Abandoned by Booklikes

So I was not a real fan of the last book. I thought there was a lot going on there. I think moving Louisa to New York was a good idea. She gets to grow as a character which I don't think she would have if Moyes had left her in England in her new romance with Sam. And we get some new characters that I loved reading about. I have to say though the main reason I didn't give this five stars is that I had a hard time with the character of Sam. He didn't need to be anything like Will, but he wasn't a great boyfriend. I just am glad that the book actually ended with growth for him as well. That said, there are some serious plot holes going on in this book which made me wonder if a fourth book is planned. Otherwise it's just a weird way to end this series. 

"Still Me" follows Louisa (Lou) Clark as she moves to New York for a new job that her friend Nathan has helped her land. Lou is going to work for the Gopnik family as a personal assistant to the second Mrs. Gopnik, Agnes. Lou is at first overwhelmed at New York, but finds herself changing more and more as she gets to see a side of New York many people don't get to see. She also finds herself becoming friends with Agnes and wanting to do what she can to help her maneuver her new role as Mrs. Gopnik, the second. If that's not enough Lou is trying to stay in touch with Sam and keep their romance going. And then she runs into a man that could be Will Traynor's twin, Joshua Ryan which has her wondering about what her life with Will could have been if he hadn't committed suicide. 

So Lou was great in this one. She really doesn't back down from what she wants with regards to her romantic relationships and eventually her professional life. I think she was a bit slow on the uptake on some things, but I was glad to see her not just going along to get along which is what she did in the last two books in my opinion. She repeatedly asks Sam to write to her and she is focused on trying to hold their relationship together while also being an assistant to Agnes. I thought that Lou was pretty foolish about the whole Joshua thing, but then again I thought she was being foolish about the pressures related to long distance dating when one doesn't have an unlimited expense account to fly back and forth to England. The best part of the book for me was dealing with Lou and her relationship with an older woman in the building she works/lives in with the Gopnik's. I do want to say though that I hope that Moyes if she does revisit this character stops letting Lou get overly involved in those she works for lives. It's not healthy and this book showed she learned very little after dealing with Will and his family. Lou tends to get walked on and I don't see it as her being loyal, she just seems like a sucker after a while. 

Sam I thought was being an asshat for most of the book. I don't want to spoil, but honestly you could see the way things were going and I just didn't even get why Lou was so into him. He was beige on a good day. Then Moyes started to develop/build up Sam towards the middle and definitely the end and I liked the character again. I just think that Sam was pretty much ignored for too long in the first part of the book to get a sense of him. 

The character of Joshua was not a surprise at all. 

I loved the reveal about Lou's sister's relationship and what Will's daughter was up to as well. 

I have to say I was disappointed with Nathan. He was barely in this book it seemed until he was and it was good to see he was still a solid friend with Lou. 

The writing was really good and we get everything via Lou's perspective. We also get her sadness, about Will, though she does seem to be past it for the most part. Not like in the last book when she was knee deep in depression. 

The flow really worked and we get to see Lou for a whole year in New York and starting on a very exciting chapter of her life in the end.

The setting of New York was good in this one. We get to see how the wealthy live, but also those who are not wealthy. I liked the whole side plot with the doorman and his wife and his wife's efforts to save a library. 

I know a lot of readers loathed this ending though and I get why. However, I have to say it makes sense based on the character of Lou we have gotten for three books. That said, there's a lot of weird plot holes going on (no spoilers) and I do wonder if Moyes did that to leave things open to a possible fourth book. I don't know if her other books have been as popular as this series, so maybe she wanted to leave herself an out if she felt the need to return to this series in a few years.