Me before you – Jojo Moyes

Hello, my dear readers! How are you doing? Today, I have read one of the loveliest books I’ve happened to come across for ages. I shouldn’t give my opinion away at the beginning of the post since it’s obviously a review, but rules were made to be broken and bent… at least sometimes. For whom have I just broken rules? Few words:  “Me before you” by  Jojo Moyes. Let the bookish journey start! I would be happy if you joined me in this one…

SHOW ME  A BIT OF YOUR WORLD

Louisa Clark is a 26-year-old English girl, whose life has been perfectly steady for years. She lives with her family in a small house, has a long-term boyfriend, and a job in a cafe, which she really likes. Aside from that, she’s an ordinary girl. She doesn’t challenge herself and asked what her dreams are she has no idea. She lives from day to day: goes to work, comes back, does home chores, watches TV, meets with her boyfriend sometimes, repeats the cycle. Everything changes, when she loses her job in the cafe and has to look for something else to pay the bills of herself and her financially struggling family. She becomes a caretaker of Will Traynor. Will is everything Lou is not. Before a terrible accident, he lived his life as fully as possible, challenging himself in  every possible occasion. Their outlooks on life are drastically different, and as their lives come into fusion, the world changes in thousand of shades…

 

QUEENS AND KINGS OF THE STORY

Main characters of the book are realistically created. Lou is an honest portrayal of a small-town girl. She doesn’t know anything aside from her hometown, and as she feels safe there, she doesn’t want to change anything. She’s relatable in her struggles and fears, and she’s by no means perfect. She has her flaws, but she is funny, quite cheerful and her loyalty to those, who she loves is truly charming. Will makes an interesting example of somebody, who lost his identity, and everything he was and was proud of. As a disabled man, he can be ironic and simply mean to those around him, but this is his way to deal with the pain of loss. After all, he is still an intelligent, witty young man, who used to be a top entrepreneur and did everything from bungee jumping to climbing Kilimanjaro. Rest of the characters are also well portrayed.  Lou’s family is a good representation of a small-town family with all their hopes and problems. Will’s parents and his nurse – Nathan – also make a nice addition to the story and give it some more depth. Summing up: I believe all characters are relatable and  not even single of them made me think “Oh no, get out of this story”.

VERDICT TIME

Taking everything into consideration, I would give this book A+. It is not 100% predictable though it’s definitely not the other way round, too. As a small-town girl, I could relate to many of Lou’s struggles, which may make me more biased than usual, but the book is truly remarkable. The writing is  pretty plain, but not in a bad way. It’s just easy to read it and get hooked. The characters are funny and very human, and the story itself is gripping. I loved it from very first page to the very last. I would definitely recommend you to read it.  The picture below is Will’s advice, and I thought it was a quite smart thing to share with all of my female readers. Will knows what he’s saying!

For all of you who love movies more… there’s a movie coming in June! I absolutely adore Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin so I can’t wait! Actually… I decided to read a book after watching a trailer. Nevertheless, it gives away quite a lot of what’s going to happen, so if you want to read a book without spoilers… don’t watch it! If it doesn’t matter to you… watch it as soon as you can! Yes, I am writing this as I’ve seen this for 8 times just today. Obsessed? Oh, maybe. Definitely. YES! 

Thanks for reading guys! You are the best. 🙂 

Yours truly,

Jessie

Bookish paradise: The Kite Runner

Hello, my dear readers! How are you doing? Myself, I’m listening to Arabic music and enjoying my stay at home. I could list 99 things I miss about it when I’m away, but there are also certain advantages to living in a bigger city. ENORMOUS LIBRARIES! I borrow books from three of them in Kraków, and I can finally read whatever I want without going broke. That’s why I read quite a lot, and I am not ashamed to admit I would choose a book over a party any given day. Perhaps if it was a book party, I could reconsider my choices, but otherwise… sorry, I’m all about these books! In my bookish adventures, I explore lots of different worlds, and lately one of them got me fully focused and all emotional. Does “The Kite Runner” sound familiar to you? Let me show you, why it should!

More than your regular drama book

The book was written by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini and published in 2003. It tells a story of two boys – Amir and Hassan. At first glance, they only have about three things in common: they’re the similar age, they both live in Afghanistan’s capital city – Kabul and are best friends. Here is where similarities end, though. While Amir is a son of a wealthy Pashtun, Hassan is a son of a Hazara servant – Ali, who has been working for Amir’s father for ages and is his close friend. Inside their house social status doesn’t matter that much, but outside it – it surely does. Hazara people are thought to be inferior to Pashtuns, so Hassan is often bullied and humiliated. He also can’t go to school like Amir, as he is destined to be servant his entire life. Despite that boys are best friends, until one day something changes, as one moment of shameful silence affects their entire lives. The  story itself  helps  us to follow the events happening in Afghanistan. It starts with the peaceful days before 1978,  describes the fall of Afghanistan’s monarchy and goes through the Soviet military intervention as well as the rise of the Taliban regime. It is more than a regular drama book – it is a universal journey through the range of human emotions, and diversity of the country like Afghanistan.

Black or white? Grey.

There are books full of characters, which are either amazing or awful. Good cops or bad cops, or no cops. It is definitely not the case with this book. The amount of shades of gray used there is astonishing. Especially when it comes to the main character – Amir. Shameful actions, unnecessary violence, hatred, and chaos of the world – it is all portrayed in the book, alongside with what’s beautiful and pure about life, such as kite running, which is one of the most important symbols used in a book. It is much more than a simple game, and so is the statement of one of the characters – “There is a way to be good again…” . There always is a way.

For you, a thousand times over

I don’t want to spill too much because the unknown and undiscovered seems to taste sweeter, but I’d definitely recommend you to give this book a try. It’s a bitter-sweet, stress on “bitter”, story of friendship, loyalty, and importance of every decision we make, even if it’s a decision not to do anything at all. The language used in a book isn’t too complicated, what makes it easy to read it. Still, the story is gripping and full of interesting details, which make us know a bit more about Afghanistan. If you still haven’t read it, don’t hesitate to give it your attention. You will most likely not end up disappointed. At least, I didn’t.

“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime…” – Khaled Hosseini 

That would be all for today. My list of books-to-read still keep growing, so I will definitely post a new review soon, simply because books rock! I would love you to recommend me some of your favorite books – I’m open to exploring all shades of the world!

What’s your favorite book? Have you read “The Kite runner”? Have you ever read a book about Afghanistan? Let me know!

Have a lovely day,

Jessie