Me Before You Will Wreck Your Soul

There are many different ways to judge art. It is subjective, after all. I find that the way I know if I have enjoyed a piece of art is if it evokes emotion. My goal with my art is inspiring empathy, and so I gravitate toward books that will make me feel for these completely made-up people. And if I decide that that is how I choose my book ratings, then this is an obvious five stars because I have never cried more reading a book in my life (and I didn't cry reading The Fault in Our Stars). However, I have some criticism, so I'm bumping it down to 4.

In this novel, we follow Louisa Clark, a young woman from a poor family in a small town in England. The cafe where she worked had just closed and she now had to look for a new job to support her family. Without any prior experience, she is miraculously given a six-month, high-paying job as caretaker to a quadriplegic man, Will Traynor. Will, who used to be an adventurous businessman, is very unhappy with his life in the wheelchair, completely dependent on other people. Lou quickly discovers that she had been hired for six months because Will plans on ending his life in six months. She decides to make it her mission to show Will why his life is worth living.

Since we all went into reading this knowing it would be a romance book (I mean, look at the cover), it came to no one's surprise that love blooms between the two, in an opposites-attract manner. This was the first book that I have read that I would classify under slow-burn romance because it takes a good 260ish pages for there to be any hint of romance. As a romantic myself, I was a little disappointed by how long it took, I wanted more love in there earlier in the book, but I really appreciated the slow burn. I liked how intimate it felt their relationship was. They truly were very close friends when the romance began. This intimacy also helped show just how much pain Will was in and why he would want to make his decision.

Although they did have a very intimate relationship, I was not the biggest fan of the narration. It took me a chapter and a half to get used to it, and once I did, it was fine, just nothing brilliant. Some of the dialogue was good, but I wish there was more. Many times, Jojo Moyes, the author, writes that Lou and Will talked for hours on end. I like that, but could we please see it? I just wanted more showing and less telling. However, something Moyes did very well was keeping the book unpredictable. I kept getting surprised by the plot, especially towards the end.

I have heard a lot of criticism about the characters being annoying, and for the most part, I completely disagree. Most of it is of our protagonist but I really liked Lou. I really connected with her, which made it even harder to get through the end. I really liked the chapter narrated by Camilla Traynor, Will's mom. We understood her plight and her behavior better. I almost wish there was another chapter for her so that we could keep understanding her thought process because I don't think it was completely clear toward the end. I didn't have any problems with Will's dad, Steven, or Nathan, I liked them. I will say that I wasn't a fan of any of Lou's family, especially her sister, Katrina, nor her boyfriend, Patrick.

The rest of the character criticism I hear is about Will, which is completely understandable. As a character, I really liked Will. I liked his character arc throughout the book and how much he and Lou really changed each other. I loved that through the chapter narrated by Nathan we got to see a bit of Will's feelings toward Lou. The part that I was most disappointed with him is the fact that there was no great declaration of love for Lou. I do understand why, though. It's almost like it would cause him too much pain to admit his feelings out loud since he didn't think he could give her a full and happy life. I think he also knew that it would cause Lou more pain. I know I would have cried more if he had and I don't know if it is possible to cry more than I did.

Will's final decision also created the controversy surrounding this book. I didn't feel it was fair to critique this book as an able-bodied person and talk about all the parts that I loved without discussing the major issue: Will decided that because he couldn't have his old life back, his new life as a quadriplegic was not worth living and that no matter how much he and Lou loved each other, it would never be enough. Disability activists have spoken out about how this book may be damaging and that it says that only an able-bodied life is worth living. I completely agree that the ending has mixed messages and that there might be people who read this and get negative ideas about their life. What I will say is that I think this book captures the grief and pain that a decision like Will's inflicts on a person's loved ones. I would not say that this book romanticizes suicide in the slightest. Some summaries have also compared this to John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, which I don't think is a completely fair comparison since Hazel and Augustus never made the decision to die.

Lots of controversial pieces of art tell stories where the character makes a difficult decision, and this one is no different. There have been people who have made Will's decision as well as people who have not. Moyes was only capturing one side of the decision. Of course, since the stories of quadriplegics, unfortunately, do not appear in a lot of popular media, this popular book has shown millions of readers the more controversial side of the coin. From my research, it seems to me that there has been more controversy with the movie than the book, which I cannot speak to since I have not watched the movie.

As an (amateur) artist and a writer, I also understand Moyes' side of the argument. She has said that she wanted to understand what it was like for someone in that situation to decide this, and I think she achieved her goal. As stated in a Washington Post article surrounding the book and movie's controversies, "This was one story about one person making a decision, while all the other characters in the book look on with horror." She did not claim that this was the only, nor the best decision.

I believe that art has the power of connecting every human on Earth through emotion and empathy, no matter what label society has imposed on you. I think this is a perfect example of why there needs to be more visibility and representation in the arts for minorities to depict their struggles and successes and create more acceptance, understanding, and equality.