Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson

8 reviews

rossiell's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Blood, Infidelity, and Cursing

Moderate: Domestic abuse

joshoonet's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

• Sort of a diary format, but not really? Makes you empathise with the protagonist, since the reader is in the same position as her
• Very interesting concept for sure! And pretty well done from a layman's perspective
• Mostly slow burn except for the last ~30 pages, maybe a smoother transition would have been cool
• Didn't even CONSIDER the ending until pretty late

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Dementia, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Blood, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Death, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

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. 

---

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

zara89's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Rape

Minor: Car accident, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

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

---

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!
 

---

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

melplays9000's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Going into it, I expected this book to be repetitive, then I expected the ending to be unsatisfying. This book however, exceeded all those expectations. I enjoyed this book from start to finish. I found myself excited to continue reading it every time I put it down. The concept was so unique and the execution perfect meaning this book is exactly what I wanted and exactly what I came for. I did not predict the ending at all even though I tried to and I loved how it was left quite open but in a way which was satisfying and we as readers knew that whatever happened it would be okay. 

If I had to give something I didn’t like it was that the main character wasn’t the most likable. Well none of the characters were totally, but I feel this made them feel real and in my opinion only added to the story, so this isn’t much of a criticism.

Overall I think this is the best thriller I have read to date and I need to make my mother read it too, because I feel she would love it. I kind of wish I had a prettier copy for my collection. 5 stars. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Child death, Car accident, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy

angelicathebookworm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Christine is a complex, developed and easily relatable character with a mind that can be explored by any reader with ease. Watson creates and sustains a creepy atmosphere and good, fast pacing throughout and keeps the reader guessing before making any big reveals. What I also loved about this novel is that even if you do start to anticipate the ending, as I did once I started nearing the end, it really doesn’t affect your enjoyment of the novel or take away from the thrilling events that you will definitely experience at the very end. I think my favourite thing about this novel is the fact that Watson made me reflect on the way my own memory works, my own past experiences, and evoked a sense of gratefulness in me all while keeping me on the edge of my seat.

If I was to nitpick the book I’d say my only real criticism is that it’s not very realistic especially when you take into account that some of the diary entries are so long for certain days which wouldn’t be that possible due to time constraints. Not to mention the fact that Christine’s medical condition, a mixture of various different types of amnesia, is definitely more fictional than factual, and of course, questions of realism will flood your thoughts things start becoming revealed. Also, the novel builds suspense well but the ending then just gets revealed and devolves so fast you have to be careful not to miss it entirely. This type of narrative structure and style kind of irritates me as it tends to make me feel like I’ve missed the payoff I deserve after all the continuous building of anticipation.

 For more reviews like this one, check out https://angelicacastilloking.wordpress.com/ 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Confinement, Medical trauma, Violence, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Physical abuse