After You by Jojo Moyes

After YouNarrated by Anna Acton

Note: Contains spoilers for the prequel, Me Before You

In After You, author Jojo Moyes attempts to answer the question “What will Lou do now that Will is gone?” Unfortunately, the answer isn’t nearly as interesting as readers might have hoped. I, for one, started listening with high expectations. Me Before You, the hugely popular prequel, was such an emotionally intense book. Wouldn’t any sequel have to pack the same punch? Sadly, the answer is no.

Eighteen months after the events of Me Before You, Lou Clark is in a definite rut. Her life seems meaningless without Will there to share it with. She simply can’t seem to get past the fact that he chose to end his life. She is basically existing, with very little hope of happiness.

Then, Lou herself is injured in an accident. She returns home to her family so they can support her through the process of healing her body. It’s obvious that her spirit is in need of some healing too. With this in mind, Lou reluctantly becomes part of a support group made up of individuals who need to move on from some tremendous losses. It is the stories of the people Lou encounters here that I found most enjoyable. It’s sad but true: Lou herself was not enough to hold my attention.

Lou meets Sam, a paramedic, and begins to develop feelings for him. I really, really wanted to like Sam. He seemed like a fine, upstanding man, someone who would treat Lou well. However, Ms. Moyes failed to bring him to life for me. He was a caricature of a romantic hero, possessing all the good qualities but none of the humanity necessary for listeners to fall in love right along with the heroine. Honestly, I was bored by Sam. I just wasn’t invested in his relationship with Lou.

I want to stay away from spoilers, but I feel I must address the part of the plot that deals with a secret from Will’s past. Initially, I was on pins and needles, waiting for the secret to be revealed. And then, when I finally knew what it was, I was left feeling strangely empty and a little bit cheated. Anticlimactic is the best word I can come up with.

Narrator Anna Acton did an adequate job with After You. I might have been more drawn to her performance if it had been paired with a book I enjoyed more. She created believable character voices. Her British accent suited the characters perfectly. Her male voices were quite credible. And, yet, I felt there was something missing. Maybe I was just bored by the story, or, maybe Ms. Acton needed to add a bit more energy to her performance. There were a few times when it felt like she was droning on and on, rather than telling me a story. Even so, Ms. Acton is a narrator I won’t dismiss out of hand. I’d like to hear her narrate something a bit more to my liking before I make a final decision about her skill as a narrator.

If you’re a fan of Me Before You who is wondering what became of Lou Clark, After You will answer that question for you. However, I can’t, in good conscience, recommend either the story or the narration. Sometimes, it’s simply better not to know what happens to a heroine we love. It’s better left to our imaginations.

Shannon


Narration: C+

Book Content: D

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence Rating: Minimal

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Penguin Audio

After You was provided to AudioGals by Penguin Audio for a review.

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