After You

by Jojo Moyes

Paperback, 2015

Status

Checked out
Due 10-12-2022

Call number

823.92

Publication

Michael Joseph (2015), Edition: 01, 416 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:From the New York Times bestselling author of The Giver of Stars, discover the love story that captured over 20 million hearts in Me Before You, After You, and Still Me. �??You�??re going to feel uncomfortable in your new world for a bit. But I hope you feel a bit exhilarated too. Live boldly. Push yourself. Don�??t settle. Just live well. Just live. Love, Will.�?�   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 chan… (more)

Media reviews

User reviews

LibraryThing member Twink
Friends kept telling me that I would really enjoy Jojo Moyes's books. I would nod and add them to my ever growing TBR list. I finally got to them last year. And you know - they were right!

Moyes is a wonderful storyteller, creating wonderful characters that I became totally engaged with and cared
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about, humorous situations and dialogue, and a storyline that captivates me. And the depth of the storylines caught me off guard initially - Moyes tackles some heavy topics. But she does it really, really well.

Her latest is After You, a follow up to the bestselling Me Before You. Do yourself a favour - read or listen to Me Before You first before this latest.

*Spoiler ahead - stop now if you plan to read the first book.*

For Louisa Clark, life continued after the death of Will. But this isn't the spunky, spirited Louisa we came to love in the first book. She's depressed (and rightly so) working in a dead end bar job in the airport, living away from her family and is just simply existing. Until a knock at the door brings a most unexpected visitor. That visitor, Lily, wakes up Louisa and shakes up her life.

Lily was a hard one for me. I think she had a lot of the same spirit as Louisa, but I found her somewhat annoying for the first bit of the book. And I must admit, I got a little annoyed with Lou for letting her walk all over her. My patience would have given out long before Lou's. But Lily redeems herself as the book progresses.

And it is all about progression and moving forward. For everyone, not just Lou. The families from the first book are also part of this story. (I love Lou's crazy family) And there are some new characters brought in that are just as engaging.

And again, Moyes tackles some hard issues - love, loss, grieving, families and more in her trademark fashion, with insight, empathy and humour.

Did it live up to the first book? For me, not quite, but pretty darn close. There was one too many yes, no, maybe so, will she, won't she situations. And although the ending is 'right', it's not what I envisioned.

I chose to listen to After You. Anna Acton was the reader. I just plain liked her voice. I thought she interpreted the story well and did justice to Moyes's work
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LibraryThing member c.archer
This is the follow up book to Me Before You from Jojo Moyes. I was surprised and pleased at how Ms. Moyes was able to come back with a very good story following the huge success and big ideas in the previous. After You takes Lou in a whole other direction as she struggles to get over Will. If you
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have read and liked any of her other books, I think you will like this one too. Ms. Moyes has a gift for telling a story that makes you care about the characters and keeps you interested through to the last page.
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LibraryThing member sblock
A big disappointment, especially after Me Before You. This book read like a screenplay for a British romcom starring attractive British actors from Downtown Abbey and The Crown; the kind of movie you might watch on an airplane because it's free. There was nothing surprising, the plot was contrived
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(in order for it to work, Lou had to be ridiculously daft at times) and the last five pages tied up every single loose end AT THE AIRPORT.
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LibraryThing member arielfl
Me Before You made me a Jojo Moyes fan for life. I have gone on to read several of her other books but Me Before You is my favorite. I was so excited to see that she wrote a sequel. Where do we find Louisa after her love of a lifetime has ended. Nowhere good as you might imagine. She is a waitress
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at a dive airport not fulfilling the promise Will has unlocked in her. Cue the new cast of characters who reawaken her zest for life, including one who is a surprise from Will's past. Readers looking for the same story as in the first book are bound to be disappointed. That ship has sailed. This is a story of the continuation of life. I like how Moyes evolves her characters. When life gives you a setback you have to move on, as this book so nobly demonstrates.
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LibraryThing member Olivermagnus
"After You" picks up 18 months after the events of "Me Before You". We find Louisa Clarke stuck in a dead-end job at the City Airport’s Irish-themed pub, where she watches the planes come and go, knowing her own life has pretty much come to a halt. At night, she sits out on her roof, drinking
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white wine, feeling sorry for herself, until the night she accidentally falls off her roof and for a moment thinks she is paralyzed. The accident is the first in a series of events that force Louisa to confront the ghosts that haunt her. When sixteen year old Lily turns up at her door, claiming to be Will’s daughter and wanting to know all about him, Louisa is forced to play a parental role. Louisa is also confused by her attraction to the ambulance driver, Sam, whom she meets on her way to the hospital after her accident.

We gets lots of humor, especially regarding Louisa’s family, as well as the very quiet and understated Traynor family. In "After You" we see more of Louisa’s world, including characters old and new. Her family takes on a larger role, along with her support group. Louisa finds a new purpose in life, but maybe isn’t learning the lessons she needs to move forward. "After You" doesn’t pack the same level of emotion as "Me Before You", nor did it evoke the same type of connection, but it’s a quieter, realistic story of how one struggles with grief, while finding the way forward.

The plot itself felt a little weak. I spent 90 percent of the book disliking both Louisa and Lily, but ultimately I did enjoy catching up with the characters. There just seemed to be so much going in this book that, at times, it seemed like the author tried to do too much with the story. "After You" was enjoyable enough, but it will always be eclipsed by its predecessor. If you loved "Me Before You", it's likely you will find "After You" enjoyable, but a bit muddled at times. I listened to the audio version narrated by Anna Acton, who did a good job.
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LibraryThing member voracious
"After You" is a continuation of the unlikely love story which began in "Me Before You". In this sequel, Louisa Clark has tried to move on from the death of Will Traynor, a quadriplegic man who taught Louisa how to seize life and make a future for herself, even as he chose to let go from his
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miserable state.Now, several years after Will's death, Louisa is in a dead end job, attending a self-help group "The Moving On Circle," and barely hanging on. After a near death experience brings her in close contact with "Ambulance Sam", Louisa is caught between her unresolved grief and the potential for new happiness. Louisa is also surprised when she is approached by a struggling teenager, who may be Will's biological child, and reaches out to Louisa for help. With all of the original and charming characters returning for this second novel, watching Louisa sort it all out is a heartwarming and wonderful reading experience. I really enjoyed this follow up story, which was emotional but not as gut-wrenching as the original story. Highly recommended (but make sure to read "Me Before You" first!!!)
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LibraryThing member bookworm12
Picking up shortly after Me Before You ends, After You is a realistic look at grief. I loved that our main character hasn't moved on smoothly with no issues. That would be so unbelievable in her situation. There are definitely some silly plot points, but I liked returning to these characters' lives.
LibraryThing member memccauley6
After reading this, I’m still not convinced a sequel to “Me Before You” was necessary. The path Louisa’s character follows is totally believable – she’s completely depressed and demoralized after the events of the first book, which is to be expected, but it’s not fun to read about. An
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unexpected turn of events is dumped in her lap and she is forced to re-join life, which is amusing and frustrating by turns. Not a juicy “beach read”, or a “two hanky love story” like its predecesso
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LibraryThing member haymaai
I was so excited to acquire a copy of the newly released Jojo Moyes’ novel, ‘After You,’ which was miraculously available at our local library. After having been completely enthralled by ‘Me Before You,’ I was dying to read the sequel upon its release. I have come to realize that because
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Moyes is such a gifted writer, she portrays characters so vibrantly, and again in ‘After You,’ I found myself cheering for Louisa and wanting the best outcome for her. Unlike a typical lover in mourning, Louisa strives to move forward with her life, and yet is unready to relinquish her ties to Will, who continues to have a dramatic presence, through her one-way conversations with him. Along the way, she falls off a rooftop, though, and finds herself in a relationship of sorts with a teenager, as well as a handsome, caring ambulance driver. ‘After You’ preserved the positive and delightful spirit of Louisa, as she sought to reinvent herself after Will’s death. Although not quite the tear-jerker that ‘Me Before You’ was, this sequel offered excitement, as well as humor to have made it an enticing read.
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LibraryThing member bookappeal
Though it doesn't have the emotional impact and heart-wrenching moral dilemmas of ME BEFORE YOU, Jojo Moyes continues Louisa Clark's story with an appealing story. After doing some traveling and buying a flat with the money Will left her, Lou still doesn't know how to move on. One drunken night,
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she shouts at the sky from her rooftop, gets startled by a girl's voice, and Lou's life starts to change in ways she never expected.

Moyes brings Will's parents into the story as well as Lou's family to craft a continuation that is both humorous and sad and perfectly normal for people grieving the death of a loved one and trying to keep living.
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LibraryThing member mchwest
"You never know what will happen when you fall from a great height."
Jojo Moyes did it again, made us relive the great love of Will and Lou from ME BEFORE YOU, and then continued Lou's bumpy story for a not so happily ever after. It was a great read, and take your time, it's ok if some stories are
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slower than others! Thank you Jojo, keep writing.
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LibraryThing member Feleciak
I can't even write a review right now.
LibraryThing member thewanderingjew
After You, Jo Jo Moyes, author, Anna Acton, narrator
I want Louisa Clark to be my new best friend forever! I seriously cannot wait for this author to write the next book in this series, for surely there will be another. I simply enjoyed watching Louisa grow into a full-fledged adult, watching her
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character morph from a young woman with no ambition, no dreams, into a woman who will take risks, fall in love, reunite with her family, show compassion and courage, and manage to keep all things in perspective, much to her own surprise. I liked the way the author used flashbacks in the narrative to help those who read the first book “Me Before You”, to recall the basic story, and to also introduce it to those who had not. I want to have another window into Louisa’s next stage of life. Many months after the suicide of Will Traynor, the man for whom Louisa was a caregiver, she still mourns the loss. She loved him and her grief has overwhelmed her. She moved to London with the help of the money he left her, but has not, as he had wished, begun to “live life”. She tried to travel, but she gave up quickly. She did not return to school. She works in an airport bar, pretty much a dead end path forward. After she falls from the roof of her building in a freak accident, she requires weeks of healing. Many suspect that she was so despondent that she jumped. She returns home to her family and begins to enjoy the safety of their company and concern. Her sister, Treena, kept encouraging Lou to return to school, to get a better job, to stop living at home if she didn’t have to, because Treena felt that her own life was truly a dead end and she wanted more for her sister. What hope did she have as an unmarried mother with a good university degree but no job prospects? When Louisa returns to her own apartment, flat as it is called in the book, to try and return to her life and job, she discovers the 16-year daughter of Will Traynor. Her first shock is that he never told her about Lily, and her second is that this young girl had been on her fire escape once before, the fire escape leading to her roof and her accident. The two of them develop a relationship which is sometimes fiery as well as loving, sometimes combative and dysfunctional as Lily experiences teenage angst and feelings of insecurity and isolation. When she begins grief counseling, she meets Jake, a 16 year old teenager. Walking with him, she meets the man who came to pick him up from the session. She recognizes him. He is Sam, the ambulance driver who held her hand after she was seriously wounded in her traumatic fall from the roof. He kept encouraging her to stay alive. Soon, a relationship begins to flower between them. The character, Louisa, is defined by her compassion, her sense of responsibility for others, her genuine feeling for their welfare and her quirkiness. Lily’s character is at first defined by lying, stealing, inappropriate comments and angry outbursts. Her need to feel wanted and loved has made her a manipulator who acts out inappropriately when she feels threatened. With Louisa’s help, she grows into a more responsible teenager who can function quite well in the new world in which she begins to live. I loved this fairytale. It introduced so many interesting threads, feminism, juvenile delinquency, pedophilia, alcoholism and recovery from grief. It does veer off in many extraneous directions, but all of the twists and turns come together and are resolved in a satisfying conclusion. Josie, Lou’s mom, discovers women’s rights, her sister Treena loses her spoiled attitude and acknowledges her own failures, Georgiana, Will’s sister becomes less self-centered and more interested in her extended family, the Traynors embrace their newfound grandchild, and Louisa begins life anew at the same time that Lily begins to follow a more positive path. Yes, this novel is like an adult fairytale, but it is one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Jojo Moyes writes in a clear style with a touch of humor that is so well balanced that even the most traumatic scenes are tolerable. The narrator was excellent. She invited me into the story and held me there, thoroughly engaged as she brought each character to life.
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LibraryThing member nyiper
Not quite as good as Me Before You but I was so happy to have a sequel in my hands--and---there is room for still another book after this one to see what happens next! Moyes really is one of my favorite authors---she is a true story teller.
LibraryThing member janismack
This book does not even come close to the original Me without you. Ii read it because It was availble but I would not recommend it.
LibraryThing member Narshkite
First things first, I accept a "no Shaggy" policy, put if you are going to have two minor characters named Fred and Daphne (who always appear together) you must have a Velma! This is a grievous oversight Ms. Moyes! There. I feel better.

The book was far better than average chick lit. After You was
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not as moving or compelling as Me Before you, but that was a really exceptional book in my opinion. In this book Louisa remains, for me, a very charming and compelling character, and her family remains engaging and entertaining. At the center of this book are the mechanics of healing and finding a way to go forward when you lose someone you love. Anyone who has grieved knows that society expects you to grieve hard, wailing like a Mafia widow for a month or so, and then bounce back in a specific period of time. Most around you expect you to return to being the person you were before your loss. Sometimes the healing process is far longer and far different than people expect. Sometimes grieving changes a person at the cellular level. I appreciated the honest, "warts and all" approach After You took to the subject. There was much about this book to love, but Moyes goes for some cheesy resolutions that put me right off. The way in which the tension between Louisa's parents was dealt with was so treacly I felt rather nauseated. And Trina's happy ending was terribly inconsistent with the generally honest and really laudable way Moyes deals with the limitations of class and income inequality. Still a really enjoyable read, even for someone like me who doesn't really go for chick lit or things emotionally manipulative.
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LibraryThing member indygo88
Like many, I wasn't sure how to feel about a sequel to Me Before You. I didn't think it needed one, but if executed well, it could be pulled off. And while I didn't dislike this novel, as I kind of expected, it didn't quite live up to the appeal of the first one.

In After You, Louisa is attempting
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to move on a couple years after Will's death, although she's not doing so well. In fact, I found the first portion of this novel really pretty depressing & kind of dull. Things begin to pick up after a couple new characters are introduced, but as a reader, I still wasn't really grabbed by this storyline. It just didn't pull at my heartstrings like the previous novel did. I think as a standalone book, this would've been pretty good, but as a follow-up, it was ultimately kind of a letdown.
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LibraryThing member brangwinn
You must read Me Before You before this book will have real meaning to you. I'm in the bandwagon of enthusiast readers who feel Moyes wrote a satisfying sequel. I enjoyed the humor in Louisa's family and I particularly enjoyed Louisa's mom's move toward personal empowerment and her father's
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reaction. Moyes is able to pull the various threads together in a very happy ending.
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LibraryThing member Writermala
Jojo Moyes has come up with another winner. Featuring Louisa Clark whom we're familiar with from "Me Before You," this book is another incredible romance which tugs at our heartstrings at every step yet keeps us in stitches often!

Anything else I say will be a spoiler. So, suffice it to say this is
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a must read.
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LibraryThing member BillieBook
If I'm viewing this book in comparison to Me Before You, it's probably more of a three-star book. However, on its own merits, and viewed as separately from MBY as possible, it's a lovely piece of one of my favorite genres, British chick lit. It's not as deep, nor as emotionally devastating as MBY,
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but it charts Lou's journey through grief and into healing in a way that is both recognizable and comforting. There are moments that require a voluntary suspension of disbelief (most involving Ambulance Sam at work), but the book as a whole is satisfying enough to overcome such quibbles.
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LibraryThing member KerryMarsh
I totally loved Me Before You and when I discovered the sequel I couldn't wait to get started. This is Lou's life after Will's death. It is as you would expect from Jojo Moyes, funny, sad, heartfelt and of course a tear jerker. It equals the first book. Loved it.
LibraryThing member thealtereggo
Jojo Moyes does not mess around. She does not shy away from getting at tough emotional situations. At first, I felt like this book ruined the hopeful note the prequel finished on, but it won me over in the end. Keep a tissue handy and hang in there; this book is worth reading.
LibraryThing member JudithDCollins
AFTER YOU, the "hold your breath", much anticipated sequel to the five-million-copy bestseller"Me Before You, we all fell in love with-- What happened to Louisa Clark eighteen months later?

What can you say about a famous British author, JoJo Moyes, over the top, loved by Americans, as much as her
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own Country? A master storyteller - writing about the everyday woman (we all sympathize with), down on her luck, scraping the bottom; tragedy, humor, wit; comedy, chick-lit and romance – all rolled into a novel. The most talked about Before and After has arrived! She pulls out all the stops with every book she writes, like a "rock star." It is worth the wait.

It is like peanut butter and jelly, or a horse and carriage. You cannot have one without the other. Thank you, from your fans. We wanted, you granted. AFTER YOU. Brilliant. JoJo Moyes has provided us the laughs we needed after the intense emotions and tears of Me Before You. Pull up your knickers . . Life must go on.

First, let me say, the audiobook is a "given" for me. You cannot fully experience the range of emotions from reading the book alone. You need audio, and better still, a movie. My fingers hit PRE-ORDER the minute I see Moyes, on an upcoming book.

Anna Acton delivers an award-winning laugh-out-loud performance; a perfect Moyes/Acton duo! (Yes, I am aware they did not use the six multi-narrators as the previous book); however, one narrator worked this time around.

We all loved Louisa (Lou) Clark, who was down on her luck, with dead end jobs. She was desperate. After taking a job with a man named Will Traynor, a quadriplegic, they fall in love; however, Will cannot live with his handicap, and ends his life. Lou is left with her memories, her grief, and has tried to take Will’s gift of travel – to live. She is unsure she can follow his instructions to, Live Well.

As we move into After You, we pick up with Lou. She is still unsettled, and still feels guilt and is grieving. She struggles daily if she could have said, or done something to keep him with her. Will she ever be able to love again? She has traveled around Europe, and has purchased a flat, in London with the money Will left her.

Lou is depressed and miserable without her love. She is back working at an Irish airport pub as a barmaid in a crazy outfit, cleaning toilets, and listening to men’s problems. At night she goes home alone stargazing on her patio with her wine. Of course, she loses her balance and has a bit of an accident on the roof top.

Next, a few new characters, a funny therapy support group, Moving On, Sam, a paramedic, and Lily, a sixteen-year-old delinquent, which pulls at her heart strings. We hear from Will's parents, and of course Lou’s family--which offers about as many laughs as Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum’s Grandma Mazur and Lula.

What is next for Lou? Well, there is plenty, in store for all you Moyes’ fans. You will not be disappointed. Entertaining. Hilarious!

Now, we are waiting for Book Three. How about "NOW ME", or "ITS’ ALL ABOUT ME" ? Can’t wait for the movie! Until then, be sure and shave your legs, water your plants, and stay off the roof with wine.
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LibraryThing member kt_traas
I want more.
LibraryThing member vnesting
Satisfying and enjoyable sequel to Me Before You.

Awards

The British Book Industry Awards (Shortlist — Fiction — 2016)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2015-09-29

Physical description

416 p.; 6.02 inches

ISBN

0718177010 / 9780718177010

Barcode

2481

Other editions

After You by Jojo Moyes (Paperback)
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