Editors Reads Verdict
After You is a gentler, more comedic novel than its predecessor, trading the moral weight of Me Before You for something warmer and more conventionally hopeful. It doesn't quite match the original's emotional courage, but Moyes writes Lou Clark with enough warmth and specificity to make the journey worth taking.
What We Loved
- Lou Clark remains a genuinely lovable and well-observed protagonist
- The arrival of Lily Houghton adds real narrative energy and emotional complexity
- Moyes handles grief with more nuance than most commercial fiction
Minor Drawbacks
- The romance with Sam feels more conventional than the central relationship in Me Before You
- The novel's comedic register occasionally undercuts the emotional stakes
Key Takeaways
- → Grief does not follow a linear arc — it resurfaces in unexpected forms and at unexpected moments
- → The people left behind by a death carry obligations and connections they did not anticipate
- → Moving forward after loss is not a betrayal of the person lost
| Author | Jojo Moyes |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Pamela Dorman Books |
| Pages | 352 |
| Published | September 29, 2015 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Romance, Women's Fiction, Contemporary Fiction |
After Will
Lou Clark is not doing well. Eighteen months after Will Traynor’s death, she is living in a flat she has barely furnished, working at an airport bar, and doing as little living as possible. The irony is not lost on her: Will left her money and an instruction to live boldly, and she is failing on both counts. When a fall from her roof terrace — accidental, she insists — lands her in hospital and in a grief support group, things begin, slowly, to shift.
After You is a lighter book than Me Before You, and deliberately so. Where the first novel built toward a devastating and morally serious ending, this one moves toward reintegration and hope. The tonal shift is a choice, and it mostly works, though readers looking for the same emotional intensity will need to adjust their expectations.
Lily
The novel’s most interesting element is Lily Houghton, a volatile and troubled teenager who arrives claiming to be Will Traynor’s daughter. Her presence forces Lou out of her grief-sustained stasis and into a form of caring that is simultaneously inconvenient, frustrating, and necessary. The dynamic between them — surrogate mother and daughter, grief-sharers, two people connected by a man who chose to leave — is the novel’s real emotional centre.
Moyes writes Lily with enough specificity and difficult edges that she avoids becoming simply a plot device. She is a teenager in genuine trouble, and the novel takes her pain seriously.
The Romance
Sam Fielding, the paramedic Lou meets in the aftermath of her fall, is a decent romantic interest who provides the novel’s more conventional pleasures. He is kind, competent, and uncomplicated in ways that Will Traynor was not. This is perhaps the point — that after the magnitude of what Lou experienced with Will, ordinary goodness might be exactly what she needs — but it makes for a somewhat less arresting love story.
Our rating: 4.0/5 — A warm, well-crafted sequel that trades its predecessor’s moral courage for something more conventionally hopeful, held together by Lou Clark’s irresistible voice and the unexpectedly moving Lily subplot.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "After You" about?
Lou Clark returns in the sequel to Me Before You, navigating grief, unexpected new connections, and the question of how to live fully after catastrophic loss — including a visit from someone from Will Traynor's past.
What are the key takeaways from "After You"?
Grief does not follow a linear arc — it resurfaces in unexpected forms and at unexpected moments The people left behind by a death carry obligations and connections they did not anticipate Moving forward after loss is not a betrayal of the person lost
Is "After You" worth reading?
After You is a gentler, more comedic novel than its predecessor, trading the moral weight of Me Before You for something warmer and more conventionally hopeful. It doesn't quite match the original's emotional courage, but Moyes writes Lou Clark with enough warmth and specificity to make the journey worth taking.
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