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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
fast-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I very much enjoyed this book. A dark 50 First Dates 20 years later. An easy read. When I first started reading and realised it was written in the first person I wondered how on earth it would get around the fact that each morning she has no memory of the previous day. But it manages to do so quite cleverly, in a believable way, without you feeling like the author is just using literary tricks. The story in itself is quite gripping and brings to mind questions of what is reality, or sanity. A central theme is trust, and how we choose who to trust within our lives. Who could you really trust if you woke up every morning with no memory of the last x number of years of your life, no memory of the previous day, and no memory of the people in your life? How could you fall asleep every night knowing that you won't remember anything you've done or learned that day?
I've been listening to a lot of audiobooks while recovering from my knee surgery (now almost two weeks ago), and I realized that I've been giving most of them pretty harsh reviews. Maybe I'm a little cranky. It's possible. The state of the world is rather upsetting too right now (and living in suburban St. Paul, Minnesota, the location of a recent police shooting and then last night riots against the police - we are in a different suburb of St. Paul, but the event of the world are hitting close to home) so I want to try to find the joy in life. So, while thinking about what to say about Before I Go to Sleep I tried to be generous of spirit.
This book is interesting. The premise is compelling, although not completely unique, as it is pretty much the same type of amnesia as in the movie "Memento" and "50 First Dates," both good movies for different reasons. I love Adam Sandler when he's wooing Drew Barrymore, but pretty much only then. Our protagonist had a brain injury and can only remember recent events (since the injury, which is now 20 year ago) that happen during the same day, and every night her brain resets to 20 years ago and she has to start over. She's keeping a journal, but she's an unreliable narrator, and the sense of paranoia and fear is pervasive. It isn't paranoia when somebody is really out to get you, right?
I listened to this audiobook in one day, which meant that it held my attention and I choose to listen to this at night rather than watch tv. That is also true of several other recent reads, including The Bird Box and Breaking Wild, but I'm giving this a higher ranking solely because it has less annoying plot hole type problems. I'm grading a curve, apparently.
So, there isn't too much I can say about the plot of this book without spoilers, and plot is pretty much its strength, so let's talk about characters and setting for a minute. Our protagonist Christine doesn't know herself, so it is hard for us to get to know her too well. She isn't wildly annoying, so that is good. I couldn't really identify with her, but then, she couldn't identify with herself, so that fit. The other characters are very fluid, changing from day to day, depending upon what Christine has read about them that particular day.
The setting was completely a non-issue, which is too bad as it seemed like a lost opportunity. She was in a nondescript house, there is very little description of the places they visit except for her one former residential treatment center. The author could have done more with the setting to build the atmosphere, but it didn't detract. It seemed like it could have been located anywhere.
Overall an interesting read, a rush to the finish which didn't disappoint.
This book is interesting. The premise is compelling, although not completely unique, as it is pretty much the same type of amnesia as in the movie "Memento" and "50 First Dates," both good movies for different reasons. I love Adam Sandler when he's wooing Drew Barrymore, but pretty much only then. Our protagonist had a brain injury and can only remember recent events (since the injury, which is now 20 year ago) that happen during the same day, and every night her brain resets to 20 years ago and she has to start over. She's keeping a journal, but she's an unreliable narrator, and the sense of paranoia and fear is pervasive. It isn't paranoia when somebody is really out to get you, right?
I listened to this audiobook in one day, which meant that it held my attention and I choose to listen to this at night rather than watch tv. That is also true of several other recent reads, including The Bird Box and Breaking Wild, but I'm giving this a higher ranking solely because it has less annoying plot hole type problems. I'm grading a curve, apparently.
So, there isn't too much I can say about the plot of this book without spoilers, and plot is pretty much its strength, so let's talk about characters and setting for a minute. Our protagonist Christine doesn't know herself, so it is hard for us to get to know her too well. She isn't wildly annoying, so that is good. I couldn't really identify with her, but then, she couldn't identify with herself, so that fit. The other characters are very fluid, changing from day to day, depending upon what Christine has read about them that particular day.
The setting was completely a non-issue, which is too bad as it seemed like a lost opportunity. She was in a nondescript house, there is very little description of the places they visit except for her one former residential treatment center. The author could have done more with the setting to build the atmosphere, but it didn't detract. It seemed like it could have been located anywhere.
Overall an interesting read, a rush to the finish which didn't disappoint.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes