Before I Go to Sleep in Baltimore County Public Library Summer Reading BCPL SRC

May 18, 2011 A Book Vacation rated it it was amazing

Although it’s already out in the UK, it hasn’t yet hit US bookshelves, and I can’t wait to get my hands on a hardcopy of this novel… it’s AMAZING (I read an ecopy from Netgalley)! Imagine waking up every morning not knowing where you are, not recognizing the man in your bed, or the face in the mirror? What if, each morning, you had to be reintroduced to your husband, learn what a cell phone is, trust a strange man who says he’s your doctor, but won’t let you tell your husband about him… what wou ...more

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Dec 17, 2023 Laura Novobilsky rated it really liked it

Very good. I kept trying to figure it out and never did! Lots of twists and turns

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May 06, 2011 Theresa rated it liked it · review of another edition

This one was just okay for me. I listened to the audio version and thought that the narrator did a good job. My main complaint is that it was too long and drawn out. The story was a good premise but it has been done before so it really needed something spectacular to make it different. That didn't happen in my opinion and like many others, I figured out the ending. I felt it could have been much better. ...more

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Jan 05, 2013 Jennifer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery-suspense

Although I love reading, I have a hard time making the time to read and I have a hard time getting invested in a book. What this means is that I read so little that it will take me about two months to get through a book. This one I finished in a week. Because it was that good. Not only was the writing good, but it was written in such a way that it drew me in. The topic itself if a good one, but it still could have been done badly. I could see a lot of repeat and often wondered while this sat on Although I love reading, I have a hard time making the time to read and I have a hard time getting invested in a book. What this means is that I read so little that it will take me about two months to get through a book. This one I finished in a week. Because it was that good. Not only was the writing good, but it was written in such a way that it drew me in. The topic itself if a good one, but it still could have been done badly. I could see a lot of repeat and often wondered while this sat on my "to read" list how the author would avoid that. There wasn't nearly as much repeat as I expected and the repeat that was done was done well. I was invested from the first couple of pages and often would wake up early during the week to read before work and then when I was at work, I couldn't wait to get back home and read again!

[Spoiler alert:]

I do have to say that I was beginning to suspect that Ben wasn't really Ben at all. But then there were some moments when I thought that the book was going to go through without any altercation and that Ben really was a good guy. I kept getting drawn in and would change my mind over and over. Yes it's Ben, no it's not Ben. Yes he's a good guy, no he's not a good guy. Yes he's lying for a good reason, no he's not. Yes Adam in alive, no he's not. And on and on. The character of Ben portrayed through Christine's journal was so well done that I couldn't even figure out whether I liked him or not.

And the aspect of Christine's journal all together was a good idea because I could not think of a better way to take the book than through someone's journal. How else would she remember what had happened?

My biggest issue with the book was that the two beatings that Christine took at the hands of Mike in Brighton were both so violent and I find it hard to believe that no one heard any of it. Even if the club next door was noisy and the music loud, surely the people in the rooms below hers (and we know there were people there because there was no vacancy and she was on the top floor) must have heard the multiple loud thumps, even the screams. This wasn't a hotel where you might think that people are spread out the floors are thicker - it sounded more like a bed and breakfast and the floors would be thinner and everyone would have a room near someone else. I just didn't buy that Mike was beating her so severely, and no one heard a thing.

And I usually have issues with endings. But this time I did not. The ending was perfect. It was optimistic, but not all tidy. I mean some of it wasn't perfect (for instance, how did Christine survive the fire when she was bound and had already suffered a black out from the multiple blows to her head, but Mike didn't survive, even though he had only been hit once with a stool and theoretically could have gotten up and walked away), but it was well done and I appreciated that. ...more

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Nov 27, 2011 Joy rated it liked it

Shelves: british, fiction, 2011-reads

While this is indeed an intriguing psychological thriller, my initial enthusiasm dwindled a bit as I guessed the big twist ending about half way through the book. Still it’s a well-paced debut that I kept reading even though the second half didn’t hold up quite as well as the first. I’ll be interested in reading more from Watson.

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Jul 08, 2011 Sam O'Heren rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Grabbed me at the beginning...very thrilling yet sad story of a woman who loses her memory every time she falls asleep, and so lives the same day over and over. It did not keep my interest after I had solved the "mystery" of the cause of her illness. ...more

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