Book Review: Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson

“We’re constantly changing facts, rewriting history to make things easier, to make them fit in with our preferred version of events. We do it automatically. We invent memories. Without thinking. If we tell ourselves something happened often enough we start to believe it, and then we can actually remember it.”

― S.J. Watson, Before I Go to Sleep

S.J. Watson's debut book, Before I Go to Sleep, was released in the spring of 2011. It was translated into more than 40 languages, became a bestseller in France, Canada, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands, and was named a bestseller by both The Sunday Times and The New York Times. It debuted at number seven on the US bestseller list, which is the highest rank for a British author's debut book since J.K.  Rowling. The author was dubbed a "out-of-nowhere literary phenomenon" by The New York Times. As an audiologist for the National Health Service (NHS), he authored the book in between his shifts.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Christine wakes up every morning in an unfamiliar bed with an unfamiliar man. She looks in the mirror and sees an unfamiliar, middle-aged face. And every morning, the man she has woken up with must explain that he is Ben, he is her husband, she is forty-seven years old, and a terrible accident two decades earlier decimated her ability to form new memories.

Every day, Christine must begin again the reconstruction of her past. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more unbelievable it seems.

My reaction to this novel...

I read this book a long time ago, before I started this blog, and I thought I'd share it with everyone today. This book is really good. This book made my heart race, and I couldn't stop reading it. I was interested in what may occur next. The anticipation toward the end was uncontrolled, and it was unbelievably great.

I was completely captivated to every page because the story of the main character, Christine, was so compelling and emotional. The nice thing about this suspenseful book was that the solutions were right in front of me; yet, I couldn’t reach out and touch them since the protagonist was unable to see or feel them. My thoughts were wandering during the whole time I was reading this book as I attempted to piece together the mystery. I particularly loved doing this whenever I read psychological thriller novels since it caused me to imagine strange, inconceivable thoughts while I was reading books like these.

This novel truly pleased me, and I can see why it was turned into a movie (which I have watched and felt dismayed). Readers of all kinds, even those unfamiliar with the psychological thriller subgenre, will enjoy this book. You’ll be so grateful for it that you’ll ask for more.

I totally recommend it to those who still did not get a chance to read it. So flabbergasting til the end. 

My Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐(5/5)

“But, I realized, these truths are all I have. They are my past. They are what makes me human. Without them, I am nothing. Nothing but an animal.”

 We are who we are now because of everything that has occurred to us in the past. Therefore, trying to ignore all that transpired can only lead to failure. All the things that have happened to us should be put to good use, in my opinion. The life wants us to comprehend and provides us those crucial lessons, so learn from it and cope with it.