This reminded me a lot of 50 First Dates but instead of a rom-com it is more a thriller like Memento. It alternates between now and prior and keeps the reader engaged. I never suspected the killer. Quick read.

This book started really quick with the actions and the thrilling elements! I'm not the best at predicting thrillers and this book was no exception! I swear that I would come up with a theory that positively had to be the answer to what was happening, but I got it wrong every time. I definitely think this book is worth reading if you want a fast-paced thriller and you want to be thoroughly confused! It was an overall enjoyable read and I will definitely be picking up more from this author.

I love and unreliable narrator that keeps me on my toes and this book had it in spades. It's a psychological thriller that blends memory with reality beautifully. There's so many twists and turns that keep you guessing. And Megan Goldin's writing remains simplistic and direct with purposeful descriptions and detail.

The writing wasn't great, but I was really interested to find out what happened. It was overall an enjoyable and engaging read.

A fast paced thriller, with great tension as it's unclear who, exactly the bad guy is- there are so many options. The timelines can get a little confusing, so readers will have to stay alert along with Liv. Readers get a great sense of Liv's disorientation as she tries desperately to put together enough clues before the next time she succumbs to sleep and loses the past two years again.

While this story was a little slow in the beginning, once it picked up it was INTENSE. I loved Liv as a MC. I feel so bad for her not being able to remember anything that happened for the past two years. I honestly can't even imagine how that would feel. I was completely thrown off by the twist - was not expecting it at all! The Night Swim was the first book I ever read by Megan Goldin, but Stay Awake made me so excited to read what's next!

Liv Reese is living the life in NYC. She has a great roommate, great boyfriend, and a great job. When she wakes up in the back of a cab with no clue how she got there, her life takes a bizarre turn. She has writing all over her hands and arms warning her not to fall asleep. Somehow she has lost the last 2 years of her life. Every time she goes to sleep she forgets everything from the precious 2 years. Live must work to figure out who she is and what has happened to her life, but if she falls asleep then she has to start all over.

This book is a wild ride. My head was spinning as I read it, but totally in a good way! There were so many things I didn’t see coming that the author worked in seamlessly! Very impressed with this story! Highly recommend!

“Stay Awake” by Megan Goldin follows Liv Reese. Following an attempt on her life, Liv develops a condition in which when she falls asleep she forgets everything. Now, two years later, she is having a major episode, placing her in danger- the killer is still after her. Will Liv piece together her life in time? Or will it be too late? “Stay Awake” was a mind-bending mystery from beginning to end.

This book felt very much like 50 First Dates gone wrong to me in the beginning. Liv’s memory is wiped clean every time she goes to sleep. She keeps journals and notes written on her hands to remember the important details, but it feels pretty easy for her to get lost or confused, especially in a caffeinated state of paranoia.

As the story progresses, I began to really feel for Liv. She doesn’t remember any of the past two years so there’s a whole life she’s lived without really knowing it. Her drive to figure out what is going on is infectious- I needed to know what had happened in that gap as badly as she did.

In the end, I gave this book 4 stars. It was a quick read with some interesting plot points (don’t worry, no spoilers here). If you like mysteries with a splash of amnesia, this book is definitely for you!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Megan Goldin continues to knock ‘em out of the park! I reallly enjoyed this one. I read this pretty quickly, mostly because I couldn’t put it down. This was a fresh take on the unreliable narrator trope and I preferred it to the normal alcoholic storyline. Liv was an intriguing MC and I enjoyed the side character of Darcy Halliday (perfect star for a sequel!)

Stay Awake messed with my mind quite a bit. I was trying to sort out why the main character seemed to be in a fog all the time.
Even after her condition was explained, it became rather redundant, like I was stuck in Groundhog Day repetitively, a movie I loathe.
I give the author credit for crafting an intricate story with lots of moving parts. I liked Halliday and Harry the bartender the best.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing team for allowing me an advanced copy for review.
I DEVOURED this book. Think Groundhog Day meets a twisty thriller whodunit.
I have read one of Megan Goldin's novels before, The Night Swim, and this blew that one (that I also loved) out of the water-pun intended.

I appreciated the psychology and detective aspect of this book. I know a crazy investigation like this could be confusing but how many times did we have to hear about her memory condition. 75% of the book was repeating the same thing talking about her amnesia. I also think this book had too many timelines that were hard to follow at times. By the end it just seemed like a quick fix that Liv was all of a sudden cured of her memory problems. I truly feel bad that I didn't like this book. Thank you to the author and Netgalley for this arc.

I was hooked very quickly with this one but once we had to keep starting over due to amnesia every time Liv falls asleep, I grew tired of it quickly. I thought that the detectives and the flashbacks would be enough to carry it along to keep it as a page turner, but overall it was just ok for me. If you enjoy "amnesia" storylines, coupled with a psychological thriller, you will likely enjoy it quite a bit. We start with Liv waking in the back of a taxi. When she gets to her destination, her apartment, she figures out she doesn't live there any more. Her next wake up is in a park on a bench, to find she no longer can reach her friends, her boyfriend and her job is no longer hers. her body is marked with pen scribblings warning her to Stay Awake. Meanwhile, there's been a murder....
Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for my advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Stay Awake will be available on 8/9/22.

I inhaled this book faster than Liv could slug an espresso. My favorite Megan Goldin book by far.

Right from the start, every chapter kept me engaged and I learned something new to the mystery; I could not flip the pages fast enough to see what was next for Liv. I loved the format of the chapters and how the author took the reader from the current date to two years in the past, intertwining them to create a story of unreliability.

Some readers could get tired of the repetition as Liv attempts to reconnect to her current situation but it worked for me and is a reminder of how frustrating her life is.

There were a couple plot holes that I kept going back to and I'm still questioning, but some books are just better as surface reads and don't require thinking too deep. I'm willing to give these issues a pass because I enjoyed everything else about this book.

If you're looking for quick thriller that'll keep you awake until the last page, you need to pick this book up. This is one I wish I could read again for the first time.

This was such a good thriller! I was so anxious reading it, ha!

Liv wakes up and find strangers in her apartment. She has writing on her body telling her to stay awake and don't trust anybody but she has no idea why! Her memory from the last two years is GONE. She has no idea who to trust or what to do. At the same time, a murder has occurred and Liv is thought to be one of the suspects.

This was such a fun ride and I thought the writing was so engaging. The story line jumped around a little bit but I thought it was a perfect compliment to how the story unfolded. This book made me want to take a nap immediately, but not because it's boring but because I was so stressed for Liv and how she kept trying to stay awake!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

REVIEW: thank you @netgalley for the advanced reader copy of Stay Awake by Megan Goldin.

I loved the author’s previous novel “The Escape Room” and this novel delivered the same authenticity and thrills as the other one.

In the city that never sleeps…

“Above my knuckles are letters written in ballpoint pen. I put both fists together. The letters spell out the words STAY AWAKE.”

For Liv Reese, the protagonist, sleeping is a curse because the moment she wakes up she forgets everything that happened in her life in the last two years because of a rare memory problem.

She can’t figure out where she lives, where her friends are, or what happened to her phone and wallet. What she does find is a bloody knife and the words STAY AWAKE written in a murder victim’s blood where she used to live. The same strange message spelled out on her knuckles. What happened last night? And what happened in the last two years? The novel takes readers through a rollercoaster ride as Liv puts the pieces of her life together hoping that in the end they won’t

spell out
that she’s a…
murderer.

Stay Awake is a gripping thriller that had me hooked from start to finish. I really enjoyed not only the back and forth of timelines but the multiple POV added great layers to the story as well.
Megan Goldin created a fascinating story, between the characters & the plot twist I was completely captivated. This is a perfect psychological thriller full of mystery & suspense.
Crime fiction fans and fans of the unreliable narrator will equally appreciate this one.

As always my reviews are always spoiler free and my own honest opinion.

What a book! Imagine every time you wake , you are thrown back 2 years before. This happens every time Liz goes to sleep. So, she writes notes on her hand and arms that tell her to "Stay Awake."

When Liz wakes up, it's no longer Spring. Strange people are leaving in her apartment. The place she worked has had a facelift. People she meets seem to know her but she can't remember them.

There's a murder, (not spoiling because it happens at the beginning of the book), and Liz is seen on a CCTV camera. One detective things she is guilty. The other isn't so sure. She thinks something else is going on with this murder.

I was captured by the first page of this book. There were some red herrings, one I totally fell for. I never suspected who the culprit was, it blew me away. I suppose because this person never even entered my mind.

Why can't Liz remember stuff? What happened two years ago that caused her to have this certain kind of amnesia? Which detective will be right?

Publishes August 9, 2022.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the Kindle Version of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Happy Reading 📚😀📚

#netgalley
#stmartinspress

4.5 well earned stars. This was captivating, and sincerely hard to put down. The past/present scenes were handled very well, easy to follow. The main character was believable and wrenched emotions from the reader throughout the novel. Can you imagine not being able to remember 2 years out of your life… amnesia caused by trauma? Can you imagine how frightening it must be not to be able to fall asleep for the fear of not remembering what happened the day before? Someone is trying to kill you, but who and why?

Megan Goldin has a talent that puts her on my automatic TBR list whenever she releases a new novel. I’ve enjoyed her past efforts and this may well be my favorite.

Thank you #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for the advance review copy. Highly recommended.

While I won't necessarily remember everything I read in Stay Awake in a year or two, this kept me thoroughly entertained. The twists were well executed and surprising, which is really all I want in a thriller.