This was just okay for me. Decent plot with an okay ending. Audio narrator was really good. I would recommend to other readers

Haunting and super suspenseful. The pace was a steady build as the plot thickened. I was on the edge of my seat the entire book.

This other is one of the best thriller writers I have ever read. She keeps you guessing until her amazing twisty end. So good.

Stay Awake is the second book I have read from this author. Just like Night Swim, this thriller is intense and nerve wracking. Liv Reese loses her short term memory every time she goes to sleep. I totally was getting Memento and Before I Go to Sleep vibes. The premise drew me in and I was intrigued by Liv and her constant state of confusion and bewilderment. The middle of the book unfortunately seemed repetitive and my interest began to wane. I can’t say I disliked this compelling thriller, but I definitely didn’t love it either. The best part was the narration by Imogen Church and January LaVoy. Their performances added a layer of intrigue and suspense. All in all it was an okay read. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my audiobook.

I was a bit unsure when I started listening to this book. It was a bit slow and repetitive which made it slightly confusing. Once I was about 1/3 of the way through - I couldn't stop listening. I was connected to the main character, even though she was unreliable. The writing kept me engaged. The narration was exactly what I needed (except the British accent could use a little help). Fantastic read!

This book had me hooked from the first page, all the way to the last. Right away, Goldin grabs your attention with a suspenseful first chapter. I couldn't stop listening to it. If you love thrillers, this one will not disappoint with lots twists and turns. You will never see the huge twist coming! It is a beautifully written and easy to follow along and understand. I finished it in 2 sittings. I haven’t listened to an audiobook with this type of plot until now, I plan to read more books written by this author for sure!

Thank you Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press for the gifted book.

Liv wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea how she got there. And when she goes to her apartment, evidently she doesn't live there anymore. Then she realizes she's missing her phone and in it's place is a bloody knife, and there is writing on her skin that says "stay awake." New York doesn't feel like the city she knows, but she can't place why it feels so off. Then she gets a glimpse at the news reporting a bloody murder where there was a message left at the scene, the same that's on her arms, "stay awake".

I will start off my review by saying one of my least favorite tropes in books is the groundhog day trope. And while this book doesn't exactly follow the premise of that trope, it is close enough that it definitely taints how I feel about it. But once I got past the repetitive nature of this book, the premise is interesting and the twists and turns were enough to keep me engaged from beginning to end. I also appreciated that I did not peg the bad guy correctly and the police officers in the book seemed mostly realistic.

QUICK BIT
-Whodunnit thriller
-Groundhog Day meets murder mystery?
-Jumping timeline
-Multiple POV

REVIEW
I think it's safe to say after reading this one Megan Goldin has got to be one of the most underrated thriller writers out there!

Every book she writes is not only more gripping than the last, but their premises are ALL vastly different.

Stay Awake was everything (and maybe a little more) I bargained for.

Getting multiple timelines and POV's as Liv Reese attempts to navigate being wanted for murder AND losing ALL of her memories anytime she falls asleep.

The one caveat for me was getting a little overwhelmed/over the relentlessness of Liv's predicament. I FELT HOPELESS...so read it and let me know if you felt the same.

RATINGS
10 Characters
8 Atmosphere
10 Writing Style
8 Plot
6 Intrigue
8 Logic
7 Enjoyment
BONUS: 2.00/5.00 SOS Rating (scale of surprise)
TOTAL = (57 + 2)/14 = 4.21

4.25/5.00 Rounded Rating

This was one wild ride of a read! This messed with my mind! This has to be one of my favorite thrillers of 2022! Well done Megan Goldin!

I am a big fan of Megan Goldin and The Night Swim, so I was excited to receive a copy of Stay Awake. This one is a bit of a twisted take on Groundhog Day in which one of our MCs knows she needs to stay awake, and she should not trust anyone. Told in dual perspectives between the aforementioned Liv Reese and the detective on the case, Darcy Halliday, Golden takes readers on a wild ride.

The narration adds to the experience.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

“There’s no such thing as being an observer. Doing nothing is doing something. Being passive has consequences.”

This thriller was fascinating and just figure-out-able, but it dragged a lot in the middle. By reading the plot summary, you'll know going into it that this book is going to be a little frustrating. It's like Mememto meets Groundhog Day and it's very repetitive, though I found it effective. Not my favorite, but definitely a ride.

Loved this , everything about it was exceptional. Super unique idea and kept me on the edge of my seat.

4.5 stars! Stay Awake was such a fun book. I enjoyed the alternating chapters between the detective, Darcy Halliday and Liv Reese who keeps waking up with no memory of what happened and thinking it’s two years prior. I really enjoyed the development of the character Detective Halliday; I hope she is in future books. She was well crafted and multidimensional and there just so many unanswered questions related to her past. Please me a series!!!!

This author was a first-time read for me and I ain't mad at all.
Missing a chunk of her memories, Liv Reese knows two things for sure, one, she must stay awake. And two, she cannot trust anyone.
I loved this one. One of the things that really kept my interest was watching Liv come back to life. Every time she discovers something new about herself it reveals a clue as to what happened to her.
A great read, with mystery, suspense, and a fast-paced plot that keeps you engaged. A must-read for sure!!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for this audiobook copy!

This book wasn’t as enjoyable as I wanted it to be. The plot was very good and the characters were great, but I found it to be very repetitive. I am a big fan of Megan Goldin and her writing, this one just wasn’t my favorite.

The audio quality was fantastic as usual with Macmillan audio! The narrator was great!

Truly could not stop listening to this audio to the point I had to stay awake cause I could not put it down. Thank you to Macmillan audio for the gifted ARC my honest review.

This one was very intriguing but also extremely hard to follow at times. But I did enjoy the writing style and narrator. The plot time while being all over the place still managed to be interesting and kept me on my toes. .

⭐⭐⭐⭐

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.

I went into this one nervous - I loved The Night Swim, but not so much The Escape Room - thankfully I really enjoyed this one. I was instantly intrigued from page one and the story just kept getting better as I read more.

In Stay Awake, we follow Liz Reese - who wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea how she got there. When she arrives at her home she's met with a stranger who now lives in her apartment. Confused, she tries to pull out her phone to call for help but is met with a bloodstained knife in the place where her phone was. She then discovers that her hands are marked with black ink that leaves a message saying STAY AWAKE.

I love that we get flashbacks. For example, we also follow Liv’s previous life two years ago - where she lives with her best friend and is dating a man. She’s a successful writer for a magazine. However, in the present, she has no idea what’s going on.

I really clicked with this story and found myself flying through it. I really enjoyed the way the story was written and that ending wasn’t something I had predicted. Some detectives are also trying to piece together some recent murders that are happening, and the connection between them and STAY AWAKE had me so intrigued. I didn’t know whether Liz was responsible or not. This was a great thriller I found myself entertained by. I would definitely recommend this to all thriller lovers.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy - all thoughts are my own!

I started listening to this book as a audiobook, but the narrator’s voice was so calm and soothing that I kept falling asleep, forgetting what was happening in the book, and having to listen multiple times. Since I liked the premise of the book and enjoyed the parts that I remembered being read to me, I got a hard copy of the book and started it from the beginning. I enjoyed the book so much, I finished it over the course of two days. The book’s main character has a condition that causes her to forget everything that occurred the last two years if she falls asleep. This time, she wakes up and finds that she is being accused of a murder. The book jumps around quite a bit with the narrator as well as now versus two years ago. Another intriguing read by Megan Goldin.

An unreliable narrator is always an enjoyable read for me, and this was no different. I felt this book wasn’t as strong as the last book I read by this author, so it was a bit of a let down. However, there was tension and compelling characters that kept me tuning in to the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced reader copy.