I've read and loved Megan Goldin's first two books, and she doesn't let up with Stay Awake! I loved the cinematic structure of this book, which alternates between police investigating a homicide, and Liv's experience waking up near that homicide and trying to figure out if she's somehow connected. She can't remember the last two years of her life and only remembers being in her office. When she tries to go to her apartment, someone new lives there! Then she starts getting phone calls from some creepy guy and has writing on her arms telling her not to fall asleep or trust anyone. My brain was going all over the place with the author's red herrings and I couldn't stop turning the pages of this thriller banger. Would especially recommend to fans of Lisa Unger's Under My Skin, which also deals with murder and memory loss.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this story in exchange for an honest review. I could not put this book down. I had to find out why Liv would forget everything after she went to sleep. This book had so many twists and turns and definitely had me biting my nails. I was happy with the ending, was not entirely expecting the outcome even though I had a general idea of where it may lead. Definitely a great writer of twisty turns.

Wow! This was a crazy ride. While it did keep me interested I felt that Meg was the typical character in a psychological thriller. I mean this in that there were so many points in the story where she could have gotten help but ultimately went running. To the point where the reader becomes impatient and frustrated.

But… the story is twisty and turns and beyond bizarre. Overall even with the character redundancy I enjoyed the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for a copy to review.

"There's no such thing as being an observer. Doing nothing is doing something."

What if every time you fell asleep, when you woke up you couldn't remember the last two years of your life? Liv Resse wakes up in the back of a taxi and she can't remember how she got there. When she gets home she discovers someone else now lives in her apartment. Confused and disoriented, Liv finds STAY AWAKE written on the back of her hand. The life Liv remembers seems to have vanished and now she is is stuck trying to figure out the missing pieces.

Stay Awake starts off with a bang and rarely lets up on the gas. Megan Goldin spins a fabulous mystery full of intrigue, suspense and drama. Told from alternating timelines, this had plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing until the very end.

So grab a cup, or 7, of coffee and be prepared to stay awake long into the night to finish this one~

A very solid 3.5/3.75 stars. Thrilling and hard to put down, but the overall reveal was quite underwhelming and I was expecting more from this author.

A woman who loses her memory every time she wakes up is seemingly tied to a murder that occurred - and she doesn’t even realize it.

The premise for this book is so clever and compelling. I was intrigued from the moment I read the description.

I will say, it took me a long time to really dig in and want to finish reading it. That’s hard for me with a thriller because I usually just want to power through them to figure out what’s happening, but the first 35-40% I read sporadically over months - picking it up and reading maybe a handful of pages and then just not being sucked into it. At around 40% of the way through I was finally hooked enough to want to finish it right then and there and unravel this crazy story.

I think the beginning is just a little slow for me, but overall I really enjoyed the book and I would recommend it to others!

This is more of a 3.5 than it is a 3 star. I read this book in basically one sitting so I can definitely vouch for it being entertaining and a page-turner. There was nothing wrong with it but, as someone who reads a lot of mysteries, I guessed everything that was happening fairly early on. That usually doesn’t bother me and honestly I usually don’t have many thoughts about what’s going on and am along for the ride, but I felt this one was a bit too obvious. Still enjoyed it and would recommend if you like mysteries.

After the initial pages, I found myself not connecting with the story or characters, so I decided to pass on this book. Did not finish

Liv awakens in a taxi, and has no memory of the past two years. Someone else lives in her apartment, “stay awake” is written on her hands, and she’s in possession of a bloody knife. She soon finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing.

Stay Awake is told using multiple points of view and timelines. The timelines are present day and two years earlier. The POVs are Liv and the detective investigating the murder. Liv is trying to figure out what has happened to her. The detective is trying to solve a case. Both viewpoints are interesting and add to the story.

Stay Awake is a fast-paced thriller with an intriguing plot. Recommended for fans of suspenseful thrillers and crime.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

No Rest for the Wicked


There is a good reason why Megan Goldin is one of my favorite thriller writers. I think that THE ESCAPE ROOM is still one of my all-time-favorites books and one that stands out from the rest, but her latest book is not far behind. It only took a few pages into STAY AWAKE to find myself utterly absorbed by the shattered reality that has become Liv’s life.

I love thrillers that rely strongly on the doubt cast on the main protagonist’s mental state. Liv, a traumatized woman who forgets everything that has happened to her as soon as she falls asleep, is a perfect candidate to star in that category of unreliable narrators. With every plot twist, I admired the author for being able to create such an intricate, multi-layered and challenging novel without ever losing credibility.

Every time I was briefly concerned that a thread would be left hanging or would stretch credibility too far, I was soon reassured by the background detail that made it all perfectly plausible and tied things up nicely in the end. A highlight for me was the authors ablity to show Liv as she wakes up, completely confused and then start trying to go home or to work, only to realize that she has been asleep longer than she thought and that things have changed. Toward the end she tries to stay awake long enough to untangle all the clues of her current circumstances. The only downfall I had with the story is the constant need to be reminded that Liv is forgetful. I enjoyed this very much and will continue to be a fan of Megan Goldin moving forward. 4 STARS in other words this book is totally # All-Nighter Worthy

*rating 4.25*

***a woman who wakes up in a taxi with no memory and a bloodstained knife in her pocket***

Megan’s thrillers always hit! This was a fast paced thriller that was so addicting. It definitely grasped my attention from jump but once I really got into it I could. not. put. it. down. I was thinking of so many different scenarios in my head to try and put the pieces together and still didn’t figure it out.

I love this book! Psychological thrillers are my favorite subgenre and Stay Awake does not disappoint. Liv wakes up, unsure of who she is or what has happened - but she has been accused of murder. As the story unfolds, we learn she is suffering from amnesia brought on by past trauma. All she knows is she has to stay awake, and trust no one.

I can't imagine something like this happening to me - I rely so much on my brain and memory. Goldin does a fantastic job of helping the reader feel the fear of amnesia and we walk right alongside Liv as she tries to figure out what is going on.

This is a book you won't want to put down!

I devoured The Night Swim so I had high hopes for this one. This was a wildly interesting premise of a story, and it sucked me in right away. The author did an amazing job at taking what should have been a very confusing situation (all the times that Liv woke back up and didn’t know what was going on) and made it easy for the reader to understand. In fact, it felt like every time Liv woke up, she was confused, but the reader figured out a new detail. Another thing the author is really good at is introducing us to the antagonist early on, and then making us forget about them without making their motive seem weak when they’re brought back into the story. The ending had me staying up late and waking up early so I could finish it while my kids were sleeping, but the middle felt like it dragged on a bit.

A woman, whose memory is wiped clean of the last two years every time she wakes up, finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, despite having zero recollection of the victim or crime.
This was pretty good, as far as thrillers/mysteries go, even though the “who-done-it” part was blazingly obvious the whole time.
The way the timeline jumped around made it a little hard to follow at times, but I suspect the back and forth helped cover up slight inconsistencies in the story, especially regarding what our protagonist was able to remember, and when.
It had a bit of a Scooby Doo ending, with the villain laying out the reasons for all of their evil-doings, just in case the audience is too dense to figure it out. Never a good thing in storytelling. Seriously. Just trust your reader.
Thanks to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for this #arc of #stayawake by Megan Goldin in exchange for an honest review.

I am a big fan of Megan Goldin and The Night Swim, so I was excited to receive a copy of Stay Awake. This one is a bit of a twisted take on Groundhog Day in which one of our MCs knows she needs to stay awake, and she should not trust anyone. Told in dual perspectives between the aforementioned Liv Reese and the detective on the case, Darcy Halliday, Golden takes readers on a wild ride.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

This was so crazy good. I can’t believe I haven’t heard more people talking about it! I really liked The Night Swim so I expected to enjoy it but I was literally obsessed. I love an unreliable narrator and this took it to the next level with a narrator who forgets everything every time they fall asleep. The different timelines and povs were perfectly done and equally interesting, which is a feat in itself. I was looking forward to every single sentence! I think Megan Goldin just earned herself a spot on my auto-buy list!

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely loved this fast past mystery thriller. Kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Following dual timeline with dual pov. Extremely fun read!!

A fun, twisty, suspense-thriller that will keep you guessing.

Liv survived a murder attempt two years ago and is trying to track down the would-be killer, only she can't loses her memory every time she falls asleep. And now she's the only suspect in the murder of a man she's never met.

A race to the end to see if the mystery can be solved before Liv gets in danger herself.

Well done. And kudos for no "diversity bingo".

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi and has a bloody knife in her pocket and her arms are full of writing telling her to stay awake. She is also suffering from a two year gap in her memory. Who can she trust? The police are after Liv. She gets phone calls from someone that threatens and frightens her. As she gathers information the details of her story are revealed.

This is a super fast paced read. I could not put this book down. As pieces of Liv's memory were revealed to her I just wanted to know how it fit into everything else and whether it was relevant or not to the overall story arc. I really enjoy Megan Goldin's writing style and look forward to reading future books by this author.

Megan Goldin's books are always auto-reads for me - I love the way she weaves just enough detail through each chapter to keep you guessing but also make you think you know what happened. Stay Awake reminded me of a book I read a few years ago where the protagonist kept forgetting what happened every morning when she woke, and I've heard others say it's kind of like the movie Momento. We follow Liv Reese as she tries to put together the pieces of the previous night when she wakes up in a taxi, unable to recall how she got there. Chapters flash between two years prior and "today", inching closer to the pivotal event (I don't want to spoil anything, so I'm being vague). I listened to the audiobook and thought both narrators were fantastic. It was easy to keep track of the characters and timelines based on the narrator and inflection, adding to the enjoyment of the story. Great twisty story!