<i>Stay awake</i> is a sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat murder mystery and psychological thriller with many twists as you go along. The protagonist, Liv Reese, is an ambitious hardworking woman who keeps going back to what she thinks is current day when in fact she has lost two years of her memory and lives in the state of confusion. <i>Stay awake</i> as written by the bestselling author and ward winner Megan Goldin.

Live Reese lives in a state of constant confusion because every time she goes to sleep her internal clock resets and she forgets everything she has done in the past two years. She really has no idea what is going on and all she can remember is the last time she hung up the phone in her office two years before. Eventually, she realizes that she’s been involved in some murders but she doesn’t remember at all that these include some of her best friends, as well as, her fiancé. There is no one she can trust. There are two police detectives who are looking for her. One of them believes she didn’t do it, while the other one is convinced that she did. All of these factors lead to quite a suspenseful and exciting story with many twists throughout.

The author has a style that keeps you hanging on by your finger nails. You go back-and-forth between current events and those that took place two years before. It emulates what Liv is dealing in her confused state. The people who are after her are unknown to us because we take the ride with her. It leaves the reader wondering what’s going on and therefore you can’t put the book down until you sort out some of these mysteries. It’s extremely exciting in parts.

There are several characters in the story who are in an interesting. Liv’s roommate Amy is quite a good friend but quite flighty. Liv also has a boyfriend is quite handsome and treats her well. But she can’t find them. As more is revealed in current time we find out Liv also has another fiancé but she can’t remember him. When did that happen? All these characters are what makes the story stimulating and keeps the reader engaged right to the end.

The one thing that maybe is a bit disappointing is that the murder’s motive is never fully explained. One can suppose why it was done, but it seems to be highly planned murder for such as emotional crime.

I highly recommend this story to people who like a great murder mystery, as well as, a psychological thriller. Trying to understand what is happening is like solving a complex puzzle. I give this book at five on five. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a digital copy of this book. I give this review voluntarily.

So good! This is a classic twisty psychological thriller and I couldn’t put it down!

* Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

First, let me start out by saying I am a huge fan of Megan Goldin. However, this is not my favorite book of hers. I started out reading Megan Goldin, when I chose Night Swim, as my book of the month and I absolutely loved it. I loved it so much I ordered Escape Room, before I even finished Night Swim. Escape Room, turned out to be a 5 star rating as well.

When I saw Stay Awake, was being released I knew hell or high water, I HAD to get my hands on this book.

The first half of the book I had a constant ache and feeling of anxiety, I could not figure out for the life of me why Liv could not remember anything. What had happened to her??? I knew there was something suspicious surrounding the fact that she could not get in touch with Amy, her room mate, and Marco, her boyfriend but it did not come together for me early on.

In the end I felt the book was rushed and there were much better people that could have been the murderers than who it turned out to be. Although, I understood the motive for why Amy and Marco were killed, the motive was lacking as to why he/she was going after Liv, who was innocent in the large scheme of things. She didnt remember what had happened anyway?

I did not HATE this book, it just did not live up to my expectations. I am a huge fan of thrillers and trust me when I say I have read it all. This book had a lot of potential and just fell flat for me. That doesnt mean that it will for everyone! I am still a HUGE Megan Goldin, fan and I will continue to auto buy her books.

Had this had a different ending it would have had a higher rating. It was well written and did not lack in the suspense department.

Imagine if Drew Barrymore’s character from Fifty First Dates woke up in Memento. The author did. Kinda sorta. That’s much of the premise of Stay Awake anyway, albeit it in tone it’s pure Memento and there’s no Adam Sandler in the vicinity.
And so, our protagonist, Liv, wakes up at a crime scene, somewhere in NYC, terrified, with no recent memories to guide her, but whatever she’s written all over her arms. She must figure out what’s going on, but her mental clock resets every time she goes to sleep, erasing the last two years of her life.
Now, that’s a good thriller premise. Difficult to come by these days – the genre’s too popular for quality control, so there’s a lot of crap out there. And in that sea of crap Stay Awake stood out tall and proud for doing all the familiar genre things but well and excitingly.
Liv is a fun protagonist, unreliable by design, but consistent in her inconsistency, constant in her disorientation but determined. Liv’s past reveals a comfortable life until a tragedy ripped it apart. Liv’s present is red flashing lights of danger at every corner.
Sounds fun, doesn’t it? it is fun. And moreover, maybe the best thing about it, is that the author made the prerequisite ending twist a doozy. Genuinely unpredictable or at least not an easy one to predict. This is awesome, I’ve been solving thriller after thriller with frustrating ease and much too early in the game. I’d like to attribute it to my innate detecting genius, but to be fair, a lot of it has to do with how predictable the authors make it, like they just can’t help showing off their cards early on. Goldin, to her credit, maintains her cards close to the vest at all times. She throws plenty of small red fishes in to muddy the waters but stays mum on the killer until the appropriate reveal time. Very nicely done.
All in all, a very enjoyable read. Good writing, good plotting, all that. One of the most impressive thrillers I’ve read recently. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

I’m honestly not sure what to say about this one now that I’ve reached the end of it. So, here are the notes I made while reading, with some elaboration…

* The timeline was really confusing
* The jolt from first to third person narration didn’t help either, as I seem to have an aversion to third person POVs at the moment.
* Dialogue was unnatural at times
* The repetition was a bit much…I get that this is an amnesia/memory-driven plot, but it was skim-worthy on several occasions
* I was ready to DNF around 20% but stuck with it because of the strong reviews

That said, I do think this was a clever storyline, and while I admittedly didn’t love it, it’s clear that others do, so…

2.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 3

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press For the #gifted eARC.

Ahhh this was so unique and a great suspense novel. While Liv works through two years of forgotten memories, she needs to answer many unsolved questions and quickly before she’s found! Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

This was an awesome mystery that kept me guessing until the end. The way that it flipped back and forth from the present to the main character’s shattered memories was very original and suspenseful.

Megan Goldin, renowned author of books such as "The Escape Room" and "The Night Swim" has written another spellbinding thriller. In "Stay Awake", Live Reese is a murder suspect who has a frustrating mental health issue: she can't remember anything that has happened over the past two months. All she knows is that she has written on her hands "stay awake" and "don't go to sleep." When a murder scene finds those same words written on the window, Liv has to figure out if she was the culprit after all. Can she trust the female detective to help her out?

This was an intriguing concept! It caught my attention quickly and I kept reading until I had finished it in one sitting. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves mysteries and thrillers. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Liv Reese wakes up and slowly realizes she’s forgotten the last two years of her life. She soon comes to find out that every time she falls asleep, she loses her latest memories once again, always reverting back to her last known recollection two years ago. When she finds out she’s the suspect in a murder and her own life might be in a danger, it’s a race to figure out what happened to her and who’s after her before it’s too late.

I really enjoyed this fast-paced thriller. I read “Night Swim” by Goldin a few months ago, and this book had the same tense and slowly revelatory narrative that leads you to the resolution piece by piece, keeping you on the edge of your seat with each new chapter.

The POVs alternate between Liv in the present, Liv two years ago, and the detectives in the present working to solve a murder and find Liv, all culminating with the final climax.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for granting me a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

OH MY GOSH THIS BOOK WAS SO AMAZING!!! Add this to your TBR immediately!

After reading and loving The Night Swim, I was so excited when I received the ARC for Stay Awake! Megan Goldin is a new favorite author of mine and I have The Escape Room lined up and ready to read next! Star Awake is my favorite read of 2022 so far, and despite it only being January 16th I have already read A LOT of books 😆 I can't wait until this comes out and I can hold it in my hands!!!

Okay, on to the story. WOW!! This book started out amazing and it never faltered. The storyline was so intriguing it was literally impossible for me to put this down! And yes I did read this on 1 day and "stay awake" to finish it! When they say "edge of your seat" thriller, this is what they mean. 👏🏻

This story is seamlessly told from multiple timelines and POVs which is my absolute favorite. Each chapter was so interesting and intense I just had to keep reading to find out what was happening with the next character. I am really hoping (*please🤞🏻please*) this becomes a series because I would love to see more of Detective Halliday!

This twisty, action filled, edge of your seat thriller is one you WON'T want to miss! Out 8/9/22!! Thank you St. Martin's Press for this e-ARC!!

Like the movie Memento, Liv finds herself covered in writing and reminders every time she wakes up. But what do the messages mean? And even more so, why is the phrase "WAKE UP' written on her knuckles...and at the scene of a murder?

I absolutely devoured this novel! This has been my favorite of all of Megan Goldin's stories. The pace was exactly right, and the multiple viewpoints kept me moving through, needing to figure out what was happening with Liv's memory. Some of the storylines were predictable, but overall I found it engaging and fast-paced.

Terrifying story of a young woman who wakes up every day with no memory of the last two years. Two years ago Liv had what she thought was a happy life. Sharing an apartment with her best friend, a job that she loves at a magazine, and a boyfriend who may not be as involved as she would like, but she was happy. But then things drastically changed, she began to get the feeling that someone was watching her and strange things began to happen in her apartment. Fast forward two years later when Liv wakes up with no memory and strange writing on her hands. Excellent psychological thriller that is impossible to put down.

I wasn't sure how much I would like this. Usually the missing memory trope is annoying, but this was a very involving book.

The police think Liv committed murder. But did she? Liv can't remember anything that happened to her for the last 2 years. She tries to figure out what is going on, while avoiding the police. She doesn't know who she can trust.

I liked that we received snippets of information along with Liv. I never believed she was a murderer, but I had no idea who the bad guy was until the very end. My only complaint is that it does get a little repetitive, with Liz waking up and losing her memory over and over. This results in a lot of explaining that we, the reader, already know.

I received a free copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

Second book I've read based on someone losing their memory once they go to sleep. This one has a murder mystery component as well as not being in the first person narrative; which is honestly the weakest part of the book. The detectives are more explanation plot device than existing on their own, which is somewhat distracting. Livs sections are disorienting, which is helps to add to the confusion she feels and what's going on around her. The chapters are short and the book moves at a crisp pace, so you don't get too distracted by plot holes. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Y'all, talk about a wild ride. This is one I couldn't read fast enough because I HAD to know what was going on! The story begins with Liv Reese waking up in the back of the cab with a bloody knife. She has no idea where she is, or what got her in that cab, and she has messages written in ink pen all over her hands, but also no clue what they really mean. What Liv does remember is her life two years ago, including her job, her roommate, her apartment, and her boyfriend. She tries to reconnect with these people and places, but things seem to have changed. This one is a masterfully written thriller as there are three storylines going - the present day with Liv, a detective trying to piece together a murder that connects to that knife Liv had, and Liv's life two years ago. The reader has access to all three of these storylines, AND you are living the story through the gaping holes in Liv's memory. Something has happened in the past and present, and the slow burn with which these truths are revealed are just so darn good. I needed a good pageturner in my life to kick off 2022, and this just knocked that out of the park. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this thriller that's sure to get people talking!

Stay Awake explores a common theme in thrillers and mysteries, memory loss. Liv awakes in the back of the cab without her purse and cell phone. She has odd writing all over her hands. The last thing she remembers is being at her desk in throning which turns out to actually have been two years ago. I felt this book started slow and was confusing just like the main character. After about 40% in it picks up well and enters more of a thrilling read. Liv is likable and I was invested in her safety and regaining her memory. I did have the murderer figured out and that Marco and Amy were having an affair---pretty obvious honestly. This is a good read, but definitely has room for improvement!

This popcorn thriller was a quick read and kept me engaged throughout. The pacing was solid and the author did a great job adding tension to her writing. I was hoping this tension would lead to a big plot twist but unfortunately it kind of just fizzled at the end instead.

While the woman-with-amnesia premise was intriguing at first, it never evolved into anything and didn’t make for a very unique reading experience. This book has major Memento vibes. Almost too much so. But if you liked that movie, perhaps you’d enjoy this thriller. Ironically, this one will end up being forgettable for me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I was engaged in the story from the start. Liv was a likable character and her amnesia condition was fascinating. I enjoyed the back and forth timelines once I got into the book a little more, but initially I found it confusing. Although the murder was satisfactorily resolved by the end of the book, I didn’t feel the stalker part of the story was sufficiently addressed. I would have liked more clarity on it because it didn’t make sense to me that Brett was the stalker. Several potential stalker characters were introduced and never ruled out so I just think that could have been handled better. Other than that, I really enjoyed the book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Woah! This is a totally new (to me) concept. I’ve never read an amnesia trope before. This is a very edge of your seat kind of thriller. There was a few things That could be improved upon, but otherwise a great book.

Interesting but not really my cup of tea. Well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. A woman forgets everything in her past every time she falls asleep. Very much like the movie Memento. Someone new is now living in her home, she doesn’t know who to trust, and the only way to find out the truth is to “stay awake.” I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.