Fabulous psychological thriller. Lots of twists and turns going on in this book. I read almost nonstop because I needed to know what happens at the end. Clear the deck before you start this book. I did not guess the ending which made me love it even more. I loved this Author’s previous books and I highly recommend this one. Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and the Author for allowing me to read and review this book.

Liv is living her best life. She works for a popular magazine company, she has an apartment with one of her best friends, and she has a handsome, charming, Italian boyfriend. She wines and dines at the most amazing restaurants in New York City. It almost seems too good to be true…

One day in the very early hours of the morning she wakes up in a cab. When she gets out and walks up to her apartment she knocks on the door and realizes that someone else is living there. She calls her boyfriend but his number now belongs to someone else. She heads into her office but the whole building has been remodeled from the sophisticated neutral decor she remembers from just yesterday. It was yesterday, right? Her last memory is being on the phone in her office.

She looks down and her hands are covered in ink. Words are scribbled all over them telling her to stay awake and wake up and not trust anyone. When she finally takes a look at the calendar she realizes that two years have passed from her last memory to this moment. Why can’t she remember what happened over those two years? Why is one of the phrases she finds written on her hands also flashing across on the nightly news written on a window in blood from a murder being investigated that happened last night? She doesn’t remember killing anyone…she doesn’t remember anything actually. So why is she the top suspect for this murder?

Liv begins to realize That every time she falls asleep she forgets all of her memories up until the phone call in her office two years ago. Then the frightening phone calls start rolling in. There’s someone who remembers every detail of those last two years of her life, and of what happened last night and they’ll do whatever it takes to make sure she never remembers. Her primary focus is to stay awake and alive, whatever it takes.

Finally a book that is categorized as a thriller being a thriller and not just a suspense or mystery! My heart was racing at multiple points in this book. I highly recommend it.

Probably more like 4.5 stars, but it kept my engaged and I didn’t figure it out. I’m a little confused about the ending because I definitely feel like I missed an explanation for the stalking stuff. I really enjoyed the concept for this book because it was different from the average thriller book.

An exciting psychological thriller! Imagine if you woke up and did not know where you were. The house you lived in is occupied by someone else. You have no cell phone, are lost in New York City and can not locate your best friend or boyfriend. Welcome to Liv's life. And oh, she has black writing all over her hands to STAY AWAKE! The book evolves through two timelines, present and two years prior. I could not put this book down.

So good! Can't wait to recommend this one for people's summer reading lists.

A great thriller that I read in one day! The main character loses her memories every time she falls asleep. And she is in danger. TSome characters are trying to help her and some are trying to her hurt, but which ones are friends and which ones are foes? She forgets every time she wakes up.

Told from the perspective of Liv and a detective amid alternating time lines, it was easy to keep track of the plot and characters. Engrossing and satisfying. One of the best of the genre I have read in a ling time.

I loved the premise of this book - a woman, who every time she goes to sleep, wakes up having forgotten the events of the past two years. Liv Reese is a magazine writer, who by all odds is living a good life, and has a great job and boyfriend. Until a stalker comes into the picture and a gruesome incident sends her fleeing. But what? and Why then can't she remember the last two years of her life? What really happened to make her block it out? And why now is she constantly forgetting daily?
This was a wild ride, as I - together with Liv - tried to put together her fragmented past. Full of twists and turns.
I'm only not sure what really triggered her amnesia, and who was stalking her, But other than that, this was an all round great read!

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

5/5 
Mystery Thriller, 352 pages
No Spoilers Review

Mystery Thrillers are my favorite genre, so my expectation tend to be highest for these genre of books.

For that reason, I'm ecstatic to be able to say that Stay Awake not only met that bar, but exceeded it! This was my first novel read by this author and it won’t be my last.

This book kept me guessing and wondering the whole time and had me hooked pretty quickly. I loved the unpredictability, I find a lot of thrillers I read tend to be predictable. I found myself turning page after page until the end.

I may or may not have "stayed awake" longer than I should have to reach the end.

Things I liked: 
* The story felt like it was really well thought out and flowed nicely.
* The narration style worked very well!
* The experience of discovering Liv's memories
* The feeling of suspense that took hold of me early on and never let go. 
* The main character was likeable

Things I didn’t like: 
* When I turned the last page and found that there wasn't a new one to take its place :(  I wasn't ready for it to be over!

This was an amazing book! I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a mystery, or a fast paced read.

Thank you to St. Martin Press and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book before the publication.

Liv wakes up in a taxi with no recollection of how she got there, her apartment resides someone else, her workplace is completely transformed. She is unable to reach her bestfriend and roommate Amy or her boyfriend Marco. She has a roll of cash, writings all over her arms and hands and a bloody knife rolled in a t-shirt. The last thing she remembers is sitting at her work desk 2 years ago. Her memory after that is blank.
Halliday and Lavelle are working a homicide case for which they have very little information.
The detectives path crosse with liv when she becomes prime suspect in their investigation but they have no idea where she is and Liv has no idea she is wanted for a murder.
As the story unfolds events that took place 2 years ago and the night before the murder come to light.
The narrative is split between two timelines- present day and 2 years ago. Its very easy to follow. The writing is easy and flows well together.
I feel like you can figure out who the killer is before even half the book is done. Nevertheless it was thrilling to see all the events come into place.
This was a much longer book than I expected and also, a little repetitive. The ending wasn’t done in half as much detail as the rest of the book which is quite disappointing to me.
A couple of plot holes left unanswered such as who was stalking Liv and why The double homicide was committed 2 yrs ago. I assume its because the infidelity but I wanted it to have more sinister reason because of all the planning and effort it took to commit the act and even more to keep it hidden!

Overall, aside from the plot holes and rushed ending Stay Awake is a solid page turner and a twisty suspense thriller that I think any fan of this genre would enjoy.

I was so confused when I started reading this book. I guess that is great for a psychological thriller. This book kept me guessing and I did not figure out who the killer was until late in the story. I can't imagine that every time I went to sleep I lost all memory of everything I knew. I really enjoyed this thriller and would recommend it.

3.5 stars

It was not so difficult to stay awake just to finish this book. It piqued my interest in the first 20%, but then, I found a few things repetitive I also found it lacking that Liv Reese didn’t show more emotions or feelings knowing that those same words, found in the murder scene, were written in her skin. If it was me, I would be panting in fear and paranoia as soon as I realize that. I also got annoyed at Krause for making Liz so stupid from the start. I thought that maybe, it was just 3 stars for me.

However, I had this urge in me to continue reading and finish what I started. I got curious and I had two suspects — one of them was the murderer. From 50% of the book til the end, I got thrilled and my interest kicked in again. I felt like it was 50 First Dates, but there was cheating (that I predicted) and murders.

This thriller is a quick read, but the development of the story is slow-paced. In addition, I expected a more mind blowing plot twist and ending. The story is good, but could’ve been better.

Thanks to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5/5 stars.

I’ll preface this by saying I loved The Night Swim last year, so I went in with pretty high expectations for Stay Awake!

I thought the concept was excellent. Liv’s amnesia gave me Before I Go To Sleep vibes, which was one of the books that got me into thrillers to begin with. So that was a big plus in my book. I also though the suspense was pretty well done.

Where this book lost points was in its execution and ending. I desperately wanted more of the villain’s backstory and motive; without the WHY, it’s not the most satisfying.

Still, this was a super compulsive read that you’ll likely force yourself to Stay Awake to finish!

Megan Goldin is one of my favorites, I really enjoyed her last two books - 'Night Swim' and 'The Escape Room' unfortunately this one fell short for me. I found it to be incredibly confusing jumping between the separate time lines which was vital to the main characters story it just threw me. I am also not the type of reader who likes to predict the ending but with this story about half way through it seemed obvious to me. While I didn't dislike this book I never felt that urge to carve out time to finish it and instead just finished it when I had time.

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✨ARC BOOK REVIEW✨
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Stay Awake by Megan Goldin
🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪
Pub Date: August 9th, 2022
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I am happy to announce that, after 3 long months, my thriller slump has FINALLY ended 👏🏼. Stay Awake is a heart racing, sit on the edge of your seat, stay up all night reading thrill ride🎢
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Imagine going to sleep only to wake up and think you are living two years in the past. Imagine this happening every single time you slept, and the only way you are able to piece together what is happening to you is by reading notes you wrote for yourself on your body.
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Now imagine dealing with memory loss while also being hunted by a killer. The killer could be anyone, even someone you know. However, every time you fall asleep, the pieces of the puzzle you connected while awake disappear. The next time you wake up, it all begins again.
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I had high hopes for Stay Awake, because I loved The Night Swim, and it did not disappoint! When I tell you that this book had me sweating, I’m not exaggerating. I binged the heck out of this read and I guarantee ya’ll will too! 🙌🏻!

This was very fast paced, and would be great for anyone needing to get out of a reading slump. I loved being immediately thrown into the action/suspense.
Reading this felt like a spooky take on “50 first dates”. Definitely a great pick for someone to breeze through quickly. I considered all of the characters to be likable. Looking forward to rereading this in the future.

-short chapters that are easy to get through
-multiple pov’s
-alternating timeline

The ending while not unpredictable was still enjoyable.

5/5 stars.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was ok, not the best thriller i've read but an ok read none the less.

Each Megan Goldin book gets better and better! I absolutely loved this one...it literally had me "staying awake" ti finish the book and find out whodunnit! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. Looking forward to recommending this novel in August.

Short chapters and a mystery that kept me reading! I had a great time with this one. It had its flaws but I liked the characters and the way the story unfolded. I’m not a big fan of the amnesia trope but I still enjoyed myself. You need to suspend your disbelief a bit. I wish the detectives were more fleshed out so I’m hoping this becomes a series where we follow these detectives as partners in NYC solving a different crime.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sending me the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Didn't feel connected to any of the characters; action was told instead of shown too much. Interesting premise, needed to be more fleshed out.

This sucked me in from the first page -- the premise sounded so cool and the book didn't disappoint. It has plenty of tropes I love in thrillers, but I can't share them because spoilers! I found the mystery intriguing and even though I did guess the solution pretty early on it didn't make it any less enjoyable.

I liked how the narrative was split into the two timelines and liked how it played around with different POVs, too. Overall, a gripping read!

I've been on a thriller/mystery/suspense/horror bender of late. So, I'd say it gets to be a little hard to pull one over on this reader. That being said, this story had my full attention. I wanted to know what the heck was going on and why, and it kept me turning pages. The fact that you could lose all your memories of the last two plus years when you fall asleep and then have to try to understand that and piece it all together upon waking...well, that's just incomprehensible to me, and terrifying. The story-telling was very well done and things moved along at a perfect clip for me, doling out bits and pieces so you felt like you were learning right along with the characters.