"Stay Awake" by Megan Goldin had me at the edge of my seat from start to finish. With a plot line that is reminiscent of the film "Memento" my heart was racing as I followed the main character, Liv, throughout her journey of trying to discover what was happening to her and why strangers are living in her apartment. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good thriller!

Liv Reese, a magazine contributor, wakes one morning disoriented and holding a knife. She wanders out of the building, tosses the knife, but realizes she is missing her purse, wallet, and phone. When she goes to her apartment, someone else is living there. Meanwhile, the police have been called to the scene of a homicide, a man has been stabbed to death.
Liz sees that she has written all over her hands - Stay Awake. She doesn't know why. A bartender recognizes her, but her workplace is completely different. Liz knows that something is very wrong. Where is her friend, Amy, and her boyfriend, Marco? Liz keeps getting sinister phone calls and knows she can't fall asleep-but why?
This is a tense thriller with you wondering what trauma has caused this break with reality. I really enjoyed it, but I did figure out what was happening pretty quickly, as well as the killer's identity, just not every detail. Still, I think this was a good book, and will read more by this author.

I haven't met a Megan Goldin book yet that I have not liked! This book was a very quick read for me. I enjoyed the premise of a memory reset after waking for the main character. The book picks up quickly and is a bit disorienting, much like life would be for the main character. I though the premise was unique and helped to ramp up the tension in the book. I liked that the chapters were short which really kept me reading. I was able to read this one on the beach which was the perfect place to read it! Would highly recommend for thriller readers and fans of Goldin!

A GREAT psychological thriller that will stick with the reader long after it is finished.Megan Goldin writes a great novel with enough twists and turns to keep the reader engaged and second guessing where the story is going. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reader copy for my honest review.

Really enjoy this author and this book was really enjoyable, twists and turns that keep you guessing and turning the pages long into the night.

I’ve read a few books by this author before. This one did not disappoint. It was a very suspenseful story and I had a hard time putting this book down once I started reading it. I loved not being able to guess what was going to happen next.

**3.5 stars**

I absolutely loved Megan Goldin’s first two books The Escape Room and The Night Swim so I was thrilled when I received an early copy of Stay Awake from NetGalley.

Stay Awake is absolutely an original psychological thriller where the main character, Liv Reese, has memory issues where every time she falls asleep she forgets the past 2 years of her life. The story starts with Liv returning to her apartment to find strangers living there and she finds a bloody knife wrapped in a t shirt in her pocket. And the story takes off from there.

I really liked the mystery of this book where we are eager to find out what happened to Liv, why her memory is bad, who the dead person is and how are they connected to Liv, etc. The mystery of the story is absolutely page turning. I liked the detective a lot. What I did not like was Liv, I understand she has memory issues but man is she DUMB. I didn’t like the constant rehashing of her story every time she feel asleep, it got very monotonous.

While this wasn’t my favorite book from Megan Goldin it was still a good thriller/mystery and I recommend it.

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc I received in exchange for my honest review.**

Liv Reese wakes up with no memory and is confused as to why a couple is living in her apartment...or why there's a bloody knife in her pocket. Readers follow the mystery of Liv's condition and the murder she may have committed.

Memento meets Groundhog Day meets 50 First Dates as Liv tries to piece together what's going on...but she kinda just flails about and each instance of her memory-reset is the same: confusion, news cast, "STAY AWAKE," can't trust anyone, a bar called Nocturnals, who's Ted, "have we met before? How do you know me?" AND IT GOES ON AND ON. This was a cool concept that was just executed poorly. We also get POV of the detective trying to solve the murder, which I thought would be more interesting, but feels like a set-up for future projects with the detective as MCs. We get back and forth timelines of two years ago before Liv's condition and what triggered her memory loss to the present. There was a lot going on where the present accounts are in the span of 2-3 days (I think? But girl falls asleep so much IDK). There were a lot of plot-holes that could have been filled in by replacing a lot of the filler fluff of the news broadcasting and repetitive exposition that the readers already know but are being re-told for Liv's sake. 1.5 rounded to 2...it wasn't terrible, just ok...the beginning definitely hooks the reader.

This has an interesting twist that you don't see much in thrillers. Still it somehow managed to give the same vibes of any thriller with a building on the cover.

This book was very entertaining and thrilling. The books numerous time frames and point of view really kept me intrigued and guessing. I did figure out the “who done it”, but still enjoyed finding out I was right and why. This will definitely not be my last book by this author!

Wow I really enjoyed this book. I had a hard time putting it down once I got into it. It took a few chapters to really capture me, but it got really good as the pages turned. It definitely kept you guessing throughout. The author did a great job with this mysterious thriller. I don’t think I will be putting it on my reread list, but it is definitely worth at least one read!

I really enjoyed Stay Awake by Megan Goldin. This was a bit of a different take of an unreliable narrator. The book kept me guessing and had a good pace about it. While I did figure out the ending it took me a good bit to figure it out and I would definitely recommend this book!

Liv Reese wakes up in a cab with no memory of how she got there. She directs the driver to take her home but when she knocks on the door, new tenants who have no idea who she is won't let her in. She discovers the words "STAY AWAKE" written across her knuckles and a bloody knife in her pocket. And after a body is found in an apartment across town with those same words written across the window in blood, Liv starts to wonder if she's being framed for murder...or if she actually committed one.

I wanted to like this book, but I found it so difficult to follow. It's important to note that I listened to the audiobook, so I might not have had so much trouble if I'd been reading a hard copy. But as it was, I often couldn't tell where in the timeline of the story the characters were, and that left me pretty confused throughout. It definitely has Memento vibes with the parts of the story seemingly happening before others but you're not sure which pieces fit where.

I like mysteries that keep you guessing but not ones that make you feel completely lost. I want to try to guess what's going on and not be totally clueless at the end, where you shrug and say, "Huh" because it's so convoluted that it doesn't really make sense. I just find that unsatisfying, and I wanted more from this story. However, it did keep me reading, and I'll still be interested in following what this author does next.

**Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!**

Overall I liked this book. It always had me guessing and trying to figure out what exactly happened to Liv that made her lose her memory and had her in the situation she was in throughout the book. She was so alone and it was terrifying to think of yourself in that type of situation with very little memory and no idea who or what was even after you. Liv's amnesia and blackouts were debilitating and made it so she never knew who to trust or even what was fully going on half the time and because of that she is constantly on the run and reliving the past trying to figure out the murders and what caused her to have this type of trauma. All that she can vividly remember is the stalker that was messing with her before she was then attacked, and then everything else is just gone leaving her helpless in a way. She doesn't even seem to have anyone looking out for her or even checking in on her to make sure she is okay for most of the book, which leaves both the reader and her wondering what in the world is going on and why is everything so messed up.

When it came to the mystery/thriller portion of the book I did figure out part of this mystery about 50% of the way through with just some of the hints we were getting, but I was not prepared for the unveiling of who it was that the person actually was and had been in Liv's life. Completely took me by surprise and was not expecting the murders to have been as gruesome as they were either.

While so much of this book leaves you guessing throughout the entire thing, the ending of it does answer your questions and leaves you with a nice little resolution to all that Liv went through.

If you're wanting a mystery/thriller that is going to keep you on your toes throughout the entire book then I suggest this book. But if your wanting a nice calm mystery then this is not the book for you.


(read a finished copy from the library)

I'm not crazy about books that take place in one day (like this one and Goldin's other book - The Escape Room). I always have high hopes but then the day-plot just drags on and takes forever for things to happen. The writing is good and the twists are clever but by the end of the book, I just wanted to take a nap.

I really wanted to like this one, ,but ultimately it fell short. Not enough happening action wise, a lot of repetitiveness that was just frustrating to say the least. I found my mind wandering while I read and couldn't wait to be done.

Crazy psychological thriller, and I loved the twist even if I did guess who the murderer was pretty early on. I don't usually enjoy amnesia stories because they tend to fall into the groundhog day trope, but this one was kept new and fresh by the craziness of the murder and everything happening around our main character.

Liv was an infuriating narrator to follow because of her memory issues and unreliability, and it was frustrating to watch her constantly run away from people that could actually help her. If you ever lose your mind, don't be like Liv! That being said, the unreliability of her narration and the way the story jumped back and forth between the present and the past made for a gripping plot.

If you're looking for a super solid thriller, I can absolutely recommend this one.

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for an early audio copy. This is the third book by Megan Goldin that I’ve had the privilege of an early read/listen and just like the previous two, Stay Awake delivered. It’s part psychological thriller, part police procedural, split between multiple timelines through unreliable (but lovable) narrator Liv and strong-female narrator Detective Halliday (can we get a spin-off with her as the lead?!). Liv wakes up in the middle of the night in an NYC taxi with no recollection of how she got there… or why she has STAY AWAKE! DON’T SLEEP! written all over her hands… or why there is a bloody knife in her cardigan. Suffering from rare amnesia and stuck in a two year time loop, Liv quickly finds herself in the crosshairs of a murder investigation… a murder that she swears she didn’t commit… or at least one she doesn’t remember doing. Stay Awake will cause YOU to stay awake rapidly flipping through these twisty, heart-racing pages until the very end.

I read Stay Awake by Megan Goldin. Stay Awake follows Liv Reese as she goes through life not being able to remember the last 2 years, every time she falls asleep, she forgets. She has notes telling her to stay awake written on her hands, along with other important things. You spend time with her as she tries to figure out what has happened, why she has a scar on her torso and why she woke in taxi with a bloodstained knife. Stay Awake is thrilling and will keep you guessing until the end!!

The last thing Liv Reese remembers when she wakes up in the back of a cab is answering her work phone on a sunny day. When she tries to get into her apartment, there are strangers who claim to live there. Her arms are covered with scribbled messages warning her to stay awake and in her pocket she finds a bloody knife. As police investigate a murder that she is somehow linked to, Liv tries desperately to piece together her memory of the last two years.

Reminiscent of the novel 'Before I Go to Sleep' and the movie 'Memento' (both of which I loved), 'Stay Awake' was a gripping, fast paced thriller. I quite enjoy the presence of an unreliable character when there's a mystery involved because you really never know what to take at face value. All in all and entertaining, enjoyable read and just another reason why I keep coming back to Megan Goldin again and again.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing a digital copy in return for an honest, unbiased review.