Before I Go to Sleep
Ratings170
Average rating3.5
Only the other day, I was complaining how predictable thrillers have become. But this one filled me with hope that there are still thrillers that need not revolve around a murder.
Before I go to Sleep is the story of a woman, with a condition. Her memory resets every time she sleeps, due to which she does not remember the last 20 years. She lives with her husband, Ben and every morning she wakes up, she is frantic that she is with a stranger but Ben has to explain her every single morning that he is her husband and this is his home. To know why Christine ended up this way, you should read the book and find out.
Ah well. I have had some great time reading it. I read AGGGTM the other day and was complaining that thrillers nowadays seem to always solve a murder. This one was a good change of breeze in thrillers genre for me. This book made me realize that I am specifically interested in Psychological Thrillers.
The only reason why I gave this book a 4 stars is for the first 50% of the book, I felt the book was unnecessarily long and dragging. That is the only complaint. I skipped paragraphs over, paragraphs and not miss any information; that's how much lagging you just might find this book to be.
Overall, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Gone Girl.
3.5 ⭐️
This book was a good read! Once it got moving it was quite gripping and by the end I was locked in and hooked! Some aspects were frustrating, some I saw coming but overall a really enjoyable read!
“Don't Trust Ben” for all the readers who pick this book just remember this even if Christine says otherwise..
I was scared while Christine was reading climax in the journal.
Oh my god this book was so boring. It got a little interesting in the last 50 pages when the twist that was telegraphed in the first 10 pages of the book is finally revealed but until then I was finding every free moment to read this book so that it could finally be out of my life. This seems like a plot and format that could be really interesting and reward the reader for paying attention and noticing details, but no, it does that maybe two or three times across the entire book. Also I just couldn't suspend my disbelief with the diary entries (which make up 90% of the book) — who writes in their diary like that?????
Entertaining, and even though I kinda figured it out I still wanted to know how it would end.
Un trhiller increíble que no podés soltar. La historia de una mujer que no puede recordar su propia historia y depende de lo que le dice el resto para reconstruirla, pero es muy difícil saber en quién podés confiar.
It was alright, i did guess some of the twists before the reveals but it was still enjoyable to the end.
Very well written, and a really good story. There were a couple times I thought I had it down and didn't have the ending pinned down. I don't know much about how memories and amnesia work, but it seems well researched. I've read some reviews that say it was hard to believe, but idk if they were memory experts or not. Either way, I really enjoyed this book. I listened to the audio book and it was very well done.
Good thriller, well written and with an original enough plot to keep you surprised, without excessively convoluted plot twist. It is a 4.5 stars book for me.
I really liked this!!!!!! It dragged a bit in part two and I wanted more ~closure~ but deff a fun ride
The neurological part of the amnesia in this book seems utter nonsense to me, and the final neurological developments a convenient but rather lazy solution. Hence, the outcome of the plot was a little thin.
But the characterization and the buildup of the story was very nice. Interesting main character. A good read, even if the plot could have been better.
Holy crap, this book was so intense. I had already seen the movie by the time I got around to reading the book, so I knew everything that was going to happen, but it was still extremely intense. I think I read this book in two two-hour sittings where I just could not put this book down. Knowing what was going to happen didn't make the suspense any less insane and intense. However, it did let me notice the flaws in the plot and the sub-par writing throughout. Some of it was a bit cringe-worthy and annoying, but the story gripped me and made me keep reading anyway. I'm giving this 4 stars, not because the writing was amazing or anything, but because of how freaking suspenseful it was. I really was engrossed by the plot and the craziness of the last third of the book so I really did enjoy reading it for the thrill.
Ok, ok, I give it to you, this book is a page turner! I finished it faster than any other of the 11 books I read this year. Granted I called the ‘attacker' in chapter 1, even if there is a twist, that I won't spoil for you. All I can say is go with your gut, for some this will be an intriguing read, for others the repetition will drive you, it will be quick, it will be painless, it will leave you with a sense of wtf... but hey you'll make out better than “Chrissy” did.
This book started out great but then it became predictable. I had worked out who the baddie of the piece was midway. Yes it had suspense to begin with, and yes it was mildly sinister but by the halfway point I was bored and just wanted it to end.
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.
This book has become one of the most notable psychological thrillers of recent years, joining an elite collection along with Gone Girl which has seen Hollywood producers scrambling for the rights to transform it into a movie. I though seemed to miss much of the hype for this when it was released and it has been languishing on my kindle for ages, however whilst looking on IMDB a week ago I found the trailer for the upcoming movie adaptation featuring Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth.
Regular readers of my reviews will know I hate to miss the opportunity to read the book before watching the movie so I catapulted this to the top of my reading list and dove in.
The story is an intriguing, if not original concept, whereby the key character Christine, an amnesiac, wakens each day with no memory of where she is or the last 25 years of her life. It is up to her husband Ben to tell her each day who she is, where she is and why she can remember nothing. Now amnesia is no laughing matter but I'm sure people will forgive me for having a giggle initially as it pulled to mind visions of the Adam Sandler movie 50 First Dates, where Drew Barrymore has to be wooed each day due to the very same condition. It took a few chapters to leave those images behind. For Watson, trying to create an intense atmosphere I'm sure he's cursed this movie silently more than once.
Once I'd left it behind I began to enjoy the book more, I liked the use of Christine's journal to move past the amnesia and to build the story by allowing her memories to be built gradually through writing things down and rereading the daily. what this did was identify the discrepancies in the information her husband Ben was giving her and allowed us to move into the questions around what happened to Christine, who was responsible and why she was being lied to by her husband. was he just protecting her to prevent distress or was it to hide his own indiscretions?
I've read reviews where people said they found this book predictable and had guessed the ending early on. I have to say I didn't find this fault, it took me until the point where Watson begins his reveal to catch on and it didn't leave me bored half way. I loved the way that Christine's memories had me questioning whether she could be creating fictitious memories and trying to piece together what was true.
I think this will translate beautifully as a film, utilising video diaries instead of Christine's journal, what I think will be more interesting is which upcoming film release will emerge the ratings victor, Before I Go To sleep or Gone Girl. Both have it hitting casts with strong stories. I suspect this may languish a little but if it does it should on book value be much more engaging. It, in my opinion, read as the more believable novel and was the most engaging and I'd be keen to review both movies against their book counterparts upon their release.
I only gave it 4 stars because of the never ending visions of Drew Barrymore belting out The Beach Boys “Wouldn't It Be Nice” whilst paining a wall day after day in the Sandler movie. It made it hard to focus and as I write this I can almost see Watson giving another silent curse to Mr Adam Sandler and that makes me smile.
My sister gave me this as a birthday present then got angry every time I compared it to 50 First Dates (the movie). Turns out its nothing like 50 First Dates. But still an enjoyable read.
3.5 stars Because of the way the author has emotionally played me at the end of the book, I would guess it needs four stars. But all in all it was 3.5 stars. I don't know what people found in it, really. And to tell you the truth, I actually guessed most of the times the things before they actually happened. I knew Ben was not really Ben all along . So really, this author failed at dazzling me
An easy read, and quite the little page-turner. While the premise feels a little played out (memory lost, putting together the pieces), and some of the plot points can be seen coming, there was enough intrigue to keep me on the hook to the end. A great holiday book, which is where I read it :)