I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.. Stay Awake was a pretty good book. It was a quick read with lots of twists and turns. The killer wasn’t a big surprise. It getting there was interesting. Would definitely recommend.

Addictive and immersive, “Stay Awake” is a well paced thriller that I didn’t want to put down. After barely surviving something extremely traumatic, Liv develops a rare condition where her memory resets every time she wakes up, taking her back to a particular moment in her lifetime. One of the strengths of this novel is how Goldin immerses the reader in Liv’s disorientation; we aren’t just watching her distress and disorientation, we feel it as well. The story flips between the past and the present and even though the heroine is confused, I never struggled to follow the plot line, a fine line Goldin had to balance - ensure the reader has feelings of confusion to empathize with the heroine but don’t actually confuse the readers - and she did it well. The resolution wasn’t quite as tight as her previous work, I struggled with some plot holes, and it sometimes felt like it was echoing “Memento” a little too much, but overall, it was a strong and fast paced read.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Imagine my excitement when I was approved by Net Galley to read this book before publication. The author has a ton of buzz in the bookstagram world, so I was really looking forward to checking out her latest book before it hit shelves. As an added bonus, I was approved for the audiobook as well as the print version so I was able to do a hybrid of reading and listening to the story.

The premise that our main character, Liz Reese, suffers from memory loss and finds herself accused of murder seemed intriguing, if not reminiscent of a book I recently read and disliked – Before I Go To Sleep by S.J.Watson. My hope was that this writer could give the amnesia angle a better run. Unfortunately, I found this frustratingly repetitious and full of plot holes. Of course, some repetition is expected when you’re reading about someone who has no memory of where they are or what they’re doing but this book used the exact same phrases within the same page, or even the same paragraph at times.

The audiobook was incredibly difficult to listen to. While the narration for the detective investigating the murder was very well done and I found myself the most engaged while listening to those portions. However, the majority of the book is about Liz and shown from her perspective. The person who narrated her parts alternated between sounding in absolute awe and complete stupidity. Every sentence said was expressed as a question. ‘I put my hand? In my pocket? And pulled out… a knife? My breath caught? A knife? Covered in blood?” I wanted to jam a fork in my ear every time this person spoke. Surely, there must be a way to convey confusion without this exasperating tone of voice.

This book was a big miss for me. I wouldn’t recommend it except maybe to someone very new to the thriller genre who hasn’t read many amazing books yet. This one is not in that category – not by a long shot.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this free eARC and audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was just okay! Wasn’t my favorite. Didn’t overly love the characters and wasn’t immediately sucked in. Will still read more from this author in the future

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Here's one that makes me happy I didn't listen to many of the reviews. The premise sounded fantastic, so I gave it a go--and I'm so glad I did because I loved it!

I spent most of the book thinking "what in the worldddd is happening?" Our main character loses her memory every time she falls asleep. I think if you like the unreliable narrator trope, you may like this one. But if you don't--stay away. I also think fans of the book The Wife Between Us may enjoy this one. The plot is nothing alike, but I found the writing style similar.

This one ended up being only an okay read for me. I thought the beginning would suck me in but it really didn't. I think I just didn't like the main character, or didn't feel like I could trust her. Either way I struggled. There were also some plot points that just didn't make sense to me. I did feel like the writing was good and the mystery and its conclusion were interesting. It just wasn't the best fit for me.

I received this book from a Facebook giveaway with no review required. I will adjust if I decide to review in the future.

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

This is not the first book by Megan Goldin that I have read nor is it the second but the third and I will read anything that she writes because nothing is ever as it seems.

Liv Reese seems to have come unhinged or at least that's what she's led to believe. She wakes up in the back of a cab with no memory of how or why she got there. The only thing that she's aware of is the writing on the back of her hand that says Stay Awake! It appears that the world has changed and Liv doesn't know where she's been while time has passed her by.

The one thing that Goldin does really well is write dark and twisty and this book fits that description. At times this book seems like it's all over the place and I admit I got a little confused but in the end the author brought it all together. I won't say that this is my favorite Meg Goldin book, that honor lies with The Night Swim. Still it is worth the time and energy to read it because it is so different from her other books and I like that. Goldin doesn't write a formula or a one size fits all book. If you are looking for dark and twisty then this is the book for you.

Didn't work for me at all. Too many plot holes. Things just didn't make sense. I'm in the minority but just didn't work for me.

initial thoughts: really enjoyed this psychological thriller! while I’m not necessarily a fan of the unreliable narrator, in this story it worked, and it worked really well. rediscovering Liv’s memories alongside her was fun, and all the twists — and multiple POVs — along the way made the story move at fast pace.

I received a copy of Stay Awake by Megan Goldin from NetGalley. This was a fun and quick thriller. I thought it was pretty obvious from the beginning who the "bad guy" was but it didn't take away any of my enjoyment with the book. Great beach read and will take your mind off whatever stresses you have at the moment because the main character has more stress than any of us!

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a cab with no recollection of how she got there. In fact, she doesn’t remember the last two years but she doesn’t quite know that. ⁣
⁣
Confused and not sure where to turn Liv heads to her apartment that she shares with her friend, Amy, only to find a strange couple she doesn’t recognize living there. The couple is a hostile and adamant Liv and Amy no longer live there so she tries to go back to the place she last remembers, her work.⁣
⁣
Things continue to confuse Liv and soon she finds herself plastered across the news wanted for murder. Is she really a killer? Will her memory come back?⁣
⁣
𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 is unique and kept my attention the entire way through. I highly recommend reading this one!

Stay Awake by Meg Goldin is a truly gripping thriller about a woman with amnesia who is suspected of a brutal murder.
The construct is so interesting, as Liv, the protagonist, tries to ‘stay awake’ because when she falls asleep, she wakes up with no memory of her life of the past two years. The author cleverly lets the details of Liv’s life and activities unfold bit by bit, all in the context of this unusual form of amnesia. Liv observes, “I don’t know how I became an interloper in my own life,” as she voices her confusion and distress at her present circumstances.
This is also an excellent police procedural, in which Detective Darcy Halliday, of NYPD homicide squad, is investigating the murder. While suspicious of Liv’s involvement, Halliday is astute enough to realize there are unexplained gaps in the timeline of Liv’s life.
No spoilers here. This is a fast-paced story with enough twists to keep me reading and guessing well into the night!
I highly recommend this to readers who enjoy edge of your seat suspense and a relatable protagonist.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my unbiased review.

Review

Thank you to #St.Martin’sPress and #NetGallery for giving me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest.

Swipe for Synopsis from Goodreads.

Lord knows that I love me a good clutch your pearls, triple lock your doors and sleep with one eye open type of thriller. This book didn’t do all of that lol, but it did hold my interest, nonetheless.  This book gets going from the first page, sucking you right in, leaving you wondering what is going on, with Liv? It also does a good job with the unreliable narrator trope. I found myself more interested in the detective’s point of view and their piecing together the crime. Mainly because the MC was so clueless (even before she lost her memory) that it made her so annoying.

Overall, this was a good page turner thriller. There was a plot that felt unresolved, but other than that it was a solid book.

My review ⭐️⭐️⭐️ /5

An interesting premise, written fine but not great. I was able to overlook some of the confounding actions of the characters (just write better notes to yourself, for heaven's sake!) to enjoy seeing where the plot went. It was a fun read.

The Megan Goldin I know and enjoy is back! I really enjoyed this book and this read. It was really engrossing and I did not want to put it down! I've been recommending it to a lot of my thriller loving friends! Cannot wait to read the next book by Goldin!

Every time Liv falls asleep she forgets everything from the past two years. I loved that it told in dual story line of the past and the present as we try to put together the events that caused her to forget. You knew it had to be pretty bad for you to forget like that and as we learn is was bad. As Liv tried to remember what happened, I really enjoyed following along as she tries to piece it all together as she stays awake and the detectives try to piece together another murder. I really enjoyed Megan Goldin's writing that kept me invested even when somethings with the amnesia were a little repetitive. It all came together so nicely, it was a twist I wasn't expecting.
3.5 stars

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for my review copy. #smpinfluencers

I was so excited to read this since I really enjoyed The Night Swim by the same author.
The multiple timelines necessary to build the story, plus the back and forth timelines of the “present” time made this story really hard to follow. I did enjoy the plot overall and didn’t know who the killer was until it was revealed, but overall I spent the last 30% of the book trying to keep all the times, apartments and memory lapses straight.

This book was very gripping and suspenseful. This book will pull you in from the very beginning and will keep you hooked until the very end. I liked how everything came together in the end. Thanks to the publisher and NetGally for the opportunity to read this book and provide my unbiased opinion.

This is an intriguing concept for a thriller, but by its nature was kind of repetitive. I was really looking forward to this book after The Night Swim blew me away, but unfortunately Stay Awake was just okay.