Friday, July 29, 2011

Before I Go To Sleep: A Novel by S. J. Watson

Before I Go to Sleep: A Novel
Do NOT start reading "Before I Go To Sleep" in the afternoon like I did because you will NOT be able to go to sleep until you finish reading it. 
I received an advance reader's copy of this book to review in the mail yesterday and picked it up and started reading it yesterday evening.  It was interesting, but then we had dinner and took the kids out for an evening swim and it was 9:30 before I really started reading again.  At 11:30 I was halfway through the book and I told my husband I could not go to sleep until I finished it.  He did not believe me.  He should have known better.  At 12:45 am, I finished the book and could go to sleep. 
This book is an amazing psychological thriller!
Every day, Christine wakes up and does not know where she is.  She looks in the mirror and does not recognize herself, expecting to see herself at least 20 years younger.  Taped to the mirror are photos of herself and a man with labels to indicate that the older woman she sees in the mirror is indeed herself and the man she awoke with in her bed is her husband Ben.  Every morning Ben tells her that she has amnesia from an accident that she was in many years ago and that she forgets everything when she sleeps.
She receives a call on a cell phone, a device that she does not recognize since they did not exist 20 years earlier when she lost her memory, from her doctor, who tells her that she is keeping a diary in order to try to retrieve her memories and overcome her amnesia.  Her diary documents a smattering of memories - bits and pieces that have come to her on various days, that she has written down, although each and every morning, she awakes not knowing anything again.  By reading her diary, some of her memories return, and she begins to wonder why her loving husband, Ben is lying to her about many things.  Is he lying to protect her, or for some more nefarious reason?  The plot twists and is not what I was expecting.
This is an intense book, and I totally recommend it!  I think it could make a great movie too.
I am glad that I got an advance copy to review - it is just amazing!

6 comments:

  1. Ooh! That sounds really interesting. :) I'll have to watch for it at the library.

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  2. Sounds good! Maybe I'll try to read it at the beach in a couple weeks. Thanks for the review.

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  3. Wow, "thriller" isn't usually my genre but your description definitely made it catch my interest! How/why did you get an advanced copy?

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  4. It really is a great book! I got an advance copy from a blog give away. I will see if I can give away some copies too.

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  5. This is a book that becomes harder and harder to put down. As I was reading it I thought it would be great as a movie and guess what- the movie is already in production. I wanted a little more closure at the end of the book but it was good enough that I would still recommend it to anyone looking for a psychological mystery.

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