That one everyone read already: Before I Go To Sleep

Now that I'm done with my exam and my paper's been written, I've finally read "that one book everyone has read already" and I am late to the party.  Not even fashionably late, to my chagrin.  All of the reviews out there have been really good about not spoiling the ending for me, but many of them generally agreed on the same thing: the weaksauce ending!  More about that later.  The premise: Christine wakes up every morning with no recollection of the day before and must rely on her husband Ben's daily account of her head injury, consequential memory loss, and their current lifestyle.  My thoughts went immediately to 50 First Dates, because unlike the short term memory loss that usually results in constant forgetfulness throughout the day, Christine is able to retain her memories over the course of the entire day, until she falls prey to sleep and the REM cycle, which is basically a "red reset button" to her memory.  Ben shows his devotion to her through his extremely patient explanations, leaves helpful schedules for her, and heads out for work every morning - but it's not quite so simple, as there is a plot twist: she gets a call from her therapist and finds her secret journal, warning her to not trust Ben.  This is where I say "wait a second, 50 First Dates meets Memento.  Now we're getting somewhere!"  

I have to admit, I am a sucker for a book with a solid twist that will just boggle your brain, and I pretty much read this book in two good sittings.  A few things to note:

• Christine has some really randy memories!  Really, Watson, I didn't see the point, but I guess that's how you show the disparity between Christine's mental age and physical age.
• One too many twists.  I was starting to get bored because I felt like there was no point to the book except to make me roll my eyes at everyone.  Twist! You can't trust your husband. Twist! You've been secretly logging your daily activity and confiding in a therapist that Ben doesn't know about. Twist! You had a friend who abandoned you, but whyyy? Twist!  You were cheating on your husband before your "accident." Twist! You're somehow missing pages from your trusted journal! Twist ... etc.  This book twisted my brain in a not so great way and wrung me dry of any remaining interest at the end.  
• This one's a spoiler, but really?  For example, you can't hit a TV, causing it to malfunction, and then smack it really hard again and expect it to suddenly work, if you catch my drift.  It just doesn't work (all the time, anyway).  Shouldn't work too well with brains.
• The ending - of course, another twist and a swift resolution.  Too swift, in fact, and with quite enough fluff and sugar to give you brain!diabetes.  Blegh.

The premise was interesting and an early twist reels you in.  However, there were like ten too many twists, the book dragged, and the conclusion spanned like only three pages, which makes for pretty terrible pacing.  I never feel like I'm qualified to give stars or any sort of rating, so it's either thumbs up or thumbs down for me.  It was still a fun read, so I give it a thumbs up.