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

December 26, 2011 by Darlene

Can you imagine waking up each morning having no clue where you are not to mention having no ability to remember anything from the previous day, weeks, or years? Well that is Christine’s life. During the day she can accumulate and remember things but as soon as she goes to sleep for the night, they are gone. This is all due to an accident she apparently had although she has no memory of it but it left her with a severe brain injury. Her husband Ben (who she doesn’t remember either) tells her each morning about their life together and what had happened to her.

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson is a fantastic psychological thriller that completely held me in its grip from the first page. When Christine awakens in the morning she figures she’s still in her 20’s so imagine her surprise when she looks in the mirror and instead sees a 47 year old woman. One day after Ben leaves for work, Christine discovers another cell phone ringing in her purse. It turns out to be Dr. Nash who has apparently been helping her but this turns out to be something she has hidden from Ben because he’s never been too enthusiastic about her getting help. Dr. Nash reminds Christine to read the journal he has suggested she keep and then they meet afterwards. He repeats this process every day. One day when Christine pulls the journal out she sees some words that terrify her… ‘Don’t trust Ben’. What could this mean? Ben is her husband. He takes care of her. Why shouldn’t she trust him?

Yet as she reads her journal she notices all the inconsistencies with what Ben tells her and what Dr. Nash tells her. You see Christine keeps having flashbacks to times in her past before the accident. When this happens she sits down and tries to make sure she gets it down in her journal. As times goes by she begins to piece together her past and what ultimately happened to her that fateful day of her accident. What she uncovers terrifies her!

The author has done an incredible job of writing in this novel. He builds up our excitement as every day Christine discovers something new and yet we know the next morning it’ll all be gone. The mystery and suspense kept me on the edge of my seat. I had some idea of what was going on but as the mystery and events of Christine’s past unfold; I was at times shocked and at others viciously angry at some of the characters in the novel. Towards the end of the story the plot thickens and culminates in an exciting conclusion that left me completely satisfied.

I really enjoyed Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson. It is his debut novel and it is a fantastic one. I certainly look forward to more of this author’s work in the future. For now I would certainly recommend this novel to my friends!

Source: My personal copy. Review first published on Book Trib as part of the Review Crew.

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Filed Under: 2011 Challenges, 2011•100 Books or More Challenge

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lenore says

    December 26, 2011 at 12:18 am

    I am reading this right now!

  2. Jessica ( frellathon ) says

    December 26, 2011 at 9:26 am

    This is on my must read list. I have to get it.

  3. zibilee says

    December 26, 2011 at 11:33 am

    I just finished this one yesterday, and while I loved it, the narrator was a little disappointing. It was a very thrilling and unexpected book, but for some reason, the narration didn’t convey that to me. Great review on this one, Dar!

  4. Tea Time with Marce says

    December 26, 2011 at 11:34 am

    I look forward to more from this author also but I have to say I didn’t love as much as others. I did figure it out and couldn’t understand why she went sleep every night.

    Great debut overall though.

  5. bermudaonion (Kathy) says

    December 26, 2011 at 12:34 pm

    This sounds rather creepy – but in a good way!

  6. jennygirl says

    December 26, 2011 at 2:04 pm

    Creepy psychological thriller…right up my alley. Great review 🙂

  7. bookworm says

    December 26, 2011 at 4:47 pm

    This sounds fantastic. It does remind me a bit of the movie 50 First Dates as far as the memory loss.

  8. carla says

    December 26, 2011 at 5:50 pm

    Sounds like a spooky one. Writing things in a journal seems like the obvious thing one would do.
    I’ll have to keep my eyes open for this one.

  9. Beth(bookaholicmom) says

    December 26, 2011 at 6:16 pm

    A lot of people did not like this book but I loved it! I thought it was very suspenseful!

  10. Nise' says

    December 26, 2011 at 7:53 pm

    I enjoyed this one too! I look forward to the author’s next book.

  11. Samantha says

    December 27, 2011 at 7:00 pm

    I loved this one as well. Just loved it!!! And I can’t wait to read more by this author in the future. Such a good read and I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed it as well 🙂 Hope you have a wonderful new year Dar!!

  12. Jenners says

    December 28, 2011 at 11:22 am

    This was a page-turner … though I wish the author had made more of a commitment to the ending!!!

  13. Staci says

    December 29, 2011 at 5:59 am

    I.Must.read.this.one! requesting it from my library right now!

  14. Marie says

    December 30, 2011 at 3:17 pm

    Very nice review. I read this one too and loved it!

  15. Trish says

    January 1, 2012 at 11:28 am

    Gah! “Don’t Trust Ben.” That’s all it took for me. I listened to this one and couldn’t put it down. My house was REALLY clean while I was listening as I was constantly looking for excuses to listen. 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it just as much. Heard recently there might be a movie in the works?

    Happy new year sweet Darlene. 🙂

  16. Emma @ Words And Peace says

    January 2, 2012 at 5:28 pm

    this book is so good, I actually listened to it, narrated by the amazing Orlagh Cassidy, and I chose it as my best 2011 audio fiction: http://wordsandpeace.com/2011/12/30/year-of-reading-2011/

  17. Lisa says

    January 6, 2012 at 3:08 pm

    Wow! This one sounds great and just the kind of thing I love to read after some slow moving piece of historical fiction because it won’t let me put it down. Thanks for the great review!

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