Stay Awake

3.25
I am very conflicted with the rating I want to give this coz there were some parts I liked and some parts I didn't.

It started off with a bang and I was really invested at first like imagine having to wake up every morning and you don't remember anything that happened in the past 2 years of your life....a very chilling thought. So I was really interested in seeing how everything was gonna happen. But then I kept getting so annoyed with Liv, coz with every opportunity she had to get to know what happened to her she either ran away or she did something so idiotic that messed everything up because if I was in the same situation as her I would do anything and everything to try and find out what was happening to me.
Some parts were so repetitive and I knew what Liv was gonna do even before she did it because she just kept making the same mistake over and over again.

Also the ending, the thing that actually happened; I saw it coming abt a 100 pages before it was actually revealed and I didn't think the story would go there but it did and that was also very underwhelming.

With that being said what I really enjoyed in the book was the perspectives we got from the detectives. I wish we had more books with them because it was fun and interesting to follow along the case with them.

There's no denying this was ridiculously compelling, the chapters are super short and fast paced, and the mystery is so intriguing you just have to find out what happened.

The issues however are with the repetitive nature of the story- as Liv has a condition affecting her memory, each day she wakes up she goes through the same cycle of alarm, confusion, finding out the same things that she can't remember, etc. This totally makes sense in relation to her condition but reading it time after time is not so fun.

I listened to this one on audio and January LaVoy (as always) along with Imogen Church were amazing as the narrators.

4.5
initially this book wasn't engaging or keeping my attention & i was thinking about dnf'ing it like 60 pages in but i decided to keep going and i'm so glad i did!!

this is a fast paced thriller mystery with twists i absolutely did not see coming! i couldn't put this book down & whenever i did i couldn't stop thinking about it!

i think the author does a really good job with keeping the pacing consistent and keeping you interested in what might happen next, i was on the edge on my seat the closer and closer we got to figuring out what was going on!

4 stars it was an entertaining ride.

I couldn't even finish the first chapter of this book because I was that bored with this book. The characters lack depth and substance from what I heard so I'm not reading this book any further.

3.5⭐️

this was such a captivating thriller. i loved the twist and turns so much. the end reveal had me absolutely shocked and i loved the direction this went in. it was slightly repetitive but it wasn't a super big drawback 

No Rest for the Wicked


There is a good reason why Megan Goldin is one of my favorite thriller writers. I think that THE ESCAPE ROOM is still one of my all-time-favorites books and one that stands out from the rest, but her latest book is not far behind. It only took a few pages into STAY AWAKE to find myself utterly absorbed by the shattered reality that has become Liv's life..

I love thrillers that rely strongly on the doubt cast on the main protagonist's mental state. Liv, a traumatized woman who forgets everything that has happened to her as soon as she falls asleep, is a perfect candidate to star in that category of unreliable narrators. With every plot twist, I admired the author for being able to create such an intricate, multi-layered and challenging novel without ever losing credibility. Every time I was briefly concerned that a thread would be left hanging or would stretch credibility too far, I was soon reassured by the background detail that made it all perfectly plausible and tied things up nicely in the end. A highlight for me was the authors ablity to show Liv as she wakes up, completely confused and then start trying to go home or to work, only to realize that she has been asleep longer than she thought and that things have changed. Toward the end she tries to stay awake long enough to untangle all the clues of her current circumstances. The only downfall I had with the story is the constant need to be reminded that Liv is forgetful. I enjoyed this very much and will continue to be a fan of Megan Goldin moving forward. 4 STARS in other words this book is totally # All-Nighter Worthy

This was very much a popcorn read. 

I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but none of the twists surprised me. I saw a lot of things coming, but it was still an enjoyable journey. 

I Just finished Stay Awake by Megan Goldin and here is my review.

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a cab, with no memory of what happened to her. No phone, no credit cards, someone else living in her apartment and a wad of cash in her pocket.. And a knife. Her arms and hands covered in writing, STAY AWAKE.

Liv has no memory of the last 2 years. She was living the life with a boyfriend and being a successful writer. She sees the news about a horrific murder... A murder where the words STAY AWAKE are written in the victims blood.

What happened the night before? Did she have something to do with the murder? Or is someone sending Liv a message?

When I got a copy of this book I was interested. By the time I got to the 2nd chapter I was hooked.
Liv was the victim of a terrible crime and moved to get away from it. When her memory starts to fail her, she returns to the place where it all happened. The problem is Liv's memory resets when she falls asleep and she believes she is 2 years in the past.
The whole book is her trying to figure out what happened, who she can trust, yet when she falls asleep, she loses anything she does find out. It was brilliantly written. I love the pace, it was fast right where it needed to be and then slowed for the most dramatic punches it hits you with.

I felt like I was on a rollercoaster blind folded and I got the feeling we were supposed to feel how Liv felt during the times with no recollection of what was going on and I have to say I really enjoyed the mild disorientation.

I did feel the ending didn't fully explain why it all went down the way it did. I don't want to spoil it for you so I won't say anymore but I would have liked to have known the reason for it. What we do know, doesn't explain such a gruesome thing to happen. I never did piece together all of it by the time the book ended which thrilled me no end.

4.5 stars just because I have unanswered questions but seriously, this book!!!

If you love an unreliable narrator that is original and not the same trope over and over again, then this has to be your next read. Out to buy Aug 9th!

Thank you to netgalley and St Martin's press for my ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

Liv falls asleep and forgets everything in her life...she doesn't know where she is or how she ended up there and when she tries to go to places she knows... everything is different, changed. She is confused, vulnerable and scared. There is writing all over her arms and body. Stay Awake. Wake Up. Don't Trust Anyone.

While she tries to connect with people from the life she remembers...it seems her past is on a collision course with her present. When the two eventually come together ... will her missing memories finally be revealed?

Whenever I need a break in-between my other reads, I always pick up a horror or thriller. I have been reading fantasy a lot lately, so it was time to pick this up and man...

I cannot remember reading an amnesia-driven plot like this one. I actually binged this in one day because I just had to know what was happening. This is like the Twilight Zone version of 50 First Dates

Days after finishing, I'm still speechless. Stay Awake sucked me in from page one and didn't let go. I COULD NOT put it down.

Liz's last memory is putting the phone down at her desk at work... but when that was, she doesn't know. She wakes up in the back of a taxi with no memory of how she got there. Some other couple is living in her apartment, she can't find her phone to reach out to anyone for help, even heading back to work leaves her completely confused, as the office is totally redesigned, with new staff and almost no one she recognizes.

Even stranger is that she finds she has graffiti-like text scribbled all over her body!? Ominous phrases such as “stay awake.” But why? And why, when she reaches in her pocket does she pull out a bloody knife - one she has no memory of ever touching. Imagine her terror when she catches on the news that a body has been found and the words “Stay Awake” are drawn in blood in the window...

I can't even imagine what this poor woman must have felt. Lost, confused, and alone. But finding out what really is going on, blew my mind even more. This book kept me on the edge of my seat, unable to put it down as I had to know more. My first fabulous read of 2022 and just like Megan's earlier works, it was a fast-paced, can-not-put-it-down psychological thriller, I'm so grateful to have gotten my hands on!