I am admittedly not a “thriller” reader, but I do like to dip my toe in it every once in a while. I ended up buddy reading this one with some gals on bookstall and most of them really liked it!

I will say that I did like it as well, but I was still left a little confused at the end!

**SPOILERS**

So why did the surgeon hire the guy to drive Liv crazy? What was the motive there? I understand why he did what he did to Amy and Marco - but Liv didn’t do anything to him? So that was confusing and kind of got left out. I just wanted more of that explained.

The build up through the entire story was interesting. I was very confused at first trying to keep up with what was going on, but once I was able to get the hang of it, it got easier.

I would hate to say this is unreliable narrator because she was just as lost as the reader but man it did keep me hanging on to see what the heck was going to happen!

Wow! It was such a fantastic, well plotted and a well paced psychological thriller, I just couldn’t put it down. It was so nerve wrecking, I can’t express enough about the plot. It kept me on my toes till the very end. Also, the characters were fairly interesting too.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the free review copy.
I absolutely loved Goldin's first two books and she killed it with this one, too. (Pun intended) At first, I had no idea what was happening in this book, but I wanted to know, so I couldn't put it down. The thing that Goldin does so well is executing her stories. Chapters leave off on cliff-hangers and the full picture slowly unfolds from multiple POVs. By the end of the book, the last few pieces fit into the puzzle perfectly, making the story satisfactory. I wasn't shocked by the reveal, but I was so satisfied. She made it make so much sense and the book felt complete. If you're a thriller fan, and want something original - add this one to your TBR. Go in without reading the synopsis and let the puzzle of this story slowly unfold.

Megan Goldin has written a psychological thriller that has earned the right to be called one. Using parallel time lines of the present and two years previous, she most effectively tells the story of Liv Reese who suffers from rare fugue amnesia. Waking up in the back of a cab, unable to remember where she is or why she is in a cab, the reader feels her confusion as clearly as if experiencing it. Nothing in her life is as she remembers it—her apartment, her office, her friends. Faced with ever growing disorientation, Liv learns she is a suspect in a murder further complicating her situation as now she must evade the police. Well written with a plot that will keep you reading late into the night.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this author and, again, must thank NetGalley for introductions me to a new author and an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Megan Goldin does it again with another gripping thriller that you'll want to binge in one sitting. Stay Awake is an suspenseful story about a woman who forgets the past 2 years of her life every time she falls asleep. Goldin does an exceptional job of weaving past and present in a way that is easy to follow and remember. I love the way she is able to building the past to meet the current while peppering in clues and red herrings along the way. Goldin is a master of thriller and suspense. This is a fantastic book that you won't want to miss.

Liv awakens in the back of cab, with no memory how she got there. She gets to her apartment, but is missing her purse and keys, so she rings the bell, hoping her roommate is home. A couple she doesn’t recognize answers the door, and tells Liv that they live here, and don’t know Liv or her roommate. Liv then discovers a bloody knife wrapped under her coat. Stay Awake has a unique and.intriguing plot, and seemed to be on its way to a five star read. But the story soon gets bogged down by its repetitiveness and clipped dialogue, and you really have to suspend belief to get over the major plot holes. But the storyline is definitely enough to get you to stay with this one to its enjoyable, if improbable ending. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Megan Goldin has done it again! This book was absolutely riveting and I read through it in two days! I consider myself a great mystery solver and often times when I read books like this, I can smell out the culprit or plot twist right away. I'm not sure if I'm out of practice or if Megan just did a great job distracting me, but I didn't see it coming until almost the twist was revealed.

Such a well thought out storyline and I love how it jumps from the past to the present as it was a great way to paint a picture of what was happening; without giving too much away. You will definitely stay awake reading this.

OMG. Megan Goldin can do no wrong. Her novels blow me away every single time. This book was no different and let me tell you how excited I was to read it... definitely lived up to my expectations and beyond. The writing is simply amazing and the characters always jump off of the pages. Wow, just wow. The suspense kept me up all night reading this.

Goldin does it again. A thriller masterpiece of intrigue, twists and turns, and an unexpected ending. I love the setting and characters as well.

The suspense and despair crackles on every page of this thriller, making it a particularly fast read for me. I tried not to imagine myself in Liv's shoes because it seemed all too hopeless.

Whenever she wakes up from sleeping, Liv can't remember anything that happened before she fell asleep, even after a short nap. In fact, the only way she can remember anything that has occurred in the last two years, or anything she desperately needs to remember, is to record it in a journal, or on Post-Its, or on her own hands and arms. And the messages she writes herself are growing more urgent and more alarming--stay awake, don't fall asleep, don't trust anyone. She has to rely on others to help her find her apartment, her favorite night spot, her car, and to tell her what she should be doing. Unfortunately, not everyone is reliable or worthy of her trust.

The story goes back and forth in time, sometimes back two years, sometimes back 24 hours, sometimes in the present, gradually revealing much of the information we need to know to understand what is happening to Liv. The author ramps up the creepiness to a fever pitch all the way until the end of the book.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read and provide an honest review of this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's for providing me with this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was un-put-down-able! This is my third Megan Goldin - since her release of the Escape Room a few years ago, I've read all her new releases. I just discovered in preparation for this review, that she has one more book - her debut - that I haven't read yet. I'll be remedying that this year, and in the future, all of her books will be on my radar.

I absolutely loved this one. The premise is pretty awesome, and while I did figure out the mystery (I read a lot of mystery and sometimes it just jumps out to me), I loved the ride. I was so sucked in that I couldn't stop reading it. I needed to know what happened, both in the present and in Liv's past.

This was an intensely-paced and fantastically plotted, with reveals showing up at just the right speed.

My only gripe was that the main character was supposed to be an American, and it's set in New York City, but some of the language used is clearly outside US vernacular. Example: whereas in the US, we'd say "his phone was busy" or "she got a busy signal when she called him," this novel uses "his phone was engaged."

All in all, a very minor gripe, but did pull me out of the story a little bit.

If you're a fan of fast pace, danger at every turn, and never knowing who to trust kinda thrillers, this novel is for you! Highly recommended.

The premise of this is like 50 First Dates, but replace Adam Sandler with a murderer. Basically, a woman has a form of amnesia that causes her to lose all new memories every time she goes to sleep- which could be at night, or nodding off in random public places during the day. I would make a terrible protagonist in this situation because I would immediately take myself to the nearest hospital or police station and tell them I can't remember anything and they need to figure out who I am and what happened. The opposite happens in this book, so it's basically just her running around the city trying to figure out things on her own and also trying not to fall asleep so she doesn't forget everything. Plus, you know, avoid a murderer. Overall, a fun read with lots of twists and a satisfying ending.

This was my first book by Megan Goldin. True to its title, it kept me awake to finish it in one setting. It was compelling and riveting with amazing story. I thoroughly enjoyed the thrilling ride and kept thinking about it after turning the last page. This itself shows how much impact it has on me.

Liv Reese is suffering from a rare form of amnesia after a traumatic event in her life. She forgets everything that happened after this event so she lost memories of two years of her life. On top of this, when she wakes up from sleep, she forgets what happened on the previous days. This book starts with a murder and Liv waking up with a wad of cash and bloody knife in her jacket pocket with no memory of how she got it.

Narrated with three points of view, one, where Liv finds out she was the murder suspect, trying to keep awake, putting pieces together of how/why her life turned out the way it is now, who was responsible for the assault happened two years ago, another timeline about cops investigating and trying to capture the murderer and the last one goes back to Liv’s previous life and leading up to the gruesome life changing event.

I couldn’t imagine even a microsecond life with this type of amnesia. Goldin has brilliantly crafted Liv’s character, her helplessness. My heart was heavy reading about Liv’s plight. The dynamic detective duo was another highlight of this book. Their vast experience and attention to details, and different approaches they follow were delightful to read. Besides the tight storyline, gripping plot, this painstaking investigation stole the show.

In the middle, I felt some aspects of the story were repeated a few times. After turning the last page, I was left with a couple of questions. One of which was why the perpetrator carried out his/her first heinous act. Did the author provide the reason? Or I simply missed it? Deduced the reason but it was unconvincing to me. Didn’t get the whole point of that stalking?

Overall, I really really liked this book. I highly recommend it.

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin in a solid psychological thriller. Liv Reese is a thirty-something professional in New York when she wakes up from a nap in a taxi to find the world is not as she left it. The last thing she remembers is answering the phone at her desk in her Manhattan office. Now the seasons have changed, there are other people living in her apartment, and she cannot get in touch with her best friend or boyfriend over the phone. Things keep getting stranger, and she realizes that she may be in danger -- or she may be the danger.

Clear your schedule before you start to read Stay Awake because you are not going to be able to put this heart pounding thriller down!

Liv Reese is an arts and food writer for a stylish magazine. Her best friend is Amy, her new boyfriend is Marco. Life is good. It is until she wakes up in a New York taxi, without phone or identification. Amy and Marco seem to have disappeared and her magazine has all new employees. Her only clues are the words written on her hands: “Wake up! Stay awake!” Then to her horror, on a news bulletin, she sees that Wake up! has been written on the window of the apartment of a dead man, a man she’s never seen before. What can’t she remember? And what will happen to her when she does?

As two detectives investigate the murder, they link Liv to the killing and possibly to earlier crimes. Liv is confused and can only believe what she wrote as advice: ”Don’t trust anyone!” As she wanders through New York looking for her past, she’s followed by those who want to help her and those who…don’t.

Megan Goldin builds tension carefully in this compelling psychological thriller, full of so many twists and turns. The nail biting conclusion is a total surprise. 5 stars.

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

This book got my heart racing. Also, I couldn’t sleep I needed to read and finish the book so the title of the book was very fitting. This book was really well done, it was everything you’d want in a thriller. Heart pumping, whodunnit, what happened, what’s real, what is sleep and adulting type of book. Bravo, Megan Goldin this one is definitely one to keep an eye out for this late summer! You won’t sleep, you wont stop until you know and you wont guess who.

Starting out 2022 with a pulse pounding thrill that has the edge of your seat excitement everyone should experience!! Liv is the perfect character scripted for this plot. I didn't see the ending until late in the book it didn't give much away. Liv seems to have dead bodies and murder follow her..... but she can't really remember to tell you why or what happened. She leaves clues for herself written on post its and herself, but they don't really make sense when she can't remember what they really add up to! Detective Darcy Halliday is a fierce character digging for the truth not just what the evidence says on the surface. This storyline was immensely immersing from start to finish...I had a hard time putting it down to do anything else once I started it!!! Each chapter, each page was engaging pulling back layer to layer of the mystery surrounding Liv needing to "stay awake" and not fall asleep since all her memories would trickle away from the day making it harder to find out why she had a body count attached to her name!!! Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this 5 star psychological thriller!!!

Having read Megan Goldin books in the past, I was excited for this one. However, I will say it was not my favourite of her books. I was confused in the beginning, which I guess mirrored the main character's confusion, but I found it annoying to be so lost when I was trying to get a handle on the character of Liv. I figured out who the villain was early on and it didn't fit for me in terms of motive towards Liv. It felt contrived. There were also a couple of plot points I didn't understand or weren't resolved. It just seemed a bit far fetched. On the plus side, I very much enjoyed the police characters of Darcy and Jack and would have loved to see more of them. Thank you St. Martin's Press for this advanced copy, I look forward to seeing what Megan Goldin comes out with next!

This book intrigues you from the beginning. Liv Reese wakes up in a taxi and has no memory of how she got there. The last thing she remembers is being at work answering the phone on a warm summer day. She gets out at her brownstone and hopes that Amy is there to let her in as she realizes she has no keys, purse or cell phone. She gets an answer from the apartment only to discover that someone else is living there. She leaves the brownstone only to discover in her pocket is a t-shirt wrapped around knife she puts this in garbage can. She notices she has wrote messages on her hands:STAY AWAKE.

She sees on the news that someone is murdered and wonders if this can somehow be related to her? Why can't she remember anything from the past two years? She keeps trying to get ahold of Amy hoping she will be able to explain what's happened. She becomes a person of interest in the murder and is trying to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together to unlock her past and move forward. This is a fast paced thriller that was hard to put down.

Thank you NetGalley for ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Halliday and Lavelle reminded me so much of Benson and Stabler that I had to simultaneously read Stay Awake while watching episodes of SVU. I loved this book. It was like reading a movie…or…reading an episode of SVU lol. I really hope Goldin writes more with this pair of detectives, because I am hooked. This was such an awesome and unique thriller.