I'm a little late to the Me Before You bandwagon, but I jumped on and downloaded a copy of it last week. Now that I think back to it, the only reason that I didn't read the book before was because of the cover design. I know it's shallow to judge a book by its cover, but this one really kept me away. And I'm not talking about the version of the cover with only text on the front. The cover that repelled me from this book is the one with the two actors from the movie. They look so cheesy and revolting, but this is just my personal and extremely unpopular opinion. The truth is that looking at that cover made me sick. And the fact that the book was being thrown in my face when I walked into every bookstore made me even sicker.

Months went by, and I didn't pick up the book. I was content with every other book that I read and never felt a craving for Me Before You. So when my friend recommended the book to me last week, I was reluctant. I had gone all these years without wanting to read the book, so why would I now? But then, my boyfriend told me that he has rewatched the movie a million times and I couldn't ignore that. If the story was so good that it lured my gamer boyfriend in, I felt like I had to at least give the book a shot.

Once I got the book, I couldn't stop reading for the life of me! I thought it was beautifully written, and I loved the witty dialogue between the characters. They worked seamlessly together and I loved the dynamics of their relationship. Will Traynor is wheelchair bound stuck with Louisa Clarke as his caretaker. Will is extremely difficult to work with. Louisa sticks it out with him, and soon their relationship blooms. Here's the thing, though. He wants to kill himself because he can't stand his life in a wheelchair after the way he lived his life before his accident. He was a successful CEO, and he loved traveling the world. His life was very active and full. Louisa basically has six months working as his caretaker to try and convince him to not take his life and embrace his new wheelchair-bound life.

She tries everything. She takes him out of the house to concerts and outside to the garden every day. Louisa tries to make him see the joy in life again; she even plans a trip outside the country to an island near Africa! They have a really lovely vacation, and then Louisa asks Will if he will continue living and make things work with her. In the end, (spoiler alert) Will still decides to go through with his assisted suicide, and Louisa is there to say her goodbyes to him. The ending was incredibly unsatisfying, but it was still worth the read. I just love sappy, "happily-ever-after" endings, and this book refused to let anyone have that. I remember reading and thinking "There's no way he's going through with it!". But the message I took away is to not be selfish in loving someone.

So after finishing the book in three days, I had a movie night with my boyfriend. I was so excited! The ending of the book made me cry, but I was so excited to watch the movie. Anyway, I was extremely disappointed. Isn't this how it always is, though? You read this amazing book, finish it in two days, and then the movie is a huge let-down. My expectations were too high for the portrayal of the characters and their relationship. I felt like they went overboard with portraying Louisa and her quirky personality, and that was enough for me to not enjoy watching it. Oh, and they failed to mention Louisa's sexual assault that had such a huge impact on her life. No big deal.

So in conclusion, I loved the book; an absolutely beautiful love story that had me hanging onto every word. As for the movie, I'll never watch it again.