This was a fun read! I've read Goldin's earlier book, The Night Swim and, while I enjoyed it, I think this is a stronger story. In The Night Swim, readers see events unfolding as a podcaster-turned-detective tries to piece together clues from the outside observer's POV. In Stay Awake, we get to see events unfolding through the eyes of someone actively involved in them. But! This someone suffers from amnesia that causes her to forget all events of her life from 2 years ago up until the present day. Her amnesia resets every time she falls asleep, so as she figures out clues, she struggles to stay awake, knowing once she falls asleep she'll forget everything. She tries writing herself notes and clues for when she inevitably does fall asleep and forget everything.

The premise was fascinating! I've never read a book quite like this one. I eventually gave up on trying to figure things out and just enjoyed the story. There was such a sense of foreboding to the writing; I felt like Liv was always one step away from inadvertently wandering into danger. I felt her confusion and fear right along with her. The detective characters added an extra set of eyes to events, letting readers see things unfolding from both the inside and the outside. I know this was an eARC, but to me it read almost as a finished copy, it was so well-written and tightly plotted. Recommended to anyone who loves thrillers but is hoping to find something a bit outside the norm!

I received a free eARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

I loved the Night Swim and was looking forward to reading this. However, this book really fell flat for me. It was extremely slow and I felt like not much happened. There was also a lot of repeating things. A couple of times I had to look back because I swore “I had just read this already”.

Liv Reese wakes up in the backseat of a cab in New York with no recollection of how she got there. She arrives at her apartment only to find two strangers living in her home, and no sign of her ever having lived there. She is unable to reach her roommate and best friend Amy, or her boyfriend Marco. She seems to have lost her purse, phone and wallet. All she is carrying is a wad of cash and a bloodied knife wrapped in a t-shirt. She has little messages “Stay Awake”,”Don’t Sleep”,“Don’t Trust Anyone” scrawled across her hands and arms with a ballpoint pen. The last thing Liv remembers is answering her desk phone at work.

Meanwhile, Detectives Darcy Halliday and Jack Lavalle are called in to investigate the homicide of an unidentified man in an apartment building. The victim was stabbed and the murder weapon is missing. The words "Wake Up" have been written in blood on the window of the apartment.

Stay Awake was incredibly hard to follow. Centered around a main character, Liv, who suffers from reoccurring amnesia, the book takes place over a 2 year period. During that time, Liv’s story is told and retold numerous times with different pieces being added each time. And every time Liv falls asleep, she forgets everything for the past two years. Overall, it was a unique story but, very confusing. Neither Amy nor Marco were very likeable, but Liv was a character you couldn't help but like and feel sorry for. Thank you Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!! This is one of the best psychological thrillers I have read in awhile. Liv has a rare form of amnesia so that when she falls asleep she doesn’t remember anything that’s happened in her life. This book is told in dual timelines and from two different points of view. The author does this flawlessly. I could not put this book down. One of my all time favorites!

This book really drew me in from the beginning and kept my attention all the way through. I will say the writing did get repetitive and it felt like it slowed down the plot at times. I also felt Liv was annoying sometimes with how quickly she ran away from getting answers to her questions when she didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t see it coming who the killer was going to be until it was revealed either. Overall, I did enjoy this thriller! Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy of the arc in return for an honest review!

5/5

Another amazing book by Megan Goldin. I am so glad I got the chance to get early access to this book.

In this story Liv Reese wakes up in a cab with no memory of where she is, where she is going or why a stranger opens the door to her home once she has been dropped off. When she looks at the scribbles in her hand the one that catches her attention is the one telling her to STAY AWAKE. All she remembers is the life she was living two years ago. Now she doesn't know who to trust and where to go, specially when she gets connected to a crime she does not remember.

This book was a rollercoaster and I loved it. I could not put this book down. Liv is a really great character and the author did an amazing job at conveying the panic and all the feelings that came with finding out you have no memory of anything. The mystery who is involved in her memory loss and why had me hooked and guessing the whole book.

I have and will keep on recommending this book because it definitely deserved some recognition. So, if you are looking for a book that keeps you turning page after page, a thriller you cant put down, this is the book for you.

Can't wait to see what this author comes up with next.

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

Megan Goldin's latest continues her current reign of twisty, suspenseful thrillers.

After Liv wakes up to find her life is now missing and nothing is as she remembers, she works to put the pieces back together.

With echoes of Memento and a lot of tension from the first person narrative of a woman who cannot remember even the slightest hint of her recent past, this book will suck you in from the beginning for a fun and thrilling ride. Do not read too much about this book before you read it.

I found the premise to reach slightly, but it was another fun winner from Ms. Goldin.

Congrats to Megan Goldin for crafting a truly thrilling book that actually keeps you on the edge of your seat!!! It’s been years since I’ve enjoyed a whirlwind thriller like this one. Yes, it has some familiar tropes, including the unreliable narrator trope, but it’s executed so effectively that it feels new and fresh. To top it off, the main character, Liv, and the detectives, Halliday and Lavelle, are actually likable. I loved the sense of disorientation I had as I obsessively uncovered the truth through their eyes. Just like Liv, I felt compelled to stay awake to get answers. Prepare to lose sleep over this one because it is FUN! Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy!

Megan Goldin’s book the Night Swim was one of my favorite reads of 2021, so I was very excited to get an ARC if this book! Then, I learned it was a lost memory/amnesia trope and I was ALL IN. This book was incredible and it kept me turning the pages until late into the night. The tension throughout the book had my nerves on edge and the ending was a complete shock! Loved this one!

Have you seen 50 First Dates? Same premise, but with murder. Live Reese lives through a near death experience and forgets the entire event. About 2 years later, she begins to suffer amnesia every time she sleeps, waking thinking it's two years ago and prior to the tragic event... and there's a murderer after her... or is she the murderer?

I was hooked for most of the story. The story is told in present day and in flashbacks from two years prior. I can't imagine the confusion of waking up, having lost the past two years of my life. This makes for an interesting read. The end though fell flat for me, lacking the suspense of the rest of the book. Still, worth a read. I just hoped for more in the end.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was on the edge of my seat, holding my breath, and furiously turning pages to get through this mind bending thriller and I loved every second.

Liv Reese wakes up in a taxi and doesn’t have any memory of how she got there. All her familiar people and locations are either gone or changed, including her own appearance. Her hands and arms are covered in pen ink; written warnings to stay awake and not trust anyone. She spends her time trying to understand why she’s so disoriented and how so much time has passed between now and her last memory, but each time she falls asleep, she’s back at square one. The one thing she seems to know somewhere in her mind is that she is in danger, but is Liv dangerous as well?

Told in two timelines and two perspectives, we follow Liv in the present, Liv two years ago past, and the present day detectives investigating a murder Liv seems to be connected to. Psychological thriller at its best, this book will tie your hands to the pages and your brain in knots!

Okay WOW I loved this book. I was a bit worried, as someone with uh, memory issues and mental health issues that this specific psychological thriller would do me in, but I adored it. Flew through it in less than 24 hours and immediately texted a friend who also has an ARC to do the same so I had someone with whom to discuss!

Thank you netgalley for an ARC of Stay Awake! I loved Night Swim, so I was super excited to read this thriller. I really liked the first 80% or so but once the “bad guy” was revealed, I was underwhelmed. The motive wasn’t given and didn’t really make sense to me. It was a fun take on Memento/ Before I go to sleep and would recommend it for a fun fast paced thriller.

This was such a fun ride. Live trying to figure out things was stressful but kept me very interested. This is told in multiple timelines and but it is not something that's too crazy to follow. And the ending was great. I would definitely recommend this book and I had a great time

3.5/5 rounded up.

Liv Reese wakes up in the backseat of a cab in New York with no recollection of how she got there. On returning home she sees two strangers living in her home, no signs of her belongings, her cat or any sign of her having lived there. She is unable to reach her best friend Amy, with whom she had shared the apartment or her boyfriend Marco. She seems to have lost her purse, phone and wallet. All she is carrying is a wad of cash and a bloodied knife wrapped in a t-shirt. She has little messages “Stay Awake”,”Don’t Sleep”,“Don’t Trust Anyone” scrawled across her hands and arms with a ballpoint pen. The last thing Liv remembers is answering her desk phone at work on a summer day a little over two years ago. She remembers nothing of her life between then and the moment she woke up in the cab.

On the same night Detectives Darcy Halliday and Jack Lavalle are called in to investigate the homicide of an unidentified man in an apartment building in New York. The victim was stabbed and the murder weapon is missing. The words "Wake Up" have been written in blood on the window of the apartment. Upon further investigation, video surveillance reveals a woman exiting the apartment on the night of the murder but given the angle, facial recognition is almost impossible. Liv realizes that she may be connected to the murder but has a hard time figuring out how, as she forgets all preceding events of the day once she falls asleep and her memories reset at the same point over two years ago (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?). She is distrustful of the police and does her best to avoid and evade while trying to piece together her missing memories. What happened two years ago? Who is the dead guy in the apartment? Is Liv a suspect, a victim or both?

The narrative is split between two timelines- one in the present day and the other depicting events from Liv’s life two years ago. Liv’s past is shared in her own voice and the current timeline is shared by Liv in the first person with Darcy Halliday’s perspective shared in the third person. True to its name, this book did keep me awake till the last page. I enjoyed how the timelines merge and that the pace does not falter throughout the narrative. Though the dissociative memory loss angle and the constant resetting of Liv’s memory do lead to repetition of content, the author manages to keep the narrative taut and the suspense palpable till the very end. The final reveal is not entirely unpredictable, but I did enjoy the build-up towards the climax with its twists and turns and multiple red herrings. At times the writing did feel a bit choppy but I felt that it added to the atmosphere of the novel rather than detract from it. Having said that, the finale felt a bit rushed and I wasn’t completely satisfied with how the story is wrapped up after the big reveal and though the motivation behind the crime is not unclear a little more analysis and explanation would have been great. I don’t know whether this was deliberate so as to leave readers pondering over the story trying to fill in the gaps on their own or if parts were edited out of the narrative to keep it compact. Overall, this was an engaging read and I did like how both Liv’s and Darcy’s characters were portrayed. This is my first Megan Goldin novel and I’m surely going to read more of her work in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

This read was an exciting thriller that had a few surprises in it. It had a lot of timeline jumps, so if that isn’t your thing this book might not be for you. Overall, I enjoyed it!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

I’ve always been fascinated by the amnesia trope in books & the puzzle it creates. So the fact that this book starts with the main character waking up in the back of a cab with no recollection had me hooked immediately.
Stay Awake by Megan Goldin has short chapters, which I love! The book goes back & forth on the timeline & POV. It alternates from the main character Liv, who has amnesia, from her tumultuous present to the 2 years prior when she last remembers clearly as well as the point of view of the detectives on a current murder case in present time.
If the reader can fully commit & believe in the amnesia faced by the main character, I think it an excellent thriller. The way it unfolds with the back & forth timelines lets the reader discover the history whilst also appreciating Liv’s amnesia & the chaotic, vulnerable position she is placed in because of it. When each day resets your brain to two years prior, it is bound to cause paranoia, fear, mistrust & a certain messiness to one’s life, which made me feel for her.
This book made me feel anxious, frustrated & even a little scared, which for me means that it’s a well-written story because I become invested in it & empathized with the main character.
I could absolutely see this becoming a series with these detectives. I enjoyed their chemistry & would love to know more about their individual backgrounds.
Also, the ending surprised me, but once I thought about it, it did make sense to me. I love a thriller that can surprise but also make sense to the story, which signals an excellent ending for me.
Bonus, I learned of the mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie, which I found fascinating!
If you’re looking for an intriguing, fast-paced psychological thriller, I would check out Stay Awake by Megan Goldin & add it to your TBR list. It comes out in August of 2022!

Massive thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book!

I've loved Goldin's other books and this one is a little hard to follow so I took some notes as it goes back and forth in time. Liz Reese wakes in the back of a taxi and has no idea how she got there or why she's there. She does have writing on the backs of her hands and arms that make no sense to her. "Stay awake" is one--huh? Why should she need to stay awake? This is only one of the mysteries she encounters as she is determined to figure out how and why she can't remember where she is or how she got there. It's complicated and messy but a great mystery as we unravel the story as she attempts to determine what's going on. Murder, mayhem...you get the idea? It's a train wreck from beginning to end (and I mean that in the very best way)! I'll continue to read Goldin's books as they are bold and exciting!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

I’m a huge fan of Megan Goldin, but Stay Awake was incredibly hard to follow. Centered around a main character, Liv, who suffers from reoccurring amnesia, the book takes place over a 2 year period. During that time, Live’s story is told backwards, forwards, and days apart. And, each time Liv falls asleep, she forgets everything for the past two years, I had to put this down a few times and when I picked it up again I had a hard time remember where I was. It’s almost like you’re suffering from your own case of amnesia trying to read this book. There were also pieces in the story that made no sense and many questions I was left wondering about. Overall, it was a unique story but a bit painful to read. The twist at the end just wasn’t really worth it to me.

Imagine waking up every day and not remember the last two years of your life! Liv Reece wakes up in a taxi and is dropped off at her brownstone. She lives with her friend. She has misplaced her keys, phone and purse so she knocks on the door.
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The person who answers is not her roommate and clearly the apartment does not look how she remembered. She notices her hands are filled with messages saying “STAY AWAKE”.
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She realizes that she has no memory and shows up at her place of work. It becomes apparent she has not worked there in years and everyone is shocked to see her since they thought she lived in London.
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Years earlier she was living in NYC as a successful writer. We learn she witnessed the murder of her boyfriend and best friend. She survived the brutal attack. Amnesia and the quest to find out what happened in her past takes the reader on a cat and mouse game. She starts noticing things, but sadly forgets every time she falls asleep asleep. Did she commit the murder and harm herself to cover her crime? #megangoldin, #stayawake, #netgalley, #stmartinspress, #bookreview, #bookstagram, #stamperlady50, #booksconnectus Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this advanced copy. I have read three of her books and they have all been FABULOUS 💛❤️💛