Thank you so much @stmartinspress @netgalley for the digitalARC

What an awesomely fast paced, heart pounding, thriller! I really enjoyed The Night Swim by Goldin but thought this one was even better. I couldn’t put it down and stayed up way too late at night to read – which, if you know me, is a big deal. 😂 I really enjoyed the dual timelines gradually leading you to learn how Liv ended up in the situation she’s in. I thought I had this ending all figured out, but I was oh so wrong! I didn’t see that twist coming at all which was the best surprise. I’ll definitely be buying myself a physical copy of this one.

I received an ARC of Stay Awake in exchange for my honest review.

Stay Awake is another mystery thriller by Megan Goldin. The story follows Liv Reese, a young woman with short-term memory loss triggered each time she falls asleep, as she tries to track her own movements over the course of a day. Through flashbacks, the reader begins to understand the trauma that caused the memory problems in the first place as well as events that are unfolding in real time. Some chapters follow a rookie police detective who is trying to solve a murder case and bring the perpetrator to justice, which ultimately connects to the Liv Reese storyline.

I found the story exciting and compelling and never wanted to put this book down. I was slightly fearful that the ending would be a letdown, which was the situation when I read The Escape Room, but I think the book held together pretty well right through the conclusion.

I enjoyed this read and would recommend the book!

Thanks to the publisher for granting me access to read this ARC.
So I absolutely adored Night Swim and my expectations were really high for this one.
In general, I’m not a fan of the Groundhog trope so if I would have known that I probably would have never read this. What I did like was the ending it totally caught me off guard.

Rating: 4.5 stars rounded up to 5

Liz wakes up in the back of a cab, and she has no clue where she is or how she got there. She goes to her apartment to find someone else is living there. Then she finds a bloodstained knife in her pocket, and the words stay awake written on her hands. She then finds out she doesn’t remember the last two years of her life, and every time she falls asleep, she forgets everything all over again.

This book grabbed me from the start! I was so intrigued on the story line, and trying to figure it out what was going on with Liv. I thought the plot with memory loss was very unique, and I enjoyed reading this in both Liv’s current and past perspectives. This was a great fast-paced thriller that kept me reading more and more!

If you are a big thriller reader, I do feel like it was a bit predictable for the ending, but it was still entertaining with the multiple POVs and dual timelines. This was definitely an enjoyable read!

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s press, and Megan Goldin for my eARC copy!

What a book! This is my first Megan Goldin book and I am really impressed. Stay Awake captured my attention from page one. It was such an interesting concept - a girl who loses her memory every time she falls asleep who is also a major suspect in a current and past murder investigation!? Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no memory of where she is or how she got there — her only clue to her whereabouts are the messaged she leaves for herself on her arms, her apartment door, her journal. She relies on these notes to survive and get up to speed every time she wakes up.

This will not be my last Megan Goldin book - I’d highly recommend Stay Awake for thrill readers who like a quick, captivating book!

Oh Megan Goldin, how you played with my mind! I don’t know if I’m coming or going with this book. There were red herrings swimming all over. My kids ate cereal for dinner today so I could finish this thriller. .
STAY AWAKE. It’s written on Liv Reese’s hands. It’s a mantra that keeps repeating over and over in her head. Why does Liv forget everything every day? You have to read this roller coaster of a book to find out why.
This is my second book by this author. I read “The Escape Room” two summers ago. This book was just as twisty and turny. I’m on the edge of my seat wondering what tangled tale Megan Goldin will come up with next.
I want to thank the author, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

This book started out making me think it was heading in one direction and then took a huge turn into something completely unexpected! Liv suffers from a type of amnesia that means every time she goes to sleep, she forgets what happened. She thinks someone is after her, but doesn’t know who to trust. I enjoyed all the twists and characters in this book!

** spoiler alert ** 4.25 stars. I really enjoyed how the reader is thrown right into the story with no idea what is going on, and by the end of the book, things have come full circle and the reader understands how the beginning fits into the puzzle. Overall, I think this is a great comfort read— it’s fast-paced and keeps you engaged the whole time, but doesn’t require you to think too hard while you’re reading. I feel like some aspects didn’t have enough detail or were never fully fleshed out— like nothing ever came of the waiter who called her repeatedly or the art exhibit and it feels like those were elements that were meant to throw us off the scent of what was really happening, but then they were simply never addressed again. I still really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a unique thriller!

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin
Release date August 9, 2022

Thank you to @netgalley @stmartinspress for this ARC! This was definitely a thriller I couldn't put down.

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a cab with no memory of how she got there. Or why her arms are covered in writing. Or why she's holding a wrapped up bloody knife. Over the next couple of days, Liv falls asleep and wakes up many times, each time starting from scratch and playing out each clue on her arms slightly differently. In the meantime, the cops are trying to track her down as a suspect in a recent murder. Is Liv connected to the murder? What is it she's forgetting? And who can she trust? Can she put together the pieces of her memory before the cops track her down?

I would have read this book in a day if work hadn't kept getting in the way. While I did assume the end result somewhat early, I did not know the how or why, and the story along the way was excellent! A fast-paced thriller that I highly recommend adding to your TBR!

4/5 ⭐

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Wow. This book is so riveting that I wanted to stay up all night and finished it, but alas I couldn't. I love how what has happened in Liv's life is slowly revealed to us at the same time that it is revealed to her. The only thing is that she doesn't remember when she wakes up after falling asleep. I also loving how Liv manages to stay alive with her own wits and people that she has met. I don't want to spoil the book by further describing it. Needless to say Megan Goldin is now on my must read list. I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher through Netgalley. This is my honest and voluntarily given review. I would love to see a movie made of this story.

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin is an amazing thriller. It is fast-paced and chilling. I like the characters and the storyline. Liv Reese doesn't remember the last two years or the crime she is accused of. She is on the run and the story runs quickly. This is a book readers will want to read.

While I really enjoyed this book, it wasn't as good as The Night Swim for me. It WAS a good mystery....part police procedural, part amnesia trope. The writing itself read as from a less experienced author as compared to The Night Swim, but the plot had me sucked in to know what happened. I was always ready to read more in this every time I picked it up and it helped me get out of a reading slump.

A book that definitely kept me on my toes and intrigued up until the very last page! It definitely wasn’t boring, but the ending was fairly predictable. I enjoyed the mystery that unraveled with Liv’s character and her ability to lose her memory every time she fell asleep. This was my first Megan Goldin book, and I’m looking forward to reading her backlist! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!!

Yeahhhhhhh... this was a miss for me.

I was so excited to read this because the concept is really interesting and I was sold by the synopsis. But this just fell so flat and was incredibly disappointing because I feel like the author could have done so much better. I just ended up not caring literally 15% into the story.

Things that didn't work for me:
1) I cannot express how repetitive this book is. I get it - she has memory loss. But I was just tired of revisiting the same events over and over again.
2) The writing - I'm sorry but this. was some bad writing. THe.
3) The twist made absolutely no sense to me. I felt like we went around and around only to land on an ending that just left me feeling beyond unsatisfied.
4) I wasn't a huge fan of the narrator. It felt too forced.
5) The main character is actually insufferable. You are a grown woman and can't use some critical thinking skills?

I know lots of people loved this one and I totally get it. I was just disappointed because I was so excited for this release.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!!

Wow! An amazing thriller! Fast-paced and full of so many twists. Simply put, this was so much fun to read.

Liv has a memory issue unlike any I've ever heard of before. Every time she fails asleep she forgets everything that has happened in the past 2 years. So when she wakes up, she is confused and believes it's always the same day from 2 years ago. However, she becomes a suspect in a murder and the story follows her along with the detectives trying to solve the case. And, this stays exciting the whole way through!

I am delighted I got a chance to read this early and am also happy to say that I definitely recommend this to fans of thrillers!

Out August 9, 2022!

Unfortunately this was not for me. I loved The Night Swim and was eagerly awaiting this book. Sadly the writing and story felt extremely redundant. The detectives full names (Detective First Last) were used regularly after we'd already been introduced, the main character kept repeating herself, and the same topics kept being covered mere pages apart. I liked the setup of the story with the first chapter being a good hook, but after that it was lost for me.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press & NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

This was my first introduction to Megan Goldin's work and I was pretty pleased. I felt that the author drew inspiration from the movie, Memento for this book since this story involved an amnesiac protagonist. The premise alone was so intriguing - who wouldn't want to dive into this book?!

The format of this book also reminded me of Alice Feeney's His & Hers, with the date and time stamps at the beginning of each chapter, alternating perspectives, and shifting timelines. These were all elements I appreciated in both books as they heightened the suspense and sense of urgency in solving the crimes.

In terms of characterization, I admired Detective Halliday's portrayal as an intelligent and meticulous woman, which provided a sharp contrast to the stereotypically jaded and dismissive male cop characters like Krause. Liv's character, of course, was nothing short of fascinating and one whom you could not help but feel sympathy and fear for as she navigated NYC unaware of all that had occurred two years ago.

One minor issue I did have about this storyline was the introduction of extraneous characters who seemed to play no central role to the plot. However, I recognize that this may have been intentional to keep readers on their toes and second guessing the killer's identity. I also found the ending to be rather abrupt without a clear explanation of how the killer came to uncover truths leading to their MO. Lastly, I was hoping to learn what happens to the characters next, even if it's a brief glimpse into the future.

Nevertheless, the author carefully crafted the dual timelines and narratives, leaving little to no room for confusion. This was a fast-paced, suspenseful, and enjoyable read overall. I would definitely recommend this book to thriller/mystery fans!

4.25/5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me the digital ARC of Stay Awake!

Stay Awake is a great psychological thriller. There are very few books where I like alternate timelines ans multiple POVs but I very much enjoyed it with this book because it kept me just as disoriented as Liv was which kept me guessing untill the end especially with the change in 1st and 3rd person. I'm also a sucker for a good unreliable narrator and Liv with her rare amnesia disorder is something I haven't read before and loved it.
I enjoyed following Halliday and Lavelle as well. They helped break up the confusion and disorientation of reading Liv's experience.

This was a good read for me. I love a good mystery that keeps me guessing until the very end, but it did start out a bit slow for me in the beginning. The first chapter start with a bang than slowed until a little later. I'm glad I stuck with it. I do feel as if Liv's story ended to quick. I wish there was a bit more about her after climax of the story.
I'm interested in reading other Megan Goldin works.

Stay Awake is a thriller with a little different storyline from any book I’ve read lately. Megan Goldin writes a quick-paced story that had me guessing how the story would end.

This story started as a slow build for me. Liv has no memory of the past 2 years because she is suffering from trauma induced amnesia, only she doesn't know it. She wakes up in strange locations, everytime she falls asleep, her memory reset to the day of the events that changed her life forever. It is a bit like Groundhog's Day in the early chapters. As the story goes on the pace really picks up to a high tension climax. Liv's unreliable memory really adds to the psychological impact of this thrillers storyline.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the opportunity to experience this thrilling e-ARC.