Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Upon starting this book, it didn't take long for me to begin to loathe it. I was born with a physical disability and have been unable to walk since the age of 4. Therefore, I can say without hesitation that this book was written by a person with limited exposure to the disabled community... and it was written for people with limited exposure to the disabled community. The overdramatized and unrealistic sensibilities of this novel surely appeal to the Twilight-and-50-Shades-of-Grey-kinda-reader, but most people with a working brain will see this book for what it really is: "tragedy porn." Let's do a little plot recap, shall we? (Spoilers ahead...) Handsome and successful Will Traynor is living the perfect life... great career, oodles of money and long-legged women arguing over who gets the privilege of shagging him next. But, oh no! Tragedy strikes! God-like Will ends up in a motor accident and becomes a quadriplegic. *gasp* What will he do next?! Err, nothing. He moves into his parents' guest house and proceeds to stare into space for the next half of the book. He leaves his job, his friends abandon him, and he does his damn best to lose every neuron of intelligence that had characterized his life up to this point. Enter Louisa Clark— a working-class girl that has recently lost her job in a diner. She's sharp and spunky, but has made nothing of her life other than complaining about how annoying her mother and sister can be. Louisa gets sent by an employment agency to Will Traynor's house to be a temporary (but, really, really well-paid) care assistant. But, she's hired to be more than a care assistant... According to his emotionally-stunted mom, Will Traynor desperately needs a big ray of bubbly sunshine to pull him out of the massive cripple funk. Alas, though, Will hates Louisa! And Louisa begins to dislike him, too, but her overwhelming sense of sympathy (okay, let's be real, it's pity!), makes her try extra hard to win him over. She plans outings and excursions for them, but her utter stupidity makes them turn into disasters. Louisa eventually learns why her job is temporary... Will has planned to commit suicide in 6 months at a specialized death clinic in Switzerland! *gasp* And, after throwing large wads of money at Louisa, his mom is hoping that the girl will change her son's mind! *double gasp* Oh, the stress of it all. Poor Will. Poor Louisa. She doubles her efforts to bring happiness to Will's life and, of course, falls in love with him in the meantime. But, is her love enough to make Will want to keep living?! Gag me now, please. Or, better yet, send me to the death clinic in Switzerland so I can be put out of my misery, too. End of plot summary. For a disabled person, like myself, there are so many offensive and insulting things in this book, that I don't know where to begin. So, I'll just end by saying this: Being disabled is not a tragedy. But, being stupid sure is.