Another hit by Goldin!

Liv Reese wakes up, over and over again, not knowing what's going on and realizing she doesn't remember anything that's happened for a little over the past two years. Her apartment isn't hers, she looks different, she can't find her friends, her boyfriend and more alarmingly, she has a bloody knife on her and she doesn't know where it has come from. Darcy Halliday is a detective trying to break into the homicide unit. One morning she gets a call to investigate a murder scene, a man has been murdered and oddly, there's a message in blood on the window, "Stay Awake". Darcy is committed to solving the case, and how it involves Liv Reese.

This was a great story! Different and interesting I was excited to read it. I would say it's between a 4 and 4.5 I have some notes though, the writing is amazing as always, characters are well developed and I felt that I knew them. However, it hard for me to grasp that everything happening in the present time in the story happens over one day. It was just so much! I could not figure out the big twist, I figured out a smaller one along the way, I don't know how Liv didn't but in the end I thought the twist and reveal was well done. However, the re-direction to other suspects along the way was a bit confusing to me. I just didn't see the point in all of it, I don't think it fit the best into the story. At the end I think the story wrapped up way too quickly. I wanted to know the motivation behind everything that happened on a deeper level, how did those other tiny characters contribute to the bigger event. Also, if I were Liv, I would be so terrified I would go to a hospital and never leave. Obviously that wouldn't be great for the story but I found it a tiny bit unbelievable. All in all, great story! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free preview in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this thriller built around dissociative fugue. It was fast paced, and kept me interested. I would recommend to those who need a good book to curl up with at home.

I’m a HUGE Megan Goldin fan - to the point where she’s an auto-buy author for me. So I was very pleased to receive an e-ARC copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.

The book opens with Liv Reese waking up in a cab - and having no idea why she’s there or where she has been previously. When she arrives at her apartment, she discovers that her roommate has left, her cat was brought to a shelter, and the people living in her apartment have no idea who she is. After being kicked out, she discovers a knife wrapped in a t-shirt covered with blood. With that beginning, how could this book not be interesting! As the story unwinds, it’s learned that Liv has an odd memory disorder - so when she sleeps, she forgets everything that has currently happened, but upon waking believes that it’s two years previously (in fact, this book has two timelines - one two years previously and one in the present). At times this book felt like the movie Groundhog Day (and Ms. Goldin does repeat some information multiple times as if the reader’s forgotten), but with an additional character - Detective Darcy Halliday - who is trying to puzzle out what is happening, it all manages to work smoothly together. Yes, there are some plot holes and unanswered questions, but if you can skip over those (or try to ignore them), this is a very enjoyable and fast thriller/mystery read. I found the pacing to be a bit like a roller coaster - fast “shoot the sheriff in the first paragraph” opening to engage the reader, then a bit of a slow ride (to build up some suspense), then back to a fast action puzzle piecing section, then a bit of some interesting curves, and a final part where you take a breath - it’s over but wow was it a fun ride. I eagerly look forward to Ms. Goldin’s next book. A very very solid 4.5 stars from me.

Wow! Memento meets thriller version of fifty first dates and Before I go to sleep!

This book is outstanding, heart throbbing, mind bending, twisty, wildest, action packed, full throttle ride you may ever get! I love it so much! I cancel everything in my life to focus on it! Because it’s so addictive! Once you start to read, you can not put it down! You are drawn into story by its high tension mystery building, exciting, twisty chapters, biting your nails, squirming in your seat, trying to read faster for finding out what’s gonna happen next.

The increasing tension leaves you breathless. You feel like your marathon runner but instead of using your legs, you use your eyes to finish faster.

Here is a brief summary of the plot:

Our heroine Liv Reese wakes up in a cab, without having any idea when she climbed in, dizzy, confused, heading to her home.

When she reaches to her apartment, she finds out her roommate might be moved away, her cat is gone, strangers live in her place. When she checks her pockets to find her phone, she finds a knife wrapped up in a shirt covered in blood! And her hands covered with writings tell her: “ Stay awake”! What the actual hell!

Then she visits her work place, checking the exact day and year: it seems like she’s missed last two years from her life! But why she cannot remember anything? Why people act like so careful around her as if she may get broken into pieces at any second?

Liv has a special disorder: Her last memory was working at her desk in her office in New York. She remembered answering her phone and then NOTHING! Everything is a full blank! And what's more, whatever new memories she'd formed when she was awake disappeared once she went to sleep, and the whole process started all over again. She turns into Memento man each time she closes her eyes!

And now she might be a killer : she catches a glimpse of local news: seeing a brutal crime scene where the victim’s blood is used to scrawl a message across the window: the very same message that’s inked on her hands: WAKE UP!
Well: the book was smart, agitating, unputdownable.

I loved Liv! I also loved Darcy Halliday, veteran, joined the forces of NYPD, a badass, bold, intelligent homicide detective. It seem like we’re gonna see her more on the upcoming books of the author!

Even though there are still plot holes and unanswerable questions about some suspects and murderer’s motives, I’m still rounding up 4.5 stars 5 blazing, exciting, riveting page turner stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for making a copy of this book available to read in exchange for a review through NetGalley.

Megan Goldin's newest title, Stay Awake, sets up a premise for a great read: Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a cab with no memory at all of how she got there. But there are signs of something troubling, in the form of a bloody knife in her pocket and scribbles of STAY AWAKE! written all over her skin.

Two years ago, Liv Reese was living the perfect life--she's a writer for a trendy culture magazine and is dating the successful Marco. But she wakes up one morning disoriented, her memories gone. Things get worse when she turns on the news and sees the story of a shocking murder--with the words STAY AWAKE! written in blood on the victim's window.

Liv knows she's somehow connected to this crime, but that's about it. And the person with all the answers is out there--and will do anything to make sure Liv stays silent...

Ok, let me start with the positives. This is a interesting premise and a quick read. I've read several books where amnesia/memory problems play the starring role and I've enjoyed them--I think because the terror of not being able to remember your life is a compelling plotline.

But Stay Awake is not one of those books.

For starters, the writing here is...not good. The prose is so repetitive (including words used multiple times in a single paragraph) that it makes reading frustrating, and because the writing doesn't flow incredibly well, it makes the timeline shifts in each chapter hard to follow. The POV of the detectives isn't terrible, but Liv's is cringey. Dialogue and inner monologue feels stilted and unnatural. In truth, I would have DNF'ed this had I not been reading it to review and been invested in finding out what the twist was at least.

The most generous thing I can say about Liv as a main character is that if anyone was truly interested in her safety, they should have had her hospitalized. She was in no state to be wandering around by herself. Other books that portray amnesia do not feature a woman who acts so incredibly stupid. I mean, honestly. She knows something's wrong (because we're beat over the head with "I don't remember this person, I don't remember this life, I don't remember anything"), and yet, every time someone points out "gee, Liv, we're worried about you," her response is "oh gosh, whatever do you mean?" By the end of this book, I either wanted the killer to put her out of her misery (if the killer wasn't her) or have someone involuntarily commit her to whatever hospital was closest to her.

I do appreciate the opportunity to read this, but it just didn't work for me. And as it's currently written I wouldn't recommend it either.

When Liv Reese wakes up, she cannot remember anything from the past two years. Confused and panicked, she finds a bloody knife in her hands, which are covered with phrases written in pen. The local news shows that a man has been murdered and on his window the words "WAKE UP" are smeared in blood. Liv realizes she has seen this phrase before.... on her own hands. Without any recent memories to go off of, Liv tries to put together what is happening to her and why she is now on the run for a crime she doesn't remember.

Megan Goldin does a great job of putting together a thriller that will keep you hooked. Told from different perspectives and timelines, you will put together an intricate story while trying to get to the bottom of a complex mystery. The characters were well developed and believable. Some critiques I had were that some of the twists were repetitive and the ending was a bit predictable. Even so, this was a fun read that, if this is something you're interested in, you should give a shot. I could see this being a successful movie in the future!

What if you lost your recent memories every time you feel asleep? Liv desperately criss-crosses NYC with only the notes scribbled on her hands and arms to help her figure out what is happening before it all gets wiped away again. Another great thrill ride from Megan Goldin that will keep you on the edge of your seat! My library patrons will love this.

I am admittedly not a “thriller” reader, but I do like to dip my toe in it every once in a while. I ended up buddy reading this one with some gals on bookstall and most of them really liked it!

I will say that I did like it as well, but I was still left a little confused at the end!

**SPOILERS**

So why did the surgeon hire the guy to drive Liv crazy? What was the motive there? I understand why he did what he did to Amy and Marco - but Liv didn’t do anything to him? So that was confusing and kind of got left out. I just wanted more of that explained.

The build up through the entire story was interesting. I was very confused at first trying to keep up with what was going on, but once I was able to get the hang of it, it got easier.

I would hate to say this is unreliable narrator because she was just as lost as the reader but man it did keep me hanging on to see what the heck was going to happen!

Wow! It was such a fantastic, well plotted and a well paced psychological thriller, I just couldn’t put it down. It was so nerve wrecking, I can’t express enough about the plot. It kept me on my toes till the very end. Also, the characters were fairly interesting too.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the free review copy.
I absolutely loved Goldin's first two books and she killed it with this one, too. (Pun intended) At first, I had no idea what was happening in this book, but I wanted to know, so I couldn't put it down. The thing that Goldin does so well is executing her stories. Chapters leave off on cliff-hangers and the full picture slowly unfolds from multiple POVs. By the end of the book, the last few pieces fit into the puzzle perfectly, making the story satisfactory. I wasn't shocked by the reveal, but I was so satisfied. She made it make so much sense and the book felt complete. If you're a thriller fan, and want something original - add this one to your TBR. Go in without reading the synopsis and let the puzzle of this story slowly unfold.

Megan Goldin has written a psychological thriller that has earned the right to be called one. Using parallel time lines of the present and two years previous, she most effectively tells the story of Liv Reese who suffers from rare fugue amnesia. Waking up in the back of a cab, unable to remember where she is or why she is in a cab, the reader feels her confusion as clearly as if experiencing it. Nothing in her life is as she remembers it—her apartment, her office, her friends. Faced with ever growing disorientation, Liv learns she is a suspect in a murder further complicating her situation as now she must evade the police. Well written with a plot that will keep you reading late into the night.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this author and, again, must thank NetGalley for introductions me to a new author and an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Megan Goldin does it again with another gripping thriller that you'll want to binge in one sitting. Stay Awake is an suspenseful story about a woman who forgets the past 2 years of her life every time she falls asleep. Goldin does an exceptional job of weaving past and present in a way that is easy to follow and remember. I love the way she is able to building the past to meet the current while peppering in clues and red herrings along the way. Goldin is a master of thriller and suspense. This is a fantastic book that you won't want to miss.

Liv awakens in the back of cab, with no memory how she got there. She gets to her apartment, but is missing her purse and keys, so she rings the bell, hoping her roommate is home. A couple she doesn’t recognize answers the door, and tells Liv that they live here, and don’t know Liv or her roommate. Liv then discovers a bloody knife wrapped under her coat. Stay Awake has a unique and.intriguing plot, and seemed to be on its way to a five star read. But the story soon gets bogged down by its repetitiveness and clipped dialogue, and you really have to suspend belief to get over the major plot holes. But the storyline is definitely enough to get you to stay with this one to its enjoyable, if improbable ending. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Megan Goldin has done it again! This book was absolutely riveting and I read through it in two days! I consider myself a great mystery solver and often times when I read books like this, I can smell out the culprit or plot twist right away. I'm not sure if I'm out of practice or if Megan just did a great job distracting me, but I didn't see it coming until almost the twist was revealed.

Such a well thought out storyline and I love how it jumps from the past to the present as it was a great way to paint a picture of what was happening; without giving too much away. You will definitely stay awake reading this.

OMG. Megan Goldin can do no wrong. Her novels blow me away every single time. This book was no different and let me tell you how excited I was to read it... definitely lived up to my expectations and beyond. The writing is simply amazing and the characters always jump off of the pages. Wow, just wow. The suspense kept me up all night reading this.

Goldin does it again. A thriller masterpiece of intrigue, twists and turns, and an unexpected ending. I love the setting and characters as well.

The suspense and despair crackles on every page of this thriller, making it a particularly fast read for me. I tried not to imagine myself in Liv's shoes because it seemed all too hopeless.

Whenever she wakes up from sleeping, Liv can't remember anything that happened before she fell asleep, even after a short nap. In fact, the only way she can remember anything that has occurred in the last two years, or anything she desperately needs to remember, is to record it in a journal, or on Post-Its, or on her own hands and arms. And the messages she writes herself are growing more urgent and more alarming--stay awake, don't fall asleep, don't trust anyone. She has to rely on others to help her find her apartment, her favorite night spot, her car, and to tell her what she should be doing. Unfortunately, not everyone is reliable or worthy of her trust.

The story goes back and forth in time, sometimes back two years, sometimes back 24 hours, sometimes in the present, gradually revealing much of the information we need to know to understand what is happening to Liv. The author ramps up the creepiness to a fever pitch all the way until the end of the book.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read and provide an honest review of this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's for providing me with this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was un-put-down-able! This is my third Megan Goldin - since her release of the Escape Room a few years ago, I've read all her new releases. I just discovered in preparation for this review, that she has one more book - her debut - that I haven't read yet. I'll be remedying that this year, and in the future, all of her books will be on my radar.

I absolutely loved this one. The premise is pretty awesome, and while I did figure out the mystery (I read a lot of mystery and sometimes it just jumps out to me), I loved the ride. I was so sucked in that I couldn't stop reading it. I needed to know what happened, both in the present and in Liv's past.

This was an intensely-paced and fantastically plotted, with reveals showing up at just the right speed.

My only gripe was that the main character was supposed to be an American, and it's set in New York City, but some of the language used is clearly outside US vernacular. Example: whereas in the US, we'd say "his phone was busy" or "she got a busy signal when she called him," this novel uses "his phone was engaged."

All in all, a very minor gripe, but did pull me out of the story a little bit.

If you're a fan of fast pace, danger at every turn, and never knowing who to trust kinda thrillers, this novel is for you! Highly recommended.

The premise of this is like 50 First Dates, but replace Adam Sandler with a murderer. Basically, a woman has a form of amnesia that causes her to lose all new memories every time she goes to sleep- which could be at night, or nodding off in random public places during the day. I would make a terrible protagonist in this situation because I would immediately take myself to the nearest hospital or police station and tell them I can't remember anything and they need to figure out who I am and what happened. The opposite happens in this book, so it's basically just her running around the city trying to figure out things on her own and also trying not to fall asleep so she doesn't forget everything. Plus, you know, avoid a murderer. Overall, a fun read with lots of twists and a satisfying ending.

This was my first book by Megan Goldin. True to its title, it kept me awake to finish it in one setting. It was compelling and riveting with amazing story. I thoroughly enjoyed the thrilling ride and kept thinking about it after turning the last page. This itself shows how much impact it has on me.

Liv Reese is suffering from a rare form of amnesia after a traumatic event in her life. She forgets everything that happened after this event so she lost memories of two years of her life. On top of this, when she wakes up from sleep, she forgets what happened on the previous days. This book starts with a murder and Liv waking up with a wad of cash and bloody knife in her jacket pocket with no memory of how she got it.

Narrated with three points of view, one, where Liv finds out she was the murder suspect, trying to keep awake, putting pieces together of how/why her life turned out the way it is now, who was responsible for the assault happened two years ago, another timeline about cops investigating and trying to capture the murderer and the last one goes back to Liv’s previous life and leading up to the gruesome life changing event.

I couldn’t imagine even a microsecond life with this type of amnesia. Goldin has brilliantly crafted Liv’s character, her helplessness. My heart was heavy reading about Liv’s plight. The dynamic detective duo was another highlight of this book. Their vast experience and attention to details, and different approaches they follow were delightful to read. Besides the tight storyline, gripping plot, this painstaking investigation stole the show.

In the middle, I felt some aspects of the story were repeated a few times. After turning the last page, I was left with a couple of questions. One of which was why the perpetrator carried out his/her first heinous act. Did the author provide the reason? Or I simply missed it? Deduced the reason but it was unconvincing to me. Didn’t get the whole point of that stalking?

Overall, I really really liked this book. I highly recommend it.