An interesting premise, written fine but not great. I was able to overlook some of the confounding actions of the characters (just write better notes to yourself, for heaven's sake!) to enjoy seeing where the plot went. It was a fun read.

The Megan Goldin I know and enjoy is back! I really enjoyed this book and this read. It was really engrossing and I did not want to put it down! I've been recommending it to a lot of my thriller loving friends! Cannot wait to read the next book by Goldin!

Every time Liv falls asleep she forgets everything from the past two years. I loved that it told in dual story line of the past and the present as we try to put together the events that caused her to forget. You knew it had to be pretty bad for you to forget like that and as we learn is was bad. As Liv tried to remember what happened, I really enjoyed following along as she tries to piece it all together as she stays awake and the detectives try to piece together another murder. I really enjoyed Megan Goldin's writing that kept me invested even when somethings with the amnesia were a little repetitive. It all came together so nicely, it was a twist I wasn't expecting.
3.5 stars

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for my review copy. #smpinfluencers

I was so excited to read this since I really enjoyed The Night Swim by the same author.
The multiple timelines necessary to build the story, plus the back and forth timelines of the “present” time made this story really hard to follow. I did enjoy the plot overall and didn’t know who the killer was until it was revealed, but overall I spent the last 30% of the book trying to keep all the times, apartments and memory lapses straight.

This book was very gripping and suspenseful. This book will pull you in from the very beginning and will keep you hooked until the very end. I liked how everything came together in the end. Thanks to the publisher and NetGally for the opportunity to read this book and provide my unbiased opinion.

This is an intriguing concept for a thriller, but by its nature was kind of repetitive. I was really looking forward to this book after The Night Swim blew me away, but unfortunately Stay Awake was just okay.

—s t a y a w a k e—⁣
Are you a good sleeper? Do you fall and stay asleep easily?⁣
—⁣
Stay Awake by Megan Goldin follows Liv who wakes up with no memory of what has happened to her and with STAY AWAKE written on her hands. Told in dual timelines alternating between now and two years ago, the last memories that Liv has, there is a murder and so much more for her to unravel. ⁣
—⁣
The pacing is excellent and this book hooked me in quickly and kept me interested. It definitely reminded me of Momento and while the ending was a bit predictable, there were plenty of twists and surprises. The characters were underwhelming in terms of development but the story works so well, I didn’t totally mind. ⁣
—⁣
This one is out now! Thanks @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the chance to read it. ⁣
—⁣
#bookreview #bookreviewsneedlovetoo #bookstagram #stayawake #netgalley #booksbooksbooks #booksaremagic #littlebooknook📚

This was an entertaining book, though not one, I think, that will stick with me for very long. I am usually not a fan of amnesia plot lines, but this was one did sound unique. For the most part the story was engaging, but after a while, it started to feel quite repetitive and the ending rushed and not terribly satisfying. Overall, an okay read for me, but not as clever or gripping as I hoped it might be. I've just been in a bit of a thriller rut, though, so I probably need to try a different genre.

Hmm. Not sure how I feel about this one. I LOVED this authors previous work. I was so stoked to get my hands on this copy. It starts off soooo strong. I just wish it had been just one pov.. the detectives story and Liv’s were just too different. I wish it was just Liv! Even though she was a really annoying MC, I still preferred her chapters.

I think my biggest complaint is that it was a little boring… it literally put me to sleep, which sucks since it’s called “stay awake”

Imagine forgetting the last two years of your life every time you fall asleep. That is the story of Liv's life recently. She falls asleep and wakes up find a bloody knife in her cardigan pocket. She doesn't know how it got there. Did she hurt someone? Was someone trying to hurt her?

I really liked this one! It gave me Blindspot feels (the tv show.) I found some parts to be repetitive, but I supposed that is expected when you have a character who forgets everything when she falls asleep! There was mystery and suspense, I loved the shorter chapters. I had to keep reading to figure out what happened to Liv to cause her to lose her memory when she sleeps, and I had to know if she killed the man in the apartment! Megan Goldin did a nice job keeping me guessing! It had high energy and I kept praying for Liv to just fall asleep- maybe rest would actually help her reset!

1. Way too much gaslighting.
2. More telling than showing.
3. Pretty unbelievable that everything got figured out by the cops in one day.

I really wanted to love this book and I was intrigued enough to keep reading but it was too easy to know what was coming next. I never felt really sucked in to the story as everything that happened felt like it was being told to Mr more than experienced. I'll still be checking out other things by Megan Goldin, this just wasn't for me.

Thank you to Netgallery for the Advanced Readers Copy

Okay so this was AMAZING. It's been a long, long time since I've read a thriller this good or this engaging! When I think of "thriller," I'm looking for something that throws you into the action and doesn't stop until you've unraveled all the pieces. And that's EXACTLY what this was. It seems like it's hard, these days, to find a thriller that ISN'T slow burn so I'm really glad that this one wasn't.

This was one of those books that sucks you right in just because you're so disoriented and have no idea what's happening. I truly wish I hadn't started this in the middle of such a busy week because I would've loved nothing more than to just drop everything and devour this in one go. But since I did read it while I was busy, I was upset every time I had to put it down and couldn't wait to get back to it.

The way this story unraveled was so interesting and I really felt for the main character. It must have been terrifying to keep waking up and having no idea what was happening. And I think that added an extra layer to this story? I wanted to just protect her and help her and the sense of helplessness that I felt while reading and just waiting to see if everything would turn out okay, is what made this such a good thriller.

So. I can't really say more without spoilers but I REALLY enjoyed this and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to read it! This is exactly what I'm looking for in a thriller and I can't recommend it more highly!! It's so, so good!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review!

The premise of this book was absolutely too good to resist! The idea of waking up with writing all over you, a bloody knife, and your life completely unrecognizable - all of it combined to have me instantly intrigued. I just had to know what was happening to Liv and what had happened in the past to cause all of this. And for the most part this book was completely up my alley. It was a page turner that had me guessing the entire time. And it was so fast paced! I had a hard time setting this one down thanks to the short chapters that had me reading as fast as I could. The one thing that didn't work for me fully was the storyline featuring the detectives investigating a murder (sorry not trying to share too many specifics here so I don't spoil anything). I usually love police procedurals and detective fiction but there was just something about this storyline that didn't quite work for me - it was almost a lack of believability at times I guess is the best way to put it. It wasn't enough to truly detract from my overall reading experience, but I felt it was worth mentioning as it pulled me out of the story a few times at first. But then I hit a sweet spot and COULD NOT put this book down. I blew through the latter half of the book unwilling to stop reading because I just had to know how it would all end. Overall, this book has left me so excited to read more by this author. I've only got one of her books left to catch up on (The Night Swim), and I definitely hope to read it really soon!

Readers who enjoy a fast-paced and suspenseful read, those who enjoy a unique premise to their books, and those readers who just want a book that they cannot stop reading should pick this book up. It's an easy one for me to recommend!

CW - Stalking

Disclosure - I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher. Honest thoughts are my own.

I liked this book much more than I expected to! Hopefully, that doesn't come off wrong. Megan Goldin is a solid author and a thriller writer. I read her first novel, THE NIGHT SWIM (3 stars), with my book club and everyone greatly enjoyed it.
What gives me pause is when the "thriller" aspect is centered around an unreliable (aka crazy) heroine.
But this story was extremely creative and quite an unusual situation! The memory loss added a different element to the book. I greatly applaud Goldin as I thought the repetitive timeline (waking up and having no memory) would get old, but she kept the story moving!

This is a perfect quick and spooky fall read!

I am now a forever fan of Megan Goldin! I absolutely loved The Night Swim by her and this one also did NOT disappoint. Although this was only a 4 star read for me, it was so entertaining and the "high-stakes" were incredible the whole way through. I really enjoy the amnesia trope in my thrillers and so I was already expecting to like this one going into it, but it really lived up to the expectations for me. Highly recommend!

A thrilling page turner that I could not put down! I loved the way this book was written. Alternating between the present and two years prior, I felt like I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to see what was going on! I had some theories throughout, one of which turned out to be right, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story at all. I still thought the conclusion was pretty great!

I think the premise for the story was really cool. Main character Liv wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea where she is or how she got there. Then on the local news, she's horrified to find out she might just have something to do with a recent, local murder. Turns out she suffers from memory issues following a traumatic incident. Now everytime she falls asleep, she loses all memory of the past two years, waking up to a world that she doesn't understand at all. So it brings up the question, if you have no idea what has happened in your past, how you even got to where you are or even what happened yesterday, how can you possibly know who to trust?

Unreliable narrator, shady secondary characters, dual timelines, a fast pace and so many seemingly unanswerable questions...these are the makings of a great read that I really enjoyed! Definitely recommend!

This psychological thriller kept me guessing until the very end. The main character forgets two and a half years of her life everytime she falls asleep. Losing vital information that could keep her safe when she does. It was invested in the story and couldn't wait to get back to it every time I put it down. I didn't see the conclusion coming at all. I had so many other theories. I reccomend picking this up if you like a good psychological thriller.

This review will also be posted to Goodreads and Amazon

This book definitely gave me Memento vibes. How do you just a narrator that can't remember anything? That is how we were made to feel the whole book. Getting bits and pieces of the story along the way as Liv ran into people from her life. But are they a part of her life. I think this was a pretty good book. But ultimately I wanted more from the "bad guy" I wanted to know why?


I still think the Escape Room is the best Megan Goldin book ever, but this book definitely comes in second. Way to go Megan, can't wait to read the next one.

The main character Liv wakes up in the back of a taxi and has no memory of how she got there or where she is. She gets dropped off at her house only to find out a stranger lives there now. She finds a bloody knife in her purse and sees the phrase "stay awake" written all over her hands. She then sees a news report about a murder where the victims blood was used to write the same message as what's on her hands. The story is told through multiple POVs and is full of red herrings. It goes back in time to leading up to when she lost her memory. It was a great twisty read with an excellent ending. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy.

Enjoyment: 5
Total rating: 4.43

This is my first Goldin novel, and I immensely enjoyed her style. The dual timeline worked really well in this narrative, and I like how each alternating chapter was paired with the flashback giving meaning and perspective to the present time chapter we have just read.

Here is where I remind readers that Stay Awake is a work of fiction, and if they aren't willing or prepared to suspend their disbelief to be entertained, maybe this isn't the book for them. I enjoyed how Goldin used Liv's unique condition to weave a fast-paced psychological thriller that delivers quite a few satisfying punches.

Stay Awake has many of my favourite devices in a psychological thriller - dual timelines, unreliable narrator, tension and some gaslighting. The careful plotting is evident, and things come together quite nicely. As a layperson, I do not know how accurate Liv's amnesia depiction is, but as a reader, I loved how it served the story.


Disclaimer: In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to the publishers and NetGalley for providing a copy of Stay Awake