Woke by an Entirely Different Alarm.

Liz can NOT sleep. She won’t let herself. Because everytime she lays her head down, she loses her immediate memory of all preceding experiences.

She’s justifiably paranoid and probably in danger - in addition to being wanted by the police.

If you’re familiar with the movie Memento, this has a similar frenetic pace featuring a confused and vulnerable character. How disconcerting it would be to go to sleep and then wake to discover that everything you’d experienced since you’d last slept had been erased from your memory.

However, different from the movie, the intensity was dispersed between two time periods in Liz’s life and the detective’s perspectives while investigating a murder. This approach kept things from being one dimensional. A police procedural AND a psychological thriller? Sign me up!

I had thought this would be an easy five stars from the beginning but there were a few inconsistencies which reigned in my rating. All in all, this was a fabulous buddy read with Marilyn, Jayme, and DeAnn, giving way to some lively comments by the entirety.

Thank you to Megan Goldin, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for my electronic copy. I was excited to be approved and loved reading this. Due for August 9, 2022 publication.

Wow! This was so exciting and thrilling. I haven't read a good thriller in a while because I think they start off too slow, or they're just not thrilling enough. TBH, I held off on reading this book but I'm glad I finally picked it up. A great read :)

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 stars)

My thoughts: Have you ever read a book that captured you from the very beginning, and refused to let you go until the very end? THIS is that book.

What I loved; the lead detective is a woman, the main character follows her instincts even though she has no memory to assist those instincts, the Memento/50 First Dates similarities. What I disliked; NOTHING.

This book has earned its spot as my favorite book of the month, if not the year. I loved everything about it.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Megan Goldin for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Stay Awake will be available for purchase on August 9th 2022.

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 stars)

My thoughts: Have you ever read a book that captured you from the very beginning, and refused to let you go until the very end? THIS is that book.

What I loved; the lead detective is a woman, the main character follows her instincts even though she has no memory to assist those instincts, the Memento/50 First Dates similarities. What I disliked; NOTHING.

This book has earned its spot as my favorite book of the month, if not the year. I loved everything about it.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Megan Goldin for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Stay Awake will be available for purchase on August 9th 2022.

4-5 caffeinated stars

We meet Liv when she wakes up in a taxi and she has no memory of the recent past. She is shocked when strangers answer the doorbell at her apartment, who are these people? Where is her roommate Amy and her cat?

Liv discovers writing all over her arms reminding her to stay awake and not to trust anyone. She’s in a pickle with no cell phone or purse, but luckily, she finds cash in her pockets.

The book toggles back and forth between the present and the past so we get to know Liv, her boyfriend Marco, roommate Amy, and a bit about her job writing for a culture magazine.

Now in the present, Liv discovers a crime has been committed and she realizes she might be responsible as she can’t remember anything from the night before. Why was there a knife in her pocket? As she works to put the pieces together and struggles to stay awake, danger seems to be following her and the police seem to be closing in. My sympathies grew for Liv as the book went on, how horrible to not be able to remember things!

Speaking of police, I liked the storyline with Darcy, the interim homicide detective who is working the case. She is smart and stands up for herself. As they close in on Liv as the prime suspect, I kept hoping there was another answer.

This was a fast-paced and well-written thriller. I really like this author’s writing style and this one exceeded my expectations!

STAY AWAKE

Liv Reese doesn’t know why she has this written in black pen all over her hands. In fact, she has no idea when she wakes up in the back of a taxi of how she got there, or why, in place of her cell phone, her pocket contains a bloody knife. (Think the TV show-Blindspot”)

It’s because she suffers from a rare form of amnesia which can be described as repetitive dissociative fugue. When she falls asleep, she forgets everything that has happened over the past two years. So, she lives on caffeine, No Doz tablets, and energy drinks, hoping she can avoid repeating the cycle. But, nobody can avoid sleep indefinitely.

STAY AWAKE

Written in the Victim’s own blood, these same words have been painstakingly written on the window of a crime scene. Is it possible that Liv committed this crime? Is that why she has the knife? It can’t be a coincidence! Who can she trust to help her figure everything out?

The book unfolds in two timelines, TWO YEARS PRIOR and the PRESENT-told through the perspectives of Liv, and a detective on the case-Darcy Halliday.

The story was entertaining but NOT very surprising. I figured most of it out, including the PERP, pretty quickly. So, it lacked the WOW factor of a five star thriller for me.

Still, I enjoyed learning the details and reading to see if I was correct, and Megan Goldin remains an auto-request author for me!

See if you can figure it out on August 9, 2022!

Thank You to St. Martin’s Press for the gifted copy! It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

Liv is a writer at a fashion/foodie magazine. She wakes up in a cab, with blood on her, and words written on herself such as "stay awake" and "trust nobody" and "don't sleep" She then discovers that two years have gone by. She is alone and afraid. She tries to discover what happened , and what is going on.

In the meantime, there is a murder and someone has written "stay awake" on the window in blood. This part of the story is told from the detective investigating it, and you know the two stories will intersect at some point. The plot of this story was something a little different, which I appreciate. I was getting tired of the same story being told over and over and it was really great to read something different.

This was a fast, engaging read. It was suspenseful and I found myself rooting for Liv. That being said, I liked the first half of the book better when I had no idea what was going on. The second half felt just a bit repetitive - was this on purpose?

This was worth the read. However, I had a few issues. I couldn't help inserting myself into the story and thinking what I would do. Why would she not go to the police or the hospital? why was she making the decisions that she was? Normally, this is a good thing, but in this case, it kept removing me from the story because she was aggravating me. On the other hand - the fact that I was feeling aggravated is a good sign right? It means I was invested in the book.

Overall, this is a 3.5 star read rounded up to 4 .
Thank you to the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

This book grabbed me from the start. Memory is such a large part of a persons life and to lose your memories would be horrible. I really liked the storyline and the different plot lines

Thank you to the publisher and @NetGalley for the E-ARC copy of this book. The rating of this book is entirely of my own opinion.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading it. It was so good, it was actually stressing me out. The writing is suspenseful and full of detailed. The characters are well rounded, and you have no problem rooting for Liv as she goes through the horror of what is her life. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves a good thriller with believable characters, action, and suspense.

My review is voluntary and all comments and opinions expressed are
my own.

This book was so jacked up in such a good way! I cannot even fathom the vulnerability and confusion of forgetting recent history every time I fell asleep. Liv is an awesome character, with such a unique set of circumstances. And the twist at the end! And the detectives! Once I got into it I couldn't put it down and I've already recommended it to like three people since I finished. One of Goldin's best!

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion. WOW! This book has it all!!! It's absolutely the most twisted action packed book you may ever read! I loved it so much! You will NOT be able to put it down once you begin to read! So darn good!

This is my third book by Megan Goldin, and unfortunately, I just don’t think she’s for me. I finished this book but barely. The problem is not the storyline; that I loved and is the only reason I finished this book. I needed to know what happened and why. It’s the writing style that’s the problem for me. So many elements seemed thrown in, and there were little details that were SO wrong that it took me completely out of the story. For example, near the beginning of the story, the main character mentions that she loves to cook, and studied “Cordon Bleu” cooking. I am a classically trained chef and this is not a style of cooking, it’s a cooking school. A person would say they studied classical French cooking. There were several instances like this that really bothered me. This is on top of the style of writing that just felt stilted and awkward in a lot of places. Like I said earlier, maybe she’s just not for me, as I’ve read many reviewers that loved it.
I do appreciate the opportunity to read this early though.

This has got to be my favorite thriller read of all time! That first chapter hooked me and I could not put it down until I finished the book. I really loved the time jump between chapters. It really made it more suspenseful.

After a traumatic event, Liv relieves every day with no memory of the day before. She's lost 2 years of her life and through the chapters, we get to read why and how this happened. I was pleasantly surprised with the ending but in reality it didn't matter who the villain was, since I was happy reading every page. Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

I enjoyed this advanced copy from the publisher.
It was a fast paced gripping plot making me guess what really happened.. . To lead up to the current mysteries. Who is the guilty party? Who do you trust?
4.5☆

A suspenseful thriller telling the story of a young woman with a tragic past and her current life in New York City that throws her yet another curveball as she plunged deep into some very disturbing circumstances.

I really liked this book! Thanks again to #NetGalley for a chance to read and review this ARC! Think 50 First Dates meets murder thriller and this is this book! I instantly loved Liv and wanted to help know her story and find out what happened! Didn't put too much into trying to figure out the killer, let the book take me on the journey. I wasn't shocked at who the killer was but I didn't really KNOW. Great short read! Definitely worth reading and would recommend to a friend... So, friend, check out this book! 😊

Liv Reese wakes disoriented, with no idea where she is or how she got here. The last thing she remembers is answering her phone at work, “This is Liv.” But here she is, sitting in the back of a taxi with a bloodstained knife in her hands. She looks down at her hands and finds messages on them, telling her to “stay awake” and “don’t trust anyone.” After finding her apartment is occupied by strangers, she feels like she’s living someone else’s life as she goes around the city, looking for anything familiar. On the news, she hears of a man that was murdered in the early hours of the morning. On the window to the apartment where the dead man was found, a message can be seen from the street “Wake up!” She’s seen messages like that. On her own hands. What happened last night? And why can’t she remember any of it?

Wow! What a ride! This book hooked me from the very beginning and didn’t let me go until the very last page. Every time Liv fell asleep, I could feel myself tensing, fearful of what she may or may not remember when she wakes up. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the whole book. An excellent psychological thriller that shows how far the mind will go to protect itself from trauma, and the deep-seated will for it to survive.

The biggest thank you to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press, and Megan Goldin for allowing me to read this ARC, which was provided to me in exchange for my honest review.

Suspense read that kept me guessing through most of the book. Hard to get into at first but once I did, I couldn't stop reading. I needed to figure out the story! Likable main character that keeps you interested in her story.

Stay Awake is one of the greatest psychological thrillers I’ve read this year! Liv Reese is a newly promoted foodie writer at Cultura Magazine in New York. She lives with her cat Shawna and her best friend Amy, an intern for a hospital. These girls are different in their appearance and choice of men, for the most part, but treat each other like sisters. Life for Liv is relatively normal until one night she awakes in the back of a cab with no recollection of how she got there or where she’s going. Her memory serves her no help after a night drinking at a bar called Nocturnal. She returns home to her apartment only to discover a new couple living in the apartment she once called home. A mixture of murder and memory lapses drive Liv to discover what happened the night she cannot recall.
This was the first novel I read by Megan Goldin and I was blown away. I was apprehensive at the debut of the novel because the perspective jumps between Liv’s memories, current life and the perspective of investigator Darcy Halliday. Goldin maintains suspense by separating the perspectives chapter by chapter. This story was so well crafted I missed many of the red herrings! I breezed right through these pages eager to get to the bottom of Liv’s missing memories and where her friends of the past disappeared to. My only complaint that is a minor, yet seemingly important detail revolved around two specific characters. There’s no real answer to who they are, or if they were one in the same person. More importantly, were they just examples of the harsh reality many women and femme persons face in daily life? It’s because of these unfinished loose ends my review fell short of just five stars.
Megan Goldin lured me into a story that I’ll remember for a long time. I look forward to reading more by her. Thank you NetGalley for lending me this ARC!