Insomnia robs like a thief in the night. It leaves zombie-like days bouncing madly in the pinball game of life. Eyelids begging to close up shop. Days and days past your bedtime.

When a Megan Goldin novel arrives on the scene, you just grab it and clutch it to your chest. Stay Awake is in that category. Goldin comes up with a brilliant storyline encompassing the "what if's" that happen in life. She's hooked a winner here with the clutches of sleep deprivation.......the mind in the death throws of the inability to shut down and find peace. Constant swirling and whirling thoughts that never seem to hush.

We'll come upon Liv Reese who stumbles into a cab in New York City in the wee hours. The driver follows her instructions to take her home to her apartment. Liv is confused and disoriented, but she knows that her best friend and roommate, Amy, will sort things out.

Liv, with no key, no phone or handbag, pounds on the door of their building. There's no sign of life until a couple stomps down the stairs and begins flicking on lights. They inform Liv that they are the residents of the apartment. No Amy or Liv live there. They threaten to call the police. Liv makes a dash to a familiar bar called the Nocturnal. The bartender recognizes Liv, but she is clueless. Liv notices a barrage of graffiti written all over both of her hands. Snarls of pen marks bearing words like Stay Awake and Don't Open the Door and a phone number she doesn't recognize.

Upon leaving the bar, she reaches into the huge pockets of her long cardigan and finds a bloody knife wrapped in a t-shirt. Why, what, and how come to mind. She immediately gets rid of it in an alley garbage can. Liv will stumble around the city trying to make sense of the last hours.......hours, days, and shockingly, two years of time unaccounted for.

Megan Goldin creates a scene of shocking proportions with her main character of Liv. You'll find your own brain in vertigo from the descriptors and this panic-infused journey into a Black Hole. Liv will become part of a murder scene splashed out constantly by the media. She recognizes herself in a video revealing her movement out of an elevator where the crime took place. Liv has no memory and no clue as to why she was there.......and we don't either......until certain individuals start showing up in search of the elusive Liv. Oh, Momma.

I highly recommend Stay Awake if you're looking for a stunner of a read. There's nothing like falling into the chambers of a mind that is out to sea with no recollect of current happenings or the footprints as to how you got there. Goldin is up to the challenge in this one. Just grab it and run.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to the talented Megan Goldin for the opportunity.

Really good suspenseful thriller! The moment it all comes together was perfect. Someone compared it to Momento and 50 First Dates and I’d have to agree! The main character is unreliable because with her memory loss, she can’t even rely on herself. With short chapters that keep you guessing throughout, you just can’t stop turning pages. Quick thrilling mystery that I recommend!

Excellent, couldn't put down this well-written thriller suspense novel.

Liv Reese wakes up not remembering anything about he life of the past two years. She doesn't remember that her BFF Amy Decker is dead. Liv doesn't remember yesterday!

I'm not saying anything more about this novel that is told during a 24 hour day with flashbacks to the past - it might spoil the plot. Characters are human and their relationships to Liv are important.

I'll be adding a print copy of Stay Awake to my lending library.

I’m very bummed to report that I did not like this book. I kept expecting more but the story just jumped around and seemed to drag on with way too much of a slow, repetitive pace. Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Full review closer to publication date!

I'd like to thank the publisher, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thrillers & Mystery are not my typical genre; but a reviewer that I admire gave it 5 stars. Definitely a page turner! And I was staying awake reading it because I couldn't put it down! Reading from 3am until I finished at about 7am.

Did I guess what the ending. Nope.

So why not 5 stars? I feel like everything fell into place a little too easily (or I feel like I've been giving out 5 stars a little too easily lately) one of the two. I definitely enjoyed STAY AWAKE as I was reading, but when the book was completed, I felt a little conflicted about giving it 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley (again for introducing me to an author I haven't had the opportunity to read yet!), Megan Goldin the author and St. Martins Press the publisher for the opportunity to read the advance read copy in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is Aug 9, 2022.

I love Megan Goldin so much! All her books are excellent and addicting!

What a wild ride!

Such a most gripping psychological thriller! I’ve mentioned this before, but I usually really get annoyed by the unreliable narrator cliché but in this case, I ate it up! I thought the premise was so creative

Right from the beginning, I was hooked and intrigued! The story was so suspenseful and tense, I kept needing to read more and more to find out “what will happen next”!

I really enjoyed the different POVs, we got Liv’s version of the story and then we also got a police procedural story going on simultaneously. Really loved the combination. I actually really loved the main detective’s character, and I would 100% read the continuation to her story (please make a series with this character!).

Overall, great unpredictable and unique thriller - highly recommend!

This was an interesting enough premise, but so many of the plot twists felt painfully obvious. What is with the completely unresolved plot about the waiter? I get it was a red herring, but still, could’ve used a single mention of him after a certain point. The ending felt far too abrupt. I wanted to love this; I guess I wanted it to be more than it was. 3.25 stars. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.
What a page turner! You will be gripped by the sheer terror it must feel like to wake up every morning with no memories of the past 2 years. To everyday be confronted by people who seem to know you but you can’t remember them. Nothing is as it appears and I felt for Liv. Darcy Halliday is also compassionate and has a clear headed approach to the case. The ending is also not what you will likely suspect.

What a thrill ride this book took me on! If you want an on your toes, up past bedtime read, this is it! Liv Reese, former writer at a well-known magazine, wakes up in the back of a taxi with no recollection of what has gone on. She is wearing a blood-stained shirt and has a bloodied knife on her as well. Written all over her hands are reminders for her to "stay awake", "trust nobody", a phone number of who to call, etc. In her state of confusion she tries to follow her own clues back to where she belongs. Meanwhile, a murder is being investigated, where one of the only clues was the message "Wake Up" written in blood on the window. This is told in real time of the present day, alternating between Liv's point of view and Detective's, and also flashbacks from 2 years ago when the rollercoaster ride truly began. I gave this book 5 stars (and I only give 5 stars if I cannot stop thinking about a book and cannot put it down), and would highly recommend it. I have never read a book .quite like this one, This was my first Megan Goldin book, and now I am on a mission to read all of her other books. Thank you to Net Galley and Megan Goldin for the advanced digital copy of Stay Awake.

Wow.

Imagine waking up in a taxi cab and going to your own apartment, only to find that you don't live there anymore. You go to work and you recognize no one but these strangers greet you like a long lost friend. The last thing you remember is receiving a phone call on a nice summer day. Now it's fall. Your body is covered with graffiti. Wake up! Trust no one! In your pocket? A bloody knife.

This book is a nail-biting thrill ride from page one until the very end. There has only been one other book in the recent past that has dragged me in and strapped me down like this book did and that was Gone Girl. I absolutely could not put this book down. We follow Liv as she wakes with amnesia, revisiting the things that happened to her on the day her memory stopped, and we get sneak peeks of the 48 hours leading up to the moment where we first meet Liv. Intermingled with Liv's experiences are the detectives who are investigating the death of the unidentified victim who was killed with the bloody knife Liv found in her pocket. Is Liv a vicious killer? Or the ultimate unwitting victim? You won't want to stop reading until you find out!

If I could give this book 6 stars, I would. This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys suspense and mystery, but make sure you've got plenty of time because you won't be accomplishing much of anything else until you've finished reading it!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

3/5 Stars

Stay Awake is another adult psychological thriller from Megan Goldin and when I tell you I RACED to get approved for this, I am not even joking. I adore Megan's writing style and her ability to build tension so when I read about this, I was instantly chomping at the bit to get my hands on it.

Liv Reese comes awake in the back of a taxi with no memory of how she got there, a bloody knife in her pocket, and a scrawled message saying "Stay Awake". When she returns to her apartment, there are strangers living there. Her boyfriend, her family, and her friends are no where to be found and each time she sleeps — it starts all over again.

This story jumped all over the place and we had a mastery of an unreliable narrator in Liv as she didn't even know what was going on the entire time and we were left trailing after her confused and increasingly terrified wake. It was a confusing, twisting ride of a story to follow and often the story tended to lag for me because of the odd pacing that had to be kept for this type of thing.

As we pieced together Liv's memories, the story picked back up again in that familiar, racing way that is so typical of these types of thrillers. I am not typically a fan of "Groundhog Day" type scenarios though and I think that is part of why aspects of this book fell flat for me. Jumping timelines and repetition end up yeeting me right out of the narrative most of the time and I took that into account when I began.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, I just didn't love it like I did Megan's previous ones. But anyone who is a fan of this trope are going to fall all over themselves to get this one when it drops in August!

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for gifting me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was one crazy read. It took me a bit to get used to the before and present. The whole memory issue was wild. It definitely keeps you on your toes, although a tad predictable. It’s sort of mind blowing to think of falling asleep and forgetting everything. I thought it was a really good psychological thriller. Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC

Liv wakes up every time with zero memory of the last two years. The narrative changes from Liv, the main character, to the police hunting her.
I enjoyed the very unrealistic story. However, I was left with several unanswered questions at the end. This would be a perfect beach read.

I loved this book! My favorite thing about this read was that it hooked me from the very beginning. It was well written and didn't have too many POV's and just the right amount of twists. I did figure out the big twist about 2/3 of the way through but I still enjoyed finishing it. This was my first book to read from Megan Goldin and I am already starting on another one of her books. Thank you so much for the ARC!

I am a sucker for an unreliable narrator and a disjointed timeline, so this sucked me in right away. I also think that it was a really unique plot and that the way it all wove together was pretty amazing. I really liked the two main characters, both strong females dealing with past demons, just trying to make their way in the world. But I also loved the mystery and suspense that Goldin created. I felt like the end was a little rushed, and I needed a little more closure and understanding, but all in all, a good thriller.

This 5-Star read was totally out of my comfort zone and I LOVED every minute!! The premise sounded silly, but it was Megan Goldin so of course I had to read it. Super-happy I did! Yes, still having trouble believing in the whole Groundhog Day/losing memory every time you fall asleep idea that the entire story is based on, BUT this is the beauty of this author! I still tore through the pages. Liv was such a cool and fascinating character. She wakes up in a cab with writing all over herself and a bloody knife in her pocket and no memory for the last two years. Each time I would think "Wait a minute! Why doesn't she just.....?", a different POV would come along, and I could make it all make sense again. Does that make sense? Well, that's kind of like this book, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but it makes sense! The only issue I had (and it's a SMALL one) is I wish there had been more of an explanation for the reasoning of why the culprit was motivated to do what was done in the first place. Like I said, no biggie. Super-cool read and I highly recommend it!

Just a sidenote, this author did the same, exact thing with The Escape Room. No interest in an elevator/locked-room story. I read Night Swim, LOVED it and then gave it a chance! Loved that one too! Looking forward to seeing what Megan Goldin comes up with next!

Thank you to #NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Megan Goldin for this MUCH appreciated ARC!

I absolutely loved this book, and I’ve already begun telling people that it’s going to end up on my top books of 2022 list! This one gave me straight up “Memento” vibes- such a fun concept. Loved it!

What a thrilling read! This story grabs your attention from the beginning and keeps it straight to the end. How would it feel to wake up and have no memory from the previous two years and you must stay awake or you will continue to lose your memory. I loved this story and can't wait to read more from this author!

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

*Imagine waking up and not recognizing where you are. Your last memory is a sunny day, a phone ringing at work, you picking it up...and that's it. Now it's fall, over two years later, and you have no memory of what has happened in those two years. You've written things like "STAY AWAKE" all over your hands and arms. But you can only stay awake so long before your body gives out on you. *Imagine waking up and not recognizing where you are. Your last memory is a sunny day, a phone ringing at work, you picking it up...and that's it. Now it's fall, over two years later, and you have no memory of what has happened in those two years. You've written things like "STAY AWAKE" all over your hands and arms. But you can only stay awake so long before your body gives out on you. *Imagine waking up and not recognizing where you are. Your last memory is a sunny day, a phone ringing at work, you picking it up...and that's it. Now it's fall, over two years later, and you have no memory of what has happened in those two years. You've written things like "STAY AWAKE" all over your hands and arms. But you can only stay awake so long before your body gives out on you.

That's Liz's reality, She wakes up to confusion and has to start all over again, trying to figure out where the people she knew have gone, She has a bloody knife in her pocket and her short hair is now down to her waist. Her apartment belongs to a couple she doesn't know, her former co-workers think she's been in London. They reference something bad having happened. This story is told in multiple timelines, from several POVs. Something is wrong with Liz, wrong with her life. She has notes to herself to trust no one. Strangers seem to know her, people she knows are acting strangely around her. She's getting weird phone calls from someone who says sinister things.

Liz's situation can definitely fit in the "one's worst nightmare" category. Other than Liz's POV, we see the present day investigation of a murder by two detectives. One is pretty sure Liz committed the murder, the other thinks something is off and wants to give Liz the benefit of the doubt. Red herrings fly, smacking the wall, distracting from a very obvious suspect for the evil that has transpired. The story is intriguing, the plight of Liz is horrifying, and I felt as exhausted as she did as she goes through utter confusion every time she wakes up. We do go back in time to learn what led up to her last memory two years ago but then...nothing...after Liz picks up the phone at work. All she remembers of the last two years is what has happened since she last woke up. She's all alone, she can't trust anyone. And she knows someone has been watching, is watching.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.