Book Review: Before I Go To Sleep by S.J Watson

 

Title: Before I Go To Sleep
Author: S.J Watson
Pages: 358
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Year Published: 2011

"Memories define us. 
So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep?
Welcome to Christine's life."
"Christine wakes up every morning in an unfamiliar bed with an unfamiliar man. She looks in the mirror and sees an unfamiliar middle-aged face. And every morning, the man she has woken up with must explain that he is Ben, her husband, she is forty-seven years old, and a terrible accident two decades earlier decimated her ability to form new memories.
But it's a phone call from a Dr. Nash, a neurologist who claims to be working with Christine without her husband's knowledge, that directs her to her journal, hidden in the back of her closet. For the past few weeks, Christine has been recording her daily activities-tearful mornings with Ben, sessions with Dr. Nash, flashes of scenes from her former life- and rereading past entries, relearning the facts of her life as retold by the husband she is completely dependent upon. As the entries build up, Christine asks many questions. What was life like before the accident? Why did she and Ben never have a child? What has happened to Christine's best friend? And what exactly was the horrifying accident that caused such a profound loss of memory?
Every day, Christine begins again the reconstruction of her past. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more unbelievable it seems."

My Rating: 5/5

I'd like to start this book review off with a simple fact about this book. This book is an adult book and so it does contain mature content including sex, cursing, alcohol, etc. I think that should play a factor in who reads this books so I thought I'd mention that first.
This is a fantastic book that definitely grabs the readers attention even by the description, it makes the a possible reader want to read more. This book is unique and although when I first bought it I was worried it might turn into a book exactly like the move, 50 First Dates, it turned out to be completely different. This is an action packed book, filled with suspense. I suppose the main reason for that is that we are finding out about the character as she is finding out about herself. I loved that aspect in this book and it has the perfect amount of suspense. A fantastic first novel for S.J Watson.
THANK YOU S.J WATSON FOR PUTTING A READER IN A DIFFICULT SITUATION ALONG WITH A MAIN CHARACTER!

Thanks for reading,
Love,
Sidny xoxo

Spoiler: Before I Go To Sleep by S.J Watson

This is one of the most fantastic adult books I have read. I say that with a huge amount of confidence. This book grabs the reader and throws them into a what if scenario about life. It really makes you wonder about who you can trust and who you can't as well as making you see the world around you in a different way. I loved this book more than I thought I would and even though it was a crazy busy week I had trouble putting it down. This doesn't happen as much as it used to anymore so when it does I pay attention. I also enjoyed how much suspense the author uses. I believe that there is a line between not enough suspense and too much. You want to be surprised but you also want to know what the heck is going on. Too much suspense equals confusion on a regular basis. I think that S.J Watson used the perfect amount I was surprised but never totally baffled.

Characters:
Christine: Can you imagine waking up everyday and missing 20 odd years of your life. They say life goes by to fast but for her it must both drag out and go by to fast. I think that I was most shocked to find who her attacker. After we read her journal, I feel closer to this character like I understand alot more of what she's going through than at the beginning during part 1. I was happy to find out that she wasn't going to continue seeing Mike while she was still married to Ben, but I guess she was to late.

Mike: I can't believe someone would be this nuts. But I guess in his own screwed up way he though he was doing the right thing. I'm  happy he died (that's wrong of me, but at least I'm honest). He needed to be committed to a mental hospital. He just wasn't right in the head. If you think about it he stalked Christine before he even asked her out the first time. That should have tipped her off.

Claire: I was glad to hear that she didn't just desert Christine per say. And that she help Christine find the truth.

Dr. Nash: I thought for the longest time that maybe he was her son and that was the only way that Ben/Mike would let him near Christine but it's good that he wasn't. That would have made things to confusing. He is the main reason that Christine didn't just die with the man she though was her husband and so I like him.

Ben: The real Ben was the one I originally though that attacked Christine. I can understand someone going crazy when they find out that they're wife is having an affair and I'm happy he ended up coming back to Christine it makes me feel like in at least one way she gets a happy ending.

Adam: Thank god, he's alive! Yay, yay, yay!


Moment to Remember:
♥Pg. 204
"I feel like I am going mad. Everything is fluid, everything shifts. I think one thing, and then, a moment later, the opposite. I believe everything my husband says, and then I believe nothing. I trust him, and then I don't. Nothing feels real, everything invented. Even myself."

Thanks for reading,
Love,
Sidny xoxo