Still Me
by Jojo Moyes
Publication date: January 30th 2018
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Summary
Louisa Clark arrives in New York ready to start a new life, confident that she can embrace this new adventure and keep her relationship with Ambulance Sam alive across several thousand miles. She steps into the world of the superrich, working for Leonard Gopnik and his much younger second wife, Agnes. Lou is determined to get the most out of the experience and throws herself into her new job and New York life.
As she begins to mix in New York high society, Lou meets Joshua Ryan, a man who brings with him a whisper of her past. Before long, Lou finds herself torn between Fifth Avenue where she works and the treasure-filled vintage clothing store where she actually feels at home. And when matters come to a head, she has to ask herself: Who is Louisa Clark? And how do you find the courage to follow your heart—wherever that may lead?
Funny, romantic, and poignant, Still Me follows Lou as she navigates how to stay true to herself, while pushing to live boldly in her brave new world.
Source: Goodreads
Thoughts
“Books are what teach you about life. Books teach you empathy. But you can’t buy books if you barely got enough to make rent. So that library is a vital resource! You shut a library, Louisa, you don’t just shut down a building, you shut down hope.”
It’s been years since I read “After You“, the sequel to “Me Before You“. I loved both books but for some reason never picked up the third in the series when it was released in 2018 (drowning in so many other books I think!) Now, 4 years later, I’ve finally found the time to dig into “Still Me”.
This series is just lovely! The third book follows our leading lady Louisa as she spends a year in Midtown Manhattan working as an assistant for Agnes Gopnick, leaving her new man Sam and her family behind in England. I think you could read this as a stand alone book, but I don’t think you’d really want to, as there is so much history and background to Louisa and her family that you won’t want to miss.
“I thought about how you’re shaped so much by the people who surround you, and how careful you have to be in choosing them for this exact reason, and then I thought, despite all that, in the end maybe you have to lose them all in order to truly find yourself.”
This was a fun read and it’s witty throughout. The characters are fun and quirky, making Lou’s time in the city a really engaging read. I particularly enjoyed hearing about Louisa’s experience of the wealthy and how it varied so much from the life she has known so far.
Of the three I’d say that this was my least favourite, but that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, I certainly did. I just found that this book lacked the emotional punch of the first two. I loved following Louisa as she found her place in New York amongst the rich and privileged and felt great pride when she continued to rock her bumblebee tights and vintage clothing around them!
It was cheesy at times and I wasn’t a great fan of the ending, but this is a fun rom-com, even if a little long! I’m glad to have wrapped up the series after all of this time!
Overall rating: “Still Me” is the third story in the “Me Before You” series, wrapping up Louisa Clark’s story. This was an enjoyable read for me and I enjoyed following Lou on her New York adventure – 4 stars!
What Rebecca's Read 