"After You" by Jojo Moyes: reviews and reviews

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

Have readers ever seen a squirrel run on a wheel? The mechanism, remaining motionless, does not arouse anyone's interest. But as soon as the squirrel starts moving, the wheel starts spinning, and with each turn more and more intrigue develops. Spinning the wheel faster and faster, the runner has fun herself and at the same time gives pleasure to those who are watching her. Approximately according to this principle, the narrative is built in the new book by Jojo Moyes "After You". Reader reviews say that there is nothing wrong with this. But still, as they assure, such a writing style eventually tires. Like running a squirrel in a wheel.

"After You" by Jojo Moyes: reviews

The novel, released in the spring of 2015, interested many. By and large, mainly readers were excited by the question: why? Why waswritten the book "After You" by Jojo Moyes? Reader reviews (very many) contain the assertion that it was possible to do without it. And even more than that. Many consider it superfluous to write "After You" by Jojo Moyes. Reviews of the novel claim that the book, which was a continuation of the beloved by many work "Me Before You", not only disappointed in itself, but also introduced a certain negative moment into the perception of the first work.

"After You", author - Jojo Moyes: reviews of the novel, biography of the writer

Netizens, who at first considered themselves fans of the writer's work, began to speculate: why did this book come about, if the first contains, in their opinion, a completely finished story that does not require a continuation?

Many readers have condemned the release of Jojo Moyes' After You. Customer reviews suggest that the writer just wanted to earn extra money by writing a mediocre sequel to a rather successful first book. She sacrificed art for profit. This is how the author of the novel "After You", Jojo Moyes, is characterized, reviews.

The bewilderment of readers and the desire to understand the motives that prompted the writer to create an unnecessary and unsuccessful continuation of her favorite book “Me Before You” activated interest in the personality and life of the author of both works.

Who is she?

This question is answered by the readers themselves. Creativity Moyes before the release of the last book had some success in the circles of connoisseurs of ladies' romance. About the life of the author"After You" by Jojo Moyes reviews reveal the following.

The future English writer and journalist was born in 1969 in London. Here she spent her childhood and youth. Jojo had tried many professions before she chose a career as a writer: she drove a taxi, typed Braille, wrote travel brochures, studied at a college in the University of London. Moyes has been a journalist since 1992, writing for leading English newspapers. In 2002, she published her first book, Sheltering Rain, based on the love stories of her own grandparents. The success of the book inspired the author to leave journalism and devote himself entirely to a career as a writer. And yet, she occasionally returns to reporting work: she writes columns in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and other publications. The writer lives with her family on her own farm in Essex.

Written

The author of the book "After You" Jojo Moyes (reviews inform everyone who wants to know as much as possible about the writer) created eleven works:

• Me Before You is a novel conceived as a series.

• "After You" was intended as its sequel.

Outside series were created:

• Night Music;

• Silver Cove;

• Arcadia Villa;

• "Happy footsteps in the rain";

• "Dancing with Horses", etc.

The last novel written by Jojo Moyes is After You. Reviews aboutit, as already mentioned, are very ambiguous.

What is the novel about?

God forbid readers to experience what, at the will of the author, had a chance to experience the heroine of the work of Jojo Moyes "After You". Reviews of the book are replete with confessions from the most sensitive readers that the girl's story moved them to tears.

Is life worth living after losing a loved one? Lou Clark is not just a girl living her ordinary, unremarkable life. She was forever changed by the six months spent with Will Traynor. After the death of a loved one, due to circumstances, Lou had to return home to her family. And here she has to spend a lot of effort to overcome her grief, which turned out to be so huge that it filled her whole soul. The bodily wounds are healed (there was an accident with the girl), but her soul continues to suffer and demand healing. In his search, she comes to a psychological support group, with members of which she shares joys and sorrows. Here she meets doctor Sam Fielding, a man who knows everything about both life and death. Sam becomes a person who can truly understand the heroine. But will she find the strength in herself for a new relationship?

Storyline

For those who haven't read After You by Jojo Moyes, the reviews and description of the book will help you navigate the twists and turns of the plot.

The action of the new work takes place two years after the events that became the content of the first book. Lou (our heroine) is alone again. AfterWill's death makes her feel completely miserable and lost. Sharp experiences gradually fade into the background, giving way to everyday problems. Lou finds a new job. She is back as a waitress. The heroine never received an education; she has no opportunity to change her profession yet. Lou is so wrapped up in her own experiences that she is unable to avoid an accident. She falls from the roof, roused by an unexpectedly sharp cry from the whirlpool of gloomy thoughts that captured her. With multiple fractures, Lu ends up in the hospital, where he undergoes several operations. For a while, the girl seems to fall into the place of her deceased lover. She fears becoming disabled. But the doctors' efforts are preventing a worse outcome.

Moral

Despite the fact that most of those who read "After You" by Jojo Moyes, reviews of the women's novel were mostly negative (the book disappointed readers who expected from the work of their favorite author the same artistic level as the first novel - "Me Before You”), yet the work made readers think about many serious things and draw important conclusions. Together with the main character, the readers realized that fate gives a chance for happiness more than once. You should not "get stuck" in the past and deprive yourself of the opportunity to become happy again.

History of the book

To create a sequel to the book "Me Before You", as Jojo Moyes admitted to reporters, she was not going to. But work began on the screenplay and,in addition, a lot of letters came in which readers asked how the further life of the main character turned out. All this did not allow the author to forget about the beloved characters. I wanted to meet them again and go through new trials together.

Not a dot, but an ellipsis, and the plot is too twisted…

Why did the author decide to continue the already finished story? Readers of After You by Jojo Moyes often ask this question. Reviews of the book by network users contain the conviction that with this continuation the author spoiled the perception of the first book, where a very touching, tragic story was really described. Readers believed that a convincing point, according to the logic of the development of events and characters, was put in its finale. Turned out it was just an ellipsis…

Often, according to the reviewers, the continuation of a story loses before it begins. “After you” is just such an option.

Many people think the plot of the novel is too "twisted": Will's daughter materializes out of thin air, the heroine's relationship with her family becomes far-fetched, and another jumble of events that don't bother you at all, the story just goes on and on.

According to one of the readers of the novel, the piercing story has degraded into a cheap romance, with a labored search for “I don’t know what.”

Bored, too much…

"Boring in places," write readers of After You by Jojo Moyes. Reviews and reviews of women's literature lovers who read the novel contain, in addition to conveying personal impressions, an interesting analysisplot, characters and style features of the work.

Readers note that at the beginning of the book there is too much pain, the heroine is broken, broken. She has absolutely no strength to build a life anew. Louise has driven herself into the world of four walls and refuses to be interested in what is happening around her … Then the story flows smoothly and boringly, the heroine's trips to the support group are especially annoying. The text is replete with boring dialogues. Readers agree that these people need to share their troubles and pain, but it's quite difficult to get into it, so these dialogues and conversations are simply read "diagonally".

The more you read the novel, the more annoying are the phrases: "What would Will do? What would he do?" The heroine is too fixated on this.

Sam's character, according to the authors of the reviews, remained undisclosed, against the background of the memory of Will, he seemed to be lost. It wasn't until the finale that Sam became a significant figure. The novel lacks emotions, intrigue, sharpness in the plot and directly in the very fate of the new hero. Readers don't like the ending either: everything is chaotic, there are a lot of excesses, everyone seems to be happy, and Sam seems to be on the sidelines.

After reading the book “there remains a bright sadness…”

The novel "After you", according to readers, loses a lot to its predecessor - "Me Before You". It has no colors, no emotions. The work does not leave a vivid impression, does not make you think for a long time after reading the fate of the characters. The book evokes completely different emotions. After reading the novel, I don’t feel like crying at all, “there remains a brightsadness…" Many complain that the work is slightly stretched.

Sometimes a novel is bewildering…

Unlike the first novel, this book sometimes causes anger and irritation due to the stupid actions of the characters - readers share this in their reviews. And sometimes something in the plot causes bewilderment. According to them, the book has a clear resemblance to a mediocre Latin American series.

In the novel, nothing remains of the bright and cheerful Lou. Reviewers regret this. Apparently, everything that Will taught her was wasted, they say. In the new novel, the heroine is somehow gray, unremarkable. It seems that her age is not 28 years old, but all 60. But some readers cannot be blamed. The situation in which she finds herself is too difficult. And it's not at all implausible that she would mourn for Will for such a long time. Who knows what others would have done in her place. As soon as she finds a person who understands her, she almost immediately loses him. It’s bad that she doesn’t try to move on at all, constantly feels sorry for herself, scrolls past events in her head, misses Will, who cannot be returned, does not want to change anything.

Reviewers agree with what Trina (her sister) said about her: "It's easier for you to hold on to your stupid job and whine all the time. It's easier for you to think that nothing depends on you." Most of all, readers are dissatisfied with the "spinelessness" of the main character, the fact that she constantly indulges everyone and forgives everything.

Jojo must have a hiddensubtext.

According to readers, the events in the novel develop for a reason - they always conceal a hidden subtext, which is sometimes revealed after a hundred or even more pages. Why can't we immediately draw a parallel between the fatal shout, after which Lou fell off the roof from surprise, and the appearance of a new heroine out of nowhere? This question is included in some of the reviews. Why flood the novel with descriptions of things that make the characters unable to find a place for themselves and which are in fact sheer nonsense? For example, the mother of the main character does not shave her legs in principle, and because of this, a real war drags on in the family. In the novel, Lou's parents are very funny with their pseudo-problems - this is what many who have read the book think. For some reason, the writer needed to squeeze her mother's feminist beliefs into the novel, once again distracting readers from the main thing. Constantly waiting for the hidden subtext eventually tires…

Life is a series of suffering and failure…

According to netizens, the author leads his heroine through invented life stages, each of which is some kind of failure, misfortune or suffering. Step by step, they and the heroine move along this abyss of grief, not allowing the reader to come to his senses - slowly, surely and steadily, but still to a happy ending. Probably, in this way the writer tries to brighten up the public the boredom of gray everyday life, forcing them to experience the exceptional bitter fate of the heroes.

It seems that there is nothing good left in all of England that would inspire optimism and bright hopes, they sayreviewers. There is some kind of degeneration in the country and complete degradation - the reader was literally bathed in a sea of suffering, and this is surprising.

Many have also noticed that nothing happens in the novel simply. You can’t just approach a relative and establish a relationship with him. Be sure to contact any intermediary. How else? What is the intrigue without this?

And if the reader expects that all these adventures will eventually be completed and the author will still put the final point, then he is deeply mistaken. The wheel of events depicted in the novel stops only for a while, the author and the heroine take a break, and then the squirrel (remember the metaphor at the beginning of the article?) will run again.

Nothing to regret…

Some readers found the end of the novel open. Others argue, believing that it is possible to write an infinite continuation for any book in this way. The real ending is not necessarily the one where the characters get married, achieve something definite. At the end of the novel, the author shows that Louise finds peace, strength and hope.

The story described in the book, according to netizens, makes you think that you should definitely go further, enjoy life. By this you do not betray the memory of a departed loved one. And most importantly, there is nothing to regret.

In this opinion readers are the same. Whatever impressions remain after reading the novel, the authors of the reviews are unanimous in one thing - they do not regret that itread.