actual rating: 4/5 stars

this was such a captivating thriller for me and kept be reading despite the plot being fairly repetitive due to the amnesia trope. as soon as i read the synopsis, i was drawn in and megan did not disappoint. not only does she write compulsively readable thrillers that dives into drama between individuals, but she also brings in important topics that make it seem more realistic rather than some outlandish thriller.don't get me wrong there's a time and place for outlandish, ridiculous, fun thrillers but megan strikes the perfect balance between tea and realism.

our main character liv was super interesting to follow and had a well formed personality despite us "restarting" with her multiple times. we also followed a female detective which i really loved because that storyline was almost giving criminal minds.

the one thing that was a bit off for me was the time line. this book took place over a day but it felt like at least a week and every time i reminded myself it was in a single day, i would feel disorientated. maybe that was part of megan goldin's point, to create that disorientation to relate to liv more but it just felt not at purposeful.

i loved the twist and turns and the end reveal was amazing. obviously, i cannot go into it too much but if you enjoy jennifer hiller endings/style of writing as well as the last housewife by ashley winstead, i think this could really work for you.

thank you to st. martin’s press, megan goldin, and netgalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good amnesia trope! Liv wakes up with writing on her hands and arms telling her to stay awake and trust no one. I felt like the ending wasn't quite what I was looking for. I'll read anything by Megan Goldin, but I will say this wasn't my absolute favorite. I feel as though this would be a good thriller/mystery for a beginner.

This one started out with a bang! With multiple POVs, a nonlinear timeline, and a questionable main character, I was hooked from page one 👀⁣
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The mystery starts with Liv, who wakes up disoriented in the back of a cab. She finds notes all over her arms saying to STAY AWAKE and a bloody knife in her pocket. She drives home only to find that her apartment is occupied by total strangers. After wondering around NYC, she catches the news and is horrified when a murder has been reported and the victim’s blood has been used to write STAY AWAKE on the windows…⁣
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Yeah this one was a wild ride! I guessed the twist pretty early on but I still enjoyed it till the end. I highly recommend this one to anyone who likes true crime and wants a dark thriller read

Could not put down this book. It was one of those books that I just absolutely inhaled because I had to find out what happened to the main character. The need for answers was intense as was the palpable feeling of paranoia I had with the main character.

I absolutely loved this book. It hooked me and kept me turning pages until I was done. Finished it in two days! The character development was strong, and the premise was unique enough that it didn't feel like anything else I've read.

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea where she is or how she got there. When she's dropped off at the door of her brownstone, a stranger answers-a stranger who now lives in her apartment and forces her out in the cold. She reaches for her phone to call for help, only to discover it's missing, and in its place is a bloodstained knife. That's when she sees that her hands are covered in black pen, scribbled messages like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE.
I loved this book so much! I had a lot of fun reading it.Although the amnesia theme is a little played out these days, "Stay Awake" doesn't follow the traditional memory loss storyline.

This was a fast-paced psychological thriller that I couldn't put down. A book which makes the reader feel as involved as much as Liv. Megan Goldin writes a great thriller that keeps you wanting to read. You feel as though you are just as frustrated as Liv is when she wakes up not knowing what is going on.

A twisty psychological thriller all the way.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't a huge fan of this book. It pains me to say how dissapointed I am with this book, because O just loved the previous book ''The Night Swim''.

The idea of the book was great, but there was too many plot holes, that I just couldn't look past it. The main issue was the things that Liv made, or in this case - didn't make. If I woke up without any memory of past few years, without home or money, I would seek proffesional help, instead of wondering arround.
Also the pase of the story was very stagnant, at the 30% of the book I still felt like we were at the point zero.
In the end I just had to force myself to pick this book up, but the final straw was when it put me in a reading slump.
I don't recommend reading this book.

I had so much anxiety while reading this - in a good way! The lost memory trope has been done a lot, but this still felt fresh and exciting. I couldn’t put it down.

A failed attempt at a memento done in a book.

The repetitiveness was too much, even for a book where the main character is stuck in a time loop. She cannot remember the last two years, and the author makes that very evident to us the reader. The ending wasn’t enough for the slow and long book, in my opinion.

Great, fun thriller! Love Liv! Easy read, which I appreciate. If a book can keep us moving through it, we can read and enjoy more! Some of the twists I could see coming but I like to think I’m a creative intuitive also. The end felt a little packed in all at once but still a great read for me.

This is another fantastic Megan Goldin book! Stay Awake had me hooked from the start, and had lots of "wow" moments that had my head spinning. I loved this one!

Sooo good! One of my faves to read! Definitely would recommend picking this one up if you see it in the store!

Huge fan of of this author, and I really enjoyed the opportunity to read this story. It was a fast paced, mystery, and believe it or not I was unable to put a finger on the “villain “.

Wow! I always wonder what gives authors their ideas, and this one is definitely one of those books that had be wondering, what on earth is wrong with this author?! Kidding!
But seriously! The premise is so unusual and I liked the build up of suspense in the characters!

In this gripping thriller, every time magazine writer Liv Reese wakes up, she finds herself confused about where she is—and it quickly becomes clear that she has no memory at all of the last two years. She tries to understand her own situation while vaguely realizing that something seriously bad is going on, whether it’s something she did or something that’s threatening her. Meanwhile, an appealing duo of homicide detectives try to figure out whether she is a suspect or a victim. The clues in this story are well placed, and although a seasoned mystery fan can probably figure out what’s going on well before the authorities, that doesn’t make the book any less compelling. There’s plenty of suspense, and it’s fun and satisfying to see how everything turns out.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a digital advance review copy.

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi, completely in the dark as to who she is or where she is going. Someone else is living in her home, having moved in long before. With no phone and a gruesome reminder of the night she does not remember in her pocket, Liv can only look at the graffiti on her skin for answers. When a news report gives Liv the feeling that she has done something terribly wrong, who can she turn to when she remembers only the life she had two years before?

I love mystery thrillers and, though I did figure some of the ending out, I still enjoyed reading this novel. Characterization was very strong and the plot had some good twists and turns. I liked how there was not a rush to judgment by the police, that they investigated the crime instead of the suspect. Though the back and forth in time did help to build suspense, I would have preferred a more linear story. Overall, Stay Awake was a good mystery thriller and one I would recommend to those who like the genre.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy by NetGalley and the publisher. The decision to read and review this novel was completely my own.

I really enjoyed this! I love the authors writing style and her characters were great!

The way that the past was revealed to Liv I wish had more showing rather than telling, but in this case it would be quite difficult due to her memory issues. I loved how the dual timelines showed us before the incident and then after the new incident as parallels.

The premise behind this book was fascinating. Liv forgets everything from the past two years every time she goes to sleep - and things are getting tricky with her waking up holding a knife with a bloodstained message saying "STAY AWAKE"

This story was a little bit repetitive at a times, but it obviously had to be as Liv continued to wake up with the same basic knowledge of her life. It was fun to piece together what happened alongside Liv, and although I had an idea of some of the secrets before they were fully revealed. Between what really happened with Amy and Marco, and the later twist setting up more murders and who the mastermind was, threw me a little bit. It was not who I expected it to be in the end.

The one thing I didn't like was how naive and dumb Liv was sometimes. I know she had a diary that had been destroyed, but while she is investigating and on the run couldn't she have popped into a store and bought a cheap notebook? She could just write down everything she's learned and that way she doesn't need to cover her arms in weird cryptic messages. It would also save her a lot of day to day panic about who and where she is. Overall though, I did enjoy this one and I'm excited to read what Megan writes next!

Parts of this story were captivating, while other sections dragged a bit, or didn't feel quite as developed. I did enjoy this one more than The Escape Room..

I’ve highly enjoyed everything I’ve read by this author, so I was excited to get the chance to read their newest book. As usual, I was not disappointed. I thought this is a great read, and I will continue to be reading any books this author comes out with.

Even though the main character wasn’t super relatable to me, considering I didn’t have these issues, I found that what they were doing, made perfect sense throughout the story. I loved all the mystery surrounding the characters and how you really couldn’t trust any of them even the main character.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to anybody that likes to read thriller mystery type novels. I even feel like this would be a good place to start if you want to get into reading them.