[Synopsis]

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.

[My Review]
After You by JoJo Moyes is the sequel to the hugely popular and brilliant Me Before You, one of my favourite books. The story continues after Will’s death and deals with Louisa’s way of dealing with his suicide, trying to piece her life back together again.
I would definitely say read Me Before You before reading this; although you will probably still get the gist of what’s going on, there are a LOT of references back to the previous novel so it’s definitely worth reading it. Plus, you get to know the characters so much and really care about them in Me Before You, which is what made me fall in love with the book in the first place. The characters in this novel might not strike a chord with me as much as the previous novel, but they were still, in my opinion, well developed and interesting. I did really miss Will’s character though, as he was such a great one! I have to admit that I really disliked one young character (you’ll probably know who when you read it) because she got on my nerves and her personality was really irritating. Then again, she definitely seemed to be intended as a jarring character for Louisa. I just didn’t warm to her at all… though maybe a tiny bit at the end!
Parts of this novel were really sad and emotional, and other parts genuinely made me laugh. I love JoJo Moyes’ writing so much! This novel was a worthy sequel, especially for those wanting to learn more about Lou’s life after Will.
JoJo Moyes manages to include so much about death and grief and loneliness, whilst simulatenously stopping it from becoming too depressing or miserable. There’s still a spark to the story which reminds you that you’re reading one of her novels, which I’m so glad about.
I would definitely recommend this novel to fans of JoJo Moyes or anyone looking for a new brilliant ‘chick-lit’ author with added depth- but make sure you read Me Before You first! (Have I said that enough times yet? Sorry!)’
Rating: 4/5
Have you read Me Before You or any other books by JoJo Moyes? Have you read After You- if so, what did you think?