in love again, but, will she? Maybe what she had before was too good to repeat? Is there a movie for the second book?
Hi Josephine!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I think what Louisa had with Will was lovely and very hard to beat. But love was not enough for Will though. Hopefully Louisa will find a happy ending somewhere in the next book!
I am not sure whether there’s a movie of the sequel book, but Me Before You was such a big hit at the movies I wouldn’t doubt that they’ll make book 2!
Reading this review makes me want to start on the first book Me Before You. I thought that the title sounded familiar so I googled it. And it confirmed my thoughts. Now I’m interested to watch the movie too!
Death is such a sad topic to write and read about. I hope Louise will find love again in the third book as I love happy endings.
Hi Yvonne!
Thanks for your comments.
Death is a sad thing to write about and especially in a romance. I cried quite a bit in Me Before You.
I think After You is like a filler before the next book.
I hope Louisa finds love in the next book too! 🙂
I’ve never heard of this author, but it sounds like something I’d enjoy – I’ll have to check out ‘Me Before You’. The fact that Will dies at the end reminded me of another series of books I’ve read – have you read “The Friday Night Knitting Club” by Kate Jacobs? It’s centered around a group of women who meet at the owner’s knitting shop each Friday for a knitting session, focusing on their relationships and struggles. It’s also part of a series, but the first book was by far the best.
Hi Teresa!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 🙂
Moyes has a nice breezy style of writing which I really enjoy. She reminds me of an English version of Liane Moriarty.
I think you should check out Me Before You as it was a really enjoyable book to read. I find the first book in most series to be usually the best.Book number two has so much expectation that it usually fails to deliver.
I haven’t read The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs but have been recommended that one by Arlene. It’s on my TBR list.
Thanks for stopping by!
Very interesting review and I really am intrigued to read the book Me Before You and not After You!
Hi Uwais!
Thanks for your comments.
Me Before You was a big hit- they even made a movie out of it so if you don’t want to read the book you can watch the movie and see if it’s something that you may want to read. It was a heartbreaking book
After You does not have the same caliber as the first book. All the good things that you liked in the first book went away and everything was water-downed.
I would definitely say to check out Me Before You if you feel like a good laugh and cry!
Thanks for stopping by!
I am a book lover from way back and always enjoy a good trilogy but I simply can’t read a book where one of the main characters dies. I am just too soft-hearted to inflict pain on myself deliberately. It sounds like a real good read, pity I already know he dies. Glad to be spared the pain of that one! All in all, this is an excellent review of the book even though it left you wanting. Really enjoyed reading your words…
Hi Billie!
It’s a bummer when the one of the main character dies which is what happened in the first book. The sequel After You is quite depressing too as it follows the life of Louisa after Will’s death.
Perhaps when Moyes write the next book she will give Louisa a happy ending that we are all waiting for!
Thanks for your compliment and please do stop by again!
Hi Dinh, I love your reviews. The book “After You” seems to be very interesting. I will go grab a copy for myself. Thank you for your great review of the book.
Jed
Hi Jed!
I would recommend you to read Me Before You first. It’s a better book and it’s the first one.
Thanks for stopping by!
I guess this book ”After You” must be an interesting book even though you cut my reading short and hanging where you say, ”Lily a 16-year-old girl turn up on her doorstep with a secret”. So, why didn’t you continue with the story? Ok, I will have to go grab me one that book.
But really, the story line was so good and intriguing that I think Louisa Clark and Sam will eventually wind up together. Well, that’s what I think, they usually do.
Thanks for the intro anyway…
Hi Nnamdi!
Thanks for your comments.
After You was interesting enough to read as I wanted to know what happened to Lou after Will died in the first book.
It wasn’t as good as Me Before You which was heartbreaking and sad. The ‘secret’ doesn’t turn out to be that much of a surprise and it’s not the direction I would have gone with, but it did bring back some characters such as the Traynors, which was nice.
I think you may be right about Lou and Sam… Maybe in the third book Moyes will somehow get them together. It would be nice to see Lou fall in love again and be the person we love in the first book.
Thanks for stopping by!