a twisty fun thrillar. Wow this book was one crazy ride! i loved this book from the very first page. i love the cover and i loved the adventure of finding out who did the murder.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC free for an honest review. Liv Reese has a problem. The last thing she remembers is getting a phone call at work in the summer. When she wakes up on a park bench without her phone or her purse and it’s approaching winter, she doesn’t know what’s happened, but she has “Stay Awake” written on her hands. She thinks she’s lost a few months, but she’s actually lost a couple of years, none of which she can remember. She suffers from a kind of traumatic amnesia. Every time she falls asleep, she loses her memory. She tries to find her fiancé and her best friend but can find neither of them. Then she sees the news and finds that she’s the prime suspect in a murder case of someone she doesn’t know. Detectives Jack Lavelle and Darcy Halliday are searching for her. Jack thinks Liv is probably guilty, but Darcy thinks something strange is going on. Darcy’s right. I liked this story very much. Liv, Jack and Darcy were all great characters. The only thing wrong with this mystery-thriller was that it was too predictable. I knew who the killer was after the first two killings. It was too obvious to me. I was really hoping that the author would fool me and make a different character be the killer, but she didn’t. I’m always more impressed by a mystery when I don’t guess the killer. Except for that, I really had a hard time putting this book down. I thought it was well-written and not your usual story. Liv having amnesia was a great theme and I felt really bad for her. This book reminded me of the movie Memento (which I now want to watch again).

Liv Reese suffers from a rare type of amnesia that causes her to lose her memory of the last two years every time she falls asleep. One night, she wakes up in a taxi with no memory of how she got there and no idea why "stay awake" is written on her hands or why she is carrying a bloody knife. Liv soon becomes a murder suspect when video footage shows her entering the building before the murder and the words "Wake Up!" (the same words written on her body) are found written in blood at a crime scene. Liv must figure out what happened before she gets arrested for a murder she can't remember committing.

This story is told in dual timelines and with two POVs (Liv's POV and the POV of Detectives Halliday and Lavelle). This story was expertly crafted- it allowed us to gain insight into what happened leading up to Liv's memory loss while also helping us to put the pieces together in the present. I found it to be fast-paced and enjoyed the twists throughout the book. I actually think this would make an incredible movie.

The only reason why it isn't a 5-star read for me is because I had a hard time connecting with the book for about the first third of it. I'm not sure why because it was fast-paced from page one, but I found I had to force myself to pick the book up at first. I did find the book to be more enjoyable as it went on and the last third of it was SO action-packed that I couldn't put it down.

If you're looking for a fast-paced, action-packed thriller, I recommend giving this one a try!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ironically my experience reading this book matched the title itself. Even while I was absolutely exhausted, and should’ve gone to bed, I kept muttering to myself, “stay awake, stay awake,” so that I could finish reading it. I was that enthralled. I read Goldin’s newest book, “Stay Awake” within 24 hours and it’s the best thriller I’ve read this year. Until the very end, it had me on my toes.

If you’re looking for a good thriller that you can’t put down this summer, I recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the Advanced Reading Copy. I will be looking out for every book Megan Goldin writes. I am a big fan.

*sigh*

I wanted to love this book because it’s a thriller and thrillers are my jam. However, it was a huge disappointment. It could have easily been cut down by 100 pages. It did have short chapters so that’s a plus.

I’m feeling so blah about even writing this so that’s all I’m gonna say.

What a crazy fast paced thriller! Liv wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea how she ended up there! She has a note on her hand saying "stay awake"! When Liv falls asleep she loses her memory of the last 2 years. I loved the dual time line, present day and 2 years ago. This book kept me on the edge of my seat not knowing what was going on! I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

I guess the reason the phrase "Stay Awake" is repeated ad naseum is so the reader will in fact not fall asleep.


Plot: Liv wakes up every day with no memory of the previous day for 2 years. All she knows is that she has a knife, the words Stay Awake written on her knuckles (or is it her wrist....Gouldin goes back and forth). She is obviously confused and her world has changed dramatically from her last memory 2 years ago, like her roommate and boyfriend are dead. She begins to piece together some "clues" about who is trying to keep her safe and who is out to get her. At the same time she knows she is in trouble, she also discovers she is wanted for the murder of a man who was found dead in an apartment with the words "STAY AWAKE" plastered on the windows. Golden gives the POV of Liv and the lead detective Halliday, which to be honest was kind of confusing at times....Anyway, thats whats going on, so the purpose of reading is for you to find out Is Liv a killer or is someone trying to kill her?

Thoughts:
Ya see that previous sentence? Well, in my opinion Goldin did not build a very strong case for Liv being the "bad" guy as it were. She was actually a pretty pitiful character, lots of dumb decisions, yet mysteriously was able to get from London to NYC unnoticed and make last second escapes-down fire escapes, back doors--almost to the point I was rolling my eyes, I mean even James Bond couldn't get out of those situations....unless I guess Dr. Evil was the idiot bad guy.
The writing was VERY repetitive. Sorry that is a total pet peeve of mine. I felt like I relived the same day over and over again. FYI the word Sleep is used 136 times, the phrase Stay Awake 36 times. Thats a lot of y'all. BUT thankfully she included that phrase because like I said I found myself dozing off out of total boredom at times.
The amnesia trope doesn't usually bother me, but this one was just not handled well. I can't put my finger on it, but it just felt like this book was thrown together and not creative or unique. Nothing made this book stand out, I have a feeling if you ask me in 6 months anything about it I won't be able to tell you anything.....
I really enjoyed Goldin's other books so I Am not writing her off by any means.

Thank you Netgally for this advanced Copy Read , I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

Average. The overall storyline and conclusion were average. The amnesia aspect brought a new twist but the conveniently wrapped up ending knocked off some of the uniqueness.

I thought the story dragged with her waking up and not remembering day after day and having to figure out essentially the same thing day after day. How many times did she read what was written on her hands and arms? I know it was knew to her every time she woke up but I was tired of the redundancy. There was also so much unbelievability to how Liv was able to do everything she did while having no memory and no access to basic essentials.

The main characters were basically well written, my favorite being the bartender who didn’t get near enough page time.

I loved Night Swim so much that I have such high expectations for this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this title for review.

Megan Goldin’s thriller is a page turner for sure. She really pulls us into the mystery by allowing us to experience Liv’s confusion with her circumstances through her traumas-induced amnesia. This is especially so because her confusion is contrasted by the way the story is revealed through the pre-incident timeline.

The one thing I wanted to get a little bit more was to be drawn in by the main detective on the case. I feel like Goldin set us up to be interested in the detective’s storyline, but ultimately, her character fell flat.

I was invested in the mystery, but ultimately I was able to guess the truth halfway through the book.

I think many people will enjoy this, and I think it will do well once it hits shelves on 8/9/22.

Thank you to @netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Liv has memory issues where she forgets everything after she wakes up after falling asleep so she tries her absolute hardest to stay awake. On this particular night, when she wakes up she's lost, trying to find her way home, and writing all over her arms, What unfolds after is a non-stop mystery. The story alternates between Liv and an NYPD detective, Halliday, that is investigating a brutal murder. The story also alternates between past and present. What results is a fast paced thrill ride across New York City.

I enjoyed this and read it so fast. I honestly had no idea what happened until it unfolded in the story! Just a heads up, the time periods are labeled on the top of the chapters but not the points of view. You'll still be able to figure it out though!

Stay Awake is a propulsive thriller that I couldn’t put down. Our main character, Liv, wakes in a taxi with no memory of the past two years. She does, however, have a bloody knife. She tries to piece together what happened to her, but every time she falls asleep she loses those memories again.

We also follow a homicide detective, Halliday. Halliday is working a murder case where an unidentified man was stabbed in his bed with the words “stay awake” scrawled on the window in the victim’s blood.

This book switched between Halliday, Liv in present, and Liv two years ago. I equally enjoyed all three perspectives. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading. Liv’s dissociative fugue made this a unique and interesting thriller. This is my third book by Megan Goldin, and I can honestly say she is a favorite thriller author. I will read anything she writes.

While on our vacation, I read STAY AWAKE by Megan Goldin {thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley}. Every time Liz goes to sleep…she can’t remember the last two years of her life; so, everyday is a chaotic, puzzle as Liz tries to figure out who can she trust, what happened, and why she is suddenly the prime suspect in a recent murder.

I really enjoyed this book! Even though her memory “resets” every time she sleeps, I never felt like this book was too much of a Groundhog Day scenario. It was fresh, fast paced, exciting, and had a rollercoaster of an ending.

What’s the last thriller you really enjoyed? STAY AWAKE releases on Aug. 9th! 😴

What if you woke up one night in a taxi with a bloody knife and writing all over your hands? What if when you walk up to your apartment, you have no keys and someone else lives there now? Things have changed and you don't know what happened. If you forgot 2+ years of memories every time you fell asleep, what would you do?

Such is the case for Liv Reese in Megan Goldin's Stay Awake. She's a good person, right? She just can't remember what has happened. The writing under her knuckles reminds her to "STAY AWAKE" but the constant intake of caffeine is messing with her mind, her body, and her emotions.

This one is fantastic. It's full of twists and turns, a dual timeline, and the alternating perspectives of Liv (currently sleep-deprived and past Liv) and the detectives assigned to the case associated with the bloody knife Liv discovers. There are questions of guilt and safety and whether or not the narrators are reliable. What are the different characters' motivations? Who can Liv trust? Can she trust herself?

This one will keep you on edge.

I received an advance ebook copy from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

All in all, I highly recommend this one.

A quick read thriller that kept me turning the pages. Unique story line, I never did figure out the twist.

This is a fantastic thriller! Told and both the present and the past this is the story of Liv, who when she falls asleep and wakes up, can't remember what has occurred over the past 2 years. When a murder takes place in the present, Liv seems to be the prime suspect. Liv unfortunately has no idea what is happening and told through the alternating time lines, the reader discovers the truth right along with Liv. This is not my first read by this author, but definitely my new favorite. I look forward to seeing what she writes next! Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

After loving The Night Swim I was thrilled to be approved for Stay Awake as an ebook and audiobook on NetGalley. The book starts off with a bang and while I wasn’t sure what was going on, I was definitely intrigued. Unfortunately that turned to annoyance as things quickly felt repetitive. I was tired of hearing about her moms opinion of writing on her hands, the season (it was summer and now it isn’t!) and definitely didn’t need to hear the words stay awake, sleep or memory any more. The timelines were a bit confusing - you were constantly jumping around between the detective POV in the present and a variety of times from Liv’s POV over the last two years. The detective POVs also added to the repetitiveness given we’d watch them find out the same information we already saw through Liv’s POV and would learn little to no new information during that time making me wonder what was the point. I predicted the entire outcome and there were some major plot holes along with my dreaded Scooby Doo villain moment. I did appreciate the fast pace and short chapters along with the creative plot idea.

Sadly this was a miss for me, but I have seen many glowing reviews of it which I encourage you to check out!

Thanks to @stmartinspress @macmillainaudio and @netgalley for the gifted DRC.

This book hooked me from the very beginning. Every time Liv Reese falls asleep she wakes up with no memory of the last two years. She wakes having no idea where she is or how she got there. The first time she is covered in blood and holding onto a possible murder weapon and so the loop continues. The obvious repetitiveness of this book was entertaining and not at all frustrating to me. The different timelines broke it up in an easy to follow way. What I did find frustrating was that you are truly rooting for Liv and it made me want to scream/shake everyone that doubted her, including her. 😂😬 There were parts in this book that were pretty creepy and honestly kept me awake after putting it down! There was one point while I was reading when I could actually see the cover of this book in the story. I really love that the cover ties in so perfectly. In the end I wish we got a little bit more but overall it was a really engaging story and I definitely recommend. Stay Awake comes out August 9th! Thank you St Martins Press, NetGalley and Megan Goldin for this eARC!

I loved this book! It was the first time in a long time that I couldn’t put a book down.
The way Goldin wrote from Liv’s perspective with the memory loss was really good and felt real. The addition of some characters pre-memory loss wasn’t necessary, but definitely contributed to the uncertainty in “who did it.”

I love a good suspense novel, but despite the compelling premise, Stay Awake missed the mark for me. We start the book with Liv Reese waking up in a cab with no recollection of where she is or what she's doing. In fact, she's lost all memories from the last two years. Even more frustrating, all her memories disappear when she falls asleep. This poses quite the challenge when she realizes she's been accused of a murder she obviously doesn't recall.

As you can imagine, this gets repetitive quick. Every time Liv wakes up, the frenzied panic sets in again, and we have to wait patiently for her to play catch-up before the story can progress. I was also able to piece together the ending very early on so the dramatic reveal was a bit underwhelming.

Nonetheless, I kept turning the digital pages to find out what was coming next. The idea was fun, the execution and plot holes weren't awesome, but it was a quick, easy read for summer.

It was great! Definitely a thriller to get lost in. Megan Goldin did a great job of creating anticipation, the reader was kept in the dark all the way through right along with the MC. I was invested in Liv’s story and needed to know what happened both past and present! There were lots of twists and I enjoyed the characters, perfect vacation reading material.