Thank you for the opportunity to preview Stay Awake.
Goldin is an author I starting to love.
She takes ordinary subjects and puts them in precarious situations.
Stay Awake is a quick read that I enjoyed a lot

3.5 stars

I am a sucker for an unreliable narrator, ever since i first read Girl on the Train I have been obsessed with following narrators who can't figure out what is going on and somehow are tied up in dangerous situations.

Stay Awake follows Liv as she slowly realizes she is wanted for a murder she can't remember. Because she can't remember anything from the past 2 years and has no idea where anyone she knows is.

The story sets up plausible reasons why Liv is so isolated - why she doesnt have her phone and purse makes sense when you realize she has no idea where shes been before she fell asleep, and because shes lost 2 years of memories its logical she can no longer remember passwords, or where she lives.

even Livs distrust of the police felt logical - why she wouldnt go to them when she first realized she might be in trouble - because they have proven time and again to fail her.

What DIDNT make sense to me is why she wouldnt have tried to see a medical professional immediately. once you had a base understanding of confusion why not go see a doctor? doubly so because she KNEW TWO DOCTORS.

The highlight of this story for me was the investigation, Those characters were more fleshed out and were making progress every time we met them. LIv was, no matter how logically, going in circles every time we saw her and the repeatitiveness of her remembering her 'last moment' before the amenesia black out got annoying. Yes it made sense but i grew weary of hearing it.

While reading this I had high hopes for the ending and it really fell flat for me. the Killers reveal was fine? but I never got a clear motive for him (presumably because of the cheating? but why involve Liv at all in that directly?) Why did Amy call her home? (i'm guessing the killer made her?) why was the killer stalking Liv and scaring her the way that they were? none of this is explained, and is mostly felt like weird things to frame various red herrings who all but get dropped mid-way through the story. Why did I need to care about Kevin? or ... the business partner, or the business partners girlfriend or Q? they all felt like they existed primarily to be red herrings and once it was clear they weren't the killer they disappeared. execpet Kevin really just disappeared halfway and NEVER resurfaces and that felt random - why was he ever there.

and because we never got the Why behind the Killer i'm left wondering and assuming. PLUS now i wonder even more about her missing 2 years as well. she apparently was doing SO WELL for 2 years and then suddenly had a full lapse in memory? what caused it. why did this start? what made her suddenly so keen to solve the murder.....

Overall it was a great skeleton for a story and i was incrdibly invested the entire time but the ending just did not tie up enough to make this satisfying.

Liv wakes up every morning not knowing where she is and with no memory of the previous 2 years. Each time she falls asleep she wakes up to writing on her skin and body telling her to "stay awake," "don't trust the police," and a large scar that she doesn't remember getting. The story goes back and forth between present time and two years ago when the traumatic event happened that likely caused her recent amnesia, because she can remember everything that happened before the event. Finished this in one day, couldn't put it down.

Holy CHRIST is this a tense book.

I genuinely adore Megan Goldin's writing. She has a style unlike almost any thriller author. Her plots are beautifully unique, the characters full and flush without being too weighed down with back story. I look forward to each read of hers I pick up because I know I'm in for a great time.

But I am furious that I didn't see the ending coming.

What makes me even more annoyed is she laid the breadcrumbs down like a master mason laying brick work. You don't see the marks until the big picture is revealed, and suddenly all of those little details come flying at you like angry canaries.

This plot is insane. Our main character, Liv, is the most unreliable narrator you can imagine. She wakes up in the back of a taxi, disoriented, tired and confused, unclear how she got there or where she's going. She gives the driver her address, and hopes her roommate is home because she doesn't have her phone or purse.

Except when she gets home, the angry people being woken up in the middle of the night have absolutely no idea who she is, and threaten to call the police.

Also, for some reason, she has a kitchen knife and a bloody shirt.

Well, that's odd.

What's even odder is the writing all over her hands and wrists.

Stay Awake. Don't Go To Sleep.

You Forget Everything When You Go To Sleep.

Thus kicks off a deliciously frustrating race to find out what the hell is going on before she finally succumbs to the exhaustion and confusion wracking her body. And why there's a murder scene with writing all over similar to the writing on her hands and wrists.

With two bouncing points of view, and multiple flashbacks to Liv's life 2 years prior, this book will kick in your front door and slam your head into the wall over and over to the STILL SO VERY WELL LAID OUT EVEN IF IT INFURIATED ME ending.

I never get mad when I can't figure out the ending. I really don't, it's a joyous surprise since most thrillers are so rote and predictable.

But this one was too well done even for me. Dammit.

I can't emphasize enough how GOOD this book is. Recommendations all around.

Stay Awake was my first Megan Goldin novel, but definitely won’t be my last.

Our protagonist Liv wakes up with memory loss every time she falls asleep. She has stay awake written on her body to help remember, but why? In Stay Awake we follow Liv as she tries to put together her missing memories and why she can’t remember the past two years of her life. We hear her past and present form to get snippets of what might have happened to cause her memory loss. As she begins to piece together the pieces of her past, the less people she can trust.

I read this book in a day because I got immediately sucked in and I had to know how this story ended! I highly recommend this book.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martins Press for an ARC copy in return for an honest review***

I love Megan Goldin! The Night Swim and The Escape Room are two books I have 5 stars but this one didn’t work for me. I found it slow and hard to get through. I’ll still read anything she writes but this one wasn’t for me.

I always love a thriller book, and especially love reading one of these books when the length of the novel, itself, is just the right length. Not too long and not too short. Stay Awake by Megan Golden kept me hooked from start to finish and I am so appreciative of my advanced reader access. I am so thankful to the author, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book.

I am on a Megan Goldin kick this year and trying to read all of their backlist titles on my TBR. After this, I only have The Escape Room to go and I think I am officially caught up. I don't know why I am so set on finishing these books, I'm guessing just because I have had the ARCs or purchased them already, but I think I've given each of them a fairly average, middle of the road two to three star rating.

Like always, with mysteries and thrillers I prefer not to discuss synopsis since I know I personally like to go into these types of books as blindly as possible, so instead, I'll just discuss thoughts.

I think I could have enjoyed this book... if it wasn't so predictable. I wrote notes on my Kindle at thirty-seven percent guessing the who and the why, and unfortunately, I was not wrong. I know the author has to give clues to the reader to make it make sense, but this just felt so heavy-handed and obvious that I don't see how it could have gone any other way at all. If it wasn't for the massive letdown in predictability, the concept was fun and engaging, and the main character, while her choices left a lot to be desired and frequently took me out of the story with lack of believability, was likable enough for someone we never got to know and understand well (this makes sense for the plot, so I'll leave it at that).

I do see how readers could enjoy this. It's fast paced and well written and I don't think I found myself bored even once while reading this book. The author does a really great job of creating tension and a constant feeling of unease. If it wasn't for how obvious I found it to be to figure out the who and why, I think I would have given this book a much better rating.

A thrilling premise that just missed its mark. It was too repetitive. Also, either I completely missed something or there were things that weren’t explained by the end. Overall though, I think the author accomplished what she set out to do: she delivered an entertaining, fast paced story that kept me wondering and made me not want to put the book down.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review which is not affiliated with any brand.

I absolutely loved this thriller by Megan Goldin! This is the story of Liv who has a type of amnesia that every time she falls asleep she forgets the last two years of her life. She finds that someone is living in her apartment when she goes home. She's out on the street with no place to go, a bloody knife and writing all over her arms. This is a super fast paced thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. You want to hang out with Live and keep her from falling asleep! This is a book that moves constantly and that is my favorite type to read. One that will keep you completely entertained and up until the night to finish it.

Unreliable narrator. Amnesia. Reminiscent of the movie Memento. Liv Reese wakes up one day and has forgotten the last two years, but she knows something horrible has happened. She shows up to her job and they are shocked to see her. The messages on her hands are the same words scrawled on a breaking news murder case. This tale of suspense was intriguing and a compelling read.

Stay Awake is a gimmick thriller that holds together by the grace of Megan Goldin's talent for detail and character. She remains and auto-read author for me, but man this one really tried my patience a bit in places. Why? Well it cheats. A lot. The entire book balances precariously on a high concept that is and of itself a cheat: it's a Memento thriller with a domestic suspense twist.

Overall, it ended up a solid read that I enjoyed, though thinking about it for two seconds, it has plot holes you can drive trucks through. The main twist begs the question "was everyone involved in the original case a literal idiot?" and another major component rests on "well, that's convenient/absolutely a cheat." More than one thread is left dangling. And yet... I like Megan Goldin. I was engaged. I had to keep listening to see where it went. I was both angry AT the main character, as well as on her behalf at multiple points. For me, a successful thriller engages my emotions and keeps me guessing, and on balance doesn't annoy me too much. This one just missed annoying me too much with the gimmick lol.

THAT said... I've come to the conclusion that I don't love Imogen Church as an audiobook narrator. Or, rather, I think I can only listen to her reading a very specific type of Ruth Ware protagonist. She chooses to read lines in SUCH an exaggerated, hyper-anxious style that she renders all her protagonists almost pathetically weak at points where I don't think they need to be? Their voices break, they render statements that aren't questions as questions, they're snappy and intense in moments where it feels weird--the read is just SO hysterical all the way through and it's just not my favorite. Constantly while listening to this and The It Girl, I kept pausing to repeat a line in my own head how I would have read it on the page--placing the intonation and emphasis the way I would have, and it's night and day. I don't read these protagonists as so intensely anxious/questioning/unsure in my head, but the way Church chooses to read them definitely influences how I feel about these MCs. So I don't know if Liv was as useless/frustrating actually on the page as she was listening to it (same with Hannah in The It Girl)... it's tricky to parse. Just so many times she read a line with a shaking, terrified voice when I don't feel the writing/character moment actually called for it?

SO YEAH Liv is a VERY frustrating protagonist. Even with her memory loss, she makes some baffling choices that feel too convenient/gimmicky. She makes only ONE good, sensible choice the entire book but given all the bad ones that preceded it, it almost feels too convenient that she finally made a good choice! She's also generally a Very Basic kind of character because she kind of has to be for the plot to work... just meh. I had empathy for her situation, but overall she comes across as not particularly interesting or smart b/c, again, she can't be or the plot won't work. Just a big contrast to Goldin's usual protagonists who are pretty sharp. Thank God for the chapters from the detective POV. They provided a needed break and contrast and seriously elevated the reading experience. Also nice b/c it was a different narrator on the audiobook, so also a break/contrast there in reading style.

Overall, read if you think you can do an entire book with a Memento premise, but if you think that will annoy you, skip it. It's a thin line, and it'll be entirely down to reader preference/tolerance.

Liv Reese awakens one night in the back of a cab with zero recollection of where she is or how she got there. When she arrives home there are strangers living in her apartment and she can’t find her phone. What she does find in her bag is a blood-covered knife. On her hands the ominous message STAY AWAKE is scrawled in black ink.

Lost and disoriented with only the memories of her life two years prior, Liv must figure out what’s happened. To make matters worse, there’s been a murder where the same message written all over her hands has been left on the window of the victim’s apartment—in blood. On the run for a crime, she may or may not have committed, Liv must piece together the events of the previous night…and the last two years.

This one was a hard one for me. The premise was good and I previously enjoyed The Escape Room by this author, but this was just OK. It held my interest enough to finish it, but there were sooo many parts that were IMO needlessly repetitive. I get it, she has amnesia, but I, the reader do not. The MC also grated on my nerves to the point that I found myself getting annoyed and switching to another book.

There is for sure an audience for this. It got decent ratings on GR, but by far not a memorable (pun intended) story for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for an e-Arc of this book.

I really wanted to like this because I enjoyed The Night Swim but this fell flat for me. Several times I wanted to DNF this book but I kept going.
Liv Reese suffers from memory loss after a tragic event. Whenever Liv falls asleep she loses her memory of the past two years, so she does all she can to stay awake. Walking around with a form of insomnia Liv has no idea what’s going on, has no purse or credit cards and isn’t sure what’s going on in her life. All she knows is her body has information written all over it including notes to stay awake, and not to trust anyone. When a man is killed and Liv is named as the prime suspect she doesn’t even know who the victim is or if she did it. All she knows is she’s on the run and scared for her life.

Again I really wanted to like this, but similar to another review I didn’t understand the actions Liv took. If I woke up and didn’t remember what was going on and had no cell phone or ID I wouldn’t just be wandering around the city. I also didn’t understand why Liv would keep going back to homes or places when people are literally threatening to call the police on her. It just seemed to drag on and was really unrealistic. This just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Thank you St Martins Press and Netgalley for this ARC.

Megan Goldin books are usually pretty hit or miss for me, and this one fell right in the middle. The plot was good, but the twist was predictable, and I didn't feel like I connected to the characters well.

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Megan Goldin for free e-ARC of Stay Awake in return of my honest review.

New thriller story by Megan Goldin that keeps the reader up late at night guessing what’s going on and who is at fault. It starts with a woman waking up in a taxi and remembering nothing for last two years of her life. She unravels her along along with the reader and comes along to some disturbing conclusions.

As usual, Megan Goldin delivers a perfectly thrilling thriller. It has all good features of a mystery that a reader want to figure as soon as possible - good plot, intriguing twists, believable characters.

Looking forward to new work by Megan Goldin.

This was an interesting thriller with the twist of the main character forgetting everything from the past two years every time she fell asleep. It was told back and forth via multiple time periods but was easy to follow. It was entertaining, suspenseful and the pacing was perfect. It was a solid thriller!

This one was a wild ride. What a nightmare to live. Waking up and not knowing anything of the last two years. Such an interesting concept that I have never seen before. It did remind me a little of 50 First Dates when it came to the memory loss. It was easy to follow along and kept me interested the whole time!

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I loved this one! It was a unique and fast paced thriller. I highly recommend this one to thriller lovers like me. I've also read Night Swim and really liked that one too! Can't wait to read more of Megan Goldin's books.
Thank you to @netgalley & @stmartinspress for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this page turner by Megan Goldin. Goldin has quickly become one of my go-to authors for quick-paced page turning thrillers. I've found it easy to finish one of her books in a day. I wasn't a huge fan of the main character which took a way a bit from my rating, but overall I enjoyed the book.