Published: 5th January 2012
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Corgi
Pages: 384
Age Group: Adult
Pages: 384
Age Group: Adult
Synopsis [Amazon UK]
'As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I'm still a child. Thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me ...'
Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love - all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story.
Welcome to Christine's life.
The cover...
I think this cover could have been better. I like it, but I just don't get it. There's an eye and then you can vaguely make out a window and a house through the window but that's it. I think the picture within the eye should be more distinct, perhaps showing an image of the main occurrence within the book. Or maybe I'm not getting the significance? I just adore the feeling of this cover.
How did I find out about this book?
How did I find out about this book?
I heard about this book through a promotion that Waterstone's was holding. I initially didn't want to buy it as I was low on funds but I was forever seeing it in shops and so I eventually bought it.
What is this book about?
What is this book about?
This book is about a women named Christine who loses her memory every night when she goes to sleep. She either wakes up thinking she is still or a child or a women in her twenties instead of the forty seven year old women that she actually is. For nearly twenty years of her life she has being doing this and every day is like the beginning of her life all over again. Christine has to find out what happened to her that made her this way as well as find a way to live with it.
My opinion...
As soon as I started reading this book my first thought was 'this is similar to 50 first dates' and I absolutely adore that movie. However, I came to find that Christine's memory loss was completely different to the memory loss that Lucy (the main character in 50 first dates) experiences. Christine forgets almost everything about her life whereas Lucy remembers what happened before her accident but cannot make any new memories and so is therefore repeating the same day over and over again. It really makes you ask the question of 'what must their life be like from one day to the next?'.
In relation to the characters I didn't actually connect with any of them. I couldn't get a clear image of what any of the characters looked like even though pictures and visions in mirrors were mentioned on numerous occasions. It got to a point where I just wanted the story to move on and tell me what happened instead. However, the repetition did give an idea of how Christine's days are and how she needs to keep reminding herself of facts and memories to move on herself. Although, for the book to be written in a female's perspective by a male author was great. The intricate details of Christine's life as not only a women but as a women who has lost her memory were portrayed perfectly, in relation to how she feels in her current body as well as thinking that there is a younger one inside of her which in her mind splits her in to two different people. It would have been great to see Christine freak out about her situation more, just because I feel that being in that situation would cause so much stress and panic but Christine seemed to be able to deal with it in a calm manner, finding the book and reacting positively to everything that had been written down, but maybe that's possible in some cases?
The minor problems I found were that Christine knew what things like touchtyping were even though she wakes up not even knowing what a computer is. Also, there was a lot of repetition of words in the book that I thought was unnecessary, especially the word 'Darling', it begun to get on my nerves after a while.
The thing I loved about the end segment of this book is that it kept you in suspense. You didn't know where the story was going and when you thought you had a clue it was replaced with a completely different revelation. It would have been great if the whole book was like the final segment because as soon as I got to it I couldn't put it down and that's the main reason why I can't say I dislike this book.
I have got to say I didn't like the ending, I want to know what happened!
If you enjoyed this book: what to read next...
In relation to the characters I didn't actually connect with any of them. I couldn't get a clear image of what any of the characters looked like even though pictures and visions in mirrors were mentioned on numerous occasions. It got to a point where I just wanted the story to move on and tell me what happened instead. However, the repetition did give an idea of how Christine's days are and how she needs to keep reminding herself of facts and memories to move on herself. Although, for the book to be written in a female's perspective by a male author was great. The intricate details of Christine's life as not only a women but as a women who has lost her memory were portrayed perfectly, in relation to how she feels in her current body as well as thinking that there is a younger one inside of her which in her mind splits her in to two different people. It would have been great to see Christine freak out about her situation more, just because I feel that being in that situation would cause so much stress and panic but Christine seemed to be able to deal with it in a calm manner, finding the book and reacting positively to everything that had been written down, but maybe that's possible in some cases?
The minor problems I found were that Christine knew what things like touchtyping were even though she wakes up not even knowing what a computer is. Also, there was a lot of repetition of words in the book that I thought was unnecessary, especially the word 'Darling', it begun to get on my nerves after a while.
The thing I loved about the end segment of this book is that it kept you in suspense. You didn't know where the story was going and when you thought you had a clue it was replaced with a completely different revelation. It would have been great if the whole book was like the final segment because as soon as I got to it I couldn't put it down and that's the main reason why I can't say I dislike this book.
I have got to say I didn't like the ending, I want to know what happened!
If you enjoyed this book: what to read next...
This book has encouraged me to read the non-fiction book about Clive Wearing, who has similar memory loss to that of the main character Chrstine. It is written by his wife Deborah Wearing and it is titled Forever Today - A Memoir of Love and Amnesia. I don't usually read books like this but the memory loss really intrigues me. Although I would really encourage you to watch 50 First Dates if you haven't seen it. I know it's not a book but it is an amazing movie! If you would rather read a similar book I suggest Before I Forget by Melissa Hill, she is a great author!
This kinda sounds like an adult version of Forgotten by Cat Patrick. It's a cool concept but I just didn't like how it played out and it looks like the same happened for you with this one.
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