A very creative plotline with a predictable twist. While I guessed the "whodunnit" very early on, I did find the way this one is told compelling and very well done. This one will keep your interest for sure!

Imagine waking up in a taxi with no clue where you are, how you got there, and why you are in possession of a bloodstained knife. To top it off you find writing all over your hands and arms telling you to STAY AWAKE or you will forget EVERYTHING. I bet that got your heart pounding!

Stay Awake is one of those thrillers that will have you putting a pot of coffee on so you can stay up way into the night reading, because there is no way you are putting this book down once you start it.

What appealed to you the most in this story?

The suspense and just having to live in the moment as my heart pounded away and absolutely having no clue or even inkling of what was going to happen next.

How was the audio version?

I am so thankful that I had both the book and audio version, because when I was forced to put the book down, I was immediately able to switch over to the audio. Imogen Church and January LaVoy knocked it out of the park with their narrations. They were able to ratchet up the tension and suspense even more, which left me hanging on their every word. You could feel Liv’s fear and anxieties come to life through their voices and inflections.

How was the pace?

Fast! I binged this one, so be warned that once you start it, you aren’t going to get anything done until you turn the last page.

Do you recommend this book?

You HAVE TO READ IT! This is a thriller that has now moved to the top of my lifetime favorites list, and I definitely won’t forget it.

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

What a scary concept 😳 I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to wake up every day with no memory of the past two years.

I did enjoy this one but I found the repetitiveness to be a little annoying even though I know that’s kinda the point. I liked Liv and I thought it was interesting to follow her around & watch her try to navigate her once familiar life.

Stay Awake is an entertaining thriller which moves quickly and the reader is left to put the pieces together. I loved Megan Goldin’s previous book, so I was excited to read this one. The premise is fascinating, Liv Reese wakes up with no memory and thinks she may have been involved in a violent crime. Early on we learn that there was a murder of an unknown man the night before. The second perspective is about Detective Halliday and her partner trying to solve the murder and discover the man’s identity.

The story moves quickly, but you really have to suspend disbelief when you read this one. It was a bit too unrealistic for me and I wasn’t invested in the characters or storyline. Liv is constantly panicked and afraid because of her severe memory impairment. I liked putting the pieces together and found the detective’s perspective fascinating. The story resolves neatly. I listened to the audiobook, which is dually narrated by Imogen Church and January LaVoy. I love Church’s narration of Ruth Ware’s books, but she uses an American accent for this book, which didn’t always work for me. When she quotes other characters, the accent/affectation was downright cartoonish at times. Church narrates Liv’s perspective and LaVoy narrates the detective. I absolutely loved LaVoy’s narration. I would recommend this if you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller.

Thank you to the publisher for providing this book. All thoughts are my own.

I really liked this book, the story was engaging and kept me wanting "just one more chapter" before putting it down. However, the audio version is very weird. One narrator sounds normal but the other, seems like it is on slow speed, and some words are pronounced oddly. I had to listen at 1.25x speed to get through it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my pre release copy.

First off, I want to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to review the audiobook before it was released. I hope my honest review will encourage other readers to pick up this somewhat unrealistic, but enjoyable psychological thriller. I enjoyed the multiple timelines between the main characters. The story is filled with stress, excitement, and drama. I will definitely search out other works by this author.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I've enjoyed other books by this author, but when this book first started I wasn't if I was going to like it. I think it was a good middle of the road mystery/thriller and definitely kept my attention. I switched between the ebook and audiobook, and I enjoyed the narration for the audiobook. I thought it slowed down a bit in the middle, but still intrigued me enough to keep reading. I also enjoyed the multiple POVs/timeline. Overall this was a solid read and I look forward to more books by this author.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for the opportunity to review this audiobook.

This was an excellent thriller that kept you wondering right along with our heroine. What would you do if you woke up and everything was different, there is writing on your hands telling you to stay awake and nothing is the same as when you went to sleep. You truly feel Liv's confusion throughout this book and it makes for a great thriller!

Narrated by Imogen Church & January LaVoy both did a great job at bringing the emotion and different voices.

This was my first book by this author but will not be my last I enjoyed her writing style and will look up her backlist!


4 Stars

I received this book from the publisher Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

3.5 stars!
Liv has a special condition: everytime she falls asleep, she forgets everything from the last two years. Another part of her condition is that she doesn’t know that she has it. So when she wakes up in the back of a taxi holding a bloody knife, she is extremely disoriented. She goes to her apartment, only to find that there are different people living there. She tries to call her boyfriend, but he doesn’t answer. She begins to realise that she can’t trust anyone as she starts to uncover her past.

This was a fun read and the introduction had me hooked. The premise was fascinating and I really enjoyed the writing style. However, when I reached the middle, I got bored. It was just too much and it felt extremely unrealistic to me. The story went on too long without any of the pieces connecting and overall, I was disappointed. I liked The Night Swim by Goldin much more! Thanks to @stmartinspress, @macmillan.audio & @netgalley for my review copies.

An interesting premise somehow made dull.
I really didn't like this. The book goes back and forth between two POVs. The main character whose memory keeps resetting and a detective investigating a murder. The detective POV is so underbaked that I can't see a reason for it even being there. Unfortunately, I found the main character even less interesting than the detective. Because of her memory issues, we are never really able to delve into who this character actually is as a person. She is just this giant mystery but I didn't care enough to want to unravel it, especially since it was exceedingly obvious who the murderer was.
The twists all fell flat. It's rare that I have nothing good to say about a book but this one just held nothing for m

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin is another great book by this author. This story reveals the life of Liv who is in a bit of a time loop due to some traumatic events. This book has a dual timeline and dual perspectives. I really enjoy when the past and present come together. The characters are flawed and human. The ending was twisty and surprising! Highly recommend.

This book is narrated by Imogen Church and January LaVoy. I like both readers and would actively search them out for other books.

***** I received an ARC from NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my honest review. *****

3.5 The phrase "stay awake" was written probably 100+ times because of how important it was! Why does Liv see this phrase everywhere? It's on sticky notes near where she wakes, it's written on her hands, and people continue to tell her this phrase!

Liv wakes one morning to find herself in an unknown location. She goes home to find strangers living in her apartment that for whatever reason no longer has her possessions inside. You as the reader are as baffled as Liv tries to navigate what is going on!!

The book is a bit repetitive due to the nature of the storyline. It did feel a little Groundhog movieish for me with the constant repeats, but it was a huge part of the plot.

I loved that I didn't solve this thriller on my own and almost felt like I was Liv, the main character.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the advance audiobook in return for my honest review.

I have been in a thriller rut and Stay Awake pulled me out of it! I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook.

Goldin did a great job making me feel Liv's fear and confusion. Yes it was repetitive hearing her relearn her life every day but it did not bother me, it made me feel how desperate she must have been.

The inclusion of the detective POV made me think of a cheesy episode of SVU, in a good way! I figured out the killer early on but understanding the how kept me intrigued... kind of like watching SVU.

Overall I enjoyed the narrator, I appreciated how her tone reflected the changes in Liv's life. A minor gripe- some of the words were pronounced strangely, not like a different dialect but more like it was read by a robot. It threw me off a few times but that's probably a me thing.

I'll definitely be recommending this one!

STAY AWAKE
by Megan Goldin

“Stay awake”. I repeat. “Stay Awake”.

This is the second Megan Goldin book I’ve read and I think she has a style that you either like or don’t.

I’m still deciding.

The nature of this story means that a large part can’t help but feel repetitive. Like really repetitive. So take note if that annoys you this book may not be for you.

There were chapters that were effective in making me feel like the main character was doomed. I had no idea how the crisis was going to get resolved. And it just kept repeating.

Had it not been so repetitive I think I would’ve enjoyed it more. But for me this one landed around the middle.

STAY AWAKE…⭐️⭐️⭐️


Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced copy!

Stay Awake
Megan Goldin


Goldin’s Stay Awake may just be the best thriller of the year, a fast paced super psychological thriller that will keep listeners up all night on the edge of their seat with their nails bitten to the quick; think of a dark Groundhog Day that repeats every time you wake up but instead of trying to impress a girl you’re running from a killer, only you don’t know it and oh by the way every time you wake up it’s rinse and repeat because you think it’s two years in the past. Wow! And while Megan builds her story the audience will get fed crumbs that might fill in some blanks but could just as easily be red herrings leaving the audience listening attentively to every word so they don’t miss a breath.

Liv Reese wakes up in a NYC cab with a pocket full of cash, a bloody knife in her pocket and strange phrases like WAKE UP written on her hands. Deciding she must have had too much to drink she goes home to her apartment and discovers that someone else lives there, she goes to her office and discovers that while she’s well known she doesn’t work there anymore it’s like she’s in an alternate universe and she’s not sure where to go for help, she thinks about calling the police until she reads a message on her hand that says, TRUST NO-ONE. Tired, afraid and a little paranoid she just wishes her best friend and roommate Amy or her boyfriend Marco would answer their phones then maybe she could make some sense out of all this nonsense.

Liv doesn’t know it yet but she’s in grave danger and her strange amnesia is both a blessing and a curse, the big question is will she figure things out before the danger catches up to her.

Meanwhile NYC detectives Halliday and Lavelle have their hands full trying to solve a bizarre murder of a man in a short term rental with no murder weapon on scene the only evidence is a long strand of dark hair on the pillow beside the dead man and the biggest clue is the words written in the victim’s blood saying WAKE UP.

The characters are amazing in this intense chilling novel and everyone plays their role perfectly, Liv will make the audience scream STAY AWAKE more than one time during the novel, she’s vulnerable and wide opened to all the sucker punches she gets during the novel and the lead detective Darcy Halliday is fantastic a no-nonsense cop with a good head on her shoulders, a military background and compassionate. Her fellow detective Jack Halliday is also a good character a Yin to Halliday’s Yang open minded but at times needs coaxing to see things her way. The villain however remains in the shadows until the shocking reveal that will have most listeners bamboozled. Fans of Megan Goldin, Hank Phippi Ryan, and Lisa Gardner will not be able to take off the earbuds until the credits roll.
Narration:

January LaVoy is the perfect choice for the no-nonsense, practical cops particularly Halliday where Imogen Church plays the confused, bewildered Liv super skillfully these two orators will give listeners a definite edge over readers.

I could not put this book down! The story is fast paced and will keep you guessing until the end. Megan Goldin did a fantastic job by creating Liv, the unreliable main character who wakes up everyday and has no memory from the previous day.

📖 BOOK REVIEW📖
🌟🌟🌟🌟

Combine GROUNDHOG DAY and SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY and this novel is conceived.

The author has created a compelling and entertaining plot. The idea of losing your memories each time you sleep is terrifying. Especially without a friend or partner to support you and assist in daily struggles. You fight sleep and don’t know who to trust. What a nightmare!

This audiobook of STAY AWAKE kept me immersed in Liv’s story and the narration was great. Not as good as NIGHT SWIM but still a solid read.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for providing complimentary ARCs. All opinions are my own.

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4.5 stars. Dang this was good. Kept me intrigued and invested. Definitely a top mystery/thriller for the year. Really loved how we truly didn't know if she was the killer or the victim until the end. There is just always something so u settling about reading about memory loss.

This thriller by Megan Goldin was well done. I enjoyed the main plot of the story and I found it moved along fairly quickly.
I did guess the main twist of the story fairly
Early but it didn’t lessen my opinion of the story.
Looking forward to reading more by this author.
If you like thrillers you’ll enjoy this quick read.

Unsettling, and disorienting are words that I would use to describe Stay Awake. Going back and forth in Liv Reece's life to the double homicide she discovered and an attempt that nearly led to her own death and leaves her in a coma. After awakening from that coma, Liv is stuck in time trying to figure out where she is and can't she remember anything. The only thing Liv is left with is post-it notes with reminders like "don't leave the apartment", phone numbers that are written on her hand, and the most cryptic message of all, "Stay Awake".