I wrote a sequel to Bruises because it was simply a two-part story, & if I ever have it published readers will discover that it is actually a better book – according to those who have read it of course. Really both books needed to be put out there together but unfortunately that wasn’t possible at the time. I personally think that a lot of the trilogies out there today are dragged out, but people read them. I too am guilty of wasting away hours only to get to the end & think it could have all been packed into one decent sized book. Then, we have all read books that we didn’t want to end & one of my favourites is ‘Me before You’. I re-watched the movie again last week (twice actually because I love it), partly because it had just been released, & partly because I was reading the sequel ‘After you’.
I finished it yesterday & honestly it was a sequel that didn’t need to be written, in my opinion. Moyles should have just left us with the book hangover that we suffered when Me before You ended. Of course we all wanted know that Louisa spread her wings & used the potential that everyone saw, but we didn’t really need to read about it. I kept waiting for it to get going, but the plot was weak till the end. Yes there were a couple of storylines that had the potential to be interesting, but I won’t spoil the surprise in case you want to read it & make your own mind up. However, they became a bit far-fetched & frankly not very believable in the end, & don’t even get me started on the accident at the beginning – that was just stupid.
So why did I read it? I expected more of the same I guess, just different circumstances of course. It lacked the humour & chemistry that you experience between Louisa & Will. It felt like she was milking the previous success by knowing we would read it away, & therefore it didn’t have to be as good. I don’t think she really thought about the plot carefully, resulting in a jumbled up novel of mundane life events & completely ridiculous incidents. Sorry JoJo, you didn’t do it for this time some books just need to stand alone.
louiselindley 