Book Review of Before I Go To Sleep

Before I Go To Sleep
S.J. Watson


I just finished reading this page-turning psychological drama. Below is a brief synopsis of the plot from amazon.com:


Every day Christine wakes up not knowing where she is. Her memories disappear every time she falls asleep. Her husband, Ben, is a stranger to her, and he's obligated to explain their life together on a daily basis--all the result of a mysterious accident that made Christine an amnesiac. With the encouragement of her doctor, Christine starts a journal to help jog her memory every day. One morning, she opens it and sees that she's written three unexpected and terrifying words: "Don't trust Ben." Suddenly everything her husband has told her falls under suspicion. What kind of accident caused her condition? Who can she trust? Why is Ben lying to her? And, for the reader: Can Christine’s story be trusted? At the heart of S. J. Watson's Before I Go To Sleep is the petrifying question: How can anyone function when they can't even trust themselves? Suspenseful from start to finish, the strength of Watson's writing allows Before I Go to Sleep to transcend the basic premise and present profound questions about memory and identity. One of the best debut literary thrillers in recent years, Before I Go to Sleep deserves to be one of the major blockbusters of the summer. --Miriam Landis


I must add that this book was so addicting that I completely lost track of time whenever I continued reading it. At one point I almost forgot to go to sleep because I was so engrossed and now I feel a strong desire to see the movie Memento. The book becomes most interesting when you take a turn as the reader to consider yourself as the main character. It is terrifying but thought-provoking to imagine a life where you wake up each day with no knowledge of your past days or the people involved in your life who know more about you than you know about yourself. It is a horrifying thought, and the truth remains that there are people out there who have varying degrees of amnesia. 

Although the premise may be considered rather unrealistic or unusual, the author does provide a clear picture of the character's thoughts and motivations throughout the novel allowing the reader to accept it as truth. I still had a few questions after finishing the book, but I like that I was left still wanting more.


Overall this was a very satisfying read, and I found it to be an entertaining departure from my current trend of reading nonfiction books.