Author: Jojo Moyes
# of Pages: 369 (paperback)
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely 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 an 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.
Review: I had all intentions to give this book 3 stars.
I checked this book out at the library specifically because I wanted an easy (shallow?) romance read (and I wanted to watch the movie because Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin are in it). I didn't read into the synopsis; the only exposure I had was a clip from the movie where Will appears to be disabled and Louisa is his caregiver.
The reason why I wanted to give this book three stars: first person POV switching and the cliché plot. The story is mostly told from the first person POV of Louisa. However, Moyes would occasionally switch it up and randomly give Will's mother a chapter to tell the story, or Lousia's sister, or Will's father...but there did not appear to be any good reason as to why the story had to suddenly be told from their perspective.
I'm not going to lie; the plot is predictable anyone who is at all familiar with how emotional romantic novels go can guess how this story will end. I even read some reviews before starting this book and heard how people became emotional while reading. When I finally started reading, it seemed like your average book; a normal, boring girl's life changes when meeting a handsome, wealthy man.
DESPITE THIS, I ended up crying like a baby throughout the second half of the book. I don't know if it's because I've been extra emotionally recently (probably largely attributed to this, actually), but I haven't cried over a book like this in a long time. I was grateful I was reading this in a room by myself, otherwise people would have been concerned.
Although the plot is predictable, what makes this book stand out from other romantic novels is how it it gives readers some perspective on the lives of quadriplegics and some of the struggles they go through trying to live their lives in a world not fully equipped to accommodate. This story also tackled the difficult topic of assisted suicide, a highly debated topic that isn't as black and white as some people may think.
Educational benefits aside, another huge bonus is how realistic the characters are. There is not a single person who is all good nor all bad. The story reveals the complexity of different relationships: between parent and child, siblings, and partners. It's this realism that allowed me to "buy in" to the story and enjoy it.
No, it's not my favorite book. I probably wouldn't read it again, but I am so glad I decided to read it once. I would recommend it to anyone interested in this genre.
No comments:
Post a Comment