Ok, I definitely didn’t think this book was perfect, but I enjoyed it’s wild ride a lot. The premise was very interesting and while yes there have been stories with similar aspects but what story can claim to have anything completely new? The main character Liv is stuck in a weird kind of amnesia where when she goes to sleep she forgets everything from that day and when she wakes up she believes it’s a summer day when she was headed to work. I didn’t think Liv made all the right choices, but what would you do if you didn’t remember the last two years of your life? Unfortunately the events that caused this particular amnesia mean that Liv’s life is in danger and if she can’t figure out what happened and who was responsible she may not survive. And beyond that Liv appears to be being set up for a murder she is sure she did not commit even if she can’t remember anything.

In this book we follow Liv, she’s had some bad trauma and every time she falls asleep she forgets everything that happened in the last two years.

Megan Goldins writing style is compelling and fascinating. This book was really unputdownable. From the first second I was hooked into the story and Livs world. I was wondering what happened to her, what she did and why she was losing her memory again and again and again.

I’m normally not a fan of unreliable main characters, but in this case this gave the whole story a very nice turn and I enjoyed reading about Liv very much. Even though I was at times frustrated with her and the decisions she made, I think she was often clever.

I liked the whole concept and the story behind the crimes that happened. Not only were we discovering what happened to Liv two years prior to the plot, but also what happened on that fateful night we start the story.

It was my first book by Megan Goldin and I’ll definitely will readmore by her.

Two years ago, Liv was thriving as a successful writer for a trendy magazine. Now, she’s lost and disoriented in a New York City that looks nothing like what she remembers. Catching a glimpse of the local news, she’s horrified to see reports of a crime scene where the victim’s blood has been used to scrawl a message across a window, similar to the message that’s inked on her hands. What did she do last night? And why does she remember nothing from the past two years? Liv finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing. But there’s someone who does know exactly what she did, and they’ll do anything to make her forget—permanently.

4 stars

After really enjoying Goldin's _The Night Swim_, I was thrilled to get my hands on Goldin's latest, and my incoming high expectations were met.

Liv, the m.c., has a disturbing situation happening. Every time she falls asleep, she forgets...EVERYTHING. The "STAY AWAKE" note she has written on herself only works for so long, and she participates in this note taking and clue collecting behavior nonstop. As anyone can imagine, it's incredibly frustrating for Liv - though, to Goldin's credit, compelling instead for readers - that Liv is existing in a losing game of more chutes than ladders. Goldin keeps what could have been a really repetitive and frustrating convention fresh by dipping in and out of multiple timelines: the present and two years ago, which is just exactly when Liv thinks she's existing each time she awakens with a reset.

Some thrillers are so out there that it's hard to connect to any of the characters, and while fortunately Liv's predicament isn't exactly common, Goldin writes this situation in a way that makes Liv seem extremely relatable and sympathetic. Even if she is a monster, she has no memory of it. Couldn't any of us find ourselves in this exact spot? As one character suggests in a spoiler-free way at some stage, we mostly think people don't seem like killers...until they kill. There's a lot of good content like this that helps readers stay interested and keep guessing.

One of the parts of Goldin's last novel that I loved most is the freshness of the material. While I did find myself a little frustrated by the unavoidable comparisons to aspects of _Memento_ at times here, I really enjoyed this overall and expect that most lovers of thrillers/mysteries will enjoy this read, too.

did I stay up until 2am to finish this because it physically pained me to put it down without knowing all the answers?

yes, reader, I did.

am I regretting how tired I am at work this morning?

yes, reader, I am (but it was so worth it).

and I seriously loved every second of this suspenseful crazy thriller!! 🤭 while I feel like the amnesia unreliable narrator trope is so overdone in thrillers, this one managed to do it SO WELL I’m pleasantly surprised

megan goldin’s writing and pacing throughout any of her stories is capturing and thrilling to the point where I was seriously stressed if I didn’t finish it all in one go

and while I did guess the major plot twist of the whodunnit murder mystery super early on, I didn’t even care (I know who am I?! 😨) because I was DESPERATE to see how this all played out.

this book will physically stick to your hands until you finish it - I AM WARNING YOU NOW!!

this is by far my favorite of megan goldin’s so far, and I cannot wait to see what she writes next!

thank you to netgalley and st martin’s press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! if you haven’t pre-ordered this release in august yet, this is your sign!! 🤌🏼

rating: 4.5 stars
wine pairing: rioja red blend

Wow. Wow is the first word that comes to mind after reading this psychological thriller. This book definitely earns a 5+ stars in my book. This one is up there with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Verity on the memorable factor, which is actually kind of ironic.

Liv is a young woman who finds herself alone in New York City and unsure of why. Through several time lapses, between two years prior, two days prior, 24 hours prior and current time, we learn all that she's been through. A man is found murdered in an AirBnB and Liv becomes a suspect because she is the only person seen in the vicinity of the crime scene on camera. However, we quickly learn that she experiences dissociative fugues after a traumatic experience of almost being murdered herself. Every time she falls asleep, she forgets the previous day. This poses several issues for Liv and for the police. We find out that Liv is actually another victim in this tragic story. Goldin definitely keeps you guessing on what is going on in on the story.

I really enjoyed this book and was so sad to see it end, though I'm kind of hoping Goldin is setting this up for a series to follow Liv. You know I'm a sucker for a good series! Do you enjoy psychological thrillers? Do you like to be kept on the edge of your seat for 50+ chapters? This one comes out August 9th and you need to preorder NOW if you haven't already!

This is an amnesia thriller that alternates between different timelines. The separate timelines add a little more oomph and keeps you engaged. The reasoning behind my 3 stars is that I feel the ending left a lot to be desired. Too many unanswered questions.

Ahh this was so good. I started this and didn’t want to put it down because I needed to know what was going on.⁣
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This story is split into different time lines until the very end. It’s good from Liv and Halliday’s points of view. ⁣
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This was filled with tension and suspense I was on the edge of my seat just waiting to figure out what happened. Liv suffers from amnesia and insomnia; every time she falls asleep she forgets everything from the day before; which makes it difficult to know where she was when someone who was close to her, that she doesn’t even remember ends up dead. ⁣
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Liv is kind of unreliable and a disaster, but she’s actually really likable and I really felt for her and the confusion she must’ve felt. This was such a page turner and one of the better thrillers I’ve read in a while! The ending is intense and so good and surprising too!⁣
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I also listened to the narration and read in between and the narration was really well done and made you feel even more on edge at times.⁣
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Liv Reese wakes up each day not knowing where she is or how she got there. It is as if, her brain has reset overnight. When she is dropped off at the brownstone where she used to live, she learns that someone else lives there and that they are not happy with her showing up thinking she lives there. Her phone is missing but what is not missing are the messages she has written on her hands. A prominent message telling her to STAY AWAKE.

Two years ago, Liv was living with her best friend, writing for a trendy magazine, and dating. What happened between then and the present day? Live wants to know, if only she can stay awake and find out! Plus, why are strange and upsetting things happening around her?

Detective Darcy Halliday and Detective Jack Lavelle have been called to the scene of a murder. A message has been left written in the victim's blood - STAY AWAKE

The synopsis was not kidding when it said this book would give Memento vibes. I was trying to figure out what was going on right along with Liv. This was such a clever, engaging, and gripping book. I really felt for LIV and her constant unease about not knowing who she could trust, not knowing what happened to her, and not knowing what happened to her friend. As she desperately tries to find the

This was an incredibly entertaining and dramatic read which I enjoyed from beginning to end! I had the privilege of having both the book and the audiobook so I could go back and forth between the two. You can't go wrong with either! Nor can you go wrong with this book.

This is clever, tense, and gripping.

STAY AWAKE you don't want to miss this book!


Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have been on a major amnesia kick lately but all of the books with this troupe have been great!

STAY AWAKE! I had no problem staying awake for this book! It was a great whodunnit murder mystery/police procedural! It reminds me of 50 first dates with major twists of psychological thriller! I flew through this book in a matter of 2 days! All of the amnesia, gaslighting, and secrets lead to a roller coaster of a book! While there was some repetitive parts with Liv forgetting everything every time she fell asleep, I still loved this book! I felt exhausted by the end of the book, just as Liv did throughout.

With two POV and nonlinear timeline, it added the much needed complexity to the amnesia troupe! This was my first book by Megan Golding and it will not be my last!

***** Many thanks to St Martin’s Press, Megan Golding, and NetGalley for the gifted copy as it was provided to me in turn for my honest opinion.

I will post this on thriller_book_sisters IG account closer to the pub date.

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin
This book lived up to its title because I stayed awake late into the night reading it. Stay Awake is a fast paced, riveting,psychological thriller that will keep you guessing till the very end.
The main protagonist, Liv, has a rare form of amnesia where she loses her memories each time falls asleep. When she wakes she has no memory of what happened to her. We find her in the beginning of the story waking up in the back of a cab with no memory of how she got their and with the words STAY AWAKE written on her hands. She discovers that two years have passed and she has no recollection of what has happened over those two years.

Liv narrowly escaped being murdered two years prior, but due to her memory loss doesn’t know that she is still in danger from her attacker. Liv does anything to stay awake and it starts to put a toll on her mental health.

This story is told from two points of view, the present and the past. And the reader learns what caused the amnesia along with Liv. Along with a current day murder that we must solve and that Liv may be involved in.

I got a lot of 50 First Dates and Before I Go To Sleep vibes from this story and I absolutely loved both movies. So if you are fan of those movies and like a edge of your seat psychological thriller this is a book for you.

Thank you St. Martins Press and Netgalley for the ARC of this novel in return for my honest opinion.

This was so different from what I expected. This psychological thriller is so unique in that I've never seen a storyline quite like it. The POV jumps between the past and present where the main character continuously loses her memory every time she falls asleep. This was fast paced and full of intrigue. It kept me guessing until the very end and gives almost no clues to who the real murderer could be until its actually revealed. Megan Goldin does a great job of keeping the reader in the dark along with the main character. The ending was very fitting in my opinion. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A fast-paced amnesia thriller that is told in alternating timelines and also incorporates a third POV (the detectives trying to solve the main crime). Goldin is excellent at writing engaging, suspenseful reads, and this was no exception. Liv’s increasing self-doubt and devolving mental state was well-written, especially since the present timeline took place over the course of one day and was time stamped. My main critique was regarding the ending. There were lose ends that were not resolved, and the motives of the murderer are left unclear.

I read this all in one sitting and could not put it down! Such a fast-paced thriller that kept me guessing until the end. I loved the focus on the construct on memory and thought it was a unique take.

Is it a Coke can or a bottle? Scarves and puffer jackets or a summer storm?
Make up your mind, Megan.
I agree with the other reviewers' descriptions of this book as 50 First Dates, but d-a-r-k with a splash of police procedural. I mean like fruit flavor in LaCroix kind of splash. Sometimes there was way too much detail, other timess left me wanting more. Like what happened to the cat? And I need more with the detectives, potentially a sequel? Probably not fair of me that I read this at the same time I read one of the best books I've read in my entire life, but this was not Goldin's best.

Oh hell yeah this was a solid thriller!

This is for sure, a slow burn but so worth it in the end. Though I did know who the baddie was very early on, I still loved the way this thriller unfolded.

This is my second Megan Goldin and I'm officially a fan and will be picking up her future stuff!

This was a Really Great Book. I enjoyed it so much. It is a page turner that keeps you going until you reach the end. Liv Reese is the main character, but you are never certain exactly what is happening which makes for a great thriller.

The story starts with Liv living with her roommate Amy in NYC. Everything seems to be ok, but then Liv starts to think someone is stalking her. It makes her seem crazy or paranoid. First she notices someone was in her room and her clothes and other items are out of place. She calls the police, and is treated as being over worried about nothing. She thinks someone is following her, but she can’t prove that either. One night she comes home and there is a new milk container in the fridge. She knows she did not buy it and neither did Amy. This type of gaslighting is driving her crazy, she starts to doubt her own sanity. Last, she comes home and in her closet, the dry cleaning was picked up, a casserole is being made that she did not make, and in her room there are flowers for her with a text that says ‘this is how a boyfriend should treat you’. How creepy, but also Amy thinks she is having psychological problems and is making something out of nothing. Liv calls the police and they take a report, but especially one officer makes jokes and does not take this seriously. Basically, until she can prove someone is following her, is in her apartment, or she gets hurt nothing can be done.

I did find it a bit strange that her best friend Amy constantly doubts what Liv says. She does not have a history of being terrified in the city. Her boyfriend, Marco also pays no attention to her worries. Are they involved I wondered? Eventually, we find out what was causing all this trouble and Liv decides to move to London to start over.

So, the story is quite intriguing, we do not know why Liv moved to London and now she is back in New York. She is so confused and is trying to go back to her old apartment, talk to Amy, goes to her Job, and everyone is telling her that was a long time ago. That is how the story begins, what is going on here. It ends up Liv is actually remembering her life from 2 years ago. You find out that Liv has lost her memory when she comes back to NYC. She writes notes on her hand that say Stay Awake. The reason is Liv will remember all that was told to her only for that day, but when she falls asleep, her brain resets and she starts right back at the same point 2 years ago and forgets everything that happened.

People are trying to help Liv, but she in unsure who she can trust. I man dies and she is terrified she had something to do with the murder. She may have. She does not trust the police since she doesn’t have her memory and can’t say what did happen. Luckily, two police officers Lavelle and Halliday decide to keep their minds open to all possibilities and just want to connect with Liv.

The ending was not that surprising to me, but it was not obvious. Liv is in severe danger and this time she may not be ok. I was definitely flipping the pages to see what would happen. So, I liked the ending, but thought it wrapped up a little fast. I would have liked a bit more background information. However, it was certainly quite terrifying and was afraid for Liv since she loses her memory. That was a great addition to the story.

I had both the Kindle e-book and the Audio 🎧 for this book. It made a great combination. I was that much more jumpy and terrified reading and listening at the same time. It definitely increased the tension and added to the thrill. The narration was done very well and I enjoyed the narrator, thought the voice was done very well.

Thank you NetGalley, Megan Goldin, and St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for granting me the book and the audio. I am always happy to review books I read.

Whoa!! Stay Awake by Megan Goldin was a wild ride. It certainly kept me awake reading it well into the night. The funny thing about the book is that I actually figured out the "whodunnit" puzzle very early on in the book. While I, of course, wanted to keep reading to verify I was right, I also wanted to keep reading because I felt personally invested in Liv's wellbeing. I have no idea whether a condition like hers actually exists, but it SEEMED plausible, and given that, I can't imagine how vulnerable a person would be who had such a condition: Live had a type of amnesia that at a certain traumatic point in her life, her memories just stopped and every time she sleeps she forgets everything that happened up until shortly before that traumatic event. In this case, the book opened two years after the event so everyone Liv had met, every place she had lived, every action she, herself had taken prior to the last time she slept was totally forgotten. It you have seen the movie Fifty First Dates, that is what Liv's condition reminded me of, only terrifying because she was seemingly all alone with no one looking out for her and someone wanting to kill her and/or frame her for murder.....or did she actually kill someone? It was a mind-trip to say the least. Even trying to write a review, it is difficult to describe the breathlessness the reader feels while navigating the story with Liv. I appreciated the alternating points of view: A female detective investigating a murder Liv is somehow tied to, Liv in the past leading up to her traumatic event, and Liv in the current day trying to navigate her circumstances with no memory, and no help other than the writing she does on her own body with notes of instructions for herself such as "Stay Awake" or "Don't Talk to the Cops". I did think it helped make it more believable that there were actually a few "strangers" who seemed to know a bit about her condition and attempted to help her even though she didn't remember them.

Basically, this thriller was a unique premise, and a true page turner. Stay Awake was my third book I have read by Megan Goldin, and while I didn't quite love it as much as Night Swim, it was awesome. Megan Goldin is a must read author for me.

What would it be like to wake up every day with no memory of your life, your friends, your job? For Liv that is her life. The story opens with Liv waking up in the back seat of a cab in NYC. She gets dropped off at her apartment, but when she goes to the door she is met by two strangers. She reaches in the pocket of her cardigan and finds a bloody knife wrapped in a t-shirt. Her last memory is of her phone ringing in her office. To try and deal with her rare memory loss she writes notes on her hands and arms - Stay Wake. She remembers no one, and in turn trusts no one.
For me the character of Liv was frustrating and seemed repetitive. I know that the author had to keep the storyline going, but several times I felt like I had read the same scene over and over. Also, I felt the true killer was just thrown in at the end for an attempted plot twist – it felt disjointed. And what about Z or Q (not sure which name he went by)? His character in the story was really strange and felt like it didn’t belong. I’m not really sure of the point of him.
I can honestly say the book did keep me turning the pages to find out what was next for Liv, but it did not live up to all the 5 star ratings. I loved The Night Swim but felt Goldin missed the mark on this one. With that being said though, I will continue to read Megan Goldin books.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

She’s back! This book is going to be a star! I recently watched The Tourist on HBO and got the same vibes from this book! Girl wakes up without a clue as to who she is… there’s blood, mystery, and glimpses of the past. This book is an insane psychological thriller and I can’t believe I have to wait for it to release to get my hands on a copy for my shelves! This is it, this will be one of the top reads of the year and would be perfect adapted to TV. Edge of your seat and stay up all night for a wild ride trying to solve the mystery but in the end it will mess you up! Fantastic! Brilliant! I love a book that really makes my skin crawl, 5 stars!