review: after you

After You is the sequel to the bestselling novel Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. I received a copy from the publisher to give an honest review. I absolutely loved the first book to bits(it was one of my favourite reads of the year in which i rated it 4.8 out of 5 stars), and as heartbroken as I was, I really was looking forward to the sequel. I really enjoyed the second book and i'm rating it 4.5 stars!

I know that there are a lot of very mixed reviews for the sequel, but i'm very happy to say that i'm one of the ones who loved it. I read After You with no expectation that it was going to be as good as the first book, or that it was going to discuss about the same issues. Please don't read the rest of this review if you have not read Me Before You and do not want to get spoiled.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Lou Clark has lots of questions.
Like how it is she's ended up working in an airport bar, spending every shift watching other people jet off to new places.
Or why the flat she's owned for a year still doesn't feel like home.
Whether her close-knit family can forgive her for what she did eighteen months ago.
And will she ever get over the love of her life.
What Lou does know for certain is that something has to change.
Then, one night, it does.
But does the stranger on her doorstep hold the answers Lou is searching for - or just more questions?
Close the door and life continues: simple, ordered, safe.
Open it and she risks everything.
But Lou once made a promise to live. And if she's going to keep it, she has to invite them in . ..

Firstly, I think the main reason why I love the sequel is because I can relate to Lou in so many ways. I had dog-earred so many pages from this book because of the brilliant quotes and thoughts inside.

I thought that main plot in this book was cliche in the normal chic-lit book kinda way, but at the same time the way that the characters dealt with grief and their internal dilemmas were very realistic. In the first chapter, you'll realise that Lou hadn't really dealt with the loss of the man she loved in the way that we would expect her to. At the end of the first book, we sort of assumed that after Will had told her to step out of her comfort zone and just live, she really would take the step and go on crazy adventures and such. I thought that it was very realistic that this didn't happen. She really did give it a shot but it really wasn't as easy as it seemed. I really appreciated how this shows that people can still struggle along their journey even when they've reached certain positive achievements.

Have you ever wondered how significant you've been in other people's lives? If the memories you left behind for other people would be enough to prove that your life had mattered? That even though you were gone, you would still be changing people's lives? I've wondered it many times, and this book had shown me a glimpse of it through Will. I love this part of the book so much. It was so heartwarming to be able to see how significant he had been in so many people's lives, and how he had indirectly even influenced people had never even got to meet. The words he left behind and the memories and wisdom he had shown despite his decision had slowly and subtly changed people's lives.

The issue of grief was shown through many different characters. We see how Lou struggles with it, how the Traynors dealt with how things turned out, and we even get to see other kinds of loss through Lou's "Moving On" support group. I think it's clever of the author to do this, just like how in the first book she had discussed about disability and people who had to deal with disabled loved ones.

This book also discussed about parenting teenagers, feminism, family and romantic relationships. There was also a bit about sexual victimization(i'm not sure if i'm using this term correctly), which i thought was quite an important issue that's being faced by teens nowadays. I think if parents with teen kids read this book they would get to learn a thing or two about their children.

I also really enjoyed the writing in After You. I recently got into the habit of dog-earring my favourite parts of a book, and I had dog-earred so many from this one! I also got emotional in some parts, especially the ones concerning Will. There's also some romance which I actually quite liked and it made me feel all bubbly and happy for Lou.

I wouldn't recommend this book if you're reading it mostly for Will. This book is mostly about Louisa and how she develops after her loss and struggles to move on. It is completely different from the first book, focusing on totally different issues. I reckon it could even be read as a stand alone, but who would want to skip the first book, right? If you feel a sort of connection to Lou's character, i do think you will enjoy reading After You.