Before I go to Sleep - S.J. Watson - 4 stars

I wanted to read this book once I discovered that the movie was going to be released soon. I have had it for awhile and finally started a buddy read and got to it. I am so glad that I did. I have to say for a Debut novel it was fantastic, very engaging and a little crazy at times as well. I was completely immersed in the story from beginning to end.

In this story we have Chris who has had a bad accident which caused her to have amnesia. She could not retain new memories or even remember those from her past. Everyday she struggled and went through the same thing, not knowing who she was or who her husband Ben was, having to learn it all over every time she woke up. Then she was contacted by Dr. Nash, who told her that that had been working on her memory. He had told her to keep a journal, to write everything down that happened and everything she could remember. She decided to keep her visits with Dr. Nash and her new journal a secret from Ben because she did not totally trust him yet. Eventually she began to remember bits and pieces of her life.

I loved the premise of this book which reminded me of the movie 50 First dates only this was a thriller rather than a chick lit. It was wrote mostly as a if you were reading her journal, and when there was change of perspective it was not confusing and I thought it flowed very well. I found that this book made me really think and ask a ton of questions. I did not know who was trustworthy and who was not. I found that I would have done a few things differently had I been Chris. So many thoughts in motion for this book.

As far as characters go I did not really like any of them except for Chris. I felt they all had too many secrets which made it hard to connect to anyone. But I think it was the authors intent to write them exactly that way, to his readers question everything. I do think they were created pretty decently. I have to say that I loved being inside of Chris's head. I had an urge to try and help her figure things out because she had just as many questions as I had.

IMO I think this was definitely more plot driven than character driven, but I think the premise of the story was strong enough to carry it through and make the story quite enjoyable. There was also a pretty good twist in the book that I did not expect at all, but it made complete sense to me when it was made clear to me. I would recommend this book to just about anyone, especially those who love a real good psychological thriller. A solid 4 star rating from me.