Waiting on Wednesday: After You

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine in which we spotlight upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating!

After You

Me Before You #2

by Jojo Moyes

Expected Publication Date: September 29, 2015

Synopsis from Goodreads

I haven’t participated in this meme for awhile, and I probably won’t be a regular here, but I came across this interview with Jojo Moyes that I want to share.

The first thing to know about After You is that it is a sequel to Me Before You. If you haven’t read it yet, you MUST go do that now! I haven’t read After You yet, but I’m pretty sure it is not going to work as a stand-alone. Even if it does, you will not want to skip Me Before You. You can read my review here.

Here is the interview with Jojo Moyes. It does NOT contain spoilers, so feel free to watch.

And here is the synopsis from Goodreads. It does appear to have, if not spoilers, at least some things I’d rather not know until I come across them in the book. I’ve only skimmed it, but I’m including it for those who are on the fence about reading it.

How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living?

Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is struggling without him. When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started.

Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future. . . .

For Lou Clark, life after Will Traynor means learning to fall in love again, with all the risks that brings. But here Jojo Moyes gives us two families, as real as our own, whose joys and sorrows will touch you deeply, and where both changes and surprises await.

After You is quintessential Jojo Moyes—a novel that will make you laugh, cry, and rejoice at being back in the world she creates. Here she does what few novelists can do—revisits beloved characters and takes them to places neither they nor we ever expected.

Review: Me Before You

Me Before You

by Jojo Moyes

Why did you choose this book? This was a book club selection

When did you read this book? April 2015

Who should read this book? readers who enjoy having their heart ripped out

Source: library ebook

Here is a synopsis of Me Before You from Goodreads

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

My Review

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Jojo Moyes and been meaning to pick her up for awhile now, but just hadn’t gotten around to it. So I was happy when Me Before You was chosen as a selection for our book club. Happy….but leary. See, I thought Jojo Moyes was one of those authors that wrote light, happy reads with not much discussion value. Boy, was I wrong!

I’ve put off writing this review, because I don’t even know how to begin reviewing it without spoiling it! There is so much to discuss, and the ending will have you thinking, and talking about this book, for days if not weeks! This is a GREAT selection for book clubs!

Louise Clark is an unconventional young women who has lost her job and is scrambling to find a new one quickly, as her family needs her money to survive. She reluctantly takes a job as a caregiver for a quadriplegic. Will Traynor is a wealthy young man, a successful businessman and an adventurer, who has been recently paralyzed in an accident and has very limited movement; he can move his neck and has limited movement in his hands. This leaves him surly and bitter.

To say anything beyond that really risks giving away some important parts of the story. In fact, I recommend you avoid ALL reviews until you have finished this book, as it will have the greatest impact if you do not know where it is going. But it is well worth reading, and once you are finished, you are going to want to talk about it and read the reviews to see how others felt! My only complaint about the book is that I really, really wanted to know how it ended, and felt like I was rushing through the book because I NEEDED to know the whole story to know! LOL! Definitely read this one! You’ll be glad you did!

I highly recommend this one as a book club selection. There are review questions at the end of the book. And read it soon....there is a sequel coming out in the fall!

My Rating:  ★★★★1/2      4-1/2 Stars