There is a market for tear-jerkers. >Me Before You is a tear jerker. That market, for a special book, includes me, a male of the species. 
 Implied in the label is the success of an author making readers both treasure and worry to nail-biting about a character(s) and what will happen to him or her next. With successful transport into the tear-jerking tale, the reader disappears into the author's imaginary world, and mundane concerns recede to vanishing. Where the teenagers are, whether or not the bus will come on time, or what to fix for dinner, all become minor problems for later. Much later. 
 Good authors in all genres have an ability to make us care about their characters. What makes tear-jerkers special is that the author consciously makes caring about a character the goal of her writing. There are other admirable ways of hooking readers: Gasps of horror, "there but for the grace of God go I" reactions, "wow, how informative" or 'so hot my panties melted' panting are all reader reactions an author may legitimately seek. Moyes has sought our tears. She succeeds masterfully. 
 There is usually an addition fillip, an additional stimulus, that carries a book above the high water mark set by less original offerings in the genre. Here, Ms. Moyes explores the world of quadriplegia. Her exploration is not so much about how special wheelchairs operate as it is an investigation of how the injured person and those around her respond. Here, the exploration is worth the price of Me Before You even if the story was modest. 
 Often there is a formula, a group of tropes, associated with tear jerkers, as with any genre. We the readers can predict the outcome often just from the blurb, or surely from the first few chapters. A well done tear jerkers causes us to question our certainty as to the outcome several times before the end. Reversals happen. Crises are not avoided. Could this be the book in which only the bad guys are left standing? In which there is not "happily" before ever after? I wrote "too predictable" in a note to a friend about a third of the way into Me Before You. There followed several mental "maybe this will end up somewhere unexpected" questions as I kept reading. Whether the story does or doesn't end up where you (or I) expect, I'll leave for you to find. Ms. Moyes kept me engrossed to the end. 
 Note to Narrators: Good actresses make a stage whisper carry to the back row. Why some narrators can't simulate a whisper while avoiding the necessity of the audience having to pause, rewind and turn up the volume, is beyond me. Surely, if the narrator can't do this, the producer ought to fix it. Just saying. 
 PS That no actual tears fell from my eyes isn't relevant, guys.