If you’re anything like the millions of people who sobbed into their pillows after finishing Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You, you probably felt a weird mix of rage and emptiness when Will Traynor made his final choice. It was brutal. Honestly, it was the kind of ending that stays with you for weeks, making you stare blankly at your bookshelf wondering why you do this to yourself. But then you realize there is more. You start hunting for the After You book or searching for the Still Me book to find out if Louisa Clark ever actually "lives boldly" like Will told her to.
Most people just call them the Me Before You sequels, but they have their own identities.
The transition from the first book to the second is jarring. You expect Lou to be trekking across the Himalayas or sipping espresso in a Parisian cafe, flourishing under the weight of her inheritance and Will’s legacy. Instead, Moyes gives us something much more honest and, frankly, a bit depressing at first. Lou is stuck. She’s working a dead-end job at an airport bar called The Shamrock and Clover, wearing a ridiculous uniform and living in a flat that feels more like a waiting room than a home. It’s not the glamorous transformation we wanted, but it’s the one that feels real. Grief isn't a straight line that leads directly to a makeover montage.
The Reality of the Me Before You Sequel: After You
When After You hit the shelves, fans were divided. Some wanted a new romance immediately; others felt that any new man in Lou’s life would be a betrayal of Will. Moyes handles this by introducing Sam, a paramedic who literally falls into Lou's life after she falls off her roof. Yeah, she falls off a roof. It’s a literal and metaphorical rock bottom.
What's interesting about this sequel is how it handles the fallout of assisted suicide. It’s not just about Lou’s sadness. The book dives into the "Moving On" support group, introducing a cast of characters who are all navigating different types of loss. You’ve got people who lost children, spouses, and parents. It grounds the story in a way the first book didn’t—moving it away from the high-stakes drama of the Traynor estate and into the gritty, messy reality of everyday survival.
Then there’s Lily.
Lily is the bombshell Moyes drops to keep the plot moving. Without spoiling every single beat, let’s just say Will Traynor’s past was more complicated than he let on. The introduction of a teenage daughter Lou never knew existed creates a weird, friction-filled dynamic. Lou goes from being a grieving girlfriend to a makeshift guardian and bridge to the Traynor family. It’s chaotic. It’s frustrating. It makes you want to shake Lou and tell her to stop being a doormat, but that’s always been Lou’s struggle, hasn't it?
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Why Still Me Changes the Game
If After You was about the stagnant weight of grief, Still Me is the actual "living boldly" part of the trilogy. This third book takes Lou to New York City. Finally.
She takes a job working for the Gopniks, a super-wealthy family living in a world of high-society galas and vintage clothes that Lou actually appreciates. This is where the Me Before You sequel energy really shifts. We get to see Lou navigating the Upper East Side, dealing with a boss’s second wife who is struggling to fit in, and trying to maintain a long-distance relationship with Sam back in London.
New York suits Lou. The city is as eccentric as her wardrobe.
One of the best parts of Still Me is the introduction of Mrs. De Witt, an elderly neighbor with a closet full of vintage treasures and a sharp tongue. She becomes the mentor Lou actually needs—someone who isn't tied to the tragedy of Will Traynor. Through their relationship, Lou starts to figure out who she is when she isn't taking care of someone else. For the first time in three books, Louisa Clark isn't a caretaker. She’s an individual with her own ambitions.
The Complicated Legacy of Will Traynor
We have to talk about the ghost in the room. Even though Will is gone, his presence dominates the sequels. Every decision Lou makes is filtered through the lens of "What would Will think?" or "Am I failing the promise I made him?"
It’s a heavy burden.
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In After You, the Traynor family is still very much in the picture, and their reaction to Lily (Will’s daughter) is heartbreakingly complicated. Camilla Traynor, Will’s mother, is still as cold and brittle as ever, but we see cracks in her armor. The sequels do a great job of showing that Will’s death didn't just affect Lou; it shattered a whole ecosystem of people.
Critics of the series often argue that the sequels shouldn't exist. They say the ending of Me Before You was so definitive that adding more chapters cheapens the sacrifice. I disagree. I think seeing Lou struggle to find her footing makes the first book more meaningful. It proves that "living boldly" isn't a switch you flip; it’s a grueling, lifelong process of choosing yourself over and over again.
A Quick Breakdown of the Trilogy
If you're trying to keep the timeline straight, here is how the narrative flows across the three books:
- Me Before You: The meeting, the six months, the heartbreak. Lou learns that she can't change someone's mind, but she can be changed by them.
- After You: The immediate aftermath. Lou is back in England, dealing with a freak accident, a secret daughter, and a new love interest who understands trauma.
- Still Me: The expansion. Lou moves to New York, works for the ultra-rich, finds a new mentor, and finally decides what she wants her life to look like without checking in with a dead man first.
Should You Read the Sequels?
Honestly? It depends on what you want.
If you want another epic, tragic romance that ruins your life, the sequels might feel a bit more grounded and "literary" than you expect. They are more about character growth and the sociology of grief than they are about grand romantic gestures. However, if you fell in love with Louisa Clark as a person—her bumblebee tights, her weird humor, her immense heart—then you absolutely have to read them.
You’ve seen her at her most selfless. You deserve to see her at her most independent.
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There’s a specific kind of magic in Still Me when Lou visits a vintage clothing store and realizes she has a talent for it. It feels like a payoff years in the making. It’s not a prince rescuing her; it’s Lou rescuing herself from the expectations of everyone else.
Actionable Steps for Fans of the Series
If you've just finished the first book and are staring at the Me Before You sequel options, here is how to approach them for the best experience:
- Take a break between books: Don't jump straight into After You five minutes after finishing the first one. Let the ending of Will’s story breathe. The time jump in the books feels more natural if you've had a little time to process the first ending yourself.
- Don't compare Sam to Will: It’s tempting. Don't do it. Sam is a different kind of man for a different version of Lou. He’s steady, he’s a healer, and he’s alive. Appreciate him for the stability he offers.
- Pay attention to the vintage clothes: In the third book, Lou’s fashion isn't just a quirk; it becomes her career path. If you love her style, Still Me is basically a love letter to fashion history.
- Check out the "Louisa Clark" short stories: Jojo Moyes has occasionally released small snippets and short stories via her newsletter or special editions. They fill in some of the gaps between the New York adventures.
- Watch the movie, but read the books: Emilia Clarke was perfect as Lou, but the movie cuts out a huge chunk of the internal monologue that makes the sequels work. The sequels haven't been adapted for film (yet), so the books are the only way to get the full story.
The journey from the small town in England to the high-rises of Manhattan is a long one for Lou. It’s messy. It’s full of mistakes and bad boyfriends and family drama. But by the time you reach the final pages of Still Me, you finally feel like Will Traynor would be proud. Not because she did what he said, but because she finally stopped listening to what everyone else said and started listening to herself.
If you are looking for closure, Still Me provides it in a way Me Before You never could. It turns a story about a man’s death into a story about a woman’s life. And that is exactly what a sequel should do.
Make sure you have a box of tissues ready for the New York segments, though. Different reasons, same wet face. Lou has a way of doing that to you.
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