![After You (Me Before You, #2)](https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1429029729m/25041504.jpg)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I absolutely loved "Me Before You" (even though it broke my heart), and I'd read mixed reviews about this sequel, so I was hoping I wouldn't be disappointed. As you can see by my rating, I wasn't!
Louisa Clark is trying to move on after Will's death (and I hope that's not a spoiler but this book is called "After You", which is a pretty big clue!) but she isn't doing very well. She's bought a flat in London but hasn't made it a home. She's working at a crappy job in an airport bar. And she's even stopped wearing the bright and colourful clothes she always loved.
One night, after drinking a little too much, she has a terrible accident. After recuperating at home, her father says she can return to her London flat on one condition - that she attends a grief support group - the Moving On Circle. Through one of the members, a young man called Jake, she happens to meet up with the paramedic who saved her life. She finds herself attracted to Sam but in her heart she still loves Will and won't let him go.
Just to complicate matters, a stranger turns up on Louisa's doorstep one evening - sixteen-year-old Lily Houghton-Miller, who claims to be Will's daughter. At first, Louisa doesn't believe her - because she and Will shared everything. But she soon learns that Will never knew he even had a daughter.
Lily is a very troubled young woman, and Louisa makes it her mission to help her, and to tell her as much as she can about Will. She allows Lily to stay with her in her flat, and also introduces Lily to her grandparents, Will's parents, but things don't go very smoothly to start with! There have been big changes to the Traynors after Will's death and not all of them have been good, especially for Mrs Traynor.
After Louisa and Lily have a falling out, Louisa kicks her out of the flat, thinking she'll just run back to her mother. But Lily goes missing. It seems she has been hiding a terrible secret...
Meanwhile, Louisa's friend Nathan, the male nurse who also looked after Will, has an offer for her - a great opportunity in New York that will get her away from London and her crappy job. But will she take it? Will she leave Sam, a man she might possibly love? And what about Lily, for whom she somehow feels responsible?
And then a very bad thing happens. Very bad. Almost what happened with Will bad. And I thought to myself, no, no, no Jojo Moyes, you are not to do this to me again!
I'm going to leave you in suspense there.
There are lots of fun secondary characters in the book too - Louisa's mother and father have a very interesting subplot going on - and the other members of the Moving On Circle are all very likeable as well. As with "Me Before You", there are many lighter moments amongst the drama, heartache and misunderstandings.
Will Sam win Louisa's heart? Will she go to New York? Will Lily find a way to have a relationship with her father's family? Will I ever stop loving Will? Whoops! I mean, will Louisa ever stop loving Will?
"Me Before You" was a very special book, but I was very happy to revisit Louisa and find out how she was getting on. I hope that you will laugh, cry and rejoice with her as I did.
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