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Before I Go To Sleep - S J Watson


Michelle

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Christine has a severe form of amnesia - every morning she wakes up with no memories, not knowing who she is, or where she is. The man she's with has to patiently explain every day that she was involved in an accident many years ago, and since then she loses her memories every night she goes to sleep.

One day however, she receives a call from a doctor, who tells her she's been keeping a secret journal, recording her days. Through this journal, Christine starts to put together the parts of her life she's missing, and she begins to question who she should trust.

The issue of Christine's memory loss is well handled. The book opens with her waking one morning, and we share her confusion and fear. She wakes believing she's a young woman who's had a one night stand.. only to find out that she's years older, and the man in her bed is her husband. He explains her memory loss to her, and she struggles to make sense of it.

From here, she receives a call from a doctor who says he's been helping her, and he gives her back her journal to read.. a journal she had no memory of. As we share in Christine's journal, we share the confusion she feels each day as she experiences flashes of memory, and tries to put her fractured past back together. Along with this confusion comes a building sense of unease and fear, as she realises her husband seems to lying to her.

This is an utterly gripping book, with a confusing story well told. The journal is a great way to both share the story, and to allow Christine to put details together. It races along to an equally gripping, and satisfying ending.

This has to be one of the best thrillers I've read for some time, and I can't wait to see what the author writes next. Highly recommended.

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  • 7 months later...

Lately I was not reading as much as usual....my mojo was not all there. However this morning I woke up and decided to start this book, and have read all day in between laundry, housework, etc I have just finished this book and all I can say is wow. I hope this author writes something else, which is just as good, fairly quickly. I cannot add much to Michelle's excellent review above - and I certainly recommend it - it's a great thriller.

 

 

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I read this recently as well, and it is certainly one of the best books I have read this year. I never used to enjoy books like this, but I find that I am reading more and more crime fiction and thrillers these days. I will definately be looking out for more by this author.

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I'm reading this book right now, along with two others, and I'm also fascinated.

Hard to imagine, though, to wake up every morning just to find out that you missed at least 20 years of your life and that you don't know anybody you have contact with. And to know you can't do anything that takes more than a day.

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Great review Michelle. I've seen this one pop up a few times and it's got great reviews on Amazon at the moment.

I think I'll add it to my wishlist.

 

Another thriller to look out for at the moment is 'Into the Darkest Corner' by Elizabeth Haynes. She too has got great reviews on Amazon at the moment for this.

 

There is a post on here somewhere with more details when I recommended it to someone else.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm so pleased to find your review Michelle, 'Before I go to sleep' sounds interesting, I have added it to my wishlist :)

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I think this will be added to my wish list too, but I need to stay away from amazon, it keeps tempting me and I can resist everything but temptation :P

 

I'm so thankful for kindle and ebooks or my library would be 5 ballrooms big already with all the things I have on my to read list!

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I've finished this book some time ago and the only thing I was unsatisfied with is the end. It's not that I didn't like it. It's just that there was a day missing to me. There should have been something about how she woke up after that last day. Just to see if there was a happy end for her or not.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I read Before I Go To Sleep this summer and couldn't hardly put it down. This is definitely a mystery/thriller for those readers that don't normally read the genre, like me. I love reading about characters that are flawed by no fault of their own. As far as pace and "the unknown" goes, it is reminiscent of Room for me.

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I've finished this book some time ago and the only thing I was unsatisfied with is the end. It's not that I didn't like it. It's just that there was a day missing to me. There should have been something about how she woke up after that last day. Just to see if there was a happy end for her or not.

 

I also loved the book but was disappointed with the end not knowing whether her memory returned for good. I am going to believe it did as I prefer 'happy endings'.

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