I have loved previous books by this author (read Night Swim in one sitting) but, the repetitive amnesia story line in Stay Awake did not work for me.

4.5/5 Stars

Stay Awake starts off at 100 miles an hour and simply does not stop. I loved The Night Swim also by Megan Goldin, so my expectations for this were pretty high. We are dropped into the action on page one and it was so easy to get swept away. All of the elements of amnesia, murder, and secret histories combined to create a very suspenseful atmosphere and claustrophobic sense in the reader. I typically don't like unreliable narrators in my thrillers, but Liv was easy to root for, even though her decisions could be frustrating at times. Additionally, the combination of Liv's perspective with the detective's complimented each other well and gave just the right amount of information to keep the reader engaged, While the plot could be pretty unrealistic at times, it was still solid enough that it didn't affect my enjoyment of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Stay Awake was one of my anticipated releases for the year and I’m pleased to share that it did not disappoint. I was hooked almost immediately.
This story follows Liv Reese, who suffers from a memory condition. Every time she falls asleep, she forgets. When she wakes, it’s a if she’s been asleep for two years and everything is different. The story starts with Liv waking in a taxi with a bloody knife in her pocket.
I think my favorite aspect of this story was the timeline jumps. I’m often not please with how time jumps are done, but with this book, it alternates between past and present. In the past, it’s telling one specific story leading up to something, but in the present there’s a mystery to solve outside of Liv’s memory issues.
The story also has a second perspective. There is a murder early on, so we also follow Detective Halliday while she’s trying to solve the murder. The connections between the two characters were really engaging. By telling two different sides of the same story, one version missing massive amounts of details, it felt like I knew more than the characters did and so, I obviously guessed the whole time I was reading. I was pleasantly surprised by the twists and turns and whatnot.

Stay Awake is an edge of your seat thriller. Keeps you turning the pages and guessing at every turn. My first read by this author and it definitely won't be the last.

😴Book Review😴
Stay Awake
By: Megan Goldin
⭐️⭐️⭐️/3.5 stars

A murder she doesn’t remember committing. A killer she doesn’t remember meeting. Megan Goldin’s Stay Awake is an electrifying novel that proves memory can be deadly.

Imagine not being able to remember what happened in the last 24 hours. How about the past two years? Liv Reese wakes up everyday and cannot remember where she is and what happened the day before.

Liv Reese was a successful writer for a magazine, thriving and in a relationship. Two years ago something happened that was so traumatizing that she no longer has any recollection from that time. Everyday that she wakes up it seems like she finds out more devastating news about people she once knew. Where is her best friend Amy? Her boyfriend Marco? Who the heck is Ted?

When she becomes a suspect in a murder she knows its up to her to find the answers. Written all over her arms and hands are cryptic messages telling her to, "Stay Awake!" The countdown is on to find out who the true murderer is before they find her.

Intriguing, suspenseful, and kept me pulled in throughout the whole book! A great who-dunnit!

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this ARC in exchange for my honest review

Oh man, this one was so good! I loved trying to piece things together and found myself really surprised by the ending. This is a great one!

Liv Reese has no idea where the last two and half years of her life have gone. She doesn't know where she lives, she doesn't know where her friends or boyfriend are, and she doesn't even know who she can trust. All she does know is that someone keeps repeating the same message to her. She sees it written on walls, on her hands, everywhere. Stay Awake.

I appreciate the premise for the book and perhaps it was on purpose, but during the beginning of the book, I found myself as confused and turned around as Liv herself. Once I got into the book more, it started to make more sense, but I was a little bummed by how it kicked off for me personally.

Still, I think it was definitely an interesting book and it did keep me guessing. I definitely recommend this one if you like to be surprised. I will say I absolutely loved Megan's book, The Escape Room, so I will be checking out future books. Special thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced e-galley in exchange for my honest review. This one is out now.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Megan Goldin does it again! This time we have an unreliable MC who wakes up not remembering the past 2 years. Slowly hints and clues come to her and she finds that not only does she not have a memory, but she might just be a murderer. What Liv does know for sure is that she cannot fall asleep again or she will forget everything. This was a frustrating yet exciting book that kept me on the edge of my seat, a definite one sitting read!

thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing an arc through netgalley

overall i like this book but there were some inconsistencies and spelling issues that i hope (but am unsure) were resolved before printing.

heads up, if you are someone who likes your fiction to be based somewhat on facts - particularly when it comes to actual medical conditions and such - you'll have to suspend belief a bit because (to my knowledge) the type of amnesia the MC has is not real. i could 1000% be wrong but i didn't find anything that sounds similar to how Liv's condition is described.

never the less, its an entertaining read - what i'd call a wine book. meaning, the kind of book i'd want to read while sitting on the couch or in the bathtub with a glass of wine.

This one is hard for me to review. I don't read a lot of thrillers so I'm not sure I'm the best judge of them. The writing here was mediocre at best. The plot has turns that make absolutely no sense and the main character was so frustrating. However, I couldn't put it down. Lol. It is totally readable. Liv forgets the last 2 year so of her life every time she falls asleep. Her solution: stay awake. There's a murder mystery - is she responsible? Where are her boyfriend and best friend? Everything in her life has changed in this short period of time and she can't remember a thing. This won't be the best book you ever read but it's a fun one examining memory.

A good thriller that really puts you right into the middle of the drama and action. I would really suggest this to readers that like the amnesia troupe because that gets a little repetitive and the middle did drag on a tad. It did pick back up towards the end and I did end up enjoying it again by the end!

Megan always gets five stars from me. Her books are fast-paced and tense with believable characters.
In her newest novel, Stay Awake, we run with Liv Reese as she tries to decipher who she is, how she got where she’s at, and what she has done. I realize this sounds like your typical thriller plot, but the way Megan presents it to you is the key to its distinctiveness.
Her stories are quick and to the point without bogged-down pages of filler descriptions. When I start one of her books, I can usually count on being totally useless until I turn the last page.
Thanks so much to St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was very excited to read Stay Awake by Megan Goldin. The premise is chilling and instantly drew me in. Liv has a rare form of amnesia that causes her to forget everything from the last two years when she falls asleep. She awakes in the back of a taxi with notes scribbled in her handwriting on her arms and hands. The messages are cryptic and ominous, including telling herself to STAY AWAKE and to TRUST NO ONE.

The story is told from multiple POVs, Liv as well as that of the police that are trying to solve a murder. It is an engaging story, and I found myself thrilled to be along for the journey as Liv discovered memories and experiences. Several red herrings are thrown in to keep readers guessing.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read an ARC of this twisted yet compelling novel in exchange for my thoughts.

This book was crazy and really fun! First off, I appreciated how the author was very clear at the beginning if a chapter which timeline you were in. It made things so much clearer. It was fun that one timeline ran backwards until it ran into the main storyline. The characters were excellent and I was really rooting for Liv to be ok. I did not see that ending coming after I had several different theories that were not even close. This book will keep you guessing.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to read this book.

Goodness, this book is amazing. I loved it. I stayed awake reading this because I could not put it down. The suspense is on point with this story. Similar to Memento, the repetition of the days grips you immediately. Like Groundhog's Day, every time she falls asleep, she forgets what happened and has to start over with the clues she leaves for herself until she figures out how to break the cycle. I recommend this book for anyone who is a thrill seeker.

Stay Awake started out with a bang for me and sucked me in!! I loved the beginning and thought it was intriguing!! Then, I felt bummed because it slowed down for a bit and I thought it was going to be a dud, but luckily It picked back up at the end. Overall, I enjoyed it! I definitely felt a lot of suspense while reading and I liked how the story unfolded. I thought the storyline was unique and interesting!! 3.5 stars rounded to 4!

Thank you Net Galley and St Martins Press for an ARC in return for my honest opinion.

😴 Interestingly, I started reading this book while I was experiencing a bout of insomnia. I was having trouble sleeping all last week and reading this book while I was exceptionally tired added a unique dimension to it I wasn’t expecting.

😴 I love stories with an unreliable narrator and this one is great!

😴 The book grabbed my attention from the very start! Although it was a bit repetitive at times (which is the curse of a narrative like this where the MC has to relive/remember things over and over), this book is the definition of a page-turner!

😴 The story felt interactive to me, like I was experiencing everything along with Liv. I was tense and fearful right along with her. Maybe this was my own insomnia playing a part, but I really did feel involved in the story.

😴 I was pleasantly surprised that I did not predict the ending!

😴 This is the third book I’ve read by this author and I’ve loved them all. Each are thrillers but are quite unique from each other. Goldin is definitely an auto-read author for me.

Thank you @NetGalley and @StMartinsPress for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Liv has a rare form of amnesia that causes her to forget the last 2 years of her life every time she wakes up. One day she wakes up with a bloody knife in her hand, which leads her to be in the middle of a murder investigation, but she has no recollection of anything that happened.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s told in multiple timelines, which I found confusing at the start, but actually added so much dimension to the story and ended up being one of my favourite parts. You read the investigator’s perspective, Liv’s present perspective and you read parts of her past which give you little hints about what’s going on.

I did find the story a little unbelievable but I thought it was really well done and the ending was fantastic.

I thought this was really unique - gave me a 50 first dates feel but with a thriller spin.

My only big con is that I wish there was better labelling for the chapters. They added dates and times as subheadings for the chapters but I found it difficult to use those to keep track of the timeline and sometimes didn’t realize if I was reading Liv’s chapter or the investigator’s chapter until I read a page.

I would definitely recommend!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was gifted this in exchange for an honest review. I recently read this and really enjoyed it - it has shot up to the top of my favorites list of 2022.

The premise of this book is interesting and although the amnesia plot twist has been done I found Goldin wrote it really well from the POV of main character Liv throughout; past & present.

Not going to lie, the repetitiveness annoyed me a little but I guess that’s the point when you’ve lost your memory. Gave me 50 first dates vibes with a thriller murderous twist. LOL!

Regardless, I couldn’t put it down. Quick short chapters & Fast paced POV of Liv made it really interesting.
Also enjoyed detective Darcy Gallagher’s strong female powerhouse vibes & the banter/relationship build between her & Detective Jack Lavelle.

I enjoyed this one :)
Truth; enjoyed the Night Swim more :)

In short - I like this author!

I enjoyed this one - Thank you to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.