Before I Go to Sleep

Book Title: Before I Go to Sleep

Author: S.J.Watson

Genres: Fiction

Rating: 4

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.

Reading a book is one thing, reviewing it is another. But to experience the joy of reading with fellow book lovers takes it to a different level altogether. So, I had been looking around for book clubs that would motivate me to try different Authors and Genres, where I can actively read a book. I found a book club on Goodreads that fit my bill and the book that was voted for was 'Before I Go to Sleep' by S.J.Watson, Though I felt the discussions weren't engaging enough, I am happy I read a book that I otherwise wouldn't have bothered to pick up.  By the time I was midway, there were people who were done with the book and felt the book was unputdownable yet not upto their liking. This raised my curiosity but kept me from having high expectations at the same time.

Review

As I was midway through the book, I liked how the story was unpredictable and how Christine's past was unfolding in bits and pieces. I enjoyed the fact that I couldn't guess what's going to happen next till the end and was looking at everyone with suspicion. But little did I imagine it would turn out the way it did! Once I was done reading, it left me a bitter after-taste especially after I learnt Christine's affair and such. One can expect a book to leave you feeling good, sad, thinking, even crying but a bitter feeling? Am not sure how to feel about it.

Losing your memory every time you go to sleep may or may not be scientifically correct but it does form an interesting premise. Christine's memory is a wiped out slate every morning and she reads the diary she keeps(reminded by a Dr.Nash) every other day to know who she is. And the opening note in the diary is 'Don't trust Ben'. Ben is Christine's husband and neither does he know that she keeps a diary nor that she talks to Dr.Nash. What stops her from sharing the secret with Ben? Why does Dr.Nash follow up with Christine persistently? Who actually is Christine? The book has the answers. of course.

I liked the book but probably would have liked it more, had it been a little shorter. Somewhere I felt that it lacked a gripping narration. Little details like the dinner Ben and Christine had, the handwriting on the board were cleverly placed that I did not have any suspicion when reading them at all. Overall, this book is a good read but fails to create an everlasting impression.

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