I really enjoyed Megan Goldin's Night Swim so I was thrilled to get a chance to read Stay Awake before it was released. The book's main character, Liv, is an unreliable narrator with memory issues. She isn't sure if she's involved with a recent murder and she cannot trust anyone. On the other side of the story a temporary rookie detective is working her case while trying to prove herself in the department. The story was fast paced, creative and a great thriller. If you loved Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, or The Woman in the Window you will like this. Very different from Night Swim but still a great read. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. This is going into my DNF pile. I really wanted to like this book but it was just too hard to follow going from back in story to current time. A chapter would start off saying "two years ago" and the next chapter would be "8:34 am" and as a reader, you feel like it is still in the past but it is not.

This book had a whirlwind of emotions for me. Liv wakes up on a fall morning with no recollection of the past two years. She notices strange words written on her arms such as "stayawake", "don't trust anyone", etc. in HER handwriting. There's been a murder, and she fears she somehow might be involved. She meets people that defiantly remember her, but she has no memory of ever meeting them. She must try to piece this difficult puzzle together by following indistinct clues from herself, and others. Problem is, she has to stay awake long enough. Falling asleep means she forgets anything she learned that very day. With no knowledge of Detective Lavelle, and Halliday hot on her trail, and putting things together faster then she can this book has twists, and turns I never saw coming! With a dual narrative from past, and present Liv it's great for fans of the Silent Patient. The Author includes amazing details, it makes it easy to follow along and makes you feel like your right there with Liv. This book is a nail biting page turner you seriously don't want to miss! I'm excited to say I'm a new huge fan of Megan Goldin, and can't wait to see what else she has in store!! You will not regret picking up this whodunit thriller!

Thank you St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for this ARC!

all starts with a murder and the words “𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦.” And then welcome to the rabbit hole of Liv’s memory, where every time she falls asleep, all her memory is lost. Yeah, try keeping up with that as the plot turns and twists.

Perhaps I’m old (I am), perhaps I’m picky (I am), or perhaps it took far too long to anchor this story down (it did).

Granted, I turned pages voraciously but ultimately was frustrated and underwhelmed. I suspect others may like this one tho - just didn’t work for my patience level (it’s low).

Okay, this is my second book from this author and I can say I love her writing. I have also read The Night Swim and, somehow, she has given us both of these that have common themes in this genre, but made them completely her own.

Stay Awake, was a great book. The thought of not being able to go to sleep because you'll forget everything, is terrifying. Then put that in a thriller and you got a suspenseful ride on your hands.

Like with Night Swim, I think, Stay Awake touches on some important topics, that I cannot discuss without giving away spoilers, but that need to be discussed especially in thrillers.

And the way she played the red herrings were great. While I guessed the who I was also suspicious of others throughout because she did great making you question everyone.

I would recommend this one.

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

Wow, wow, wow!!!

I found my fave thriller of the year! Absolutely LOVED every single second of this book! It was one of those books that you stay up late for and wake up the next morning craving answers!

I loved the main character, Liv, she was super like-able and I found myself rooting hard for her to figure all this out!! While the storyline does jump back and forth, it was very easy to follow and adds to the confusion of WHO TO TRUST!?!?

You guys know I read 1-2 thrillers/month, but if you are going to pick one to read this year - this should be it!!

Liv Reese wakes up in a taxi with a bloodied knife in her pocket. She remembers nothing after answering her office phone on a sunny day, but when she exits the taxi at her apartment, she encounters a cool New York city night. She can’t wait to get inside and figure out what’s happening, but she doesn’t have her keys, and when she buzzes an unfamiliar woman opens the door and threatens to call the police if Liv doesn’t leave. The only clues she has are messages written on her hands, one of which says: STAY AWAKE.

Soon, she happens to see a breaking newscast. A man has been murdered, and his blood was used to write a message on the window, a message uncomfortably close to those on Liv’s body. She’s finally able to piece together that she was once a successful writer at a premier magazine, but her memories ended two years ago. Now, she’s got no wallet, no phone, and is on the run from the police for a crime she does remember.

The book is told in two timelines, past and present, and from two perspectives, that of Liv and Detective Halliday who is eager to prove herself and get a permanent spot on the homicide squad.

Because of Liv’s condition, she’s extremely vulnerable and has no context with which to categorize friends versus foes. This heightened the tension as every new situation could be deadly. But at the same time, many of her decisions were questionable.

The past events that lead to Liv’s current condition were extremely frightening and her interactions with the police so frustrating! I found there were lots of loose ends from Liv’s past that I wish had been explained.

Because this book has a Groundhog Day element, when things “reset,” there was repetition that I understand was necessary but that sometimes became monotonous. It was also often achieved through exposition by secondary characters; maybe if it had been conveyed less through description, it would have retained my interest more.

When the timelines start to converge, though, the action accelerates, and I was highly invested in the ending which I found satisfying for all the major characters.

This is my first book I have read by Megan Goldin, and my first book that revolved around amnesia. And while I didn’t hate the book, I didn’t fully love it. I found the MC Liv to be annoying. I just couldn’t fully pinpoint why she was annoying, other than stupid things she would do. I get it, she has amnesia, but I just found myself annoyed with her actions. I kinda pieced together a few things that happened, and was intrigued with how the book was going to end. But then the end happened and was left wanting more. I needed more of an explanation on certain events and why it happened.

I am definitely going to check out Goldin backlog to see if maybe this one was just a one off for me.

Who….is the killer?
What….is Liv (the main character) going to do since she has memory loss?
Where …..is she going to hide, since she feels she may have killed someone?
When…..is Liv going to be safe, or is she?
How…..how are they going to find the killer, if there is no memory?
Why….this is a great book. It kept me on the edge of my seat from the very 1st chapter.

Another amazing read from Megan Goldin! It’s like if 50 First Dates when horribly wrong! There was so much to love in this novel, I finished it in 24hrs. It was fast-paced and caught my attention immediately. I loved the nod to Agatha Christie and the many timeline jumps along with the perspective shifts. I haven’t read a procedural in some time and this was just so satisfying. You really feel for our MC Liv and want to badly to scream at the book to help this woman!

Wow! Ok, where to start. Megan Goldin has done it again with another fantastic thriller. Think 50 First Dates with an unreliable narrator. This story has so many twists and turns you won’t see what’s coming next. As soon as I picked the book up to read and I knew there was no way I was going to be able to put it down.

This is a can’t miss thriller. Megan Goldin has a way of telling a story that you won’t figure out until the reveal what’s really happening to the main character.

Thank you to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for allowing me to read the eARC of this book. All opinions expressed above are my own.

When Liv Reese wakes up in back of a taxi, she has no recollection of how she got there, her hands are covered in pen including the words “stay awake”, and she has a bloody knife in her pocket. She soon sees a story on the local news of a man stabbed to death, with the same message on her hands written on the window in blood. Liv fears she was involved in the murder, and tries to piece together the last two years of her life while staying awake.

I’d best describe this book as “50 First Dates, but make it a thriller”. Liv Reese’s amnesia condition makes her a quintessential unreliable narrator, an essential element in many thrillers! I did find the story to be somewhat predictable, but it was still entertaining to read. I appreciated the perspectives of both Liv {in past and present}, along with the detective investigating the murder case. Overall, it was fine, but I would have loved a bit more shock value and suspense.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my gifted e-ARC!

Although I loved the premise of Stay Awake, the new thriller by Megan Goldin, the book just didn’t work for me.

It starts out strong: Liv Reese wakes up in a taxi and returns to her apartment, where she finds strangers living there. She has a bloody knife and messages written all over her hands, reading “Stay Awake”.

I loved the movie Memento so I was intrigued by a mystery with a similar idea, where the protagonist loses new memories every time she falls asleep. I also enjoy stories that jump around in time, flashing back between present day and a previous crime, which is the structure this book follows.

Unfortunately, the writing just wasn’t very strong. I like character-driven stories, and I never got a handle on Liv or the two police detectives who are tracking her down. Liv makes strange choices right from the start (for example, after she realizes that strangers are in her apartment, she gets her hair cut and goes to work) and was hard for me to relate to (she assumes her cat is dead and just…doesn’t seem to care?). The police officers as well have very stilted dialogue, explaining very simple concepts to each other as if they’d never investigated a murder before.

I did find this to be a very quick, easy read, and got through it in one night, but overall I was frustrated with the experience. I think readers who are intrigued by the premise and are more interested in twists and turns than character moments will likely enjoy this a lot more than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my review copy of this book

Tight, sinister, and gripping!

Stay Awake is a propulsive, intense mystery that introduces us to Liv Reese, a disoriented, troubled young woman who, after waking in the back of a cab with a pocket full of cash, a bloodied knife, arms covered in messages to not fall asleep, and no idea how she got there, finds herself visiting old jaunts and doing whatever she can to try and remember and piece together the last two years of her life since the day her life was violently turned upside down and her memories all but disappeared.

The writing is taut and brisk. The characters are resourceful, confused, and persistent. And the plot told using a mixture of flashbacks and alternating POVs unravels quickly into an intricate, action-packed tale full of twists, turns, secrets, surprises, questionable personalities, duplicitous motivations, manipulative actions, parasitic relationships, violence, and ruthless murder.

Overall, Stay Awake is an unpredictable, chilling, entertaining tale by Goldin that was a little nutty in all the best ways while also being engaging, engrossing and impossible to put down.

I feel like I’m constantly saying I don’t like thrillers, and then reviewing thrillers that I’ve loved. "Stay Awake," Megan Goldin’s new novel, is another one to add to this list. What would you do if you lost all of your memories every time you fell asleep? That’s exactly what, Liv, the story’s protagonist is trying to fight off. Liv’s memory blackouts interrupt her whole life, and finally start to get her in trouble. This story had me on the edge of my seat until the very end and I would recommend it whether or not you’re particularly fond of thrillers. Lovers of Goldin’s “The Night Swim” will enjoy!

Holy man! This book was something else. I never knew which way it was going to twist or turn. I loved it so much. I loved that story flipped back and forth in time...leaving tidbits of information with each chapter. The story came together perfectly. I could not help but but myself in the main character shoes and wonder what all of that would be like. What a scary and wild ride. There was a very satisfying ending too. A must read for thriller lovers.

PS I was able to both listen to and read this book before publication. I loved both formats and feel that audiobook lovers are really going to love how it was performed. Either way to read this book you will love it!!!

Stay Awake was a completely entertaining mystery from start to finish and one of the best thrillers I've read this year. The horror and confusion that Liv experienced every time she opened her eyes was palpable on every page. She was a believable suspect/victim and I enjoyed going along for the journey to discovering the truth about her past. I really enjoyed the "behind the scenes" perspective with the detectives, and the working relationship that we saw develop between Lavelle and Hallady. The story kept me guessing until the very end and it brought a satisfying conclusion with the hope that Liv might someday remember her past and resume a normal life.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read and review Stay Awake.

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no memory of how she got there. She forgets the last two years every time she falls asleep. The police are looking for her as a suspect in a murder she doesn't remember committing.

This was such a fast paced thriller with an unreliable narrator. Such an interesting way to follow someone in figuring out the truth. This is an enjoyable thriller that will leave the reader wanting to find out what really happened along with the main character. Since the main character keeps forgetting things when she falls asleep there ere some repetitive parts in the story as she retraces the first steps several times. There is some skipping around in time from two years ago, when she was first trying to figure out her past, and present day. Most of the time these time jumps were easy to keep track. I did find myself thinking there were a couple of things that contradicted what had already happened in the book only to realize that it was just a different timeline. So a couple of time it got confusing and I had to check myself. Overall, it was such a fun thriller that never let off the gas peddle.

I would recommend this book for fans of fast paced thrillers with unreliable narrators with high stakes.

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin is a fast paced thriller. I bumped this up to four stars because I binged it in a day and really wanted to know what happened but it was not as strong as The Night Swim by the same author. There were aspects of this that I loved, but I think it was almost too short? The motive didn't feel adequately explained/fleshed out and the ending was abrupt.

The book is told from alternating timelines and the narrator has a unique case of amnesia that is exacerbated by her insomnia (part self-induced/part actual condition). It makes for a compelling and unique way to tell the story, but I wanted more.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the electronic advanced copy.

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no clue as to where she is or how she got there and no memory of the past two years. Her hands are covered in pen, including the message: Stay Awake. When she sees a newspaper article of a crime scene with a similar message, Liv worries that she might have done something bad and tries to put the pieces of her memory back together.

This was a fast-paced and addicting book that I thought had a good intensity to it that kept me wanting to turn the pages. Written in multiple POV with multiple non-linear timelines, I did find myself slightly confused at trying to follow the timelines, but still enjoyed trying to put the little bits of information together that were slowly revealed. I found this to be interesting as it touches on amnesia and memory loss that made me really feel for Liv because I couldn't imagine being confused like that. It also made you question whether or not you could believe Liv at all and how unreliable she was. At times in the middle, things felt a little repetitive but I think that also added to what Liv was going through with her memory issues. While the ending wasn't overly shocking, I still wasn't able to guess it. I would have loved a little more as to the why for the ending though!

Overall, I enjoyed this book! If you are looking for a suspenseful thriller with short chapters, multiple timelines and perspectives with an MC who has amnesia and memory loss issues that will leave you on edge and wondering who can be trusted, check out Stay Awake (out August 9, 2022)! The Night Swim still remains my favourite by Goldin. I definitely want to pick up The Escape Room soon and will read whatever Megan Goldin comes out with next.

Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for e-arc in exchange for an honest review!