Liv wakes up with no recollection of last two years of her life. She goes to places that she used to frequent in her life before two years and finds everything changed. This is not a one time thing but actually repeats every time she sleeps and wakes up. This time she wakes up a knife covered in blood and it starts off a rollercoaster kind of days for her as she doesn't remember a thing about the knife or the blood. And we have the same questions as Liv does at this point.

The narration keeps frantically flipping between her past and present and the urgency in the narration actually translates in the excitement for the reader. When we find that she might either have been a victim or suspect of double homicide, the plot intensifies. I suspected two different people for the homicide and obviously one of them was correct but it maintained the suspense till the end. Clearly, the other suspect was simply to cause confusion. Absolutely enjoyed reading this thriller even though I am not a fan of books with memory loss plots! it was engaging, fast-paced and had good twists!

Megan Goldin has become a must read Author for me. In Stay Awake, Liv Reese is struggling with a rare form of amnesia. She wakes up in a cab with no recollection of how she got there. She has weird child like writing on her hands that tell her to Stay Awake and to Wake Up. She doesn’t know why the writings on her hands or why someone else is living in her apartment. She discovers a knife in her pocket and a man has been murdered. Did she do it? Where did the knife come from? What is her connection to the murdered man?

I’m not usually a fan of timelines that go back and forth, but Goldin has it perfected and it just makes sense. As the story unfolded I felt my heart pounding. When a book has that effect on me, it’s a good one!
Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review of this book.

This book was AMAZING from start to finish. It was like a combination of 50 First Dates and a thriller flick mixed together. There was suspense,...suspense,....and more suspense. I highly recommend!

First off, I was super excited to get invited to read an advanced copy of this book in NetGalley. I absolutely loved Night Swim by Megan Goldin and couldn’t wait to read another book by her. I have to admit, I didn’t love this one quite as much. I had a hard time rating it because my opinion kept changing throughout. To be honest I was at a 3 star for the first 40% of the book. Then it began to pick up. I have to say I floated between 3-4 stars the whole time I was reading it. Ultimately I decided it does deserve 4 stars. Let me start with the things I didn’t care for about the book: 1. I am not a huge fan of memory loss books. For some reason I just get bored with them because there are so many out there. 2. The repetition in this book was over the top at times! I get it…she lost her memory BUT at times I felt like I was reading the same things over and over and over again. But now moving onto why I gave it a 4 star rating even though I often felt like it was just a 3 star. When I give a 3 star it’s just “okay” and I probably wouldn’t recommend it. A 4 star to me is good enough to recommend even though there are things that I might not have loved about it. I definitely feel as though this deserves the full 4 stars. Just because I don’t care for memory loss storylines doesn’t mean someone else wouldn’t find it intriguing. The things I really liked about this book: 1. The authors writing style. I love how it went back and forth from present day to 2 years earlier. 2. I found the storyline very suspenseful and I wanted to keep reading to find out who the killer was (even though I had predictions, I wasn’t correct in the end). 3. The detectives…to be honest it can be hit or miss with me when it comes to crime novels including detectives. Sometimes they can be very annoying. I have to say I really liked both Lavelle and Halliday. I liked how they worked together and the outcome of how the case was solved. 4. The ending was very good!! I feel like everything came together nicely in the end. So overall even though I felt like certain parts of this book were dragging, I did like it and would recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!!

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STAY AWAKE! Don’t go to sleep! You won’t remember the past two years!
This storyline starts off interesting, but slows to crawl here and there and not keeping my attention until the last three chapters.
Megan Goldin has a good book and a fascinating story she tells.

Sorry to say, I enjoyed this book less than Megan Goldin's earlier books, The Escape Room (2019) and The Night Swim (2020). All three share some undeniable strengths: they are intricately plotted, there is carefully crafted suspense, and they display the author's solid research into the professional worlds in which they are set.

The writing is a cut above, too, as is usually the case when the author served an apprenticeship as a journalist, cranking out a high volume of factually correct copy under deadline (as Goldin did.)

There was one flaw that they had in common as well. What I want from a book is to enter the world the author has created and glide along within it, never suffering any rude jolts (continuity glitches, grammatical lapses, culturally inappropriate terms) that jar me out of my absorption.

In the earlier two books, the only discordant notes were the frequent Britishisms that crept into the U.S.-set stories. One American after another says that someone "kept herself to herself." Of course, we Yanks say merely that we keep to ourselves, and Goldin betrays her British Commonwealth roots when she (and her editors) let that slip through -- or another that they "give someone a fright" rather than simply startling them.

In this book, I found "expresso" and a phone line that was engaged" rather than "busy" -- terms that I've only heard used by Brits. Also found the odd word "misogamist," which I'm sure will be corrected before publication.

Another distraction was, I think, a conscious choice: the repetition of main character Liv Reese's awakening without memories of the previous two years. Liv has a rare neurological disorder, repetitive amnesia, which is triggered every time she wakes up. She has simply lost two years and three months of her life, over and over and over again.

When I came across the triggering phone call (the last thing Liv recalls from her prior life) again, and again, and again, I snapped out of the magical reading spell each time. I get it -- the repetition was to force me to experience Liv's repetitive reality, and it worked, but it was hard going to find the thread each time (another parallel with Liv's experience?)

About Liv's disorder: Goldin's research lifted it well above the ordinary amnesia-themed novel. Also very strong were the police procedural chapters. And to be fair, the shifts from Liv's first-person voice and the detectives' third-person sections, and the alternation of the present-day, 24-hour period in which the crime is committed and solved, were seamless. No unpleasant jolts whatever.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press fro an advance readers copy.

This story started off so strong. Megan Goldin did a great job making me feel like I woke up in the back of a taxi and had not idea where I was. Her description of Liv's confusion as she tried to retrace her steps back t her apartment where clearly someone else lived. It's like she was missing a chunk of time in her life when she felt like she just woke up from a nap. Then, a brutal murder takes place and there are odd connections to Liv. I liked how the story is told from the perspective of Liv and bounces back and forth to the detective on the scene. I did feel like the story became drawn out at times but overall it was a good thriller and murder mystery.

Megan Goldin is officially one of my favorite writers. Stay awake was a fast-paced thriller about Liv, who when she falls asleep she forgets everything. She has Stay Awake written all over her hands and wrists to remind herself to not fall asleep. the story is told in the future and the past to give you snippets of information throughout the story. I read this one quickly as I couldn't stop thinking about the story. A great one and one I would recommend to those that like quick thrillers that keep you in suspense until the very end.

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the ARC of this book! I’ve loved all of Megan Goldin’s book but this was probably my favorite of all! Following Liv’s choppy story and uncovering pieces alongside her kept me turning pages at a breakneck pace! My only complaint is that I saw one of the twists coming (who was after her) pretty early on in the story. Otherwise, I highly recommend to any thriller or mystery fan!

This book was simply unputdownable! An expertly crafted fast paced thriller from Megan Goldin. I loved her Night Swim and this one was a great read as well.

I’m a sucker for books that has a protagonist with unreliable memory. This one had memento vibes. Liz Reese wakes up one night at a cab, with no idea of how she got there. There are scribbles on her hand which says “ stay awake “. She has a bloody knife in her pocket and everything about her life seems to have changed . Someone else is living in her apartment. She isn’t working on her magazine anymore. And every time she sleeps and wakes up , her memory resets. And in the news , she sees her picture , wanted for a murder.

The story is told in multiple perspectives, multiple timelines and it keeps you guessing. Throughout the book I kept feeling nervous for Lizzie. With these kinds of book , the plot could get repetitive and lagging. Not with this one though , Megan keeps the story interesting by revealing a piece of puzzle with each chapter. I devoured this one in one night. I “ stayed awake “.
The ending itself was bit predictable, but I loved how the book had so much going on and did not completely depend on the reveal itself.

Overall , a fast paced , gripping thriller that keeps you awake at night ;)

I highly recommend this book.


This book comes out on August 9,2022. I thank st. Martins press and NetGalley for the ARC.

4.5 stars for a thrilling, “one day in the life of crime” unputdownable story that isn’t coming out until AUGUST. This is the book you pick up for your 6 hour flight. This is the book that you read until 3 am.

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a cab and doesn’t know how she got there. A usual party night? Not so much. She doesn’t remember anything beyond a sunny day at her office and answering her phone two years ago. As Liv wakes up, she’s thrown into a world beyond her recognition and she’s wanted for murder. Can the girl get a break?

I really enjoyed reading the Detective Halliday and Lavelle portions too. Good ol’ detective work makes my day. Taking off half a star because it lacked “heart” in the story, but I didn’t want to be bogged down during this thrilling chase.

3-1/2⭐️ (rounded up)
I’m going to preface this with mentioning that memory loss/amnesia storylines are just about my least favorite thing in a book because I feel like it’s (typically) a cop-out storyline where there are no limits. I guess I just feel like it’s less creative or they don’t have to try as hard on the twists because the character conveniently can’t remember..
**SO take this review with a grain of a salt.**
If you like that kind of theme in a book this could be a great read for you. I will say even though I’m not a fan of the premise of any book being memory loss I do think Goldin put a clever spin on the type of amnesia & what it was triggered by, etc.. Think 50 First Dates (Drew Barrymore & Adam Sandler movie) but add in some murder. It is not your typical ‘character gets in a car crash & wakes up remembering nothing’ storyline.

Right off the bat the story starts out with the main character Liv very quickly realizing she’s lost some bits of her memory. Shortly after there’s a murder & the entire book is basically based on those two things, and what part she may or may not play in the murder. Due to the amnesia storyline there was a ton of repetitiveness in phrases & events so I felt like I was continually reading the same thing in much of the book. In turn it felt like the story really drug for at least the first half of the book & even after that while it did pick up there’s still a lot of the same repetitiveness. One easy example is her memory of a phone call she received..I feel like I read that part 50 times! I get why the author did it & it was necessary to the story but that I guess goes back to why I’m not a fan of books based on memory issues.

Besides what I’ve previously mentioned this is a quick easy read & very well written! Well described characters. Liv was not really a likeable character but at the same time I was kind of rooting for her. So often an unlikable character can ruin a book (for me). It really wasn’t lacking in anything, it has the ingredients for a great book. It has dual timelines where it went back & forth from present time to 2 years prior, which I personally don’t mind when books have that so long as they mesh well together & this did! Just like her other books it’s twisty & keeps you guessing. I eventually had a feeling who the murderer was & what some of the twists were but I initially wouldn’t have ever guessed it & I love that I can expect that from her. I’m happy with how the book ended for the most part but I feel that with as slow as the entire book was that in comparison the ending was super short & rushed.

I’ve enjoyed all of Goldin’s other books especially The Night Swim…the book that started it all for me & her😜. I liked this one but I probably wouldn’t make a point to recommend it. She’s still an auto-read author for me but unfortunately the amnesia storyline made this one a bit of a miss. 3.5⭐️ rounded up because although the storyline didn’t entirely work for me I did enjoy it & wanted to know the ending, and the writing alone bumps it to 4.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher St Martins Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review! It’s because of a previous arc that I came across her as an author to begin with.

I don’t know where to begin! I was very drawn to this book when the blurb said you wouldn't be able to put this book down. Granted, I was able to put it down because I had to sleep, I totally did not WANT to put it down. It started out strong enough to pique my interest, and as I got deeper into the book. I was thoroughly invested. There were layers to what was going on in Liv's life both in the present and in the past and each of these things were a piece of the puzzle. This was so well-written and Megan Goldin really solidified her spot as a top writer in this genre because of this book. "Stay Awake" deals with a character that was suffering from insomnia and memory loss where she wouldn't remember anything whenever she woke up from the past two years and each chapter would flash between past and present so it would have been very easy to be confusing but this book was so well written that it wasn't confusing at all. It becomes very clear that someone is after her and I truly had no clue who it was. One downfall with thrillers is sometimes the ending is rushed, or the author tries to tie it up with a nice bow that just doesn't match the story. That wasn't the case with this book.

This was a great book and I'm so glad I was asked to read it. Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Oh my gosh! I couldn't put this down. I went back and forth trying to put pieces of the story together to figure out what the hell was happening and was SHOOK at the end. So good!

Stay Awake is a gripping, page turning thriller! One that I've not ever read before.

You will find this book written in two POV's. One in today's timeline and that of two years prior.
Liv is confused and wakes up not realizing/remembering where she is and why...or even why she has written words on her body.

Stay Awake is an intense, thrilling, gripping read that will keep you on your toes until the very end! If you're looking for a one of a kind thriller, this is the book for you!
And that ending.... wow. I didn't see that one!

A well written thriller from start to finish!!!!

Highly recommend to anyone who loves thrillers!
I look forward to reading more books by this incredible author!!

5 stars
*Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's press for a widget to read in exchange for an honest review*

Liv is the female MC, who loses two years of her life every time she falls asleep. She has notes on her hands like “stay awake” “don’t talk to the police.” It was a very creepy and well thought out storyline. I’ve loved all of the books written by this author and cannot wait for them to write more. Perfect combination of thriller and creepy!!

I’d like to thank netgalley and the punisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I have one read one other book by this author, The Night Swim and really enjoyed that so I was excited to read this one. When Liv wakes up and realizes she can’t remember who she is, what day it is, or year and she has notes written all over her hands, she must try to find out what has happened the last two years because if she falls asleep, she may never remember. A great read.

I loved Goldin's previous novel, The Night Swim, and I was so excited when I received a widget for Stay Awake. I dove into this book with high expectations. I seem to be in the minority here, and do not want to leave a negative review, but I just did not like this book. I find the whole amnesia plot is becoming over done in a lot of the books I have been reading lately. When I got into this book, and amnesia starting playing such a huge role, I started to lose interest immediately. Several times while reading this book, it just felt to me like the movie Groundhog Day. The story got very repetitive, and that got frustrating for me. I got very tired of the same phrases over and over again "stay awake" and "don't trust anyone". They seemed to be repeated every other page. I developed no emotional connection to Liv or any of the characters for that matter, other than maybe Ted, who was the only one I really liked in the whole book. I will not fault Goldin's writing style at all, because it is still spot on, I just don't think that the theme of this book worked for me. Sad to say this was a miss for me, but again, I seem to be in the minority.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins' Press for this ARC.

I was given this book from NetGalley for an honest review -
Lily tries her hardest to stay awake because when she sleeps she can't remember
Two years ago she worked as a writer at a magazines and was dating.
Why is there writing all over her hands that say stay awake? Why is she running and not knowing where she is? Why does she find a bloody knife in her pocket?
Someone knows and doesn't want her to remember! Grab this book for an edge of your seat thriller!

Wow this is so good it’s told in two timelines - present day and two years ago by Liv Reese. Present day Liv wakes up in the back seat of a NY cab with no clue as to why or how, she also doesn’t have her phone or purse but there’s writing written on her hands. Somehow she understands she must stay awake to figure out why she is wanted by NYPD. Two years ago, Liv survived a traumatic event and moved to London. She’s diagnosed as an amnesiac, memory loss. When this occurs Liv wakes up not remembering what happened the night before. This is a quick, very intense, and twisty read! Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy. This is my honest review.