For me, i thought this was a very fast and easy to read thriller! There is some back and fourth time lines (gotta be honest they are not my fav, but I understand why they are needed lol). It was a little predictable, but Liv’s story keeps the reader interested and it’s not something that made me want to stop reading. All together this was a very fun read! Thank you so so so much

Stay Awake is a phenomenal mystery/thriller by Megan Goldin. Hold on to your hats, this book will take you on a wild ride. The creep factor is high and will keep you on the edge of your seat. Ms. Goldin has provided readers with a well-written book furnished with an outstanding cast of characters. Liv is having trouble with her memory. Every time she falls asleep, she loses the memories of the days before. Now the police are interested in her for a murder. Liv's tale is hair raising and the timeline will keep you wondering. I enjoyed reading Stay Awake and look forward to my next book by Megan Goldin. This is a complete book, not a cliffhanger.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I absolutely devoured this book! I basically hid and read this on my phone all day, which is saying a lot because I hate reading on my phone. I 100% thought I knew who our villain was and was incredibly surprised to find out how wrong I was. 4.5 if only because I wanted more information about the why at the end.

I had already read and loved The Escape Room and The Night Swim so I was super excited to read Megan Goldin’s newest, Stay Awake. Imagine that every time you fall asleep you forget everything. Now also imagine that you’re trying to piece together the threads of a tragedy that happened to you years ago while knowing that every time you fall asleep you forget what you’ve learned. Stay Awake does an amazing job capturing the tension and drama of this situation. I couldn’t stop turning pages to see where the story would go!

This book does a great job of using certain tropes (forgetting when you go to sleep, unreliable narrator) and making them feel both familiar and interesting. For example, the notes Liv scribbled on her arms to remind herself of certain information gave me Weeping Angels from Doctor Who vibes in all the best ways. I pride myself on being able to figure out the ending of thrillers and mystery novels early, but I was stumped to the end on this one! I would round this up to a solid 4.5 rating. Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review. Pick this book up when its released in August!

WOW. Fantastic book. Books with flashbacks can get annoying if not done correctly, but in this instance I thought it was used perfectly as we got to move through the book figuring out what was happening along with Liv. This book was great because you felt what Liv was going through and was kept feeling suspicious of every character. Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the ARC!

THIS IS EVERYTHING A PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER SHOULD BE!

𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑦 𝐴𝑤𝑎𝑘𝑒 by @megangoldinauthor is a super wtf twisty, unputdownable, drama filled, creepy thriller. We follow main character Liv, who suffers from a rare form of amnesia. She wakes up every morning thinking she is still living the life she lived two years ago. The writing and the storyline is so good I found myself just as lost as Liv🤣.

Seriously I love a thriller with an unreliable narrator that isn’t super annoying. Main character Liv was a mess but she was absolutely perfect for this storyline- and I loved her. The narrative is split timelines, past and present- both stories leading up to major moments that will leave you feeling discombobulated.

There are several shady characters involved in this story allowing for even more tension. I found myself rooting for Liv the whole story and could not put this book down- so addicting!

Strong thriller that I really enjoyed about a woman who's woken up confused about when and where she is. She has a writings all over her arms, full of reminders. But she doesn't know how she's ended up where she is, or why the world has changed so much. Not sure how realistic the amnesia set up was, but I definitely was drawn in and did not see the ending coming. This is my second book by Goldin and I'll keep reading her.

I love Megan Goldin. Her writing never disappoints. The beginning of this novel completely grabs you and doesn’t let go. I was so intrigued and pulled in by the storyline that I couldn’t put it down. However, I began losing interest somewhere past the halfway point. I found it became repetitive and the leading character started to lose me. What began as a promising novel, ended up a little disappointing.

The premise sounded amazing but the delivery? Not so much.
- writing styles feels 'squarish' and lacks fluidity or even emotion.
- we are repeated the same information often, which makes the book long.
- by the end we know who is the killer, but not why the first crime was committed? so many loose ends too: what did Q the artist have to do with any of this? (*spoiler: why didn't Liv text the detective who it was before fake falling asleep?)
- I like the two different angles the police officers were working.

This dragged on for two long and I was not as hooked as wish I had been.

The missing memory was the most thought through point, the rest felt oddly flat. To be fair, I am going through a bit of a reading slump at the moment: I was hoping this would jump start me back into the game. Not really

I really tried to enjoy this book. I found it all quite predictable unfortunately. The detective procedural portions were very tedious to read. I kept waiting for something more to develop.

Liv Reese loses her memory every time she falls asleep, a side effect from a traumatic accident that happened 2 years ago. When Liv wakes up she doesn’t remember where she is or what happened. Similar to the movie 50 first dates. She tries writing notes on her hands to remember. One being: “stay awake”.

While watching the news, Liv sees a message written at a crime scene that is similar to the messages she writes on herself. Could Liv have done something and not remembered?

One of the main problems I had with this book is that Liv was alarmingly calm each time she woke up and remembered nothing. Also, she went back to her job after 2 years “away” and they welcomed her back no questions asked.

This book was twisty but didn’t execute what it was trying to. I have read other Megan Goldin books and enjoyed them but this was a bit too repetitive for me.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝:⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
◘ Was super intriguing. It held my interest despite having to put it down many times because I only read eBooks at night.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝:⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
◘ The ending was so messy. Played out like a bad movie.
◘ Hated the storyline of the art installation and "Q". I won't say it's pointless because that's not true, but it gave nothing to the story.
◘ Kind of didn't care to hear the detective's history and backstory. Maybe it's to set her up for future mentions in other published books, but I could not care less about her.
◘ Could have been a lot shorter.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
★★★☆☆
Some aspects of this book were sooooo obvious. I was like wait, was that supposed to be a twist? And without spoiling the ending, I really was like wow that's how it's ending? It felt like it had been done before and was nothing new and this author had so much to work with. Bummer! This is probably my least between The Night Swim and The Escape Room. I personally loved the Escape Room most, so I suggest picking up that one instead.

This thriller is the perfect example of enjoying the journey but being disappointed by the destination. The plot follows the murder of a man with all signs pointing to the main character Liv as the murderer. Unfortunately, Liv suffers from amnesia where she forgets everything every time she wakes up.

I really did like the build-up of this book. The author did a good job of accurately capturing the memory of Liv as even as the reader we are given very disjointed information that forms into a more complete narrative as the book progresses. There were several red herrings that prevented me from predicting the final reveal. However, I will say that some of these felt like plot holes because they were not explained or fleshed out after the ultimate reveal. Furthermore, I felt like all of the characters could have done with a bit more development; both of the detectives felt very one-dimensional and even Liv was difficult to get a grasp of beyond the fact that she had memory problems.

The ending of the book also felt pretty rushed. Overall, it was a fun thriller that I read in only a few hours, but nothing monumental to the genre.

This is a incredibly fast moving psychological thriller about a woman who can't remember her past and is trying to piece together recent events. I was hooked from the start and read it straight though, barely taking time to eat. I hope Ms Goldin has future plans for the detective duo who are on the case. This book will be HUGE when it's released. Thank you NetGallery for the chance to read this early.

If you are into thrillers with great twists and turns, this is the book for you. Imagine everytime you fall asleep, your memory reverts back to 2 years in the past and you don't know what's going on. This is the daily life of Liz Reese, the main character. Will she and the police figure out the clues before a murderer strikes again? Read to find out

I did enjoy this book, the Liv chapters more so than the detective chapters. It was exciting and made me want to turn to the next page to find out more. Unfortunately, I figured out the killer early on even though I kept hoping I was wrong and it wasn’t that easy to peg. It was still a good read. I would recommend!

Ever since I read Night Swim, I knew I was going to love this author forever and I have not yet been disappointed! This is the third book by Goldin and I have no complaints! This one has such a fresh concept and I enjoyed the ride it took me on. While some of the plots were a little predictable, over all I had no idea how things would play out or who Liv should trust. I could relate with Liv on the caffeine intake, I understand that Coffee is life! There are a few loose ends I wonder about but don’t want to spoil- so if you’ve read this, let’s chat!
I found this one to be a quick and thrilling, a nice reminder of why I enjoy this authors writing and story telling so much. I will be impatiently waiting to see what she puts out next!
5/5-⭐️

I couldn't put this book down. If you love thrillers, this one will not disappoint with lots of twists and turns that you don't see coming. Megan Goldin is definitely an auto-buy author for me and can’t wait for her next book. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary copy.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was decent. It was good enough to hold my interest throughout, but I wouldn't consider it a "page turner". I got bored with the police procedural portion and found myself setting the book down frequently to take a break. Most often it was before reading a detective chapter, or right after. The story of Liv, her amnesia, the murder and what happened in her past was great. That part had me engaged. I just shut off during the investigation portion. I think this book could have been just as good without the detective aspect. I was more interested in what happened to Liv than I was with the cops who were trying to track her down. I see how it was important to the story, but at the same time, I didn't find it necessary.

Small, possible spoiler:

When the killer was actually revealed, it took me a minute to figure out who that character even was to the story. I didn't find it to be the big shocking reveal that the author had intended. I guess I was expecting more. The storyline with the mysterious "Q" was really interesting and I thought it was going to lead somewhere, but it ended up feeling like filler.

All in all, I find this book to be a 3.25 star rating. Not the best, but definitely not the worst. The writing style was really good, but I just thought part of it was dry and boring. The story told from Liv's perspective was fantastic. I will be reading more from Megan Goldin before I formulate my solidified opinion of her work.

This book was not for me. Repetitive, clunky, and not much of a plot. I kept thinking something would happen, but not much ever did. And liv was a frustrating, dull protagonist.