Books which made me cry - part 1 of 3 Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

This is the first in a sporadic series (apparently I’m all about sporadically it seems, thanks to Clueless) of posts about books which made me cry. Not just the odd tear, I mean, proper tears streaming down the face, have to put the book to one side, sobbing. Just so that’s clear with everyone.

From the back cover Me Before You, Jojo Moyes
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.

When I read out the back cover blurb to some friends, they all nodded and said how predictable it would be, how they could it all coming miles off. And if that was how it ended, I would have been perfectly satisfied with some well written romance escapism.

But it is actually so much more than that, so much more satisfying than that.

It wasn’t a traditional romance between the two main characters, it was more clever than that. It was about them teaching each other new things about themselves: the girl, to try new things, to stretch herself, to not always go for the safe option; and the man to not just give up and  to give life a go, to try to recapture some of his spirit of adventure he had before the accident.

As the ending approached, I still hoped it would all end happily, like a fairy tale, ever the hopeful optimist me. However, as I yomped through the final few chapters, I gradually realised it may not end happily after all. It was like the first time I watched Steel Magnolias and couldn’t believe what happened to Julia Roberts. I mean, it’s Julia Roberts, you can’t do that to her!

The ending was far from a classic happily ever after, but it was so much more satisfying, more challenging, and emotional than what my friends or I predicted. The ending was realistic, contemporary and difficult, and for that, it was a much better book over all.

Surely that’s all we ever want to do when writing, to connect with readers, to make the reader care about the characters. Jo Jo Moyes certainly did that with me, as I soaked the pages about two fictional characters she’d created, and I think for a writer that’s as good as it gets.

One of my beta readers for Best Friends Perfect told me it made her cry, and I just couldn’t believe it! It sounds odd, but I was pleased it had affected her. Even if you write something which makes people angry, you’ve still affected the reader and that’s pretty powerful.  

What books have you read which have made you cry (remembering my definition of a proper cry)? Or are you one of those people who, no matter how hard they try, just can’t cry? I’d love to hear about your experiences.

Until next time

Liam xx