I really enjoyed Stay Awake, similar to my experience with Megan Goldin's previous book The Night Swim. Goldin has an amazing writing style - great atmosphere, pacing, and twists and turns. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good thriller!

4.5 stars rounded up

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Megan Goldin and Netgalley for providing an advance reader copy to review!

Wow, wow, wow! This book is beyond suspenseful! I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!! One of the best thriller I've read in a long time! Very creative point of view!!! Definitely recommend!!
I'd like to tank NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy of this book.

I just reviewed Stay Awake by Megan Goldin. #NetGalley
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Liv Reese forgets the past 2 years every time she goes to sleep. She wakes up in New York City with a bloody knife in her pocket and Stay Awake written on her hands, and sees the same message on the news, written across a crime scene window in blood. She has no idea what is going on both today or what trauma she was running from 2 years ago. Liv will stop at nothing to find out.

Stay Awake is a prime example of an unreliable narrator done well. There were alternating timelines and perspectives, both from Liv and the detectives trying to solve the case and they wove together so well. I will be recommending this one for sure!

I really enjoyed Megan Goldin’s last book, The Night Swim and this thriller did not disappoint. Thank you so much to the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book will give you a heart pounding adrenaline rush until the very end!

Panic, anger, confusion and frustration are only some of the feelings that Liv has when she wakes up in a cab to find out that she's lost her purse and her phone. Then she learns the startling fact that her apartment is no longer hers, she can't find her closest friend or her boyfriend, and she no longer works at her office. All she has is a pocket full of cash, a bloody knife, and words written in ink on her hands and arm that say STAY AWAKE! and DON'T SLEEP! Thus begins this latest psychological thriller and mystery by Megan Goldin.

It's a wonderfully tense game of cat and mouse between Liv and two detectives trying to solve a murder. Liv is desperately trying to wrangle her memories into something concrete, while the police are trying to find a killer. And, what if it's Liv?! Chapters titled "Two Years Earlier" are sprinkled throughout the story to help provide insight into Liv's past, her motives and actions. An altogether exciting work of suspense that I couldn't put down.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with the opportunity to read a digital ARC of this book prior to its publication on August 9, 2022.

Liv Reese wakes up confused and disoriented in the back of a cab in NYC unsure how she got there, where she was going, and why she has cryptic warning messages like "STAY AWAKE!" and "TRUST NO ONE" written on her hands. She heads back to her Brooklyn apartment, but with no phone, wallet, or keys, she has to ring the bell in hopes of waking her roommate, Amy. Strangers open the door and are less than thrilled to be woken by a woman in the middle of the night who thinks she lives in their home. The last thing Liv remembers is answering the phone at her desk, in summer, at her posh job writing for a high end culture magazine. Now it's fall, two years later, and she has potentially been involved in a murder. She has no idea who to trust and how to find the truth. She knows just one thing....she must STAY AWAKE.

Okay this was WILD and tons of fun. This fast paced thriller gave me all the Memento vibes, which also happens to be one of my favorite movies. I don't usually love the concept of the untrustworthy narrator, but my exception is when it's laid out in a memory loss type scenario. I thoroughly enjoy trudging through murky memories trying to make sense of the confusion and piece things alongside the main character. I loved that this had such a film noir vibe. I loved the jumps back and forth through time and Liv's last known memories. I even enjoyed when the story switched to the POV of the detectives.

This was not my first by this author and given how well she crafts dazzling thrillers, it certainly won't be my last. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest review. It's a GEM!

I love unreliable narrators and thrillers so this book was right in my wheel house.

It was fast paced and jumped timelines a lot, which was a little hard to follow but added to the story.

I was a little let down by the endkmg8, but overall I enjoyed this book

This book was extremely fast paced from the very start and kept me intrigued through the very end! I love the trope in which characters have memory loss and trying to find out what happened alongside them.

Upon first starting to read this, it was very confusing jumping around to different viewpoints & timelines with no name or label in the titles of the chapters. It made me frustrated and felt disorienting at times, but that wasn’t a huge factor as to why I didn’t fall in love with this book. Unfortunately, I was let down in the end with how everything played out. I would have liked to see or understand more motive from the murderer in this story.

I was very excited for this to be my first Megan Goldin book, but sadly it fell a little flat for me in the end.

Imagine waking up in a taxi. Strangers answer the door of what used to be your apartment. You have Stay Awake written on your hand and a bloody knife in your pocket. And no memory of the last two years.

So starts Stay Awake. Liv has no memory and seems to have committed murder. But Detective Darcy Halliday senses something is off and begins searching deeper on her own.

I found this to be a bit too “police procedural “ for my personal taste, but Goldin can write a good story. I enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me at 30%. I just could not get into this book. I picked it up multiple times but could not connect with the MC.

This book sucked me in from the very beginning! I loved the memory loss element throughout and I thought that was done really well. I do think the final reveal was a bit of a let down. I just didn't see the motivation for that character to do what they did. I feel pretty disappointed by this one to be honest, but I'll definitely keep reading Megan Goldin!

This was a must read for me the minute I heard about it. Definitely my type of book by an author I love! Thanks NetGalley for the ARC! This was a page turner from Chapter 1. Loved the characters, who doesn't enjoy an unreliable narrator, loved the plot and loved the ending. Read this so quickly but enjoyed it throughly! I enjoyed trying to solve the mystery in the book right along with the main character. Fun read and I definitely reccomend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!

I loved the pacing of the novel and it was so hard to put down.

A riveting and cleverly crafted mystery, that kept me turning the pages.

Stay Awake is a book I will thinking about for a long time
Thank your for the advanced opportunity to read this book

✨BOOK REVIEW✨

GUYS. 10/10 would recommend reading this book. I literally tried to squeeze in 5-10 minutes of reading this anytime I could. Hot yoga hadn't started yet? *pulls out book*

✨Brief Summary✨

Liv wakes up one morning in the back of a taxi with a bloody knife in her pocket. To make matters even worse, Liv can't seem to remember the last two years of her life. She still thinks she's living with her best friend, dating a fantastic guy, and living out her dreams at work. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Every time Liv falls asleep, she loses the memory of the previous day/time. Why was Liv carrying a bloody knife? And what happened in Liv's past that triggered her memory loss?

✨My Thoughts✨

This was such a unique storyline. I'm used to having unreliable narrators in thrillers, but having a narrator with memory loss took it to a whole new level. I can honestly say that I had no idea how this book was going to end.

I loved that we got to hear from two different perspectives, Liv and a NYC detective. Not only that, but we got to hear two different timelines as well. The chapters alternated between present day and two years ago. This made the book move very quickly.

Lastly, I liked that there were not too many characters. The characters that the author did introduce were necessary and well developed. I found myself empathetic towards Liv. I was also rooting for the detective to figure out the truth.

This was my first @megangoldinauthor book, but it will certainly not be my last! I highly encourage everyone to pick up a copy of Stay Awake on August 9 💁‍♀️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!

Up until the conclusion of this book, it was the perfect thriller for me! A super suspenseful plot with a character on the run and a mystery to solve. I wasn't as bothered by the detective pov as some other readers, although it did become repetitive. I couldn't put this book down and was dying to know "who the killer was." I just wish the ending had been more satisfying! I didn't guess who the killer was but I also didn't fully understand why they did it when it was revealed. I think there were cooler possibilities for what the motivation was behind the crimes but it was just not explored or fleshed out enough at the end.

Loved it! There's been so many books about amnesia, including one of my all time favourites, Before I Go to Sleep, but Stay Awake is able to be unique.

I loved the pacing of the novel and it was so hard to put down. I think the author had the perfect balance between Liv's past (before her memory goes) and the present (both Liv and detective Halliday). I think if the novel had just been focused on Liv, then it would of been so repetitive and boring. I loved how it was balanced with the police investigation and how the reader was with the police starting from scratch.

The twists were really good too and I liked how the reader had no idea who the person killed was. I had so many guesses and how Liv would fit into the murder.

Thank you to Netgallery and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Stay Awake is a book I will thinking about for a long time. It was captivating right from the first chapter and kept the reader guessing every step of the way. The character writing was so well done that I found my anxiety heightened worried about what was to come next for Liv Reese. The ending was not predictable however it did not give as much detail as I had hoped which is why I have rated this book 4/5 stars. Stay Awake was the first book I have read by author Megan Goldin and I can’t wait to indulge in more books written by her!

This book was definitely a twisty roller coaster ride! It kept me interested thruout the entire book.

Just trying to imagine Liz's life, is a whirlwind of craziness. I can't begin to imagine waking up in a cab in New York with no memory.

The sketchy people in her life and finding out the trauma that causes her to want to "Stay Awake" was mind boggling.

This is definitely a 5☆ read! THANKS to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was suspenseful and exciting to read. I liked the way it was written from different points of view. And the timeline jumps back and forth we’re easy to follow and helped with the story. This was a book once I started I found hard to stop reading. I would purposely look for additional books from this author.

Liv falls asleep and forgets everything in her life...she doesn't know where she is or how she ended up there and when she tries to go to places she knows... everything is different, changed. She is confused, vulnerable and scared. There is writing all over her arms and body. Stay Awake. Wake Up. Don't Trust Anyone.

While she tries to connect with people from the life she remembers...it seems her past is on a collision course with her present. When the two eventually come together ... will her missing memories finally be revealed?

Whenever I need a break in-between my other reads, I always pick up a horror or thriller. I have been reading fantasy a lot lately, so it was time to pick this up and man...

I cannot remember reading an amnesia-driven plot like this one. I actually binged this in one day because I just had to know what was happening. This is like the Twilight Zone version of 50 First Dates 😂😂

I absolutely love a dual timeline, and the author does a great job with that in this one. It definitely keeps you invested in the outcome and I seriously had a hard time putting this one down. I had a ton of wild theories, but of course the most obvious theory (which I threw out early on) was actually the correct one. Go figure. 😂😂

Anywho...if you are looking for a thrilling, hard-to-put-down read, this is a great choice. I sincerely appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy. All opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.

Stay Awake is a true thriller. The author knocks you around with three different timelines and multiple characters. One of the perspectives is from the main character Liv in the present where she loses her memory after falling asleep. It was a little hard to follow, but the author did a great job using key words and phrases to jog my memory into realizing that Liv was just waking up and knew nothing yet again. Then there is the timeline from two years before the present, which is all Liv can remember. The final perspective is present day following the detectives who are trying to find Liv and solve a murder case. I will say that I LOVED when all perspectives and timelines were brought together. I could feel them converging, and it was wonderful! I do think the book was a little long. Liv having to reorient herself as many times as she did was frustrating for me, but I can also enjoy it as keeping me from the answer and the end. It is definitely a whodunit that wraps up nicely in the end! Should I have been able to guess the killer? Absolutely. Was I distracted by everything else going on? Yes!
I’m very thankful for Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an arc of this novel! It’s definitely a thriller for the books!