Before I Go To Sleep Review

Before I Go To Sleep
By: S.J. Watson

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, he is her husband, she is forty-seven years old, and a terrible accident two decades earlier decimated her ability to form new memories.

Every day, Christine must begin again the reconstruction of her past. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more unbelievable it seems.



I was excited to read this book after reading the synopsis, who doesn't love a good suspense novel every now and then? About a quarter of the way through this book I began to feel a vague sense of recognition, but I did not remember reading this before. I realized about halfway thorough that this book was made into a movie that I had seen awhile ago. I can't remember if I liked it or not, although I suppose my lack of remembering seeing it at all is pretty telling. 

Given the original plot idea I can completely understand why it would be made into a movie, and truth be told, whether I liked the movie/book or not I love the idea of a story about a woman waking up every day with zero memory about who she is. The possibilities with a story like this are endless. Therefore, my expectations were a little high when I began this book. Unfortunately for me, they were a little too high.

I liked the way the main character, Christine, wakes up every morning with a completely blank slate. I was proud of her when she had taken the initiative to go behind her unsupportive husbands back to see a doctor and keep a journal in the hopes of jogging her memory and retaining some aspects of her life. The author dropped some pretty heavy hints early on that foreshadowed the end of the book so before it came I had figured out what was going to happen (and not because I remember the movie, because I still don't). It was disappointing because it would have been more shocking had it been a total surprise. 

There were few truly suspenseful parts in this book, but there was a lot of puzzling bits. Parts where the reader can't be sure if what Christine is remembering is real or a figment of her imagination. It was more like a puzzle that needed to be solved. It was a good read, but sometimes the pace of the book was slow and I found myself putting it down more than I would have expected. 

Final Rating:
✬✬✫✫✫
Probability of Rereading:
No

Thanks for reading!

Opinionated Bookworm