Review: After You by Jojo Moyes

It's been eighteen months since Will's death, ending years of suffering.  Understandably, Louisa (Lou) Clarke is still reeling from the loss of Will. The six months she spent with him may have seemed short to others, but those short months forever altered Lou.  Will helped and encouraged her to transform into a new person, with a strong sense of self and a heightened self-esteem.  Unfortunately, Lou is struggling to maintain that life. She's moved into her own flat, boxed up all the "Will clothes" and is participating in a support group.  Will would roll over in his grave if he saw her now, a mere shell of the person she was with him.

In a moment of grief, Lou climbs to the roof of her flat, taking in the fresh air and breeze around her. Suddenly in a few brief seconds, everything changes. Her life is sent into a new direction, one in which she is forced to love again, to take risks she never contemplated taking. Life does exist beyond grief...it just might take a little more effort.

You’ll note that I’m irritatingly vague in my summary of this book. I do it with good reason, for even hinting at what is to transpire will take away from the reading experience.

While I was thrilled when I heard there was to be a follow-up to Me Before You, I was also hesitant and, quite honestly, terrified.  I absolutely loved that book, having read it now an additional two times since the original release.  Several weeks ago I held its sequel in my hand, terrified to take the step and reunite myself with Lou. Trusting Moyes and her talent, I accepted the challenge….and finished it in one sitting.  I actually had to step away and not think about it for quite some time. My problem, I was comparing it to Me Before You. That was mistake.  For, in creating Me Before You, Moyes elicited in me a reaction that cannot be replicated. Yes, it was just a book, but it evoked such strong emotions that, honestly, I didn’t know if I could handle it again.  Yes, yes, I loved the book.  Yet it is wise to have such a strong emotion duplicated? Doesn’t it lessen the impact and the power of the first book.

This would have been a completely different review had I written it immediately following my read. My expectations were so high. I wanted those exact same feelings again. I was angry that I didn’t.  Yet, as I simmered on the book, gauging it against no others, I saw the beauty that it contained.  It is exactly how I wanted Lou’s life to be (by the end, of course, not all the drama she had to deal with to get there!).  I likened my experience in reading the book to Lou’s own experience in the book: Had the book (or in Lou’s case, her life) been handed out on a silver platter, all perfect and decorated with glitter and ribbons, it wouldn’t have been appreciated. As they say, the effort is in the journey, not the destination.  My journey, with Lou, was a painstaking one.  Yet ultimately, completely and immeasurably rewarding. Highly, highly recommended.