This book is thrilling and the pace is pulse-pounding. As complex as the plot seems to be throughout, it is solved simply in the end, something I am having a hard time understanding. This is my first book by the author and found her writing style very engaging. She roped me into the story and I read until I could no more. Excellent psychological thriller. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy. People will love this book!

This book is a thrill ride! One of the best thrillers I have read in awhile! I loved how every single detail the author put into this book meant something. The main character has amnesia and it was such a ride uncovering the mystery right along with her! It’s like 50 first dates turned into a thriller! I could not put it down! Will recommend to all of my thriller loving friends!

Big thanks to NetGalley and St Martins press for this ARC!

Pros: I went into this book with high expectations because it has gotten great reviews on Goodreads. Although I didn’t enjoy it as much as other reviewers, I’d recommend this book to readers who love thrillers with unreliable narrators and characters with memory loss. I read this book both on ebook and audiobook and think it works well in both formats.

Cons: I read a good number of thrillers, and this one didn’t stand out as anything special, hence the three stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan for the opportunity to read this book.

Liv Reese doesn’t know why she woke up in the back of a taxi. The last thing she remembers is answering the phone at work. It was in the summer, but now it’s cold. She shows up at her brownstone and finds strangers living there, and they don’t let her stay. Her phone? Gone. Her wallet? Also gone. But she does have a knife covered in blood and messages scrawled all over her hands and arms. Some of these messages include an address to a bar, or the words STAY AWAKE, WAKE UP, and DON’T FALL ASLEEP.

You see, every time Liv wakes up, she forgets everything that has happened in the last two years. She doesn’t recognize the New York City that for her, existed only moments before. She learns quickly that police are investigating a crime scene where the words WAKE UP were written in blood on a window, and since she can’t remember the last two years, she has to wonder what happened. She slowly begins to piece together some of the events of the last two years while she tries to evade the police.

Readers also read from the perspective of Detective Darcy Halliday as she works with another detective trying to find the mysterious woman with long hair on the CCTV footage. On top of Liv’s present day perspective, we also get glimpses of her past that lead up to the final moment she remembers from two years before.

The unreliable narrator trope can get old, but I think that Megan Goldin handled it extremely well. Near the beginning of the book, I wasn’t sure I would like the explanation for Liv’s amnesia, but it made sense and fit well with the story. I also appreciated how Darcy tried not to jump to conclusions as she and Lavelle tried to find Liv.

My main complaint about this book is that the ending felt a bit rushed. I also felt like the motives for one character weren’t explained as well as I wanted, so although the story itself was engaging, the ending left me feeling a little unsatisfied. Even then, I don’t think I’ll ever hesitate to pick up a Megan Goldin book.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. I also obtained a copy of the eBook from Libro.fm’s ALC program.

Okay so. I started and finished this book on a long international flight. (Partly because I needed to Stay Awake and… well.)

I think the premise of this book is awesome. Basically the plot of 50 first dates — our protagonist forgets all recent memories every time she falls asleep/wakes up — only with murder and intrigue instead of romance. Tons of potential. And everything that focused on that character & that storyline was pretty good — it allowed the reader to discover things as she discovered them, then be one step ahead when she woke up, etc. I was interested.

HOWEVER. The author made the choice to tell this in two POVs: the protagonist’s and the detective’s. And the detective chapters… were so boring. And came across as very lazily written to me. All explaining, no character development/believable dialogue/forward momentum. Here’s a word-for-word conversation between the two detectives working on the case to illustrate:

“If we can find out the victim’s identity then we can blow this case wide open by working backward.”
“What do you mean by ‘working backward’”?
“We get an ID on the victim. After that, we find out who his enemies were.”
“What if he didn’t have enemies?”
“Everyone his enemies. Ninety percent of homicides are about figuring out who the victim pissed off enough to kill.”

“What do you mean by working backward?”??? Does not ring true for two senior detectives working together on a case. And there was so much of that superfluous defining/describing. It just felt like I as the reader was being explained/talked down to throughout the detective chapters.

And then I guessed the ending — and I’m NOT someone who’s actively trying to figure out what happened throughout, it just felt that obvious who the culprit was.

If the premise sounds intriguing to you, I wouldn’t automatically give it a miss! Just be prepared for some dips in the action & weird storytelling.

Thanks to Macmillan & St Martin’s Press for the eARC!

Stay Awake is the latest explosive thriller by Megan Goldin about Liv Reese who wakes up in the back of a New York taxi with no memory of where she is or where she has been. Quickly, Liv discovers that everything in her life has changed…strangers now live in her apartment, she can’t get a hold of her boyfriend and roommate, and her trendy workplace of Cultura magazine has been completely transformed. Furthermore, she has messages scribbled all over her arms, most notably STAY AWAKE and TRUST NO ONE. Liv can only remember things from two years ago and must piece together the present while living with amnesia where each time she falls asleep she forgets the present. Liv encounters danger from an unknown stalker and potential killer. To add to her confused state, she is a potential witness/ suspect in a murder investigation with the matching phrase ‘Stay Awake’ written on a window in blood. Liv must trust herself and piece together her past while trying to figure out what is happening in her current circumstances.

What I liked:
-the unreliable narrator coupled with memory issues (it had a Memento meets 50 first Dates vibe)
-the taut pacing of the plot…each chapter kept me wanting more
-dual timeline of present versus 2 years ago in the past
-NYC setting
-the tense feeling of not being able to trust anyone while being pursued by the police as a murder suspect
-the twists and turns as the story unfolds

What I didn’t like:
-I wanted more explanation and character development of the killer and the stalker of two years prior…Goldin did a great job creating the tense, suspenseful build up of these characters but I felt something was missing
-less repetition at times which may be difficult when trying to convey memory loss

Final Take Away

This was an enjoyable, suspenseful read that kept me wanting more. I was intrigued by the premise of a protagonist with memory loss with nowhere to turn and I enjoyed the dual timelines with an unreliable narrator.

My rating 4 out of 5 stars
I’d recommend this book to fans of popcorn reads and books with amnesiac protagonists who appreciate twists in the story.

Many thanks go to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me this ARC!

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of Stay Awake by Megan Goldin. This is an thriller about Liv Reese, who has amnesia every time she sleeps. This was fast paced and I loved it!

I'm looking at all the 5 star reviews and wondering if I received a draft version of the book, because what I read wasn't all that.

I requested this book after enjoying Goldin's other titles, The Night Swim and The Escape Room, but unfortunately Stay Awake did not live up to her other work. The story starts off with our protagonist having some mysterious psychological issue that causes her to forget everything that's happened in the last two years every time she goes to sleep. This was a stretch to believe but could have been more plausible if the author gave some scientific basis for this type of memory loss to be real. Instead her memory loss came across as farfetched and got in the way of feeling sympathy for the MC.

The writing was highly repetitive and bland with characters I couldn't connect with . The plot was highly repetitive, and I get that we were trying to experience life with Liv as she repeats parts of her life after each sleep, but it was too much for this reader. The twist/reveal was rather uninspired.

Liv wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea where she is or how she got there... This mix between Before I go to sleep meets Memento meets 50 First Dates turned into a gripping psychological thriller that had me hooked from page one and read it in one sitting (I did have to Stay Awake to finish this!) I do however have to say that although it was better than her previous book The Night Swim I liked her first book The Escape Room better. Also, on the negative side, the two timelines and different points of views sometimes had me a little confused; I did kind of see the ending coming early on; and it was a bit repetitive at times. It still gets a 9/10 from me.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

Stay Awake By :Megan Goldin
4 Stars

Imagine every time you fell asleep you forgot everything about what you did the day before.
That is what happens for Liv Reese after she lives thru a horrific event and every time she falls asleep she forgets everything from that morning to present day 2.5 years later.

She has 'notes written' All over her arms to help her remember but even that is just clues on what her life is now.
She left NY and moved to London for 2 years and has no memory of it. But now she is back in NY and someone is after her. But without a memory lasting more than a few hours/day how will she get out of this. She must STAY AWAKE to figure it out at all costs.

Definate Thrill from beginning to end.

Megan Goldin does it again! Stay Awake is not your usual “person with amnesia” story. Goldin’s take on the theme was refreshing and brought a new kind of terror to forgetting everything. Although it was repetitive at times, it was necessary due to the nature of the protagonist’s amnesia.
Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a cab confused and disoriented. The last thing she remembers is answering her phone at her desk in her office at Cultura magazine. Now, it’s the middle of the night and strangers are living in her apartment she used to share with her best friend Amy. She reaches for her phone to call her boyfriend Marco but instead of her phone, there’s a bloody knife in her pocket. She notices something written on her hands…STAY AWAKE! And WAKE UP! Along with other random notes, names, and info. If it wasn’t in her own handwriting, Liv would think someone graffitied her while she slept. Once she makes it to a destination written on her wrist, she sees a blurry image of herself on the nightly news as a prime suspect to an overnight murder. What has she done? Why can’t she remember the last 2 years of her life? And why must she stay awake?
This book had me sucked in from the first page. I loved that 2 main characters, Liv and Detective Halliday, are written as strong females. Although Liv is vulnerable due to her amnesia, one personality trait that is constant is her hunger to find the truth. Detective Halliday has no problem proving herself to her male counterparts and ensures her voice is heard when their opinions differ. The last third of the book had me flipping pages as quickly as possible so I could find out who and why! I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good whodunnit with multiple timelines.

Megan Goldin's thriller kept me up late reading. When I should have been getting work done, I really wanted to just keep reading! The ending surprised me even though I have read more mysterious then I can count!

For starters I love an unreliable narrator and Megan Goldin manages to hold my attention through her plot development. I do wish there had been more character development, but given the circumstances faced by the protagonist it is understandable. The whole concept was an entertaining, unique experience.

This book has you sucked in from the start! A cool concept and a great fear wrap into the unreliable character we read through. While I would have wanted something more character based, this was still a fun read. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this earc in exchange for an honest review.

Liv is afraid to fall asleep because if she does she will not remember the day prior. She is running on caffeine and notes she left on her arm that tell her to stay awake. Every time she awakens from a sleep she believes it is two years ago. Now someone is murdered and she doesn't remember what has happened. The book jumps around around from present day to two years ago and between the point of view of different characters. All in all, I liked the book.

The beginning of this book dragged for a while. The concept is interesting though. The stalking/gaslighting wasn't tied up too much with the final act. The final act was entertaining.. Not her best though.

Megan Goldin is one of my new favourite mystery writers. My introduction to her was the novel Night Swim and I absolutely loved it. I was privileged enough to receive, through NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, a copy of her newest novel Awake. Goldin does not disappoint.
This novel is in the vein of the movie Memento and the book Before I go to Sleep where sleep is the enemy.
Our protagonist Liv suffers a trauma so severe she cannot remember it. Every time she wakes up she suffers short term memory loss. When we first meet Liv (present day) she finds herself in a cab with no ID and in possession of a bloody knife. Liv doesn’t remember the last two years of her life let alone how she got into that cab. The only clues to help her are written on her hands and arms. “ Stay awake” and “trust no one” are two such ominous clues.
The story moves effortlessly between two time periods; present day and a time set two years in the past..
For most of the novel we live in media res with an unreliable narrator. Alternate chapters do give us some sense of logic because we meet Darcy Halliday, a homicide detective who is trying to make her place in a department where women are few and far between. Darcy is first on the scene of a murder where “stay awake” is written on the window of the crime scene with the victems blood. This phrase will obviously thrust the two women together to seek the truth.
Stay Awake forces the reader to literally stay awake themselves with its rapid plot and overpowering suspense until the end of the novel is reached.

Another good read from Megan Goldin. This took me a bit to get into but overall I did enjoy it. It's not as memorable to me as The Night Swim and even The Escape Room but there is lots of suspense and I couldn't wait to find out what was really going on with Liv. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

Megan Goldin is quickly becoming a favorite thriller writer for me. The Night Swim was in my top 10 reads in 2020, and I can see Stay Awake being in the top 10 of this year!

All three of her books have been so different, and I love how she can write different types of mysteries with varying levels of pace, tone and intensity but keep me hooked every time. I’d say Stay Awake is the most fast-paced and thrilling story yet. I was reading on my Kindle and it took everything in me to not speed read and tap through each “page” when the plot started reaching its climax because I just neeeeeeded to know what happened/how everything came together!

I guessed a couple of things, but not in a way that seemed like anything was obvious/predictable. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about the amnesia plot line but it was actually quite fun and added to the tenseness without feeling cheesy or trite. (Though there must have been some Momento inspiration with all the writing on skin/notes!)

Huge thanks to St. Martin’s Press for sending me an eARC! It did not impact my rating.

Another WOW book! This reminded me of a movie I’ve watched but can’t remember the name where the guy had the same memory issue and resorted to writing everything down so he could remember. The book still felt fresh though. It was a slow start for me because of the repetitiveness due to her condition but it really picked up once you get past the first 50 pages or so. I’m always a huge fan of the different timeline POVS coming together at the end and this book was no different. It was easy to follow and kept me hooked and wanting to keep reading. This book is accurately named as there were parts that creeped me out so much that I had to stay awake 😂 I even had to get up and turn the lights back on because it was that good! If you’re a fan of YOU or Dear Violet then this is definitely the book for you!