It was good. Reminded me a bit of 50 first dates with the dark overtone. I was excited to get this book but it just didn't do it. The ending was very anti-climatic. Big plot holes.. Main character can't remember her own address but somehow booked flights and moved from London to New York on her own. Come on....

Thank you Net Galley for an audio 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!

Stay Awake By :Megan Goldin
4 Stars

The Narration of the Audio book is one of my favorites. All of Megan Goldin's audiobooks are in some of my favorites.

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.

Rating: 3
Author: Megan Goldin
Publication Date: 8/9/2022

This book was okay, it was a bit too slow paced and long for me. I listened to the audiobook and while I liked the narrator I constantly found my mind wondering because the book itself was not holding my attention.

I found the story to be a little repetitive. I understand with the premise of the story some repetition is necessary but the way it was written could have been better. The author kept telling the reader instead of showing the reader. Also, every chapter almost felt like the same scene over and over. While listening to some of the flashback chapters I was wondering how they fit into the overall story. Honestly, I found that most of them didn’t. They didn’t add anything new and didn’t help explain anything that wasn’t obvious in my opinion. They were mostly added in as filler which wasn’t needed since the book was already being dragged out.

I cannot imagine waking up and not remembering anything from the day before. But I feel as though there is so much more Liz could have done to help better her situation. I found her character to be a little frustrating and most of her actions/decisions annoyed me. This could have just been a me thing.

Something that irked me was there is no numbering on chapters and instead they are all labeled ‘Stay awake’. Again, I understand why but when listening to this on audiobook it made it a nightmare to move around. I’m not sure if it’s going to change when the book is published but that's how my advance copy was.

Overall, this book wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t an enjoyable thriller in my opinion. I feel as though there are other thrillers that have a similar premise that are done better. With that being said I do think this one will be popular. So if the synopsis sounds interesting I recommend you check it out.

Thank you so much @macmillan.audio for the #gifted copy on #netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

tay Awake by Megan Goldin follows Liv Reese after she wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea where she is or how she got there. When she’s dropped off at the door of her brownstone, a stranger answers―a stranger who now lives in her apartment and forces her out in the cold. She reaches for her phone to call for help, only to discover it’s missing, and in its place is a bloodstained knife. That’s when she sees that her hands are covered in black pen, scribbled messages like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE. Two years prior, Liv was living with her best friend, dating a new man, and 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, the same 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 as she tries to piece together the fragments of her life. But there’s someone who does know exactly what she did, and they’ll do anything to make her forget―permanently.

Stay Awake made me stay awake all night in order to finish this book. Stay Awake has the ultimate unreliable narrator in Liv Reese who struggles with a rare kind of amnesia. This book is highly reminiscent of the Christopher Nolan movie memento and a super fast-paced read. Like most Megan Goldin's books, I couldn't put it down. Megan Goldin is quickly becoming one of my favorite thriller/mystery authors and I would highly recommend her books.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you are looking for a thriller that can be binged in single day, or let's say a single sitting, mark your calendars and get a copy of Stay Awake by Megan Goldin. The story starts innocuously, and you might think you've read this before, let me tell you - you haven't. It's fresh, thrilling and completely unputdownable. Now, I did guess a major twist and also the killer, BUT that didn't in any way hinder my reading experience. That says something about how good the book was, right?

Also, in my opinion the best way to read any suspense/thriller book is to go in blind, or if you must, just know the bare minimum. So, here's all you need to know - It is dual POV, one follows homicide detective Darcy Halliday investigating a gruesome murder, the second follows Liv Reese, a twenty something woman suffering from a rare case of amnesia where every time she goes to sleep, her memory resets to the same day two years before, and she forgets everything that happened between this timeframe. One timeline is full of confusion, distrust and paranoia, the other is a brisk police procedural. Like I said, simply unputdownable!

Now, you ask - is this whole situation realistic? Probably not. But, what it is, is an immensely interesting and fast paced story that will surely keep the readers engaged up until the very end.

The audio was excellently done. Imogen Church is an exceptional thriller narrator and January LaVoy was the perfect voice for Detective Darcy.

This fast paced thriller kept me guessing, a main character who forgets everything thr minute she falls asleep, the dead man she woke up next to, WTF? Using different timelines the author weaves a complex and exciting narrative that will keep readers on edge