S. J. Watson: Before I Go To Sleep

Hi

I’m waiting for S. J. Watson’s second novel ‘Second Life’ to come out in pocket so in the meantime I decided to read his first novel ‘Before I go to Sleep’ for the second time.
The book has 372 pages.

 “As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I'm still a child, thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me...
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.
Welcome to Christine's life.”

The one problem with rereading a thriller is that the mystery is known to the reader so the thrilling part in very much toned down. Some novels aren’t worth rereading because of that.
This one really was worth the reread.

                * SPOILERS! *

It’s still fascinating to follow Christine’s journey from complete amnesia to remembering smaller and bigger events.

It’s amazing to see how Ben has worked it all out. Every detail, everything she could ask about has been changed to fit his story. Very disturbing if you think about it.
The big question is why he would do all this. And that’s the reason I couldn’t get this novel out of my head; it’s so realistic. The whole situation seems so normal and so every day. It’s frightening how real this seems.

Christine finds out Ben lied to her about a few things and at first his reasons for lying are perfectly understandable. It’s only later when we find out more that we realize something more is going on. And that’s when it becomes creepy and suspenseful.

The ending was a bit rushed and convenient so that was a bit disappointing. 

But it doesn’t negate the wonderfulness of the rest of the novel. Very engrossing, fast, clever, thrilling and beautifully written book.

Happy reading!
Helena