I am lucky enough to work for a company that gets invited to some pretty amazing bookish events by the big name publishers here in Canada, and to live close enough to attend these events regularly. Lately Penguin Random House has been stepping their “book preview” game up with some really unique and fun events, which included this month’s “Tea for Two & Me Before You” gathering.
After some great product knowledge about all the books that have been coming out this spring (and that would make great Mother’s Day gifts) we had some munchies and then some lively discussion about Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. The organizers asked us a question and then each table would discuss the topic before sharing with everyone else. It was a lot of fun and you could definitely tell who went to school for an English Degree. 😛
This book is not something that I would normally read, but I definitely enjoyed it. I saw the movie trailer before reading the book, which gave me a vague idea of what I was getting myself into, but couldn’t prepare me for all the feelings I was going to have. For some reason I was under the impression that this would be just another basic rom-com, where a girl meets a boy and even though they face challenges it will all work out in the end. Even though people had told me that there was a huge surprise twist in the book, I was sure that it was going to be something cheesy like “and the power of her love helped him walk again!” Oh, how naive I was…
I have some really mixed feelings about the fact that there is a book after this one. I think that Me Before You ended on the perfect note, and I can’t see how continuing the story would make any sense. The story that Jojo Moyes intended to tell is complete with this book, and I worry that anything after can only be harmful to the perfect story that she has written. I was informed by one of the PRH staff that it will only enhance the first book, but I’ve promised to send her angry emails if I read After You and hate it.
One of the questions from the event was: Who do you think the title is referring to when it says “me” and “you”?
LC rating: 
(great book, can’t wait for the movie!)
The Literary Counsellor 