Me Before You by Jojo Moyes keeps the reader guessing up to the last chapter. This book, although categorized as a love story, takes on some deep issues. It provides a glimpse at the physical and emotional challenges of a quadrapalegic; it examines ethical questions about life and living. Told primarily from the first person perspective of Louisa Clark, there is the occassional, brief chapter from supporting characters’ alternate views. Clark, as her employer often refers to her, is a refreshing, but believable character. Under-appreciated and often belittled by her well-meaning family, she experiences growth and transformation over the course of the novel.
This was a book that was quite difficult to put down. I thought about it when I went to sleep and then again almost immediately upon waking. What is right and wrong when it comes to love? A question this story unabashedly examines.
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 34 religious exclamations; 10 mild obscenities; 4 derogatory names; 21 scatological words; 8 anatomical terms; 1 offensive hand gesture; 10 f-word derivatives.
Violence/Gore: Report of an accident resulting in injuries; report of attempted suicide, with a few details; report in newspaper of euthansia.
Sex/Nudity: Implied sexual activity; instances of sexual innuendo; characters kiss; mention of filthy magazines; report of affairs, no details; scene in which a vocal, public fight occurs between spouses about unfaithfulness; adults have sex, no explicit details; report of an encounter in which woman was unwilling victim of sexual attention (possible rape? unclear), but victim was unconscious due to drugs/alcohol and does not remember what exactly happened; many sexual references, including but not limited to the following: reference to jobs in adult chat & pole dancing, cleavage, having sex, liking sex, boobs, shagging, joke about lesbian tea, strip clubs, lap dances, suggestive remarks.
Mature Subject Matter:
Physical Handicaps/Disabilities, Suicide, Euthanasia, Extra-marital affairs
Alcohol / Drug Use:
Adult characters drink socially and are drunk upon a couple of occasions; report of a teenager drinking and smoking a joint.
