Wow! A mind-bending, heart-stopping thriller told in a cinematic style, Stay Awake will make you forget everything until you’ve reached its gasp-worthy conclusion. Ingenious, intriguing and intoxicating, this stylish thriller is a fresh take of an amnesiac’s experience, expertly pulling you in as she pieces together her fractured memories of what happened to the dead man she woke up next to. Utterly unforgettable!

When Liv wakes in a cab, she doesn’t have anything. Not her keys, not her phone, not her coat. Only a bloody knife, which she quickly hides. In the vein of Memento with hints of Before I Go To Sleep, the story follows Liv as she finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing. To make matters worse, every time she falls asleep, her memory resets and her mind goes back to two years before. But what happened two years before? And is someone out to make sure she doesn’t remember, permanently?

One of the most dazzling, clever books I’ve read in a long time!

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

While the main character’s condition is hard to believe, it made for a great thriller. This mystery kept me on the edge of my seat, kept me guessing and turning pages. It was easy to become invested in the story. There were many timelines, and abrupt switches in perspectives, but i did not have too much trouble keeping up. It was a bit dizzying.

This thriller will make your heart race! Lots of suspense and plots twists. This was a great read and I highly recommend it.

Such a good book and an interesting read. The main character wakes up and has no idea where she is. Come to find out, it's actually years later than she thinks. The story follows her as she tries to find out who she is and what is going on. Definitely keeps you hanging on until the end!

Megan Goldin is one of my top 5 favorite thriller writers of all time! Her books are enthralling and it's hard to stop reading even though you know sleep is important. This book? Absolutely consuming from start to finish. I didn't want to put it down and I know many readers will feel the same. Highly recommended!

I wanted to like this book more than I did. Reading the book’s description and seeing the cover intrigued me enough to request an advanced copy.

However, the pace of the novel was slow, and the characters weren’t engaging. At times the story dragged to where I didn’t want to continue reading. Although I liked the detectives, less would still have been better.

To summarize, the end of the novel wrapped up well, but it felt like it took far too long to get to it.

LOVED LOVED this book. Once I picked up this book I could not stop reading it until I found out what happens. In Stay Awake we meet a women named Liv and we find out through out the book why she needs to stay awake and not to trust anyone. You go on this roller coaster with her and how she comes out of it. Highly recommend this novel you will not be disappointed.. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy for a honest review.

Stay Awake was my first novel to read by author Megan Goldin and sadly this one was just not for me.

While I was compelled to finish this book, in the end I was just underwhelmed and found it too repetitive for my liking! I also thought there were some plot holes and loose ends that I really needed answers to that affected my rating as well.

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved reading this book, I guarantee it will be one of the most popular thrillers for 2022! You will want to stay awake and keep reading well into the night, it was very hard to put down. A dark and twisty thriller that goes back and forth between two years earlier and the present time with the main character Liv. Every time Liv falls asleep she wakes up and thinks that it is 2 years earlier. The book follows her frantically trying to piece together what happened in those 2 years and why she has all sorts of messages written on her hands such as Stay Awake, that could be connected to a murder that has the same message written on the window. Stay Awake had a great plot, written at an excellent pace and you keeps you guessing is Liv the murderer or the victim?

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the eARC.

I would predict this is going to be a 2022 MUST READ! I was given an early copy in exchange for an honest review. STAY AWAKE is what you want to do. The book is that great However, I waited too long and did fall asleep,it was so late when I started this one I couldn’t help myself. I fell asleep mid read and felt like Liv, I didn’t have a memory for certain parts. I should have not moved my bookmark before I fell asleep. Then reread chapters from last evening. At any rate there are so many twist and turns. my heart started thumping when Liv’s did. With two years previous, Current detectives reviewing previous work, Thoughts and actions of current detectives regarding current murder. This book ticks off all the marks of a great murder, suspense, thriller. Whatever you want to call it. You are going to love it. STAYAWAKE. I will be recommending this to anyone who likes a #murder/thriller/suspense. #Youwillloveittoo. I have no doubt it will be a #2022Best Read!

This one fell a little short for me, which is disappointing.

I love thrillers, and I was immediately interested in this plot. However, the pace is just a little too slow for me. It felt like it took a little while for anything to start going somewhere, and once we start getting somewhere... well, all of that takes a little while for me. I am not a slow burn type of reader - I need my pacing to be a little more engaging to hold me, and I just wasn't expecting this to move so slowly.

I liked the main character as an unreliable narrator; I thought it definitely made things a lot more interesting. I didn't necessarily feel the same way about a lot of the side characters. They felt a little trope-y, conventional. In fact, the novel itself feels very conventional. Which again, is absolutely fine.

Despite my review, I wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading this novel. If you enjoy a slow burn thriller, and don't mind the aforementioned features, then I would definitely recommend this one. The writing is unpretentious and easy, and as I said, the plot is solid.

Three stars because while I didn't necessarily connect or click with this one, I cannot say this is objectively bad. Just very middle of the road, for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a free digital copy in exchange for a for a fair and honest review.

I liked this thriller, and I’m not usually a thriller person. A little confusing with the time hops when the main character already doesn’t know what is going on, but I get the reasoning for its use in the narrative. Liked the main character and nods to Memento.

I’ve always steered clear of mystery/thrillers, because I’m a big baby but wow this was a good read! Like Groundhog Day with a creepy twist. I genuinely did not know where this story was going, and was completely surprised by the end. Now I know I should give this genre more of a chance!

I don’t normally like memory/amnesia books because they don’t feel believable or they have the same ending but THIS WAS SOMETHING ELSE. Liv doesn’t just have amnesia, she has trauma induced self-insomnia amnesia that causes her mind to reset every time she falls asleep. She resets to two years ago thinking she’s at the same job, apartment, life only…she’s not. And now, she’s woken up with a bloody knife in her pocket and all signs point to her as a gruesome murderer.
I loved the back and forth time lines between Liv now, Liv two years ago, and Detective Darcy Halliday trying to piece together what happened. She’s working across agencies and countries to get to the bottom of what looks like and open shut case and she stands her ground with senior detectives about not agreeing with them about Liv and the circumstances surrounding her life and the murder they are investigating. This felt like a realistic version of a story built on memory loss. My only issue was why? I mean, I know why, but WHY WHY? There were a couple of unanswered questions which isn’t my fav. ALTHOUGH, if there will be a sequel maybe that’s why? And in that case I’m totally for it. The also feels like the beginning of a series for Detective Halliday which is a series I’d totally auto-buy.

My first MG book but definitely not my last.

Wow! This book was a trip and I found myself holding my breath the entire time. I hope to see this turned into a movie or an HBO short series! Eager to read more by the author.

Loved loved loved!! This was totally dark and twisted. Going back and forth between before and present was done great!

Wow! What did I just read? An expertly written thriller with twists and turns you never see coming. I honestly couldn't put it down. The sympathetic main character has amnesia and must question everything she sees and hears. People around her might just be gaslighting her. Or are they? Where does the truth lie? I enjoyed this unique premise and would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good thriller. Thank you Net Galley for this ARC.

Wow! This was an exciting book from start to finish and I didn't want to stop reading even to go to sleep. Goldin has a gift for writing characters you want to root for and each of her previous books have completely different plots which shows a lot of talent. In this book Liv wakes up on a NYC subway and doesn't remember why she is there. She knows her name but without a purse or phone she doesn't know where to go or what is going on; her last memory is answering the phone at her office. When she looks in her pocket she finds some money and takes a taxi to her apartment only to find new people living there. She eventually figures out she is missing her memories for the past two years and oh, yes, there is also the problem of finding a bloody knife in the pocket of her sweater.

The novel goes back and forth between two years earlier and Liv's present time where she has written on her hands things like:: Stay awake!, Don't Fall Asleep and other things warning of danger. Other chapters are narrated by a police detective duo Darcy Halliday and Jack Lavelle and I enjoyed their partnership and determination to solve a murder which Liv may very well have committed. Amnesia is a scary thing and for Liv it is even scarier because she can't locate her boyfriend or her best friend Amy, and the few people who say they know her she doesn't remember. The author did a great take on the amnesia story and I thought the ending was exciting. Good pacing, great characters and plot. Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron books for a free copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

Wow, wow, wow! This was a great way to start a new year of reading! From the very beginning right to the end the author kept me wanting to figure everything out. Nope. Just hold on and keep reading! The tension created in the first page does not let up until the end. Goldin does a great job of developing her characters. The detectives are just deep enough, with details and background that are just enough, but not too much that it detracts from the storyline. The main character, Liv, who loses her memory of the last two years every time she falls asleep, is frantically trying to put the puzzle pieces of the last few days together, and the reader is right there with her. Is she a murderer or a victim?


Thank you to St. Martin's Publishing Group and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

9781250280664

352 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Release Date: August 9, 2022

Fiction, General Fiction (Adult), Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Short-Term Memory

In the early hours of the morning, Liv Reese wakes up in a taxi and gives the driver the address of her apartment. She bangs on the door but a strange couple answers. She wonders what they are doing in her apartment and thinks maybe they are guests of her roommate. She looks around and realizes that all her stuff is gone. She runs out before they can call the police. She then notices the writing on her hands and arms with the word Nocturnal in larger letters. It must be someplace she knows but she cannot remember. While walking there, she puts her hands in her pocket and finds a bloody knife in a t-shirt. What is happening to her and whose blood is on the knife?

The story is fast paced, the characters are well developed, and it is written in first person point of view with flashbacks. This book reminded me of the movie Memento with Guy Pearce. Liv is suffering short term memory issues. Every time she goes to sleep, she forgets what happened and her mind is reset back two years ago when she is answering the phone at her desk at Cultura magazine. I enjoyed the twists and turns in the story and was guessing the end but never got it right. If you like mystery stories with twists and turns, you will enjoy this book.