Fast paced, quick read. I can't imagine the struggle of waking up and not knowing who I was or where I was. That is Liv's current life. She's waking up and trying to figure out what's happened because her last memory is from 2 years ago.

From there, she slowly starts discovering what is going on. It's best to go in to this not knowing. Let the story wrap you up and carry you along. It's hard to put down once you start! The twists kept me flipping pages and the reveals were perfectly timed to keep the tension high and your curiosity even higher! I loved this one!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Megan Goldin writes some of my favorite thrillers, The Night Swim just blew me away – Freaking. LOVED. It! In fact, I still recommend it to this day. Stay Awake has a really clever premise but I did find myself slogging through some repetitiveness and yikes, a fairly confusing plot with a few holes.

The plot borrows a bit from the movie Memento with the protagonist, Liv, writing notes on her arms giving subtle yet generally unhelpful clues – basically telling herself to ‘Stay Awake’ and other random clues. And then there’s the whole 50 First Dates theme of waking up each morning and not remembering the last years of her life. The whole time I was reading, my mind was going all over the place for possible reasons why Liv couldn’t remember anything for the last two years when she'd wake up. I don’t want to be spoiler-ish so for the sake of keeping things on the down low, that’s where I’ll leave this.

On a positive side, I loved the characters. Liv herself is an easy character to invest in and the villains are easy to hate! The detectives on the case, particularly, Darcy Halliday, is well written and one that I think would make a great series detective. She’s a badass and should have more books written about her.

This isn’t my favorite Goldin book but I was entertained and found a new favorite character in Darcy Halliday.

My thanks to St. Martins Press for this gifted DRC.

50 First Dates but make it a thriller! Was this really authored by the same person as The Night Swim, one of my favorite books of 2020? The writing was repetitive and felt amateur, and the plot was lacking. After reading so many five star reviews, perhaps my standards were too high, but this was a big letdown for me. Liv was such a frustrating character. While I can’t imagine how it hard it is to lose your memory every time you wake up, she literally ran away from everyone who was trying to help her. I felt like I was the one in the Groundhog Day cycle, because of how many times it felt like I read the same scene. Also, unless I missed something, there are some gaping plot holes, as well as unnecessary red herrings. I’m not sure why we needed the perspective of the detectives, but that’s honestly the least of my complaints. This was just a big miss for me overall, but I certainly haven’t written off Megan Goldin altogether!

This is a typical story of not remembering who you are, where you are or what happened. Trying to stay awake so you don’t forget what you did that day. But you wake up and start all over. Full of suspense and a page turner.

I loved this thriller! There was such a unique plot to this story and the twists and turns were endless. I loved the added layer of suspense and doubt created from having a character with a memory disorder. This book was incredibly hard to put down, and had short chapters that alternated perspectives between characters.

Strongly recommend!

This was a real page turner! Liv wakes up and doesn't remember where she is or how she got there. As the story unfolds, we are switching between the past and the present trying to piece things together. Liv is on the run and has no memories of her life for the last 2 years. She uses the messages she writes to herself on her arms as clues as she backtracks through her old life realizing that it no longer exists. I couldn't put this down as I tried to figure out what was happening and who was after Liv. I loved the storyline and how it kept me guessing right up until the ending.

After reading and loving The Night Swim, I was excited for the chance to read Megan Goldin’s newest book. While it didn’t compare to The Night Swim for me, it was a good psychological thriller.

Stay Awake is about Liv who wakes up in a cab holding a bloody knife. Not knowing how she got there, she gets driven to her apartment only to find out she no longer lives there. She then notices writing all over her hands and and with notes and messages, telling her to stay awake.

She begins to try to investigate what’s going on, and soon discovers she has a condition where she doesn’t remember anything once she falls asleep. She also realizes that she is wanted in relation to a murder and has no idea who to trust.

It’s hard to believe it’s the same author as The Night Swim. The writing felt completely different to me (and not in a good way). While I still think of that book quite often, this one won’t be sticking with me the same way.

I loved the premise of this book. It had me anxious and stressed as I read, but overall the execution fell a bit flat. There were a few too many reaches with clues and a bunch of suspend belief moments. Overall it was different and entertaining and kept me guessing - 3.5 Stars

*3.5 stars*

What I liked - this book had a creepy vibe the entire time and was giving me major "Memento" vibes. Liv's memory problems came through, and made ME feel like I was going crazy too! There were some interesting twists and I liked how the chapters were going forward by time of day, and switched back and forth between the present and the past. It's almost like as a reader, we were slowly piecing things together along with Liv.

What I didn't like - I had to go back and double check things a lot since it was going back and forth from past to future, but maybe I'm just dumb. The end felt a bit rushed, and I HATE when that happens. It felt like Goldin was trying to explain everything over the course of a few pages. Annoying.

All in all, I enjoyed it and it had a lot of great suspense!! Kept me reading long into the night. However, I will say that I think I enjoyed her first 2 thrillers better.

This book is EXACTLY the book you need to pull you out of a slump if you’re ever in one. The different POV’s and varying timelines made this thriller all-consuming. I simply could not put it down.

Personally one of my favorite takeaways from this book was how fantastic the character development was. My heart stuck with Liv and I was so engaged with her and her future, despite still having many questions about her… it was just that good!

My only complaint about this novel was the ending was a little predictable. It would have been a 5 star read if I was guessing until the very end. Otherwise this is a really great, enjoyable read.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advance readers copy.
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I loved The Night Swim by Megan Goldin, so I had high expectations for this follow up thriller. Unfortunately, I don’t think Goldin’s writing was at its best here. Undoubtedly, it was a fast paced page turner, but it’s possible suspense building took priority over plot and character development. Although it isn’t a science fiction novel, the repetitive nature of waking up in a “new” world felt very reminiscent of that genre, which is not for me. Ironically, it just wasn’t particularly memorable.

A heart-pounding, deeply psychological tour de force.

Liv Reese is unraveling. She wakes up in a cab not knowing where she is or how she's gotten there. She has no phone, no keys and a large wad of cash in her pocket. Cryptic messages are scribbled on her hands. She learns on the local news a man has been murdered. Has she committed a violent crime or is she the victim of one?

You will Stay Awake all night devouring this frenetic, fast-paced thriller.

This book was so interesting and intriguing. It kept me guessing until the very end. I loved the shorter chapters that kept hooking me into the story.

Liv Reese woke up in the back of a NYC cab with no memory of how she got there or where she was going. When the driver dropped her off at the apartment she shared with her roommate, she was relieved to be somewhere familiar and finally home. But it was not her home and hadn’t been for over two years. Confused and overwhelmed by this knowledge, Liv examined her pockets and cardigan looking for her cellphone to call her boyfriend or roommate. She didn’t find her phone, but she did find a blood stained knife wrapped in a T-shirt. Once again, Liv had no knowledge of how it got.

Liv had a certain type of amnesia. Every time she fell asleep she lost the past two years of her life. Those two years held secrets that she desperately tried to remember. But in order to do that she had to stay awake.

This was a very engaging story from the first to last chapter. You could feel the tension build with every scene as Liv battled mental and physical exhaustion, trying to piece her life together before the cops found her, and more importantly, before succumbing to fatigue and sleep…and ultimately amnesia once again.

Highly recommended for mystery/thriller fans.

This thriller had me guessing until the end. Liv Reese loses her memory every time she falls asleep. At first, I was worried the book would be hokey and play into the same tropes as other mysteries. But this book weaves a story that keeps you on your toes wondering what will happen next. This book kept me up late reading as I was dying to know what happened next. I have already started recommending this book to fellow mystery/thriller readers. Pick up this book!

THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD! I am such a sucker for a mystery/thriller that also has a cop/detective POV. I feel like the first chunk of the book I felt a little, lost?? I don't know if I just wasn't in the right headspace because this author doesn't write books that are confusing writing wise. As with The Night Swim, the entire time I was trying to act as if I knew what the twist would be, but I was completely wrong. This book kept me on the edge of my seat and then all of a sudden it was like, BAM, perfect resolution. It has been a while since I have read a thriller where I was so captivated.

This book was so good! I want to see more from this author in the future!! I couldn't put this book down. What a page turner!!!

I absolutely loved this book! I loved how the main character Liv was trying to figure out what really went down as I did the same. Between the story lines of Detective Halliday and Detective Lavelle I must say every question I had was answered in between chapters. However I was not shocked on the big reveal I knew exactly who was involved but, what surprised me was how and why .I really loved the story line and really enjoyed this. I definitely recommend . Thank you so much NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC copy of Stay Awake. Definitely will be buying the book to add to my library!

A murder she doesn’t remember committing. A killer she doesn’t remember meeting. Megan Goldin’s Stay Awake is an electrifying novel that proves memory can be deadly.

Fantastic! It will be one of my favorites of the year! Quite a nail-biter and I loved the MC. Bring me all the Megan Goldin books!

This is a ridiculously good rollercoaster ride that’s sure to thrill thriller fans.

Live Reese loses two years worth of memory every time she falls asleep, forgetting that she was almost murdered and making her easy prey for a killer still at large.

This gave me Memento vibes, and I absolutely love an unreliable narrator.

Megan Goldin is the queen of dual timelines, and this book is no exception.

Get this on your pre-order lists now, because it’s sure to be a summer smash!

I rated this four stars because I guessed who the killer was, correctly, very early on, but I love Goldin’s writing so much that it didn’t phase me and I reveled in being right.

**Many thanks to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.**

#thriller #heartpounding #unreliablenarrator

Book: Stay Awake
Author: Megan Goldin
Release date: August 9, 2022
Rating: 4 ⭐️

Stay Awake is exactly what this book made me do. Every time Liv Reese wakes up she doesn’t remember anything from the past two years. Her home is no longer hers, she can’t get ahold of her best friend or her boyfriend and there’s writing all over her hands and arms telling her to “Stay awake.”

This book has a 50 First Dates in psychological thriller feel to it and you continue to relive things. The time line jumps at first get confusing as well as character POV switching between Liv (2 years ago or current) and detectives working on a homicide. It got a bit repetitive in stating the full names of the detectives over and over (sometimes within the same page) and some details that were poorly written, however overall this was a book I couldn’t put down! It got really creepy in a few spots and caused me to be nervous to go to the bathroom in the darkness of my home in the middle of the night and gave me some interesting dreams when I finally fell asleep. I was able to figure out the “who” part of the mystery pretty early in but it still held interest as the puzzle pieces all fell together.

Overall, good read for those that like psychological thrillers and don’t mind character POV and timeline changes.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this early digital copy in exchange for my thoughts.