Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson

What if each day you woke up, and all your recent memories had been erased? In Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson, this is exactly what Christine has to deal with. Her brain is able to store new memories, but only for twenty four hours, and when she wakes each day it is with the hope of a child or a young woman, thinking she still has her whole life ahead of her. The man in bed beside her is a stranger, but he says he is her husband. Even the face in the mirror doesn't belong to the person she remembers herself to be. Christine is forced to rely on her husband to learn and relearn who she is, but how can she even know if he is telling her the truth, and not a different truth each day?

Something that was interesting was that the main character of Before I Go To Sleep is actually middle-aged. I don't know how it happens- maybe because I do read a lot of YA as well- but I have gotten used to younger characters lately. Even though those younger characters are closer to my own age, it was refreshing to read a book written from the perspective of a woman who is a bit more mature (even if she doesn't realize it most of the time!)

From page one, I loved Before I Go To Sleep. It's exactly this kind of book that reminds that, when done well, when they are intelligent and well-written and all the right kinds of creepy, I really do love thrillers. Watson takes an interesting and unique premise and weaves a web with so many threads that the twists the novel takes will both thrill and shock the reader. The reader slowly begins to suspect that something isn't quite right, with an eeriness that builds slowly until an ending that you won't see coming. I fully recommend that you pick up Before I Go To Sleep, just be warned you'll be forced to the finish every sentence of Watson's incredible page-turning debut before you can go to sleep yourself.

Release Date: June 14th, 2011
Pages: 360
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Source: ARC from Publisher
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