Still Me

 

Still Me by Jojo Moyes

Me Before You #3

Fiction

2018 Penguin Books

Finished on July 23, 2021

Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Jojo Moyes, a new book featuring her iconic heroine of Me Before You and After You, Louisa Clark.

Louisa Clark arrives in New York ready to start a new life, confident that she can embrace this new adventure and keep her relationship with Ambulance Sam alive across several thousand miles. She steps into the world of the superrich, working for Leonard Gopnik and his much younger second wife, Agnes. Lou is determined to get the most out of the experience and throws herself into her new job and New York life.

As she begins to mix in New York high society, Lou meets Joshua Ryan, a man who brings with him a whisper of her past. Before long, Lou finds herself torn between Fifth Avenue where she works and the treasure-filled vintage clothing store where she actually feels at home. And when matters come to a head, she has to ask herself: Who is Louisa Clark? And how do you find the courage to follow your heart—wherever that may lead?

Funny, romantic, and poignant, Still Me follows Lou as she navigates how to stay true to herself, while pushing to live boldly in her brave new world.

Still Me is not great literature, but I loved every bit of it. I've read the previous books in this trilogy and enjoyed this installment just as much as the other two novels. Moyes creates believable characters and dialogue and Still Me is as heartwarming (without being sappy) as Me Before You and After You (click on the links for my reviews). I was entertained for two solid weeks, savoring the book rather than devouring it in one sitting, never once feeling that Louisa's story had run its course. Now I'm eager to read more of Moyes' most recent releases (The Giver of Stars and The Peacock Emporium). 

On Libraries:

"Books are what teach you about life. Books teach you empathy. But you can’t buy books if you barely got enough to make rent. So that library is a vital resource! You shut a library, Louisa, you don’t just shut down a building, you shut down hope.”

After You

After You by Jojo Moyes
Fiction
2015 Pamela Dorman Books
Finished on February 23, 2019
Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)

A NOTE FROM JOJO MOYES ABOUT HER EXCITING NEW NOVEL, AFTER YOU:

Dear Reader,

I wasn't going to write a sequel to Me Before You. But for years, readers kept asking and I kept wondering what Lou did with her life. In the end the idea came, as they sometimes do, at 5:30 in the morning, leaving me sitting bolt upright in my bed and scrambling for my pen.

It has been such a pleasure revisiting Lou and her family, and the Traynors, and confronting them with a whole new set of issues. As ever, they have made me laugh, and cry. I hope readers feel the same way at meeting them—especially Lou—again. And I'm hoping that those who love Will will find plenty to enjoy.

—Jojo Moyes

Publisher's Blurb:

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.

The first book I read of Jojo Moyes' was her smash hit, Me Before You. I loved everything about that novel and once I finished, I was eager to try more of her works, so I read The Girl You Left Behind and The Last Letter From Your Lover, neither of which were anywhere near as good. So, when I saw that she had written a follow-up to Me Before You, I may have cringed just ever so slightly. I honestly didn't think a sequel could be half as good as the first book, so why waste my time. Until book club. One of my "reading twins" told me she did read both After You and Still Me and said they were both as entertaining as Me Before You. That's all it took to convince me. (We all have those friends who love the same books as we do and never steer us wrong. Gotta trust them!) And, yes, she was right. I loved the book! I devoured it in a few short days, reading late into the night, but saving the final chapters to be savored without interruption. I laughed, but also had my heartstrings tugged, as I read of Louisa's journey through grief and the new friendships and challenges that came her way. Moyes' novel is not a romance, but it speaks about love and how we are able to find joy and happiness when we least expect it. It's also not a fluff story, but rather a satisfying, comfort read with an uplifting conclusion. I can hardly wait to read Still Me, which is the final installment in this trilogy.

The Last Letter from Your Lover

The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes
Fiction
2010 Pamela Dorman Books/Viking
Finished on November 12, 2014
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)




Publisher’s Blurb:

It is 1960. When Jennifer Stirling wakes up in the hospital, she can remember nothing—not the tragic car accident that put her there, not her wealthy husband, not even her own name. Searching for clues about her life, she finds an impassioned letter, signed simply “B.,” from a man who is not her husband—a man for whom she seemed willing to risk everything.

In 2003, young journalist Ellie Haworth is searching the dusty archives of her newspaper for a story that will resurrect her faltering career. She finds another handwritten letter, this one with an ardent plea: “I’ll be at Platform 4 Paddington at 7:15 on Monday evening, and there is nothing in the world that would make me happier than if you found the courage to come with me.”

Ellie becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to the lovers. Perhaps if they lived happily ever after, her own complicated involvement with a married man will have a happy ending, too. Ellie’s search will rewrite history and help her see the truth at last about her own very modern love story.

Sophisticated and stylish, The Last Letter from Your Lover is a spellbinding, page-turning double love story. Remarkably moving, grand in scale, and heartbreakingly human, it is an unforgettable Brief Encounter for our times, with an ending as unexpected as love at first sight.

It’s been almost two months since I finished this novel, and until I sat down to type up the publisher’s blurb, I recalled very little about the characters or the plot. Even now, I have only a vague sense about the specific details of the story. I know some readers have commented on their enjoyment of the time period, but honestly, I never had a clear sense of when the novel was taking place. Sometimes I thought it read more like it was set in the 30s or 40s, not the 60s. It took me a while to get interested in the story, and once I finally got hooked, the time shifted ahead by 40 years. Yes, it’s yet another story centered around amnesia (quite the popular theme these days), but surprisingly, the alternating stories between Jennifer and Ellie (also an overused device) didn’t annoy me, as I thought they might.

Final Thoughts:

In spite of some minor quibbles, I wound up enjoying this novel, not wanting it to end as the last page drew near. It’s not nearly as good as Me Before You, but it’s definitely better than The Girl You Left Behind. I’m still not sure if I’m a fan of Moyes’ earlier works, but I will continue to read more by this author, ever hopeful for another story as remarkable as Me Before You.

The Girl You Left Behind

The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes
Fiction
2013 Pamela Dorman Books
Finished on June 15, 2014
Rating: 2/5 (Meh)




Publisher’s Blurb:

France 1916. Sophie Lefèvre must keep her family safe while her adored husband, Édouard, fights at the front. When their town falls to the Germans in the midst of World War I, she is forced to serve them every evening at her hotel. From the moment the new Kommandant sets eyes on Sophie’s portrait—painted by her artist husband–a dangerous obsession is born, one that will lead Sophie to make a dark and terrible decision.

Almost a century later, Sophie’s portrait hangs in the home of Liv Halston, a wedding gift from her young husband before his sudden death. After a chance encounter reveals the portrait’s true worth, a battle begins over its troubled history. As the layers of the painting’s shadowy past are revealed, Liv’s world is turned upside down all over again, and her belief in what’s right is put to the ultimate test.

It’s been just over a year since I finished Me Before You and I still find myself thinking about Will and Louisa and the heartbreaking dilemma they faced in JoJo Moyes’ throught-provoking love story. The novel continues to land on the New York Times Best Seller list and I continue to have great success hand selling copies to customers, young and old. The word of mouth for that novel has been amazing. Unfortunately, I can’t say I feel the same for The Girl You Left Behind. I know this talented British author has a huge fan base, but the jury’s still out as far as I’m concerned. I was tempted on more than one occasion to call it quits while reading this book, but soldiered on, hoping for something to change my opinion. I’ve grown so weary of the dual storyline, which appears to be THE popular literary device of the 21st century!

Final Thoughts:

I have no quotes. No favorite passages. Just a glimmer of hope that The Last Letter From Your Lover will win my heart all over again.

Click here to read my review of Me Before You.

Me Before You

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Fiction
2012 Pamela Dorman Books/Viking
Finished on 8/1/13
Rating: 4.75/5 (Terrific!)



Publisher’s Blurb:

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has never been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe, Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after a motorcycle accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

A Love Story for this generation, Me Before You is an unlikely story about two people who couldn’t have less in common—a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy means breaking your own heart?

I don’t typically read romance books, but I am a sucker for a romantic story. (Three of my favorite movies are You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, and French Kiss.) This tender novel (which, by the way is classified as fiction and not romance), with its humor and witty dialogue, is not the least bit sappy and I found myself sneaking in a few pages while cooking dinner, as well as reading far too late on a work night. Definitely a sign of a good book! I came to care about Louisa and Will, wondering what I’d do in each of their situations. The moral dilemma presented in this book would make for a great book club discussion.

On the arrival of Spring:

Spring arrived overnight, as if winter, like some unwanted guest, had abruptly shrugged its way into its coat and vanished, without saying goodbye. Everything became greener, the roads bathed in watery sunshine, the air suddenly balmy. There were hints of something floral and welcoming in the air, birdsong the gentle backdrop to the day.

On mistakes:

Some mistakes...just have greater consequences than others. But you don't have to let that night be the thing that defines you.

Unlike two of my blogging friends, I didn’t immediately sit down and start writing about this wonderful novel (it’s been over two months since I finished!) and I’m afraid my review won’t do it justice. See what Bellezza and Nancy had to say about Me Before You:

There are millions of love stories out there but few that get to the core of what the couple means to one another, a meaning beyond physical attraction and personal fulfillment. But the story JoJo Moyes has written of Will Traynor and Lou Clark goes exactly there.

This is a complex novel, examining much more than the love between two people. It also examines how our lives can enrich one another, and how we can reach beyond our fallibilities and limitations to show how much we truly care. It is very powerful and deeply moving. (Bellezza)

and

I won't tell you how the book ends, apart from saying that I was a bit astonished to find the story both heartbreaking and beautiful without being depressing. Me Before You is a love story, but it's so much more. It's about really living life every day, the question of whether or not anyone has a right to die with dignity at a time of his or her own choosing, the emotional and physical pain of quadriplegia and how a relationship that lacks the usual physical comforts can be much deeper and more intimate than the norm. Me Before You is a powerful story that brings up a lot of questions and would make an excellent discussion book (although, perhaps, one that could potentially lead to a bit of a shouting match between those with differing opinions).

Highly recommended to those who love a meaningful story of love, life and loss. Miserably, compulsively readable, with exceptional dialogue and character development and not a single wasted word in its 481 pages (in my humble opinion). (Nancy, of Bookfoolery)

Final Thoughts:

Me Before You is more than just a satisfying page-turner of a read. It’s also a smart, funny, and complex story about life and how we choose to live with the cards we’re dealt. I’m so happy (and relieved) that this novel lived up to my expectations. I can’t wait to read more from her backlist!

About the Author:

Jojo Moyes is the author of The Last Letter from Your Lover. Me Before You was a runaway word-of-mouth sensation and a Top 3 bestseller in the UK. She lives with her husband and children in Essex, England.