Firstly, thank you to St. Martin's Press, Megan Goldin and Netgalley for this ARC.

I had been looking forward to reading this from the moment I saw the cover and read the synopsis.

You wake up in a cab in NYC and don’t know where you are or how you got there. Your phone and keys are missing, but you find a large wad of cash in your pocket and cryptic messages are scribbled on your hands, reminding you to “stay awake” and to “trust no one.” As you start to piece together what happened to you, your face flashes across the news, saying you’re wanted for murder. How can you finds the answers to any of your questions if you keep forgetting them when you fall asleep?

Such a thrilling ride that I could not put down. I would have like some more of my “why” questions answered and flushed out, but overall an amazing read that I devoured.

Highly recommend!

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of an NYC taxi cab and doesn’t remember how she got there. The last things she remembers is answering a phone call at work. When the cab drops her off at her apartment she shares with her roommate, Amy, she is baffled that other people are living there. If that isn’t strange enough she is carrying around a bloody knife in a shirt. Trying to piece everything together she discovers that it is two years later than she remembers. What happened two years ago and could she have been involved in a murder that took place the night before? The writing all over her hands tells her to “Stay Awake” matching the words at the crime scene. As Liv tries to figure out what has happened to her there is someone out there who knows everything and won’t stop until all the lose ends are tied up.

Wow, wow, wow! This book goes from 0-100 real fast and never slows down. The plot is super interesting with Liv’s memory issues and I was biting my nails at points in the book. I love how fast paced this book was, no drawn out or unnecessary writing or dialogue just pure entertainment. I loved her other books and am not surprised at how utterly awesome this book was. I kind of wish I had no memory of this book so I could read it all over again for the first time. Read this book!

I very much enjoyed this novel. The plot kept me turning pages well into the night. The police elements seemed well-researched and realistic, as well as the memory-loss issues. I was wary this would be a copy of Before I Go To Sleep but it was quite different. I would recommend this one.

I was super excited about this one because I loved The Night Swim so much. It was a lot different than I expected it to be but I didn’t hate it! It kept me interested enough but it didn’t have me itching to read more every second. A little slow at times, but in the end, I did really enjoy the ending and it caught me off guard! 3/5 stars ⭐️

Thanks, NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

This was a doozy, such a crazy thriller that had me not wanting to stop listening to the audiobook, I had to know how this was going to be resolved! So wild! I know a lack of sleep can make us crazy but our girl Liv was losing her dang mind. She wakes up and heads home, where someone else is living in her place. Turns out it’s 2 years later than she thinks it is, she apparently has written on herself to remind her what happens before she goes to sleep, oh and most importantly, she tells herself to STAY AWAKE, because she forgets it all again when she sleeps. Maddening, right? The reason she needs to stay awake is there have been a couple of murders she is tied to, can’t remember if she did it or not, and seems the most obvious suspect.

This was a fast paced page turner and I thought it was very well done. We have Megan’s POV as well as the POV of the detective on the case and this POV was very helpful. It got a little repetitive as the reader to have to be told along with Megan what happened each time as well, but it was a different spin each time and we progressed further into the story after each sleep so that was good.

This was very well done, I was so intrigued with how this was going to end as very often these types of stories start strong but end flat. However, I promise you this one does not. Just make sure you set aside some time for this one, because once you start you will not be able to put it down until you are done!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital copy to review. Pub date is 8/9/22 and you definitely want to have this one on your radar for August!

You wake up, with no clue how you got where you are. It’s two years later than it was when you last fell asleep, and you have the words “STAY AWAKE” written on your hands, along with “TRUST NO ONE.” Then you start seeing yourself on the news, and you’re a suspect in a murder - what do you do?

I could not stop reading to this book! I felt Liv Reese’s state of constant confusion as to who she was and what was happening to her and I could feel Darcy’s contemplations and empathy with Liv’s case.

This was my first Megan Goldin book and it won’t be my last - it was one of the best thrillers I have read - it’s one you do not want to skip.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

4.5 ⭐️‘s
Liv has a gaping hole in her memory. When she wakes up on a park bench everything has changed beyond recognition. Her only memories are from two years in the past. With writing all over her hands and arms, she sees the prevalent words stay awake. Liv can’t remember the present when she wakes after falling asleep. As she tries desperately to stay awake, she sees footage of herself leaving the scene of a murder. Could she possibly have committed the crime? With the black hole in her memory, she must stay awake if she’s ever going to find out the truth, but could her memory be deadly? Goldin alternates the voices of Liv with the police investigation making this a riveting thriller that’s quite difficult to put down. Detectives Darcy Halliday and Jack Lavelle are a team I’m hoping we will see again quite soon!

Exciting, suspenseful, and page turner thriller that was a quick and easy read. Goldin creates a the perfect atmospheric thriller with tension and suspense that kept me wondering and guessing what would happen next. Liv awakes in a cab and can't remember what has happened in the past two years but finds a bloody knife in her possession. The book centers around Liv's amnesia and a murder of an unknown man found stabbed to death. The storyline reverts between present day and two years prior and slowly unfolds as Liv continues to try to remember a trauma she experienced that has created this amnesia. Every time Liv falls asleep she loses her memory so she only has messages written on her body to remind her of clues to what is happening. Enjoyed this riveting, caffeinated, intense thriller that builds with every chapter. Solid 4.5 stars. There was enough diversions that I couldn't figure out the twists and turns but felt the ending was a bit anticlimactic. Goldin is becoming the queen of the perfect suspenseful thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Think Groundhog’s Day for thrillers and you’ve got Stay Awake. This is a total mind boggler. I liked this totally new premise. When Liv wakes up in the back of a NYC cab and can’t remember a thing she is even more flustered when she gets to her apartment and it’s not hers??!!

This is a dual timeline story. One timeline takes place on this one entire day that Liv’s memory is lost, while the other timeline is before. She has some interesting notes on her hands when she wakes and one matches a note found at a recent crime scene. I’ll keep it short and sweet, but suffice to say you may STAY AWAKE after reading this one.

The middle of this was a little slow for me, but I really enjoyed the latter half of this book. It started to become a real nail biter. Pick this up if you want a new premise for a good thrill.

It took me a little bit to get into this one because of the constant change in characters and also in time as well. However once I read for a bit I was hooked.
Lots of twists and turns and unexpected events.
I really enjoyed this book a lot. The author did a great job in really keeping you interested once you were sucked in.
The end was mostly a surprise to me. I kept guessing at who it could be but I was still surprised in the end.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this one.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martins Press and MacMillan Audio for gifting me the latest thriller by Megan Goldin, wonderfully narrated by Imogen Church; January LaVoy - 5 twisty stars!

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi that drops her off at her apartment, where there are strangers living. She finds a knife in her pocket instead of her cellphone and all kinds of messages written on her arms and hands - mostly Stay Awake. The last thing Liv remembers is living with her friend, Amy, dating Marco, happy at her publishing job. But nothing is adding up - and Liv comes to realize that she is being searched for as a suspect in a murder.

Told in different time periods from the voices of Liv and Detective Darcy Halliday, you will find yourself learning about Liv's past along with her. This was so wonderfully written, engrossing and twisty that I could not put it down. Go into this one as blind as possible to add to the intrigue. The characters were wonderful - you'll find yourself scared as Liv is on the run. I loved Halliday's character too - smart and confident in a man's world. The narration was spot on - when I couldn't read it, I was listening to it. Don't miss this one!

I'm not sure that this review will be very long. It's definitely best if I don't write too much and ruin anything.

Stay Awake is about a girl named Liv. She lived with her best friend, Amy, and had a boyfriend named Marco. In the present timeline, Liv is back in New York, but she has no memories from the past two years. Every time she goes to sleep, she forgets everything from the day before. Liv writes messages on her hands to stay awake, not to go to sleep, not to trust, etc. She lives on caffeine. The insomnia likely makes it worse. Liv wakes up confused and has a bloody knife in a shirt. She has no idea what happened. She goes back to her apartment but there is a couple living there. She tries calling Marco and Amy, but they don't answer. She's confused and goes around the city following messages on her hands. She goes to a bar that was written down, but she doesn't remember it. The bartender knows her and says she was there a lot.

There is a man murdered at an apartment building. The security videos from the area show a woman leaving in the middle of the night. They can't see her face well, but she has super long hair. The police start looking into who she might be and it leads them to Liv. They look into her past and talk to doctors who knew her. While they search for Liv, she's running around trying to figure out if she could have killed someone. She also wonders if someone is after her.

The pacing was great and I'm surprised that the murderer wasn't who I thought. I liked the back and forth in time.

I gave this book 5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my earc.

💭MY THOUGHTS💭
Told in dual timelines and dual perspectives, this thriller is one to add to your want to read piles to finish off the summer! Who knows it could also be a BOTM pick, as they have featured Goldin before with her book Night Swim (which is a must read too).

Stay Awake is an expertly plotted thriller! Where Goldin choose to show little glimpses of clues, the slow and precise unraveling of the clues, and the piecing together of the two timelines is done very well! The books starts out with a bang and captures your interest from the start (like any thriller should do 😜). The middle for me read like a mystery. Each new chapter gives a new hint of who Liv was or the detectives shed new light of the case and I thoroughly enjoyed trying to put all the clues together. The end brings us back to thriller speed and you biting you fingernails down as far as they go! 😬😬😬 Even though at times the novel feels a bit far fetched….like could that reeaallllly happen??? I was still sucked in and wanted to know more about who Liv was before this rare form of amnesia took over her body!

So many things about this book just creeped me out…the writing on her body, not having a person to count on, her scar, the knife, the murder in which she can’t figure out why she was there, unknown people coming into where she lives when she is sleeping, and not remembering what happened to you each and every time you fall asleep make my heart work in overdrive. As someone who loves a good rabbit hole, this one sure sent me down a few! 😜

If you enjoyed Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson and love a book with a fantastic detective (Detective Darcy Halliday is whipsmart and doesn’t let the men boss her around. I would love to see her at the center of another Goldin thriller) Stay Awake was written for you!! Enjoy!!

After loving other books by this author, I was super excited to have a chance to review an advance copy of this book. However, I think I may have liked this one more if I hadn’t had such high expectations.

Liv has a disorder where she loses her memory when she sleeps. She wakes up with a bloodstained knife in her hand with no memory of what happened, and she tries to put the pieces together before her past catches up with her.

This book was okay, but the story got a little repetitive for me. It had a few great moments surrounded by pages of just meh. If you’re new to this author, skip this one and read the Night Swim instead.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Liv Reese's memory is wiped clean every night, she is desperately trying to stay awake! She knows that she is in danger, that someone is after her...but can't remember who or why.

Because Liv has no memories, it takes a while for us as the reader to get a handle on who all the players are in this one. We are piecing things together along with Liv. I like that this book is told through dual timelines, so we can get a glimpse into the past.

This wasn't my favorite of Goldin's, I much preferred The Night Swim but this was not a total miss for me. I did like Liv and her resilience to find out what was happening to her. I liked the police investigation side of things. It was a nice break from the confusion of Liv's memories.


This book gave me major Before I Go to Sleep vibes. It is a similar concept. So if you enjoyed that book, you will enjoy this one.

🔊Song Pairing: Losin’ Sleep - Merkules

💭What I thought would happen:

Honestly Megan Goldin became an auto buy author after The Night Swim

📖What actually happens:

Liv Reece wakes up with no recent memories..but is on a park bench and it’s very chilly…odd for mid summer heat wave…but why are there fall leaves. She doesn’t live in walk up anymore…where is her cat! Why aren’t her best friend Amy and boyfriend Marco answering?!

While Liv tries to get her memories figured out, there is a murder being investigated. Very odd as on the window written in blood is STAY AWAKE. One single stab wound to the victim and no sign of struggle. What does this murder have to do with Liv?! Why is stay awake written on her knuckle?

🗯Thoughts:

I looooved The Night Swim. It was my absolute favourite thriller from the fall. This book while good didn’t give me that same feeling but it’s okay.

Stay Awake is like that person you always see at parties and like very much because they’re young, fun and beautiful. The kind of person you want to be friends with but they’re aloof; you never quite know what they’re thinking/feeling and if they would actually have your back but you’ll always think of them fondly. That’s this book. Walking chaos.

If you have anxiety, get ready…it’s going to be cranked up to 11 until you’re finished this book. I was confused many times throughout with a couple specific characters and the addition and removal of one in particular. Plus, some of the timeline had me like wtf day are we on right now?! Had me in a tizzy!

I look forward to other’s reviews. I wonder if I’d felt different if I’d read this instead of listening.

if you can suspend disbelief & just go with the old amnesia chestnut, then you could do a lot worse than this book.

i felt that, although the villain is obvious from the start, the way it is structured creates a lot of tension & the strong characterization of the secondary female protagonist was much needed to counteract a lack of depth in the amnesiac.

This is an absolute must read! When the book opens we find Liv in a taxi cab headed to her apartment. The problem is that she has no memory of how she got there or really the last two years of her life. Soon we find that a man is dead and Liv is holding the knife. The story takes off from there and we are in a for a wild ride!

What I loved:
short chapters
alternating timeframes from past to present
multiple POV's - both Liv and the detectives investigating the murder
the way the author brings us in and we unravel the pieces as Liv does - genius plot!
breadcrumbs - enough to keep you moving along but still keep you guessing

WOW!!!! Finally a thriller to get me out of my 4 star thriller slump! This was gripping, perplexing, and downright wonderful. The jumping back and forth between time lines and points of view made the book read seamlessly like a movie. I could picture every scene in my head and didn’t trust anyone.

Stay Awake follows Liv Reese as she tries to piece together pieces of her life.... every time she falls asleep and subsequently wakes up. Liv suffers from a memory disorder that causes her to lose ~2 yrs of her life every time she falls asleep. Not only would this be hard but she wakes up with a knife in her hand + blood on her shirt and a murder investigation every time she turns on the TV. Not knowing who to trust, Liv sets out to figure out what is going on, why she needs to stay awake and is she actually responsible for the murder.

I found Stay Awake to be a book that sucked me in from the beginning. The story is told from both present day and 2 years ago, the time in which Liv does actually remember. I found myself enjoying the dual timeline of this book and trying to figure out what the heck was going on with Liv and how she went from having a normal life to being on the run for a crime she did not commit.

Thank you, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!