I listened to this one straight through on our road trip and I was fully engrossed in the story. It did slow down a bit in the middle, but it still held my attention in anticipation of later events.

This is told in dual POVs and timelines. We get Detective Halliday’s POV investigating the murder connected to Liv, as well as Liv’s POV in the present and right before her memory loss. I thought it was a nice balance of amnesia thriller and police procedural.

I can’t even imagine the frustration of forgetting everything every time you wake up. I do think her notes to herself could have been more helpful and overall it was pretty repetitive, but the concept was interesting enough to keep me engaged.

This is totally worth picking up if you like thrillers with an amnesia plot.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the gifted copies in exchange for an honest review!

#StayAwake #NetGalley
#MacmillanAudio
#MeganGoldin #ImogenChurch #JanuaryLaVoy
#StMartinsPress

Just finished listening to the ARC of Stay Awake.

Imogen Church does a fabulous job of narrating this story along with January LaVoy.

This is the suspenseful tale of Liv Reese, a young woman who suffers from a form of amnesia triggered by the trauma of a double murder where she narrowly escapes with her life. Since then, everytime she sleeps, she wakes up with no memory of the days since the event. She tries desperately to stay awake, inscribing the same on her wrists and elsewhere.
In the meanwhile, there is a killer stalking her, with the intention of framing her for the murders.
What we encounter is a woman tormented, clinging desperately to reality, alone and vulnerable. The story is well-written and the suspense is relentless.

I listened to the audio version and the narrators were perfect for this book! The storyline captivated me from the very beginning and the mystery kept me guessing almost to the end. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’m adding her other books to my TBR list immediately!!

WOW! Twists and turns throughout and you will not know until near the end who the killer really is. Great story telling! Liv Reese has traumatic amnesia and she cannot remember what happened over the last two years if she falls asleep. When she wakes up she remembers nothing of the past two years after she receives a phone call at work. That was the trigger of events. Nope I'm not going to tell you what the events are. You can figure out a lot from the first line above. What is fascinating is the lengths she goes to try to figure out what is going on. Once I started this one, I could not stop listening.

This book was a slow start for me but once it picked up I was hooked! I sometimes find it difficult to follow along In the timeline of a mystery/thriller but this one was okay. I really liked being in the head of Liv because she was missing chunks of her memory, we also were missing parts of the story which made it hard to piece together evidence as a reader (which I like!! I don’t like when it’s too easy to figure out). Overall great book.

Excellent, chilling book with a great narrator for the audiobook. I will be telling everyone to read this book it had me at the edge of my seat and I never guessed the outcome. I loved it

Reading Between the Wines book review #62/135 for 2022:
Rating: 4 🍷 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: Stay Awake
Author: Megan Goldin
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
Audio version RELEASES on August 9, 2022!!!

Sipping thoughts: Can you imagine that you wake up and don’t remember the last 2 years of your life. Furthermore, you don’t remember a huge tragedy that involved you, a dead body, bloody knife and an unknown assailant. Or is that assailant you? This Groundhog’s Day modern day replica had me on the edge of my seat to see what actually happened that fatal day Liv Reese lost her memory. I cannot believe I did not figure out who the killer was. It was right under my nose the whole time and I overlooked it. I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery and really liked the detective Darcy Halliday and could see her character becoming a series. This book Stay Awake made me do just that- Stay awake entirely too long into the night to finish the book.

For those that said it was completely repetitive, yes it was-of course, because every time Liv woke up she would have to relive the moment she realized she has lost her memory of the last 2 years. Goldin's last 2 releases (The Night Swim and The Escape Room) were both 4 stars as well, I can't wait for the next release.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley, @megangoldinauthor and @MacMillanAudio for an advance copy of @StayAwake.

#StayAwake #MeganGoldin #McMillanAudio #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

What happens when she goes to sleep and why doesn't she remember?
Liv wakes in a taxi with no recollection of where she is or how she got there. She arrives at her apartment to a stranger opening the door and claiming she no longer lives there, forcing her back into the cold outside. When she grabs for her phone to seek help, she notices that its missing, instead she finds a knife covered in blood and notices her hands are covered in pen ink, with scribbled messages like "STAY AWAKE". The memories Liv has is living with her bestie, dating a new man, and writing for a trendy magazine. Now, she's lost and confused. What has she done for the past two years or even just last night? She's horrified to see a news report mention a crime scene where the murderer used the victims blood to write a message on the window. The same message written on her very own hand... Someone knows what happened that night and they want to make her pay. Can she find her memory and piece together what happened that night?
I couldn't get enough of this story! I flew through it, dying to know what would happen next. I read the e-book and listened to the audiobook. The narrators did a wonderful job; You can really feel Liv's confusion and apprehension. I can't wait to read more of Megan Goldin's work. If this isn't already on your TBR, add it now!
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and Edelweiss+. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

I listened to this and thought the two narrators did a good job with the emotions and suspense of this book. When Liv falls asleep, she forgets anything from the past two years. When she wakes up her last memory is from two years earlier, when she was at work. There are two timelines, the present and the two years before and it was easy to follow the changes between the two. It did get a little repetitive to me in the middle but overall I enjoyed this audio book. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I must begin by complimenting the narrators of this book. The audio pace was quick and right on target, building and building on the suspense.
Once you accept the premise of someone losing their memory from one moment to the next and not being able to recount any aspects of how and why you are a murder suspect in the deaths of dear friends and lovers, the book premise works. The plot kept me on edge and I couldn't stop listening from start to finish. I was able to guess some of it but, ultimately, the ending surprised me, which left me satisfied.
This is my first Goldin read and I am a fan, looking forward to reading what comes next!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ebook and audiobook arcs of Stay Awake. I was excited to read this one because I also enjoyed The Night Swim by the same author. I liked this one for the most part- it definitely kept me guessing at who might have been the one responsible for the murder. Because of the nature of the main characters memory loss, it did get repetitive at times, but that was also helping build the story. The addition of the different perspectives of the main character and one of the detectives was also a nice detail and kept the story progressing. It wasn't a page turner for me, but an okay book. 3.5 ⭐

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC!

Another one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it was a little underwhelming. The synopsis makes the story more thrilling and jarring than it actually was. The final act was interesting though.

Many aspects of the mystery were interesting but it didn’t really grab me. I blame the choppy alternating POVs with kinda bland protagonists. Not to mention that things were more so spoon-fed rather than cleverly discovered or revealed. And even when those details were out in the open, it felt like nothing was made of it. The pace could’ve been picked up.

A lot was happening but the flat writing made it feel like nothing was happening. A lot of details were repetitive. And I get it, Liv has amnesia but it was bothersome to hear the same things repeatedly.

Pub date: 9 Aug 2022

I will forever be pleased to listen when Imogen Church talks. Happy to hear she narrated half of this one. The narrators were both great! Lots of emotions and differences in voice & inflection for different characters.

I liked this story. I can see how some would find it repetitive but I do feel like it was done well, to put the reader in Liv's frame of mind each time she wakes.

We meet Liv Reese in current time when she wakes up in the back of a cab unsure where she is, where she's going or been. We jump back in time about two years earlier several times throughout the book. Then, when we get towards the end, we go back two days from the current time. I found the multi timelines easy enough to follow.

Along with Liv in the current time, we follow Detectives Darcy Halliday and Jack Lavelle as they investigate the murder of a British man. Detective Halliday was my favorite character by far.

There were several times I rolled my eyes at Liv's decisions but then again, I can't imagine waking up with no memories of the past two years so I guess I can't judge.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and how everything gets wrapped up in a neat bow by the end. There's a lot of details included that explain each piece of the mystery.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy audiobook to read and review.

This was a DNF for me I'm sorry but the premis was so ridiculous I couldn't really appreciate it maybe I'll try again as I really enjoyed the writing but the story itself was hard to get into

Stay Awake was my third ARC from author Megan Goldin (I really need to get ahold of that other backlist title!) and I swear they just keep getting better and better. Stay Awake is definitely my favorite of the three I've read (The Escape Room, The Night Swim, and Stay Awake).

We open the story with Liv Reese waking up with no idea where she is or how she got there. The only possible hint she has is writing on her arms, but all it says is "Stay Awake". Why? She arrives home just to find out she doesn't live there anymore and when she goes to call for help, she finds a bloody knife. How in the world did Liv get this knife and why can't she remember?!

Stay Awake is truly twisted and suspenseful. The narrator is clearly unreliable, as she has no memory of what happened. We get to watch the story unfold at the same time as Liv so I truly had no idea what was going on until the end either. The twists make sense, but you never see them coming, which is something I definitely look for in my thrillers. This was a five star read for me and solidifies the fact that I love Megan Goldin and will be picking up anything she writes in the future.

Overall the plot line of the book was a bit over hyped. I thought the ending was going to be way different. It was difficult to get through the beginning of this book and then the ending felt very rushed. I think overall I give it a 3.75.

This audiobook captivated me from the first few seconds. The paranoia that she felt and distrust of everyone and everything was easy to feel as well. I enjoyed the lapses back to see everything leading up to her breaking point and everything that happened present day. I also liked the investigation perspective to see how that aligned to the story overall. Everything came together nicely in the end. This is a must read/listen!

This story was slow to start and kept a slower pace throughout and was way too similar to Before we go to sleep which I also didn't enjoy

Megan Goldin is solidifying her place as a mystery/thriller queen in my books!

STAY AWAKE while sounding like it may feel a bit hokey with a main character who forgets the last two years of her life every time she falls asleep, actually delivered with an unreliable narrator that didn't piss me off. Liv's condition was triggered by a horrifying tragedy and re-triggered by a very upsetting time in her life and a lack of sleep.

This is a dual time line AND dual POV. We get Liv's past and preset and we get (female detective) Halliday in the present. For me, who struggles at times keeping time lines in order when they're too mixed, I actually found this one pretty easy to follow. I liked both characters and both POV's.

One thing I love about Goldin is the way she weaves in our societal and cultural issues into her plot. This book dealt with the trouble stalker victims often have at getting law enforcement to do anything to help them without them actually being hurt first. It felt right with the story.

I'd say I guessed who the bad guy was half-way through: the who and the why. But honestly that didn't hurt my enjoyment any. Because the best part of guessing while you read is finding out if you were able to put it together or not!

If you like thrillers, I definitely recommend this one! And if you like Audiobooks, this one was fantastic!

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Megan Goldin for the advanced listener’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Liv Reese wakes up with no memory of how she ended up in a cab. Not only that, she soon realizes that it’s actually been 2 years since her last memory. She has writing on her hands reminding her to STAY AWAKE, and a similar message coming from a local murder case. What’s the connection, and why can’t she remember?

I recently listened to The Night Swim by Megan Goldin, and I absolutely loved it, so when I saw a new book coming soon I was very excited to check it out!

First off, the audio. There are two different narrators, so you can distinguish between the two character POVs easily. The narrator for Liv’s part had a somewhat questioning tone for a lot of her reading, which gave a really good sense of how Liv was actually feeling.

The story itself was very intriguing. The more we learned about Liv’s past, the more questions that seemed to come up. I had my guesses about who the killer would be, but in the end I was surprised! There were a couple of characters that I would’ve like a bit more follow-up on, but overall I thought this was a solid fast-paced thriller that kept me interested throughout!