This book was amazing. Kept me guessing until the end. There are so many unknowns that are slowly revealed but the pace of the story never let up! Told from various points of view and different timelines, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire ride! Thanks to NetGalley for the Arc in return for an unbiased review.

I just finished reading "Stay Awake" by Megan Goldin. Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is a book about a young woman who has a rare form of amnesia where everytime she wakes up, she has forgotten everything that has happened in the last two years. There is a constant electric energy in the book as the main character is trying to find out what happened to her life while at the same time a police detectice is investigating a homicide that may or may not have included her.
I loved this book. It definately had some "Memento" vibes because in order to remind herself of important information, the main character ,Liv, writes notes to herself on her body. Her body is covered with notes like "Stay Awake" that lead her on a wild chase to find out what is going on. The story goes back and forth between the past where the reader gets an idea on what Liv was like before the amnesia and is introduced to her best friend and her boyfriend. Then there is the point of view of the main detective who is tasked with investigating a homicide. Throughout the book, we meet different characters who may or my not want to hurt Liv, but the ending ties up all the intrigue and action with a conclusion that explains everything.
I liked the pace of the story and the shifts in perspective. I did get a little confused a couple of times about the timeline so i had to go back to the beginning of the chapter, but it wasn't a big deal.
I like how the author tied all the characters together in the book. There were a few moments which I thought were a little farfetched but overall, the story telling was great.
I liked the main character. She was messed up and scared and smart and brave all at once. I found myself rooting for her and I found her back story fascinating.
I am so glad I read this book. It was a riveting and thrilling ride into the mind of an amnesiac searching for the truth. I am sure everyond will love it.
Happy Reading!

I loved Megan Goldin's other novels, so I was thrilled to receive an ARC of her latest, "Stay Awake". What an apt title! That is what you will do until you finish this addictive, thrilling novel! Memento is a very apt comparison, but this is way more suspenseful and anxiety-provoking. The main character, Liv, has a rare form of amnesia where every time she falls asleep she forgets everything that has happened for the past two years. When the novel starts, she sees a news report of a murder with the same phrase scrawled in blood at the crime scene that is written on her hands. So she is at sea trying to figure out her connection to this murder in the present, and what has happened over the past two years. A wild ride!

First of all, thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for the chance to read and review this book pre-release.

The premise of this sounded bonkers and instantly intrigued me. Liv Reese forgets the last two years of her life every time she falls asleep and wakes up! This didn't feel like your typical amnesia trope at all; it was fresh and different.

I could not read this book fast enough. The short chapters flowed so well and each one ended in a cliffhanger that made me HAVE to keep going. I truly had no idea how Megan Goldin was going to tie this one up.

My only critique is that there were a few plot holes / things we never got answers or explanations for and then other things that were over-explained (told, not showed).

Overall, I'd recommend this one, I just wish it had a few more chapters!

This will be available for purchase on August 9th!

3.5 rounded up

Thank you so much Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read one of my most anticipated 2022 releases!

Unfortunately, it did not deliver in the way that I had hoped it would.

The premise itself is incredibly intriguing, and the story is a fun whodunnit murder mystery that leaves the reader theorizing up until the very end. Even though I didn't always love certain elements of the book, the mystery is really what kept me reading to find out what was going to happen next.

As other reviews have already mentioned, this book reminded me a lot of the show The Flight Attendant on HBO Max, as well as the novel The Lost Night by Andrea Bartz. I personally love the "hot mess unreliable narrator" trope (if that is a trope?), so I really enjoyed reading from Liv's perspective, even when it was frustrating. And the scenes that take place in the past? Very creepy. Very chilling. Loved them.

The main thing I didn't like about this book was the fact that the detective POV becomes such a huge element of the story, especially when it's not mentioned in the summary of the book at all. For me, the book spends way too much time in the detective's POV/storyline to the point where it really hindered the pacing of the story. It became boring to read the detective characters continually putting together the pieces of the puzzle that I, as the reader, had already put together myself, and I just was never interested to learn about the detective's backstory of when she was in the military- I just wanted to get back to solving the murder!

Overall this was a fun read, but nothing groundbreaking as far as thrillers go. If you enjoy true crime or detective stories, you might like it more than I did!

Again, you so much Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an arc of this book. :)

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no clue who she is or where she is. She has the words stay awake written on her hands in ink. When she gets to her apartment she finds strangers living there who have no idea who she is. Deciding to call for help she reaches in her pocket for her phone but instead finds a bloody knife wrapped in a t-shirt. Liv ends up realizing she doesn't remember the last 2 years of her life. I did enjoy this book but not as much of the author's other books i have read. Sometimes it was a little repetitive going over the same stuff but that is to be expected since every time Liv wakes up she has to keep remembering what has happened to her. I would recommend the book though.

If 50 First Dates and Memento had a baby, it would be this book. Imagine Drew Barrymore’s character’s life if she lived in NYC instead a tight knit Hawaiian community. I really enjoyed this! Less than The Night Swim but more than Escape Room. Goldin has such an easy writing style that completely sucks you in and I was engrossed from the very beginning. I’m a fan of an unreliable narrator and Liv is an A+ example of how to do one well. There were plenty of moments throughout the book that kept me guessing and I like the suspense of how the flashbacks pieces together. With that said, this isn’t without the need to suspend belief but I don’t mind that in this genre when the book is as well done as this one. I did actually work out the mystery but I read a lot of thrillers so that happens pretty often. Still fun to watch it all come together. Tidy ending, interesting characters, and a creative plot! Highly recommend to fans of an unreliable narrator, multiple POV, and two timelines.

Favorite Quote:

“There’s no such thing as being an observer. Doing nothing is doing something. Being passive has consequences.”

If thrillers and muster are your thing then definitely check this book out it was SO good! I couldn’t put it down!

The Journey with Liv from the beginning to the end was filled with trepidation, confusion, sadness and fear and as the reader you feel those with her.

Her best friend Amy thinks Liv is losing it because there are things that Liv says she’s noticed that are a bit strange. The cops laugh at her as if she is making it up and never do anything. These things all lead to the worst of her life.

Detective Halliday sees all sides of each crime and her belief is that some things are deeper than what is seen. Her determination and drive is what allows her to begin to solve the mystery that is Loca’ life

I highly recommend this book !

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Stay Awake is an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller. The story gripped me from the first page and I raced through it, needing to get the answers. I was caught right along with the main character (Liv) to piece it all together. I can't imagine forgetting the last 2 1/2 years of my life every time I went to sleep. Great job Megan Goldin - you have a new fan!

There are a lot of things this book is not good for: its not good for reading a few pages before going to sleep; its not good for filling a few minutes in a doctor's waiting room; its not good for glancing at while you watch your children play soccer.

What it is good for is having a great feast of a read you will feel compelled to gulp down in one sitting. Liv Reese is a journalist who was having a peaceful morning coffee in Washington Sqare park in Greenwich Village, blinks and finds herself with longer, darker hair in a cab on the way to an apartment which is now occupied by two strangers. The story ricochets between events two years earlier and the present eventually skidding into a satisfying denouement . A great pair of NYPD detectives, Darcy Halliday and Jack Lavelle are integral to the story and I can easily see sequels coming out featuring them.

I appreciate being given an ARC in turn for an honest review and I strongly recommend this book .

This one was a complete roller coaster ride! I can’t say I’ve ever read a book like this one which makes it that much more fun. It has the perfect pace and the right amount of twists and turns. Pick this one up, it’ll keep you on the edge of your seat!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don't usually give thrillers 5 stars, but this one got me. The premise around the malleability of memory was unique and well executed. I loved the multiple perspectives of Liv and the detective. My heart raced and ached for Liv as she continued to wake up with no memory and so much confusion. I thought the author masterfully revealed the the perpetrator. The pacing was perfect. Really, I have no faults to discuss. Pick this up immediately!

This was really, really good — it takes the whole unreliable narrator trope to the next level! Every time Liv falls asleep, her memory resets and she wakes up with no recollection of the last 2 years. There are murders, and scandal, and good-hearted neighbors helping her find her way… all while unraveling the mystery of ‘whodunnit’.

My only complaints: hard to follow the dueling timelines in this version (an ARC, yay!!). But, I think it will likely be more clearly defined with chapter titles or tense when it officially releases? I’m counting on it, because it was so dang good.

Other than that 😍 This was everything I loved in a good twisty thriller!

Another great read by Megan Goldin. Stay Awake is a unique thriller and I was immediately drawn to the characters from the start. Taking place in both past and present we get two hear the viewpoints from two different settings. Who can we trust when we can't remember anything after we wake up?

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

Stay Awake was a great thriller that kept my attention until the end. The ending did feel a bit rushed in my opinion, but I will definitely be looking forward to the author's next book.

Soooo good.

I stopped reading thrillers because they all felt the same, but this one caught me by the throat and I did not want to stop reading.

The characters are well developed and the plot kept me trying to figure out the ending. It also kind of scared me because this whole plot could very well exist in "real life".

Most of all, the pacing is perfect - not too slow, which is something you definitely don't want in this type of read.

LOVED it.

In Megan Goldin's newest thriller, "Stay Awake," Liv Reese arrives at her apartment in Brooklyn to find a couple living there with no sign of her roommate, Amy. Filled with confusion, Liv struggles to remember what happened. Although she can't find her cell phone, she finds a wad of cash in her jeans and a t-shirt wrapped around a bloody knife in her cardigan sweater. What ensues is a roller coaster of emotions for Liv as she discovers she has no past to regress into.

Aside from the bloodied knife, Liv notices letters above her knuckles which spell out "Stay Awake' and the address of a place called Nocturnal. As it turns out Nocturnal is a bar and Liv supposedly knows the bartender. After conversing with him, she learns that she writes on her hands so she won't forget and she drinks caffeine laced drinks in order to stay awake. Apparently, every time she falls asleep Liv loses her memory of what happened the day before.

Filled with fear and confusion, Liv struggles to make sense of everything. Coupled with this memory loss is the disappearance of Amy and her boyfriend Brett and Liv's boyfriend Marco. Told in chapters that alternate between past and present, Goldin masterfully weaves a very suspenseful story that is hard to put down. Though there are a few plot points that strain credulity, readers will revel in this very enjoyable thriller.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Liv Reese wakes up in a New York City cab and nothing is like she remembers. Strangers are living in her brownstone, her phone is missing, and her hands are covered in blood with the message "Stay Awake" penned all over them. Two years ago, she was a successful writer in a new relationship. With the news talking about a crime scene with "Stay Awake" scrawled in blood, Liv must run from a crime she doesn't remember.

The publisher's description is toting Stay Awake as a complex thriller, and I have to say I think it was a bit too convoluted for my taste. Liv is suffering from a condition that makes her memory reset every time she falls asleep which at times made for a great unreliable narrator but at other times just felt too unbelievable. I honestly suggest skipping this summer thriller.

Big thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the e-arc!

[2.5 stars rounded up]

This was kind of a miss for me, which is a shame, because I really enjoyed The Night Swim.

This is another case of good premise and not so great execution. The writing felt quite different from Goldin's previous works. It lacked a maturity that I found compelling in TNS. It felt kind of young and like a debut rather than an author's third book. Liv also did not read as a 30 year old. From tone and actions I would have placed her around 23, if that.

I will say, it's pretty bingeable. I read it in essentially two sittings in one day. It definitely keeps you wanting to find out what's going on––which is aided by the short chapters. It's easy to justify "just one more chapter."

What really fell flat for me was the science behind what was going on with Liv, which I never completely understood, and the ending. The ending is quite rushed and leaves some unanswered questions.

Overall, not quite what I was expecting out of this one, but I will probably still pick up Goldin's next work.

I was sooooo excited to get this book and it did not disappoint! I literally could not put it down. I finished in 2 days which is really unlike me. Especially considering I work 12 hour shifts also. I would wholly recommend to be added to everyone's tbr pile.