Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson

25 reviews

kim_ng's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The book had a great premise.
Unfortunately, it was very repetitive, as the main character has to recall her memories every day again and again. I understand that this is exactly what the book is about, but for me personally, it could have been a bit more fast-paced. 
Also, I had wished for the thriller aspect earlier on in the story - it wasn't until about 70 pages before the end that the book felt like a thriller to me.
Furthermore, I figured out the plot twist quite early on, which did not necessarily mean that the book was bad, but unfortunately the story somehow lacked that certain something.

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Die Story klang sehr interessant.
Leider war die Handlung sehr repetitiv, da Christine jeden Tag aufs Neue ihre Erinnerungen wiederfinden muss. Ich weiß, dass genau das der Sinn des ganzen Buchs ist, trotzdem hätte sich die Geschichte meiner Meinung nach schneller gestalten können.
Außerdem fühlte sich das Buch erst auf den letzten 70 Seiten wie ein Thriller an - und dann war es auch schon vorbei.
Den Plottwist habe ich bereits recht früh erraten, was überhaupt nicht schlimm und ist und nicht automatisch dafür sorgt, dass ein Buch schlecht ist - leider fehlte mir bei dem Buch aber irgendwie das gewisse Etwas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Medical trauma and Sexual assault

Minor: Miscarriage

hellokatya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

i really wanted to like this book more than i did, but it was such a chore to get through.
the writing is immaculate; watson’s ability to put emotions into words is truly incredible, but it just took a lot to push through the entirety.

from the very moment it was revealed she was attacked, not hit by a car, i knew immediately that’s who she was staying with, and that the man with the scar was her actual husband. granted - i dont always think it’s a bad thing to have a well crafted story with good hints, it just felt very obvious.

it was extremely difficult to get past the constant descriptions of her waking up confused - could’ve been spared more times.
overall, if you’re interested in a slower burn and wanting to have a lighter read, this book would be perfect; i however won’t be recommending this to anyone

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Grief, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Vomit, Death, Rape, Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Car accident

suzanneruth's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse

libt11's review

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Child death

navayiota's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

0.25

Τι απαίσιο βιβλίο. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Medical content, Miscarriage, Rape, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol and Car accident

mmadill227's review

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gaslighting and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death

terriep's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

Though this is well narrated, I thought it just an average read. A woman suffers an injury and loses her memory so every day when she wakes up she has to be reintroduced to her life - her husband, her home, etc. She meets a doc who convinces her to keep a journal and read it each day to remind herself of what she knew the day(s) before. That's problem #1. There's a whole long middle section of the book where it's her journal. The writing in the journal is not like anything you'd expect or felt real about journal writing. It was so descriptive and elaborately written that it helped tell the story, but didn't feel believable as a journal and it kept pulling me out of the story. She was supposedly an author before she lost her memory so maybe that's supposed to account for her writing style, but......I didn't feel like it rang true AND it's a big chunk of the book. Problem #2: though she has no memories, there was TOO much repetitive questioning throughout the book. I wish there was a way to break all that up so it didn't become tiresome. Sigh. There is a nice twist or two at the end that makes it worthwhile. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

joice's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This book was really suspenseful but it felt long to me. Also, I didn't always like the writing because it was simultaneously written off as journal entries and as play-by-play first-person exposition/description.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Car accident

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Suicide

creativeworld's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

booksjessreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book is about a woman named Christine who had anteriograde amnesia. She is encouraged to write a diary to help her remember things but she starts finding out intriguing things about her past. The writing was good and kept me interested throughout. One thing I did find a little hard to get through in the beginning was reading the same beginnings to her diary entries. I know her memory loss couldn't be helped, but until the story picked up in the middle I certainly found it hard to keep my concentration there.

However, I did really like the book and particularly towards the end I was hooked to see what was going to happen. This has definitely sparked a curiosity within me to start reading the other S. J. Watson works!
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Rape

Minor: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Miscarriage