What a fun little thriller. It kept me guessing until the very end. I should have seen the twists, but I was so completely wrapped up in the narrative and in Christine's struggle that I didn't see anything else.

I've somehow managed to avoid every spoiler, every movie hint and even everything but the barest movie trailer. I'm a "read before I can see" movie-goer, so I'm excited to finally get to sit down and enjoy the thriller on film. Well done, I thoroughly enjoyed this one! ( )

Good thriller. ( )

Before I go to sleep by S.J Watson is an interesting book on Memories and how memories define us.

"So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name your identity, your past even the people you love - all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story"

Every day Christine wakes up to not knowing where or who she is and has to struggle to piece her life together, this is an interesting concept for a novel and the fact the it also a thriller adds to the enjoyment of this book.

I liked the Character of Christine, and this is one of those novels that you can’t seem to put down as you want to race to the end.

I would have rated this a 3.5 as it really is an interesting and easy read. ( )

Whoa. Whoa. I could not stop reading this book. Sometimes, I even got all sweaty and anxious while reading. Everything is horrifying and completely enthralling. ( )

It was not difficult to figure out the major plot twist pretty early on, but it was still an entertaining read overall. ( )

I hesitated between giving this book 3 or 4 stars. I decided on 4 only because of the intensity of the book. It had its frustrating moments, especially when you have to read the same thing more than once, and for me...it's a pet-peeve. Anyway, however to the author's credit, I did understand the reasoning behind the way in which it was written. Although, it could probably have been cut by 50 pages. Just saying...

Overall, the book's quality is better than most, and the writing is probably what made bearable to read. I will add this, (another reason why I give it 4 and not three) I did not really see the end coming. When it comes to suspense novels, I'm usually pretty good at predicting the ending. For this one however, it was written in such a way that I it did take me by surprise a little. It made sense though, which is good for a plot twist.

These types of novels aren't usually my preference, but I decided to take a chance read it since it was a recommendation.

Lastly, my final reason for giving it 4 stars and not 3, is because the author did give off the frustration of a person who has lost their memory and is trying to piece back together the broken fragments of her mind. So kudos to Watson for that effect. ( )

This would make a good tv movie. There weren't enough characters for the central plot to be a genuine mystery, but it was entertaining in a don't-take-this-too-seriously type of way. ( )

Suspense

Before I went to sleep last night (harhar), I picked up this book. I ended up not putting it down until I finished it almost two hours later. Despite my doubts about some of the believability of this story, I have to admit that SJ Watson grabbed me pretty thoroughly.

The story concept is based on the viewpoint of Christine Lucas, an "anterograde amnesiac" who cannot form new memories and forgets things as she sleeps overnight. Christine wakes up every morning to find her husband Ben in bed, who she does not recognise, and must look at photos and scrapbooks every day in order to relearn who she is. She receives a call from a Dr Nash, who tells her that she has been writing a journal so that she can retain some memories from day to day. Over the course of the journal, Christine grows ever more distrustful of her husband and Dr Nash - it appears that one or both of them are lying to her about her past. She remembers a son, Adam, whose existence is initially denied then confirmed by both Ben and Nash. An old best friend, Claire, is reported to have moved to New Zealand, and her previous aspirations of being a writer seem never to be mentioned. Aided by sparse recollections of memories, she eventually manages to get in contact with Claire. It transpires that the man she is living with is not in fact Ben, but Mike, a man she had been having an affair with and who subsequently lured her to a hotel and beat her, causing her amnesia. [synopsis to be finished]


I felt that the author succeeded in conveying the fear of the unknown that amnesiacs can face - the reader finds out about Christine's life even as she does. As I mentioned before, the novel succeeds in maintaining the level of suspense throughout the plot, and for a short read it was quite engrossing. I disagree with some of the other reviewers who seem to get hung up on the lack of medical accuracy with regards to amnesia - it is obvious that the premise of Christine investigating herself relies on being able to hold memories for more than a few minutes. It's a fictional novel and I don't think the degree of suspension of belief here is implausible or unwarranted.
My negative points about the book would have to be the difficulty with understanding Christine. Often she appears to break down at a the slightest trigger, then consider the trigger easily and rationally momentarily afterwards - it was a little jarring and disrupted my involvement with her plight. The other was that the way the events panned out was less surprising than I would have liked - I think Watson dropped a few too many clues about what was happening.
All in all, it serves its purpose as an easy-to-read entertainment novel, even if we learn less of value about amnesiacs than the author might have hoped.

( )

I love the concept of this book but I didn't really love the book itself.

It dragged quite a bit and I figured out part of the twist and then I was just waiting for the reveal to happen and it took too long and then it was largely unsatisfying anyway.

I wanted to like Christine more than I did. ( )

this is a very different kind of read for Me I don't generally finish books that start off really slow. I love the way this ended thought its a must read from me.

memento called, wants its plot device back..

i hate the main character. ( )

I hesitated between giving this book 3 or 4 stars. I decided on 4 only because of the intensity of the book. It had its frustrating moments, especially when you have to read the same thing more than once, and for me...it's a pet-peeve. Anyway, however to the author's credit, I did understand the reasoning behind the way in which it was written. Although, it could probably have been cut by 50 pages. Just saying...

Overall, the book's quality is better than most, and the writing is probably what made bearable to read. I will add this, (another reason why I give it 4 and not three) I did not really see the end coming. When it comes to suspense novels, I'm usually pretty good at predicting the ending. For this one however, it was written in such a way that I it did take me by surprise a little. It made sense though, which is good for a plot twist.

These types of novels aren't usually my preference, but I decided to take a chance read it since it was a recommendation.

Lastly, my final reason for giving it 4 stars and not 3, is because the author did give off the frustration of a person who has lost their memory and is trying to piece back together the broken fragments of her mind. So kudos to Watson for that effect. ( )

This book was interesting and kept me guessing. It reminded me of the movie memento. But I don't think it will stay with me long. ( )

I really enjoyed this story. So much so I read it all in a day. Easy to read, and kept me guessing right to the end. ( )

Quite enjoyable. Lots of questions, some good twists & turns, exciting ending. Well done. ( )

I love a good amnesia story... the idea of figuring out if who we are is hard-wired into us or if it is a culmination of our 'remembered' experiences is fascinating. Add to that the a potential mystery to be solved and I was pretty much hooked from the beginning.

Does the story jump the shark? Perhaps... there were moments that felt implausible and a little bit of hand waving over certain ideas but overall an enjoyable, exciting and somewhat creepy read. I can see why it was made into a movie but not sure if it would work as well on the screen. ( )

Read for my book club. About a woman who can only remember things for a day so as part of her treatment plan she keeps a diary. Very powerful. At times I felt her frustration as a new day dawned. ( )

So much redundancy.
Unrealistic way this worked out.
Good "twist" if any of it was possible but had to have extreme BS to even be possible. ( )

Good book, but I did guess the outcome quite early on. ( )

Looking for a psychological thriller that you can't put down? Look no further. I was seriously reading this book everywhere from the bathroom to the car and beyond.

Christine suffers from a unique form of amnesia whereby each night, while sleeping, she loses all her memories. Every day, her husband, Ben, explains to her who she is, and she is able to function at a basic level. But we soon learn that Christine is seeing a doctor who is trying to help her, and as Christine works with the doctor, it becomes readily apparent that her life is not exactly as it appears.

The author of this book does an amazing job of creating ever increasing suspense, and you just can't wait to find out the truth about Christine's situation. I probably would give it five stars for the thriller genre - - but for me, five stars usually means there is literary merit, and I felt this was a bit more "Lifetime Movie of the Week-ish". But if you are looking for something deeper than a beach read, but just as engaging . . .I'd highly recommend it! ( )

Really good for a psychological thriller. Although I was able to predict the ending, I was still at the edge of my seat for the majority of the book. There were definitely quite a few “don’t go inside!!” horror movie moments and it definitely wasn't scientifically realistic, but it was still entertaining. ( )

Page-turner. Interesting premise. Easy-to-read. Wish there had been more depth to the characters. ( )

“What are we, if not an accumulation of our memories?”
― S.J. Watson, Before I Go to Sleep

Am I the only person in the world who did not like this?

This was actually a book club read. And I just did not take to it. The repetition of the days repeated over and over and over..I found it..umm..dull?

The diary entries were grueling to read and do not get me started on the "twist" which did not shock me that much and seemed absurd....I found most of the book dull. I am aware I am in the minority and even in my book group almost everyone loved it. Not I though.

But it was not just that. The fact is I could not see how what happened could have happened. I could not buy into the premise at all. I kept thinking "oh cmoonnn".

I have seen a few other reviews mention the twist as well. I mean..it had no plausibility. I didn't believe it. See, that's the thing about Before I go to sleep. I always knew I was reading a novel. It didn't pull me in and though I stuck with it, I started to get awfully bored.

When a twist has one rolling their eyes, you sort of know...maybe I'm not really digging the book.

So I guess I just wasn't that involved. It was not awful but it wasn't a favorite of mine. I seem to be the minority on that one. However, I did find a few like minded GR reviewers, including one whose review was so funny, I actually was hysterical with laughter and even commented. He summed it up better than I ever could.

So sadly..two stars for this one. ( )

Fast paced read about a woman with a type permanent amnesia. Every day she wakes up unable to remember anything since she was in her early 20s, sort of like the movie with Drew Barrymore, 50 First Dates. Only here something sinister is going on and she has to write in a hidden journal every day just to remember she is trying to figure out the mystery.

I did guess what was going on in a general way but it was still really fun to read about her trials etc., trying to figure it out when she couldn't store anything in long term memory. ( )