There’s been such buzz about the movie Me Before You that I figured I will see it sooner or later, and I usually like to read the book first. So…

For those of you who do not watch TV, it’s about a young girl who takes a job as caretaker to a young, grouchy quadriplegic. (He didn’t start out grouchy, but wouldn’t you be?)

Thirty-five-year-old Will Traynor was the kind of guy who jumped out of airplanes for fun. He skied, he climbed …, you get the idea. In an instant, that life is gone. Will has asked his parents to take him to Dignitas, In Sweden – you can figure out what they do there – but agrees to wait six months. But just to be sure he holds up his end of the deal, they hire a caregiver. They are also hoping the caregiver can convince Will to change his mind.

Enter 26-year-old Louisa “Lou” Clark, a girl with no experience, but a vibrant energy and an interesting sense of style. Will hates her on sight for the same reason he hates everyone – they are reminders of what he no longer is. Just someone walking into the room is painful for him. Of course, they end up getting along famously. Falling in love, in fact. So, Lou is determined to convince him to live.  Spoiler Alert I’ve seen this in several reviews, so I don’t think it is giving anything away to say she fails. But not exactly for the reason she thinks. End Spoiler Alert 

On holiday shortly before the six months are up, Lou tells Will she is in love with him and begs him to live. He will not.

It is tempting to get angry with him and say he is being selfish. After all, he does truly love her and he knows it’s what Lou desperately wants. But that’s not fair. He was paralyzed when she met him, he hasn’t changed to her. But he knows who he was and what their love could have been, and he cannot live the rest of his life knowing he cannot be that for her.

One thing I loved was finding out so much about a quad’s life. I think of you, like me, think it just means they are paralyzed, but that’s not all. Will can’t cough effectively because that uses chest muscles he doesn’t have. His immune system is compromised. He can’t regulate his body temperature the way the rest of us can. If he gets a slight infection, it could kill him because it will send his temperature so high. It is not uncommon for pneumonia to be fatal.

And with many, with Will, even though his limbs are useless, they still cause him quite a bit of pain. Now, that’s really just not fair. But that’s how it is.  Many quads live with a lot of pain, a lot of the time. And there’s more. I had no idea what they endure. The book is very enlightening that way. And it gives you a much better feel for why Will wants to die. Unfortunately, it makes sense.

It’s a heartbreaking story and well written. It may be a chick book, but I do recommend it. It’s a page-turner, even if it’s not a couldn’t-put-it-down.  One of the things I love about it is I don’t know if the title is being said by Lou or Will. It’s probably Lou, but it could be either.