Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

This kept me paralyzed on the edge of my seat!

Thank you to @stmartinspress and @megangoldinauthor for a chance to read this eARC! This thriller comes out August 9 and you can preorder now via B&N, Amazon, or your local bookstore.

Two years and three months ago someone tried to kill Liv. There’s just one problem - she can’t remember who made an attempt on her life or any new memories she has processed since. Liv was able to recover and relocate to London to start anew and with the help of a journal outlining her life for her and visual guides in her home recommended by a helpful social worker, she’s been able to move on from her past, until now. Something causes her to snap from her routine and fly back to Brooklyn, where everything started. She begins to wake up every day thinking it’s the day she almost died, burns her journal, and is only able to work from the notes on her arm and hands while hopped up on caffeine and paranoia. Liv finds herself at the center of a murder investigation with her prints all over it with no memory of whether she was involved or assurance as to whether she is at risk. Will she be able to assemble the pieces and clear her name or will she learn that she is indeed a cold blooded killer?

I absolutely loved this! I’m an avid thriller reader and I’ve never read anything quite like this. I was immediately swept up in Liv’s fight for the truth. I enjoyed the cut between two years ago (the attempted murder of Liv and the other murders), the recent past (as she searched for truth and leading up to Ted’s murder), and the present day. It allowed for the reader to have just enough information to keep you baited and on the edge of your seat.

I strongly recommend for thriller/mystery lovers out there!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5

Liv Reese wakes up the back of a NYC taxi with no clue how she got there or why there’s a bloody knife in her pocket. Her hands are covered with inked messages: “Trust No One. Stay Awake.” She gets to her apartment only to find that it isn’t her home anymore and hasn’t been for two years. When Liv finds out a man has been murdered and the same message, “Stay Awake,” was written in blood on his windows, she knows it can’t be a coincidence.

Every time Liv falls asleep, she forgets the last two years, keeping her (and the reader) perpetually on the edge. You can practically see Liv’s exhaustion and confusion shimmering off the pages. The dual-timeline device is effective, as the reader unravels the mystery at the same time Liv does. Unreliable narrator and insomnia tropes are all the rage these days in the psychological thriller genre, but the way Megan Goldin has put them together is unique and takes it to the next level. The result is an original and captivating plot that is sure to be a hit later this summer.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me an advance copy of this book.

I wish I could give this a million stars this was one epic effing thriller! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 hands down crazy wild ride I devoured in almost 72 hours. Liv Reese has to fight to stay awake. She doesn’t recall where she is, the day or even the year, but she replays the same day from two years ago over and over again. She fights to stay awake because as soon as she falls asleep, she forgets everything that she learned in present day. Which, in present day, she is faced with being the epicenter of a heinous crime: a murder that she does not remember committing nor the man who is murdered. But written in blood on the window for the world to see are the words “WAKE UP!”

The book opens with Liv being in the back of a taxi cab that she doesn’t remember getting into or why, but she ends up at her apartment. But she realizes she doesn’t have her purse (thus no keys). She is instead faced with a couple of strangers residing in her home. She goes to reach for her phone and finds a bunch of messages that she has written all over her hands. And one of these is a reminder: to STAY AWAKE. The same message that was written at the crime scene are written all over her hands. She can’t remember what she did last, how or why those words are on her hands…but someone out there does. Someone that wants her to forget and not just after she sleeps, but to forget permanently.

Thank you @netgalley and to the author for my ARC in exchange for an honest review. This was chilling 🔪one of my top thrillers I have read! Definitely want to pre-order this one! Pub day is 8/9!

Overall, I really liked the concept of this book and would recommend it to other readers. The suspenseful twists and turns had me hooked the entire time. However, I did find some of the writing to be redundant when the main character continues to wake up without memories.

Thanks a bunch to NetGalley for the ARC. I wanted to love this. There was nothing wrong with it, per se. But I just know that in a day or two, I’ll have forgotten everything about it. It was very basic, with the (played out, at this point) amnesia trope, and it didn’t do anything different or have any surprising twists that made it exciting. It was a good, quick read. The writing was good (Megan Goldin is great in that department), but it’s definitely not my favorite of hers.

This was a great psychological suspense meets police procedural. The setup was excellent: Before I Go to Sleep with a little Memento twist. Liv's chapters were compelling and I felt for her as she kept waking up with no memory of the last two years. I just wanted to yell through the book at her to be careful and that someone was out to get her. There was plenty of twists that take place, but the ending was pretty surprising and I definitely didn't suspect the big reveal. My only complaint was the book did end with a couple plot holes that I would've liked resolved. I would've liked insight into certain motivations as well as a few red herrings fleshed out. Overall, 4.5 stars that I liked even better than the author's Night Swim.

Will publish review on Amazon upon publication.

Wow!

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for providing this advanced copy for me to read.

I was immediately thrown into the story and was confused in the best way. I felt anxious for Liv! The style of the timeline helped to slowly unravel the mystery. A great, fun, fast-paced psychological thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

Holy smokes this blew me away...right up until the very end. Then it fell flat. Seriously the only flaw for me is why the original murders? I feel like more explanation would have made the whole book make more sense. Overall the ride of this book was still amazing.

First off, I just want to say that this book is amazing! It is in my top three reads of the year so far and definitely my number one thriller.
Liv Reese wakes up in the back of the taxi with no memory of how she got there. She gives the taxi driver her address, but when she gets there she finds that there are strangers living in her apartment. She is without her phone or her purse, but when she reaches in her pocket she finds a knife covered in blood and sees that her hands are covered with writing like "STAY AWAKE". Before she knows it, she finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation.
Has this premise got you hooked? I don't even want to say anymore about the plot because I don't want to spoil anything. I had such a great time reading this book and envy anyone who still gets to read it for the first time. It pulls you in and doesn't let go. <Chef's kiss>
Thank you so much to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Megan Goldin for the privilege of reading this book before its release date.

This story reminded me of a thriller / murder mystery version of 50 first dates. Liv Reese doesn't remember where she is or what is happening every time she wakes up from sleep. She soon finds out that she is being investigated as part of a murder, which she knows nothing about, or at least she cannot remember.

Unfortunately I just found this story to be too repetitive for me. I understand it has to be sort of repetitive when the main character literally has to relearn everything every time she wakes up, but it just seemed to drag on and I felt bored at times throughout the story. There were definitely lines that were just copied and pasted in the story and they were definitely noticeable. That being said, it was a fun read at times, very mild darkness, no huge scare factor and the plot twists were okay. I definitely enjoyed 'The Night Swim' by this author more!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the advanced E-Book copy in exchange for an honest review!

Out August 9th, 2022

Stay Awake tells the story of Liv, who wakes up in the early morning and has no memory of the past two years. All she knows is that she's holding a murder weapon with blood on it. Liv believes that she didn't commit this murder. Yet, the cops are pin pointing her as the prime suspect. As they are closing in on Liv, will she be able to find help and stay awake to solve her own mystery?

The premise to Stay Awake was intriguing. There were twists and turns to Megan Goldin's latest however; this novel was definitely more mystery than thriller. It felt more like a look into your fears of insomniac episodes rather than running away from a killer. Loose ends are tied up after 75 percent of the book however; it was hard to stay invested.

ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Megan Goldin’s Stay Awake was a huge surprise for me. After reading The Night Swim, which I really enjoyed, I was not ready for such a suspenseful ride. And let me tell you, it was a pleasant surprise! This book is about Liv, who wakes up in a taxi not know how she got there, all she really has is a note telling her to “stay awake.” The premise had me hooked, but within a few pages I knew I wouldn’t be able to get on with my day until I had finished this book. It had everything I look for in a good thriller: suspense, intrigue, doubt, and thar off-kilter feeling of just not knowing what is going on. I absolutely loved this book, and will be sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for her next release. Meanwhile, I think I’ll be taking a closer look at her back list!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the gifted ebook of Stay Awake! All opinions in this review are my own.

Stay Awake started off really strong. I devoured the first 25% of this novel in one sitting. I liked the structure of the novel with multiple points of view and flashbacks, which help reveal new information without making one of the characters recite it.

I try not to judge thrillers based on the ending because it's difficult to write a satisfying end to all the tension that's been built up. While the big reveal was a little lackluster, I felt like there were still some loose ends that never got tied up. The biggest one was that motive was never explained for the original crime that started everything. You can deduce why they did it, but it still seems weird that was never addressed at the end.

Overall, the reading experience of Stay Awake is very chilling. I am excited to read more of the author's works.

5 Stars for this highly entertaining and gripping thriller!

I have loved this author's previous books so I'm really not surprised how much I enjoyed this one too!
Pulled me in right from the start and had me staying up until the early morning reading.

It was a gripping read and the suspense was full on right up until the end. I loved how everything came together.

Another well-written and intriguing novel from Megan Goldin!!

Megan Goldin is such a uniquely talented author, and Stay Awake embodies her uniqueness entirely. This novel is SO strange in the most excellent way. I was absolutely captivated from the second I read the premise (several months ago) until 50% through the e-arc I received.

Unfortunately, this novel is exhaustively written to the point that I felt the story was conveyed too completely. The reading experience became overwhelming and exhausting by the time I reached the end of the book. 20% of the novel could be eliminated by removing the detectives’ viewpoint entirely, and the story would still be 100% understandable and complete. The ‘2 years earlier’ chapters could be elaborated to fulfill a total page requirement if necessary, as those were the most important chapters.

The ‘2 years earlier’ chapters should have provided the information necessary to respect (not expect) the final twist, and yet I had to ask myself “who?” after reading the reveal. Maybe, after consuming so much filler information (the detectives’ viewpoints), I became too antsy to finally reach the end and accidentally skipped over some major clues, but I don’t think so. Not to mention, there were several red herrings inserted throughout the chapters that I forgot the second I finished reading the paragraphs where they were mentioned. I truly never gave them another thought.

I felt letdown and a little bored once I reached the final few chapters. Goldin’s writing, however, kept me reading until the very last word. I ultimately enjoyed this story for the most part. I will continue to read whatever Goldin writes, but this is definitely my least favorite of her novels so far.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Stay awake was a good book that kept me guessing until the end. This author is one I’m familiar with and enjoy.

An interesting read for sure! I haven’t read a story where a character suffered memory loss or sleep conditions such as this. Honestly, I was a bit confused at first. However, the story was easy to read and easy to follow that kept me turning the pages. It was fascinating that this story referenced to Agatha Christie’s memory loss. With regards to fiction books, I wasn’t sure if this reference was true or false so I googled on Agatha Christie and Wikipedia informed me the same as what was referring in this book! I have only read the author’s And Then There Were None and loved it so it was exciting to see the mention of the author experiencing the same condition as the main character in this story! I liked how smart and quick thinking the main character Liv was. Ted sounds like a great guy as well as Harry. I can’t imagine living life with this medical condition but it was good to see how a person could attempt to live a normal life by following doctor’s advice.


This book started with Liv at 2:40am. She woke up in a cab with no memory of how she got there. Somehow she got cash to pay for the fare but no purse or the keys to her apartment she shared with Amy. When the cab driver dropped her off at her apartment, she rang the bell for Amy to let her in but met with a stranger couple. They let her in to use their phone to call her boyfriend. When Liv entered their apartment she noticed that the apartment no longer looked like hers. She decided to take a cab to her boyfriend’s place. She dig around her pockets and found cash for the ride and an unexpected surprise in her sweater pocket. She saw notes on her hands with the name of a bar so she decided to stop by the bar first. The second view was Darcy, Detective. She responded to the police call, 6th floor apartment to find a dead man in bed with an apparent stab wound. They estimated that he may have been drugged because it doesn’t look like he put up the fight when he was attacked. Liv again woke up at a park bench and had no memory what had happened previously except for seeing the notes on her hand. The story then changed direction starting with Liv two years earlier when she was dating Marco and roommate with Amy. Things started happening with her but she had no recollection that she did it, such as picking up dry cleaning clothes. After she woke up from the bench, she went into her job but didn’t recognize the layout and the coworkers. After a few blunders, Liv realized two years have passed by and she didn’t know why. The story told in a timeline. In present day, Liv found herself restarting the day with no memory each time she woke up at odd places like park bench or train. The alternative view was the police detective investigating a crime. The story switched to the past followed Liv’s life before the incident. All evidence at the murder scene pointed to Liv, but Liv couldn’t remembered if she had killed anyone.


Stay Awake was well written and a fast paced read! Each time I read this story I didn’t want to put it down. But life got in the way and I didn’t get to read it as often. This is the only thriller where I able to guess who the killer was. I still loved the read despite knowing who killed. I enjoyed the detective’s investigations. That art exhibit was really out there freaky. How did the author think of that idea?! I also enjoyed the mini cliffhangers at each chapter. The randomness of the stalker’s acts was definitely odd. I can see why police wouldn’t take the report seriously. I wonder if there will be a sequel for this book because that bad police Krause should get in trouble for his slack in investigations. This book was an excellent read and I recommend everyone to read it.

xoxo, Jasmine at www.Howusefulitis.com for more details

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.

I'll bump it up to 4 stars because once I got 2/3 of the way through I couldn't put the damn book down. I just had to finish. The story was really well told and the navigation between narrators and timelines was well executed -- in some books like this those transitions are poorly done and take away from the overall enjoyment of the book. I thought ending was good, but not great .. I was really hoping for some kind of twist that would floor me but that
didn't happen. .. and in hindsight it would have been really tough to pull off with the small list of characters "available" in the narrative to be the "bad guy' at the end. Overall, like with other books from this author, the reading experience was highly enjoyable.

I really enjoyed the premise of Stay Awake. Our girl Liv is involved in a murder, but she can’t remember anything because her memory resets to two years in the past every time she falls asleep! Say whatttt?! It was so fun watching Liv try to piece clues together to figure out what was going on. I loved the structure of the story and how the past eventually caught up to the present. So well done!

The police procedural chapters were my least favorite. I though they were clunky, with large blocks of text and not enough dialogue. I much preferred the chapters from Liv’s perspective.

All in all a solid thriller!

Thanks so much to the author, NetGalley, and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy!

This is my first book by this author, though I have read some positive reviews on her prior books and currently have The Night Swim in my TBR.

In this suspense filled novel, we follow Liv, who after recovering from a near death experience (among other traumas) with no memory of the perpetrator, moves out of the country to be safe. She returns for reasons I can't explain without spoilers, but her amnesia is triggered and every time she falls asleep she wakes up thinking its 2 years prior, before the incident. She attempts to leave notes for herself, but they are short and relatively unhelpful. So, she tries staying awake but her ongoing lack of sleep only amplifies the amnesia.

In addition to her obvious issues, Liv ends up a suspect in a murder of a man that she has no recollection of knowing. There's a knife in her pocket, surveillance of her coming out of the building and a note she wrote to herself tells her not to trust the police.

We read from the point of view of Liv in the current time, confused, hunted and doing her best to stay awake; the POV from Liv 2 years ago in the time leading up to her near death; and, the POV of the detectives who are investigating the murder and debating Liv's involvement.

This is everything I want in a thriller- well crafted, fast paced, with short chapters that kept me turning pages.

Now I need to bump The Night Swim up on my tbr list!!

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review! Review will be posted to Goodreads, Bookstagram (Books_beaches_and_tea), Amazon and Barnes and Noble.