Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this novel to read and review.

I had read Megan Goldin’s “The Escape Room,” which I found underwhelming. “Stay Awake” is a much stronger effort! I would have read it in a single sitting if I hadn’t had to work. The plot moves quickly and, while Liv does fall asleep and wake up with no memory a few times throughout the novel, the reader is never bogged down with her questioning where she is and what happened even though it happens repeatedly. These snippets of plot are brief enough and the story moving quickly enough that it never gets tedious or boring. I also liked that there several very believable culprits behind the mystery, so that the end reveal-while surprising-is not out of left field and aligns well with the existing story. I look forward to reading more of Megan Goldin’s work as she continues to write!

This was really great! I read it in less than 24 hours and truly did not guess the killer. The writing wasn’t the best, but the storyline more than made up for it.

First of all, I really enjoyed Goldin’s last book, NIGHT SWIM. I recommended it to all of my thriller-reading friends. That said, I absolutely loved STAY AWAKE!

The chapters are super short, flying by at breakneck speed, so I absolutely could not put this book down. Somehow, the author kept the suspense thick, even through time-jumps, which I usually hate.

I also want to mention that I’m a huge fan of the movie MEMENTO, which this book reminds me of so much. It’s probably my favorite movie. Like STAY AWAKE, MEMENTO features a protagonist with serious memory issues and a violent past.

If you’re a fan of Christopher Nolan-style twists and fast-paced plots, you’ll love this book.

(3.75 stars)

I LOVED Goldin’s previous books THE ESCAPE ROOM and THE NIGHT SWIM, so I had pretty high expectations for this one. With that being said, let’s dive into my review..

STAY AWAKE opens on Liv Reese waking up in the back of a taxi with no recollection of what she’s doing there and with no memory of the past two years, only to see that her arms are covered in writing, most of it saying things like “stay awake” and “trust no one.” She soon finds herself on the run from a crime she doesn’t remember committing.

I will say this one was fast-paced and the alternating POVs and timelines made for an extremely engaging read! HOWEVER, for me, the memory loss and Groundhog Day-ness of it all felt very tiring and lulled me at points.

The relationships that developed throughout this book were really sweet, and the last 30% of this book made up for my overall lack of interest in the beginning.

With all of that being said, I can see a lot of readers really enjoying this book and the intricacies of it!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: August 9, 2022

Overall, I really enjoyed Stay Awake. From the first few pages, this thriller piqued by interest in the quest to fill in the blanks in Liv's memory. Goldin does a great job introducing such suspect characters that it's hard to know who to trust - especially given the main character's unique form of amnesia. However, as the story began to wrap up and the big who-dunnit was answered - I was left with questions that remained unanswered. A few which were pretty big plot lines that kind of just fizzled out.
Nonetheless, I would recommend Stay Awake to anyone who likes twisty thrillers.

Rating: 4/5 Stars! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I will be the first to say that I didn’t love The Night Swim, the author’s super hyped book last year. It disappointed me ultimately after I felt like it had SO much promise with the plot idea (love the podcaster vibes!!) 😢

Now, Stay Awake? Completely different tune. I really enjoyed myself reading this fast-paced thriller. Personally, I find myself avoiding the psychological thriller as of recently, the “I can’t trust the narrator” trope has me a bit bored nowadays.. but this book IS the exception. I won’t go into too much detail as it will give the plot away, but the main character Liv is a super exciting character to follow and root for - I wouldn’t say she’s relatable (you’ll find out, lol) but I would probably act the same way if I were in her shoes. 🤔 🕵️‍♀️ The ending was juicy and exciting and overall I enjoyed myself reading this. There were times when I really didn’t want to put it down! 👎 😴

Make sure to run out and order a copy on August 9th when this book publishes. 📚 Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for a honest review. 🤍

This book was sent to me electronically for review by Netgalley. I have seen movies about this subject...it is painful to watch and to read...no memories once one goes to sleep. Stay awake. Whew...this author has woven a tale that is life like...when reading this book, I had to stop and try to discern what it would be like to suffer from this ...it was frightening...what happened? Memories? Who could be trusted? This book is unusual about an unusual topic...not written about often. The characters appear to know what is going on...more than I did when I was reading it. I became frustrated, at times, trying to determine who knew what...Try this one...aren't many books published like it...Enjoy...Don't read this late at night.

This book had potential to be phenomenal. However, there were a few loose ends that keep me from loving it. First and most importantly, the protagonist’s stalker turns out to be a hired hand, but who hired him? If the killer hired him, why? Also, did the killer plan the first murders, or was it a crime of passion? Finally, what became of the waiter who kept calling Liv? Why was he calling her to begin with?

It feels like the writer spent too much time creating subplots and not enough time wrapping them up.

Insomnia robs like a thief in the night. It leaves zombie-like days bouncing madly in the pinball game of life. Eyelids begging to close up shop. Days and days past your bedtime.

When a Megan Goldin novel arrives on the scene, you just grab it and clutch it to your chest. Stay Awake is in that category. Goldin comes up with a brilliant storyline encompassing the "what if's" that happen in life. She's hooked a winner here with the clutches of sleep deprivation.......the mind in the death throws of the inability to shut down and find peace. Constant swirling and whirling thoughts that never seem to hush.

We'll come upon Liv Reese who stumbles into a cab in New York City in the wee hours. The driver follows her instructions to take her home to her apartment. Liv is confused and disoriented, but she knows that her best friend and roommate, Amy, will sort things out.

Liv, with no key, no phone or handbag, pounds on the door of their building. There's no sign of life until a couple stomps down the stairs and begins flicking on lights. They inform Liv that they are the residents of the apartment. No Amy or Liv live there. They threaten to call the police. Liv makes a dash to a familiar bar called the Nocturnal. The bartender recognizes Liv, but she is clueless. Liv notices a barrage of graffiti written all over both of her hands. Snarls of pen marks bearing words like Stay Awake and Don't Open the Door and a phone number she doesn't recognize.

Upon leaving the bar, she reaches into the huge pockets of her long cardigan and finds a bloody knife wrapped in a t-shirt. Why, what, and how come to mind. She immediately gets rid of it in an alley garbage can. Liv will stumble around the city trying to make sense of the last hours.......hours, days, and shockingly, two years of time unaccounted for.

Megan Goldin creates a scene of shocking proportions with her main character of Liv. You'll find your own brain in vertigo from the descriptors and this panic-infused journey into a Black Hole. Liv will become part of a murder scene splashed out constantly by the media. She recognizes herself in a video revealing her movement out of an elevator where the crime took place. Liv has no memory and no clue as to why she was there.......and we don't either......until certain individuals start showing up in search of the elusive Liv. Oh, Momma.

I highly recommend Stay Awake if you're looking for a stunner of a read. There's nothing like falling into the chambers of a mind that is out to sea with no recollect of current happenings or the footprints as to how you got there. Goldin is up to the challenge in this one. Just grab it and run.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to the talented Megan Goldin for the opportunity.

Really good suspenseful thriller! The moment it all comes together was perfect. Someone compared it to Momento and 50 First Dates and I’d have to agree! The main character is unreliable because with her memory loss, she can’t even rely on herself. With short chapters that keep you guessing throughout, you just can’t stop turning pages. Quick thrilling mystery that I recommend!

Excellent, couldn't put down this well-written thriller suspense novel.

Liv Reese wakes up not remembering anything about he life of the past two years. She doesn't remember that her BFF Amy Decker is dead. Liv doesn't remember yesterday!

I'm not saying anything more about this novel that is told during a 24 hour day with flashbacks to the past - it might spoil the plot. Characters are human and their relationships to Liv are important.

I'll be adding a print copy of Stay Awake to my lending library.

I’m very bummed to report that I did not like this book. I kept expecting more but the story just jumped around and seemed to drag on with way too much of a slow, repetitive pace. Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Full review closer to publication date!

I'd like to thank the publisher, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thrillers & Mystery are not my typical genre; but a reviewer that I admire gave it 5 stars. Definitely a page turner! And I was staying awake reading it because I couldn't put it down! Reading from 3am until I finished at about 7am.

Did I guess what the ending. Nope.

So why not 5 stars? I feel like everything fell into place a little too easily (or I feel like I've been giving out 5 stars a little too easily lately) one of the two. I definitely enjoyed STAY AWAKE as I was reading, but when the book was completed, I felt a little conflicted about giving it 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley (again for introducing me to an author I haven't had the opportunity to read yet!), Megan Goldin the author and St. Martins Press the publisher for the opportunity to read the advance read copy in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is Aug 9, 2022.

I love Megan Goldin so much! All her books are excellent and addicting!

What a wild ride!

Such a most gripping psychological thriller! I’ve mentioned this before, but I usually really get annoyed by the unreliable narrator cliché but in this case, I ate it up! I thought the premise was so creative

Right from the beginning, I was hooked and intrigued! The story was so suspenseful and tense, I kept needing to read more and more to find out “what will happen next”!

I really enjoyed the different POVs, we got Liv’s version of the story and then we also got a police procedural story going on simultaneously. Really loved the combination. I actually really loved the main detective’s character, and I would 100% read the continuation to her story (please make a series with this character!).

Overall, great unpredictable and unique thriller - highly recommend!

This was an interesting enough premise, but so many of the plot twists felt painfully obvious. What is with the completely unresolved plot about the waiter? I get it was a red herring, but still, could’ve used a single mention of him after a certain point. The ending felt far too abrupt. I wanted to love this; I guess I wanted it to be more than it was. 3.25 stars. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.
What a page turner! You will be gripped by the sheer terror it must feel like to wake up every morning with no memories of the past 2 years. To everyday be confronted by people who seem to know you but you can’t remember them. Nothing is as it appears and I felt for Liv. Darcy Halliday is also compassionate and has a clear headed approach to the case. The ending is also not what you will likely suspect.

What a thrill ride this book took me on! If you want an on your toes, up past bedtime read, this is it! Liv Reese, former writer at a well-known magazine, wakes up in the back of a taxi with no recollection of what has gone on. She is wearing a blood-stained shirt and has a bloodied knife on her as well. Written all over her hands are reminders for her to "stay awake", "trust nobody", a phone number of who to call, etc. In her state of confusion she tries to follow her own clues back to where she belongs. Meanwhile, a murder is being investigated, where one of the only clues was the message "Wake Up" written in blood on the window. This is told in real time of the present day, alternating between Liv's point of view and Detective's, and also flashbacks from 2 years ago when the rollercoaster ride truly began. I gave this book 5 stars (and I only give 5 stars if I cannot stop thinking about a book and cannot put it down), and would highly recommend it. I have never read a book .quite like this one, This was my first Megan Goldin book, and now I am on a mission to read all of her other books. Thank you to Net Galley and Megan Goldin for the advanced digital copy of Stay Awake.

Wow.

Imagine waking up in a taxi cab and going to your own apartment, only to find that you don't live there anymore. You go to work and you recognize no one but these strangers greet you like a long lost friend. The last thing you remember is receiving a phone call on a nice summer day. Now it's fall. Your body is covered with graffiti. Wake up! Trust no one! In your pocket? A bloody knife.

This book is a nail-biting thrill ride from page one until the very end. There has only been one other book in the recent past that has dragged me in and strapped me down like this book did and that was Gone Girl. I absolutely could not put this book down. We follow Liv as she wakes with amnesia, revisiting the things that happened to her on the day her memory stopped, and we get sneak peeks of the 48 hours leading up to the moment where we first meet Liv. Intermingled with Liv's experiences are the detectives who are investigating the death of the unidentified victim who was killed with the bloody knife Liv found in her pocket. Is Liv a vicious killer? Or the ultimate unwitting victim? You won't want to stop reading until you find out!

If I could give this book 6 stars, I would. This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys suspense and mystery, but make sure you've got plenty of time because you won't be accomplishing much of anything else until you've finished reading it!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

3/5 Stars

Stay Awake is another adult psychological thriller from Megan Goldin and when I tell you I RACED to get approved for this, I am not even joking. I adore Megan's writing style and her ability to build tension so when I read about this, I was instantly chomping at the bit to get my hands on it.

Liv Reese comes awake in the back of a taxi with no memory of how she got there, a bloody knife in her pocket, and a scrawled message saying "Stay Awake". When she returns to her apartment, there are strangers living there. Her boyfriend, her family, and her friends are no where to be found and each time she sleeps — it starts all over again.

This story jumped all over the place and we had a mastery of an unreliable narrator in Liv as she didn't even know what was going on the entire time and we were left trailing after her confused and increasingly terrified wake. It was a confusing, twisting ride of a story to follow and often the story tended to lag for me because of the odd pacing that had to be kept for this type of thing.

As we pieced together Liv's memories, the story picked back up again in that familiar, racing way that is so typical of these types of thrillers. I am not typically a fan of "Groundhog Day" type scenarios though and I think that is part of why aspects of this book fell flat for me. Jumping timelines and repetition end up yeeting me right out of the narrative most of the time and I took that into account when I began.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, I just didn't love it like I did Megan's previous ones. But anyone who is a fan of this trope are going to fall all over themselves to get this one when it drops in August!

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for gifting me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.