Love can come in any forms, and each form is beautiful. However, what can be classified as love? How can you tell the difference between love and illusion or infatuation? Me Before You by Jojo Moyes brings up this question in his popular novel. The novel Me Before You tells the story of Louisa Clark, a young woman with an eccentric fashion sense currently living with her parents. Louisa had recently been laid off and was struggling to find work that fit her experience (which was limited to serving tea at a local shop). Louisa needed a job quickly, and she finally found something in the form of aiding a young paraplegic named Will Traynor. Things do not start off well when Louisa faces Will Traynor’s sarcasm and bad attitude. However, things start following a better course, and Louisa and Will become friends. (SPOILERS AHEAD) As their friendship turns into something more, Louisa is faced with the task of trying to give Will a reason to live. You see, Will Traynor has given his parents six months time with him before he goes off to Dignitas, an institute in Switzerland that will put Will out of his misery and allow him to end his life.

Lou tries her hardest to give Will a reason to keep living. She tries taking him on different adventures: horse racing, a concert, and in the end a trip to a resort. Unfortunately, Will’s mind does not change. He decides to go through with this commitment and leaves to Switzerland. Before he leaves Lou, however, they express their love for each other. Louisa tells Will she loves him, later asking him to stay with her. Will’s reasoning for not agreeing is that he doesn’t want to be dependent on Lou; he doesn’t want her to feel compelled to be with him for fear she will leave one day. In the end, he leaves her with memories of their time together and a hole in her heart. This ending seemed more heartbreaking to me when I questioned whether Louisa really loved Will. Though Will brought new experiences to her life and made her look at things in a new perspective, Louisa’s job was to find a way to convince Will to live. Thus, she may not have loved him the way he loved her; she became so consumed with her job that she convinced herself she loved him. Will also didn’t think his love for Louisa was a valid reason for him to stay with her. His life was difficult, but he found someone who cared about him. Even with this new “love,” Will still decided to end his life, something I didn’t agree with in the novel. Will could’ve stayed with Louisa, proving that love can trump even the most difficult obstacles. Instead, the ending Moyes created makes it seem as if love is an insignificant emotion. Will decided to end his life though he was leaving behind so many loved ones. Louisa also may not have loved Will Traynor, instead, she was more infatuated with an illusion she created.

Me Before You was an entertaining novel and the film wasn’t bad either, but the ending seemed off-putting to me. The novel is 369 pages long and didn’t live up to the hype I had heard about it. I enjoyed some moments, but the “romance” between Will and Louisa did not convince me. Me Before You is great for anyone who likes romantic comedies or dramas.