‘Me Before You’ Book Review

The course of true love never did run smooth. And it’s an idea that writers have been running with for hundreds of years. From star crossed lovers to the friend-zoned comedy relief, it’s a tried and tested method to a great love story filled with enough twists and turns to keep us interested. 

And my new obsession is another of these stories- the wonderful novel ‘Me Before You’ by Jo Jo Moyes. Told from the perspective of a young woman recently out of a job desperately searching for another to keep her family afloat. 

Set in a picturesque English town, she stumbles across a job being a carer for a recently disabled man. Now, like most love stories, you know how the basics play out. A somewhat reclusive and bad tempered young man comes into contact with a bright, bubbly, colourful young girl and they inspire one another to become better, more well rounded versions of themselves. But this novel is so much more than simply that. It’s a tale thats been told before with a completely fresh and inspired twist. 

It’s hard not to fall in love with the young Louisa, who is so much more than the ditzy eccentric woman you believe her to be at the beginning of the novel. And as we see the world through her eyes, the people around her capture your heart as they do hers. Will Traynor, the man who two years prior to the novel finds himself trapped in a wheelchair unable to move from the neck down, is less than pleased when his mother hires Louisa to be his carer and companion, knowing full well of her true motives. 

The book hits you with heart felt revelations and surprises throughout the story, capturing you with well written and thoughtful prose as well as a beautiful character to experience the novel with. I was in a bit of a reading funk before I found this book, struggling to find something that really caught my attention and made me want to stop doing anything apart from just read one page after another…and then this gem came along. It really captures you from the first page, one of only about six to be told from Will’s perspective but riddled with foreshadowing and cliffhangers that get you hooked. The point of view then changes to Louisa’s for the rest of the novel, and we get to see the repercussions of the first few pages through her eyes. 

The novel is well paced and progresses nicely from Louisa’s comfort zone and into the unknown. Louisa is our guide, she experiences things as the readers do. This is a comfort to a novel that touches upon a lot of topics that can be hard to talk about, such as disablement or suicide. Moyes write about such matters in a way that enlightens and informs the reader yet still allows the magic of the love story to shine through. It’s a practical romantic novel, one of my favourite kinds. 

Overall it was a refreshing and fun novel full of heart and gloriously romantic. A must read for anyone who needs a little love in their life. 

And for those who aren’t big readers, have no fear! The wonderful people at Hollywood have made a movie version for us all to enjoy, coming this June! So we can all enjoy Will and Louisa’s story on the big screen as well. Just don’t forget your tissues, because you will get weepy. 

 8/10 

‘The Riot Club’ Movie Review

‘The film follows two first year students amongst the privileged elite of Oxford University, determined to join the infamous Riot Club, where reputations can be made or destroyed over the course of a single evening.’

Based on Laura Wade’s 2010 sellout play ‘Posh’, The Riot Club is a thrill ride. It is inspired by the infamous Bullingdon Club within Oxford, boasting former members such as David Cameron, George Osborne and Boris Johnson to name but a few. To say I enjoyed it wouldn’t sit quite right with me, as ‘enjoy’ isn’t the word that springs to mind due to its dark and twisted political themes. It is, however, brilliant. A beautiful cast in a beautiful setting, Lone Scherfig, director of One Day and An Education, had a lot to live up to from her previous successes. And she did not disappoint. 

Having read the play, I knew the concept before heading into the cinema. But what amazed me was how successfully they expanded the world and the characters that Wade had already created for the stage. Whilst the play takes place solely in the one room of The Bull’s Inn over the course of one night, the film steps out into the world of Oxford and delves further into the characters’ personalities, showing their interaction with family members and other students, without making the mistake of ‘info-dump’- that is to say, hurling too much information at the viewers. 

It is a seductive ride, and you find yourself inexplicably drawn to these ten elite, dashing and filthy rich gentlemen as the film opens- and thank heavens you do. They pull you in with their good grammar, great voices and suave attitudes. 

They could rule the world, and you would let them. 

Lead by Max Irons, Douglas Booth and Sam Clafin, the boys show us a world that we could only begin to fathom. A particularly remarkable scene that stays with me is one of the boys posting the keys to his brand new Aston Martin through the letter box of a charity shop after another drunkenly hurls all over the windshield. Simple as. 

Whilst the first half of the scene boasts well written anecdotes and antics, including some good old favourites from the play- ‘How do you make an Eton mess? Tell him he only got into Bristol!’– the second half takes a rather dark turn. You can feel the atmosphere change the moment the boys arrive, dressed up to the nines, at the gastropub where they intend to spend the evening. The other customers join the audience to watch on with wide eyes as the club is led to their own private room, the door shut firmly behind them. 

And then it begins. The madness, the chaos and the destruction. The characters’ reveal their true identities within this room, Sam Clafin stealing the scenes with his narcissistic, elitist views on the world, his sneer and arrogance clear from the moment he sits down. Hell, as soon as he appears on screen you just know ‘I’m going to love hating this guy’, but only when you are in the dining room do you realize just how much. 

Whilst the cast in predominantly male based, the crew is mainly women, led by Lone Scherfig. How refreshing to know. Laura Wade wrote the screen play, something I love to hear when discovering an adaption is being made. Who better to write the script than the woman who had the original idea? Exactly. 

The three female characters that do grace the screen are a prostitute, a waitress and a fellow student at Oxford. But boy, do they hold their own. Natalie Dormer, Jessica Brown Findlay and Holliday Granger are three actors known for their portrayal of strong smart women, and their characters in The Riot Club were no different. Wade does a wonderful job of making them well rounded and three dimensional, even if they only do appear in a few handful of scenes. 

Amidst the debauchery and scandal lies a truly good tale that had me on the edge of my seat. I was torn between shock, horror and humour throughout, which turned out to be a surprisingly good mixture. 

A definite recommendation to those wondering what to see next. 

8/10