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The Halloween game was cut short for me. I'm sorry. I had a lot of trainings to do. Short staffed. I accept to help the department.

But I found some time to read Stay Awake. I loved it. There was so many twist. Some I saw coming others were harder to predict. The main character had some kind of amnesia and she wakes up in a taxie with a knife and blood.

5/5 ⭐

#PhotoChallenge #Scarathlon @FlynnDewey #TeamWhoYouGonnaCall

Day 6: Shadow

I enjoyed this quite a bit. It was definitely thrilling, though I did guess the who-did-it, I still enjoyed the twists and turns. The various timelines keep you confused, along with our poor main character. There are some loose ends and far fetched happenings that prevent this from being a perfect thriller, but it is still a lot of fun. Do NOT read this via audiobook, I almost DNF‘d this because one of the narrators is incredibly bad.⬇️

Ok so I‘m not sure where I heard about this book it may have been one of the YouTube channels I follow (she‘s not a booktuber) but she sometimes reads some intriguing books. Anyway sitting here can‘t sleep so listening to this book and knitting a sock

Slow start, last third okay.

This book made me want to stay awake so I could find out what happened next. A fab balance of keeping the reader guessing and giving just enough to keep you turning pages. A twist on super well-trodden crime novel conventions. Refreshing and compelling.

Book 20

I listened to Stay Awake by Megan Goldin, a thriller with an intriguing setup. Every time Liv awakes, she has zero memory of the last two years and can't locate her boyfriend and best friend. The story is told in an arbitrary order, amplifying the suspense and increasing the reader's ability to identify with Liv's experience, while also being needlessly frustrating. Solidly entertaining, overall. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I still have to think about this one for a bit. I found that the writing techniques employed to help the reader understand Liv and her amnesia started to annoy me. I started wondering if I fell asleep and was starting this book over again! I really wanted to like it more than I did.

A killer opening (no pun intended) that immediately hooked me, but a story that lost me in a few spots. Definitely worth reading if you like psychological thrillers.

4⭐
The constant tedious repetition of her waking up and not remembering what the heck is going on really got on my nerves. But then again, with that being said…it was a wholly original plot for a thriller. But by the end, when everything clicks into to place, I was left feeling rather satisfied with the story overall.

I had to 5 ⭐ books that I really liked in August. They were Stay Awake by Megan Goldin and The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James

#12BooksOf2023
@Andrew65

#BookFlood Thank you so much! I am looking forward to spending the day reading this book!

This was a little slow at first but when it picks up, it really picks up! Because Liv Reese has amnesia (not a spoiler) it feels disjointed at times & keeping the timelines straight. I really enjoyed the character of Detective Darcy Halliday & wouldn‘t mind seeing her in future books (not that this is a series). I‘ve read The Night Swim by the author & enjoyed that so I will be on the lookout for future books by her! It‘s a great suspense thriller

A friend sent me a throw blanket, tea, and a book while I‘m in quarantine. I love my friends!

2.75 stars-

You can find my review here on The Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/ef791fab-1a48-4220-bb38-0cf96adfb97a

I greatly enjoyed this novel. My favorite thing is the way in which the story is presented, jumping along two main timelines. Goldin does this in a way that maximizes the suspense and big reveals while also creating enough confusion to allow the reader to step into Liv‘s shoes and live her confusion and unknown without creating actual confusion. I liked the characters as well. Stay Awake definitely kept me awake; I could barely put it down.

What do you read when you have an insomnia? Can‘t hurt, right? 😞

The main character might not be the only one having trouble staying awake. . . . Read my full review here: https://debbybrauer.org/#stay-awake

Such a creative thriller. Based on Liv losing her recent memory every time she falls asleep, the psychological aspects of this book were unnerving. The plot is written in an interesting dual timeline that, though a little disorienting, really added to the tension. As things slowly unfold, it can get a little repetitious to have Liv fall asleep, wake, & basically start over again & again. Despite some minor flaws, a really fun & well-moving read.

I finished my first book for #Scarathlon2022 and it was excellent. I was engaged all the way. It kind of reminded me of Memento the movie... just a little. An excellent thriller for sure, definitely original and refreshing!

Word Search = 1,790 (forgot about it until about 50%)

#TeamSlaughter

Readathon tags to follow ⬇️

Liv wakes in the back of a cab with no memory of how she got there. Things get worse when she gets to her apartment and finds strangers living there. Each time she falls asleep, she loses her memory again. Then, she‘s implicated in a murder. This was a fun thriller that kept my attention. I guessed some parts but not others. Great premise!

Well, I am calling the month of August. I won't finish another book today. Not a bad month:

9 Total
Stay Awake 5⭐
Eye for Eye 4⭐
The Stationery Shop 2⭐
The Book Of Cold Cases 5⭐
The Case of the Murderous Dr Cream 3⭐
A Darker Reality 4⭐
Berlin 2⭐
American Demon 4⭐
All Dressed Up 2.5⭐

Thanks to @Clwojick for hosting #AugustARC
I got some I had a while off my list🙂

I wasn't impressed by Night Swim but this was wayyyy better

Currently reading and up next. Finally getting to my last prompt for the Around the Year Challenge on Goodreads (Female PI or police officer.)

Talk about an unreliable narrator. Liv Reese has memory issues and we are in the dark right along with her. Who can she trust? Who does she know? Who knows her? Stalking,, murder, more stalking, more murder, terror, suspicion, unknown danger, it‘s a wild ride. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Oh, I absolutely couldn‘t put this one down! I‘m an absolute sucker for amnesia stories & Liv‘s narrative sucked me right in as she wakes with mysterious messages on her hands & soon realizes that she‘s lost two years of her life. Like a terrible version of Groundhog Day, new memories are erased each time she wakes up. Meanwhile the NYPD is on the hunt for a killer… with stomach-churning tension & surprises to the storyline, this is Goldin‘s best!

STAY AWAKE will keep you glued to the pages.

It is a thriller you will not want to miss.

It keeps getting better and better as you turn the pages with a great ending.

FULL REVIEW: https://tinyurl.com/y3wzcztn

@megangoldinauthor
#megangoldin
@stmartinspress

Review is up! Check it out!

https://reecaspieces.com/2022/08/09/stay-awake-by-megan-goldin-macmillanaudion-s...

One of my favorite books this year! Kept me on the edge of my seat with suspense.

I cannot even begin to imagine how it would be to be in Liv Reese‘s shoes. For the past two years, her memories are erased every time she falls asleep. She does everything she can to stay awake, but a severe lack of sleep wreaks havoc on one physically and mentally.

The kicker in this one is that it‘s an extensive emotional ride, moment to moment changes in my thinking - did Liv do it? Yup, smugly convinced she did. 10 seconds later I‘m feeling so much compassion for someone who forgets a heap of time every time she wakes up (terrifying!) and am absolutely convinced she‘s innocent. Ugh… the back and forth was riveting and I loved it (c‘mon that‘s goooood reading Y‘all!) Full review: ScrappyMags.com

Another good one from Megan Goldin.

Imagine waking up and finding it's fall. What happened? The last thing you remember is answering your phone at your desk and it was Spring!?! This is what happens to Liz everytime she goes to sleep, so she tried to stay awake.

There's been a murder and two detectives are trying to figure it out. They can't agree what happened.

Publishes August 9, 2022

1st #ARC Readathon done

#netgalley

Very rarely is there not a day that I don't read.

I don't watch a lot of TV. Usually, after I get my household stuff in the mornings, I have about 4 hours to read before my husband gets home from work. Then I read at night.

My go to comfort genre is mystery/crime, suspense or true crime.

Thanks @Andrew65 for the tag.

Want to play, of you haven't already been tagged: @Clwojick @Bookaholic60067 @Book.Nerd.Mommy @teresaacsf @RamsFan1963

Starting August off with Stay Awake for #ARC Readathon. Then I am going to focus on my ton of ARC'S I haven't read, yet!🤦🤦

Thanks to @Clwojick for coming up with this Readathon! I for one need it!

I‘ve been a Megan Goldin fan since The Escape Room. Stay Awake is a taut thriller about a woman whose memory resets back two years every time she wakes up, only this time she wakes to discover she‘s carrying a bloody knife wrapped in a t-shirt. Most of the book takes place over 1 day as the police investigate a murder & Liv tries to figure out what is happening to her. It‘s a brilliant, terrifying, edge-of-your-seat novel that gave me nightmares.

FULL REVIEW 8/11

Liv Reese must stay awake or she forgets everything that happened.

She is really in a dilemma when she wakes up this time.

She has messages all over her hands and one of the messages on her hands is scrawled in blood on the window of a murder scene.

You will be glued to the pages.

It keeps getting better and better as you turn the pages with a great ending.

Don't miss this one. 5/5

@megangoldinauthor
#megangoldin

Wow! I‘m so glad I didn‘t bail on this book. It proved to be a fine psychological thriller. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My full review: https://www.netgalley.com/book/237161/review/524192

This is the latest from a suspense author that I really enjoy. What if every time you fall asleep you lose your memory of the last two years of your life? And what if you committed murder during one of those “blackouts”… or not. This was an interesting premise for a plot, and Goldin does a great job of keeping what could have been a convoluted timeline in good order. We learn a little bit more each time we glimpse our heroine‘s life from two 🔻

🎧 A very compelling story. I stayed up late & listened straight through.

Liv & Amy are best friends & roommates. Liv is dating Marco & Amy is dating Bret.

The story begins with Liv waking up in a cab having no idea how she got there. The last thing she remembers is taking a call at work on a summer day, it‘s now late fall over 2 years later & there‘s a bloody knife in her pocket.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 👇🏻👇🏻

#StayAwake #MeganGoldin #BookSpinBingo

Liv Reese doesn't remember anything. What did she do last night? Why does she remember nothing from the past two years? Liv finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn't remember committing. There's someone who does know exactly what she did, and they'll do anything to make her forget permanently.

My April reads. All ARCs except Maniac.

Doesn‘t come out until August, but it was calling me. Great thriller with an unreliable narrator. When Liv falls asleep she loses memories of the last two years. And things have happened! I own two of her other books, The Escape Room and Night Swim. They are both moving up on my TBR!

Book 43

I‘ve loved Goldin‘s other novels so was excited to be approved for this one! Liv awakens in a taxi with no memory of how or why she is there. Alternating between past and present, the book reveals that although she is a suspected murderer, she isn‘t even sure where she lives or who her friends are. This is a delicious train wreck for sure so go into it with a clear head and enjoy the suspense!
Out in August.

Liv wakes up and doesn‘t know where she is, how she got there and the last thing she remembers is answering her office phone. She has messages written on her hands, including one that says “stay awake”. This is the Groundhog Day of novels, with Liv forgetting everything from the last two years as soon as she wakes up. I really enjoyed this read and Goldin is becoming a new favorite author.

I wasn't sure how much I would like this. Usually the missing memory trope is annoying, but this was a very involving book. We receive snippets of information along with Liv. I never believed she was a murderer, but I had no idea who the bad guy was. My only complaint is that it does get a little repetitive, with Liz waking up and losing her memory over and over. This results in alot of explaining that we, the reader, already know.

I devoured this one. It's like a cross between 50 First Dates and Gaslighting. Without the dates. This is a thriller and a mystery. A woman wakes up in a cab and doesn't remember how she got there. The last thing she remembers is answering the phone at her desk at work. This book is awesome and certainly my new fav from this author.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Pub date is 8/9/2022
#ARC #Netgalley