This was for sure a page-turner. This story is told in multiple POVs AND has a dual timeline so every chapter ends . We follow Liv, suffering from repeated memory loss, as she tries to figure stuff out (including why she woke up with a bloody knife, why she wrote stuff like “STAY AWAKE” on her hand, and what this murder on the news is about). In the past timeline, we see sketchy stuff happening in Liv’s life that might help us as the reader guess at what happened 2 years ago that triggered this rare form of amnesia in Liv. And finally, the last POV follows two NYC detectives investigating a murder where someone left behind the words “WAKE UP!” written in the victim’s blood. The detective's POV very much felt like a police procedural (which for me was fun).

This book, especially after the 50% mark, did a really good job at STRESSING ME OUT. I also thought this form of unreliable narrator was really interesting because it is just one POV that is unreliable and we know from the very beginning that she is an unreliable narrator (vs the unreliable narrator being the twist of the story).

I really appreciated the short chapters in this book because I feel like it helped the whole book feel super fast-paced which is definitely what I like in my thriller/ mysteries. And while not every chapter was a cliff-hanger, the chapters did end in a way that had me feeling like “wait! I want to stay in this POV/ timeline to figure out what is happening next” but I felt like that about EVERY POV/ timeline.

I felt like this book was a very meh thriller, but I know some reader friends who very much enjoyed it! I felt like it had a very been-there-read-that aspect to it. It was just okay for me overall.

After waking up in the back of a taxi with no idea how she got there and discovering that her apartment has been completely refurnished and is occupied by strangers, Liv Reese is in a panic. She doesn't have her purse or phone with her, only a knife stained with blood and written warnings on both hands telling her to stay awake. Two years have passed since the last thing she remembers and none of her loved ones are answering their phones.

The plot cuts between Liv in the present and Liv in the time period she remembers from two years earlier, alternating with chapters from the point of view of New York police officers who are investigating a murder where STAY AWAKE was written in blood on the victims apartment window. I really enjoyed this one. Some of the time jumps were a little confusing, but I think that was because Liv herself is so confused. The author does a great job making it all work, but a couple of times I found myself asking why people who knew Liv from before didn't realize that something was very wrong.

One of my biggest complaints about the domestic thrillers I've read lately is that I don't care enough about the characters to car what happens to them. The more I learn about Liv through her own interactions with others and through the police investigation, the more I wanted her to be okay and hoped she wasn't responsible for that bloody knife.

Wow! What an amazing book! It was one of the best thrillers and it will keep you on the edge of your seat all day long. Once you start prepare to stay in that spot all day to finish! So good!

For the first 40% of the book I couldn't decide if I liked what I was reading and if I was going to continue. Once I got past that I was riveted! After almost dying Liv moves to London and after an accident loses her memory every time she falls asleep. Liv doesn't know who to trust, if she can even trust anyone. As the story progresses we learn more and more of Liv's memories as she learns them. I have never heard of the type of amnesia Liv has, but it is an intriguing idea. I'm not overly thrilled when stories go back and forth between time frames, it gets confusing if you don't notice the header of the chapter where it mentions the time frame. If you like psychological thrillers, this is a book for you!

This review is based on an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I've really enjoyed Megan Goldin's previous suspense titles and was quite happy to pick up her latest - Stay Awake.
Goldin has come up with some great premises and this latest is no exception! Liv wakes up in a taxi with no idea of how she got there. And why there is writing on her hands and arms. And the boldest letters spell out 'Stay Awake." I was hooked!

The reader is alongside Liv as she tries to make sense of what's happening to her. And there's much more than just writing on her arms and hands. She desperately tries to not fall asleep, but it's inevitable. And every time she wakes up, she's back to the beginning. Just imagine yourself in Liv's shoes!

But as a reader, we can remember and start to piece together what has happened to Liv. Or can we? Goldin has woven together a devious plot that will keep the reader turning pages, changing their guess and staying awake late into the night as more and more is revealed. I appreciate not being able to guess the final 'whodunit' early on in a book.

Yes, there's one or two things that require a grain of salt. But just go with it. Stay Awake is great escapist reading, perfect for summertime back porch reading.

Wow - I knew this book was up my alley, but it blew away my expectations. I felt like I was hooked from the first few pages, and blew through in 1 day. I usually am pretty good at figuring out how things are going to go down, but this one I didn't see coming. Now, the culprit was a surprise, but was a little underwhelming - I really wanted a big WHAT? and I didn't get that per se - but I did get a totally satisfying end to an action packed book!

Liv Reese wakes up one night in the back of a taxi with no idea how she got there. Her phone is missing, she has “stay awake” written on her hands and has a bloody knife in her pocket. The last thing she remembers is answering her office phone, but that was two years ago. Liv sees a news report of a murder where the victims blood was used to write “stay awake” on the window. Liv has no idea why she keeps forgetting everything from the past two years or if she has something to do with the murder. As Liv tries to piece together the last two years, someone from her past is working to make sure she never remembers.

This is one of those thrillers that hooked me from page one and had me flying through the pages wanting more. This book gave me such a creeped out feeling of being watched and feeling vulnerable since the main character kept forgetting everything. I really enjoyed the characters Goldin created in this one, especially the detective duo. Overall, if you enjoy thrillers that include the police perspective, then I think you’ll enjoy this one!

Title: Stay Awake
Author: Megan Goldin
Genre: thriller / suspense
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Oh, boy. So many mixed feelings about this one

What I loved:
The main reason this one was four stars for me was because I loved Liv’s character. The way this book was written made me feel for her and care about what happened to her. I was only about 1/4 of the way into this story when I realized I could barely put it down. It was a really quick read and sucked me and kept me reading (way too late last night 😬). Super glad I read it and it was approved for the arc!

What I didn’t love:
I felt like the detectives backstories were unnecessary. Whenever the narrative switched to those two, I felt kind of frustrated. It’s not that I didn’t care, it’s just that that part of the story didn’t really keep my interest.
I also had a pretty good idea of “who done it” fairly early on in the story. This is not always a deal breaker for me, and it certainly didn’t deter me from finishing this one, but by the time I’d finished, I wasn’t super shocked.
Overall, enjoyable book and if you want a story to hook you in and fly through, this one’s for you!

Stay Awake publishes today! 🎉 Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the eARC.

I have read Goldin’s The Night Swim and liked it, so I was curious to see what this thriller had in store.

Liv Reese has a rare and peculiar condition where every time she falls asleep, when she wakes up she remembers nothing from the past two years. She starts off this book by waking up confused in the back of a taxi. Then, when she arrives at her apartment another couple lives there and has for some time.

Then, while looking for her cell phone on her person she discovers a bloody knife. Worse yet, she learns of a man who was stabbed to death on the local news. On the window of the apartment, written in his own blood are the words, “Stay Awake.” The same words she has written on the back of her hands. 😱

Could Liv, a woman who is queasy at the sight of blood, had something to do with this man’s murder? And why does she have this huge gap in her memory?

This book was a binge read for me and I really enjoyed it. In fact, I enjoyed it more than The Night Swim. I can’t wait to see what @megangoldinauthor writes next!

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and the author for an advanced copy of this book. I really enjoyed this thriller but maybe not quite as much as The Night Swim (which was a high five stars for me). Amnesia/memory issues can be a hard trope to do justice to and I believe Goldin does a pretty good job here. While the first few chapter move sort of slowly, as both Liv and the reader have very little idea of what is going on, I devoured the last 60% or so in one sitting a it moved much more quickly. I really thought I knew where it was going and who the killer was, but I was quite wrong by the end. However, while the end did move quickly I believe the ending was maybe just a little too neatly tied together and left a few questions unanswered such as how Brett found out about the cheating and why Liv's memory was (sort of) back to normal after she is rescued by the detectives, one day of sleep and less caffeine seems unlikely when this has been going on for over a month. Overall, I really liked this book and will be going back to read The Escape Room since I have yet to.

My online review can be found at: https://www.instagram.com/p/ChCh8ETLsFK/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y

Review of Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow what a ride this one was! I devour the audiobook for this one. The premise was great, the writing stellar, and the execution on point. I have her to read a book by this author that I didn’t really enjoy. The twists in this one were great and I couldn’t wait to see what happened next and what the truth was. It gave me major Memento vibes if you have ever watched that movie.

Quick synopsis: Liv wakes up in a taxi with virtually no memory if the present. She has writing all over her arms warning her to Stay Awake. She goes to her last home to find new people living there. Then she tries to go to her boyfriend but he, too, is gone. She sees in the news about a murdered man and becomes fearful that maybe she is somehow involved. The police agree and start their chase after Liv. The biggest problem? Every time she sleeps she loses all memories from the last two years.

Wow, so this book totally had me staying awake because I couldn't put it down. It was extremely intense and I had to keep reading to find out what was actually going on.

Liv wakes up with no memory of the last two years of her life. She has writing on her hands and a bloody knife wrapped in a t-shirt in her pocket. That's where the book begins, so we are really just getting right into it. She is suspected of murdering a man that she doesn't even remember meeting and every time she falls asleep her memory erases and she's right back where she started. Liv can't trust anyone.
This kind of felt like the movie 50 First Dates, but with murder. You would think that would be weird. It's actually amazing and so very entertaining.

Thank you, Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin
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Liz wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea how she got there. When she is dropped off outside of her house she discovers a couple she has never met is living there and all of her own things are gone. The last thing she remembers is answering her phone at work on a warm summer day, so why does it feel like it’s autumn???
.
I loved this book!
-The mystery was fantastic! This is a great one to go into blind!
-This book was the best use of the memory loss trope I think I’ve ever read.
-This was a compulsive read and totally binge worthy.
-The majority of the chapters are short which make for easier reading.
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5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I enjoyed reading this book so very much that I had to give it 5 stars. Megan Goldin is a must read author for me now. This is the third book of hers I’ve read, and I’ve loved all three!

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Genre: 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫
Format: 𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤
Length: 𝟑𝟓𝟐 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬
Trigger Warnings: 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞

📌Release Date: 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟗𝐭𝐡, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘦-𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

“𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘦. 𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦.”


✨Read this book if you enjoy✨
Slower paced thrillers
Unreliable narrators
Dual Timelines

I was so excited to get approved for this arc. I became a Megan Goldin fangirl after reading The Night Swim last year. For those of you who dont know, thrillers are easily one of my top three favorite genres so I couldn’t wait to dive into this book.

Stay Awake follows Liv, a girl who is currently suffering from a interesting case of amnesia. Every time she falls asleep, she loses two years worth of memories. This is a big deal when one morning she wakes up and suddenly finds herself as a prime suspect in a murder case.

Truth is, I wanted to love this book. Sadly, this one missed the mark. The pacing was too slow and I just enjoy my thrillers to be action packed - especially when this book takes place in basically one day. I felt that the transitions between characters and past and present got confusing at certain points of the book. I also guessed the killer early on which was rather disappointing. I don’t believe this was a bad book, just not the book I was expecting. I still think Megan Goldin is an amazing author and absolutely one of my faves.

The Escape Room is one of my favorite thrillers so I was so excited to get an advanced copy and read Stay Awake. I loved how this book started out with a bang, but while reading, it started to feel repetitive to me and it felt like it took a long time to figure anything out.

The book is told from Liv’s perspective in the present and two years earlier along with a detective’s point of view in the present. I started out listening to the audiobook, but then decided to read along with the digital ARC because I struggled keeping track of the timelines. I had a hard time with Liv’s narrator, and this upset me because I’ve loved Imogen Church as a narrator of other books. January LaVoy did a great job narrating Detective Halliday.

This is a fast-paced story with short chapters which is what I look for in a thriller! I thought the premise was cool and it totally had Memento vibes, but it wasn’t my favorite. I think I might have liked it better had I skipped the audiobook altogether. I was able to predict whodunnit and felt there were some plot holes throughout, but I have read some glowing reviews of this one so please don’t let mine sway you. 3/5 stars.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for advanced copies in exchange for my honest review.

Well, Stay Awake by Megan Goldin was a wild ride. The timelines get closer and closer together to the eventual head-turning climax. I did not see that ending coming!

I really liked this story and the author's writing style. I cannot imagine waking up every morning or after falling asleep and not remembering what had happened. What a scary premise. Liv was quite resilient and a tough main character.

I enjoyed getting to know Halliday and Lavelle and hope that more books are written with these two detectives. A solid 4 out of 5 stars. A good story that kept my interest throughout.

#NetGalley @StMartinsPress @megangoldin

Great psychological thriller! Had me on the edge of my seat.
A woman with amnesia wakes up unknowingly in the middle of a murder investigation. Did she have anything to do with it? Is she being set up? Such a good dual perspective novel.

𝘈𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤!

I don’t think Megan Goldin can write a bad book, just wow! I was hooked since chapter one and it was imposible to stop!
It kept me at the edge of my seat, it was twisty, suspenseful, clever, riveting and brilliant! All the stars!

Thank you Macmillan Audio St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ALC.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

Happy Pub Day to this gem of a novel!
👀📖👏💤

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

I haven't read a thriller in a while, this one kept me wanting more and made it difficult to put down after lunch break reading 🤣

I loved the dual points of view and I loved the twist!!! I overall concept had me fascinated and wanting to read the next chapter! Looking for your next murder thriller, you have found it! 🙌🙌🙌

There is a part in this story where a social worker is involved and I kept putting myself in her place. That would be the case, the social worker is the first person to be worried about a patient and makes a report. 🙃🤔👏

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is my first novel by Megan and I will definitely be reading more. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin Press for the opportunity to read e-ARC! ❤️

🏷️ #stayawake #pubday #stmartinpress #earc #arc #booksta #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookcomminty #bookrecs #fourstars #bookratings #toberead #readinggoals #bibliophile #readmore #booksbooksbooks #igbooks