Me Before You by JoJo Moyes

Synopsis:  Louisa is a twenty something girl, recently out of a job and looking for any work she can to help support her family.  While working with a recruiter an opportunity comes up to help look after a young man recently hurt in an automobile accident, Will Traynor, a former thrill seeking enthusiast, sky diving, bungee jumping, CEO quadriplegic who is now confined to a wheel chair and severely depressed.  Will cannot move his body below the neck other than some very slight movement in his fingers and requires 24 hour a day in home medical care.  Louisa, mostly due to the pay decides to accept this care taker position as long as she does not have wipe his bum.  She works with Will continuously with the hope of getting him out of the house and back into the world again, not only to lift his spirits but to try and bring back his previous zealous outlook on life.  She will find that in this short time how difficult this task is and more importantly just how difficult all of this is for Will.

My review:  Wow, a powerful book indeed.  I had no idea how this book was going to turn out.  Not just the ending but the story line itself.  This book was beautifully written and definitely a cutting edge story like I have never seen.  My initial fear with this book was that it would be what I call a "girly book", I was even hesitant to read it because of that fact.  I am not saying that I am opposed to girly books but I didn't want to end up with a sobbing romance novel.  This book was anything but that and still has me sitting here thinking about it.  This is definitely a book club style book, I can very clearly see a bunch of girls sitting around drinking wine talking about this book with tears in their eyes.  Highly recommended!!

My rating:  8
Pages:  369
Author website:  http://www.jojomoyes.com/

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

Synopsis:  Tom and Isabel Sherbourne work on a lighthouse off the coast of Australia.  The newly married couple keeps trying to have children but after three miscarriages all hope is lost.  Until one day a small boat washes ashore with a dead man and a crying baby aboard.  The couple decides to keep the baby for themselves and not properly notify the authorities, while burying the dead man on the island.  As the years go by the new family eventually leaves the post for holiday and heads back to the mainland only to realize that this missing baby, Lucy is actually named Grace and her real mother has spent years looking for her lost child and husband.  Once they head back to the lighthouse the guilt of what have they done starts to settle in and eventually begins to consume Tom and may eventually lead to their demise.

My review:  What a fantastic book.  So many emotions brought to life here.  I could actually feel the struggles from both Tom and Isabel and as well as Hannah and Lucy.  This is definitely a "book club" style book.  I highly recommend this to anyone.  Here is a link where you can read the first chapter online.  I was not sure how this book was going to end and given the story line this book could have gone many different directions.  I loved how the author brought this story to an end, I don't want to give anything away but all in all I loved this book.  Highly recommended!

My rating:  9
Pages:  343
Author website:  https://www.facebook.com/lightbetweenoceans