Stay Awake by Megan Goldin is a mystery with a very unreliable lead character. Liv has a condition that when she sleeps she forgets everything that has happened in the last 2 and a half years of her life. She is determined to solve the mystery of what happened to her. This is a fun who done it? and What happened mystery. The plot reminded me of the excellent Christopher Nolan film Memento where a man can not from longterm memories, and must place notes and rely on tattoos to remember, but if someone knows your condition it can be messed with. This is what is really intriguing about this book, you don’t know who to trust. The story is told with us following Liv and the perspective of two detectives that are solving a murder with everything pointing at Liv. The opening for this story hooked me right away, we fell the character’s confusion and was intrigued by the found bloody knife. I feel like the novel did repeat it’s self just a bit too much, as a reader I get it she has no memory, lets do more with this concept then going into places and being confused. It was a bit overstayed but it does stop and they get into lying about not knowing what is going on which is way more interesting. This story takes place in 24 hours and a lot goes on which is good for the pace of the book. I was able to guess the killer at about the 60% mark, and I was kind of bummed about it. There is a couple of red herring characters and events but was able to see through them once all was revealed. I was able to guess the killer early but I still had fun with this novel. I read Stay Awake thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for giving me an advanced reader’s copy. Stay Awake is published on August 12 2022.

The Plot Summary: Liv has just woken up in a cab and can not getting in the cab. She has no phone no ID put has a a wad of cash and a bloody knife wrapped in a bloody shirt. She also has saying written on her body like stay awake, don’t trust anyone and wake up! Liv shows up at her apartment to find a couple living up there that she has never met. When she looks in he mirror she sees a person she doesn’t recognize. Detective start investigating a murder but can’t seem to find the murder weapon but they do find a bloody message that reads wake up!

What I Liked: The premise is really good and hooked me right away. The twists there a couple that are really good. The modern Art scene is pretty terrifying and written really well, where it made me a tad uneasy. The pace of this book is really fast with small little chapters that lead and compel you to read the next one. I liked the mystery especially the what happened part, once I read that I was able to solve it. I liked the conflicting detectives’ theories. I liked the explanation for Liv’s condition and the psychology behind it. The title really works and I really like the cover art.

What I Disliked: That I guessed the killer pretty early. I was able to solve this so easily because they did investigate someone who seemed really obvious too me and they weren’t even ruled out as a subject, because they weren’t even considered. Basic police policy would have them as the suspect. There’s a couple moments where I had to suspend disbelief, like the moment I mentioned above, that was the biggest but a couple others.

Recommendation: This is a pretty fun mystery that has a lot of fun twist and turns. The novel has such a good hook that pulled me in from the beginning. I recommend my followers check it out, and tell me did you know who the killer was early like me or did get fooled. I rated Stay Awake by Megan Goldin 4 out of 5 stars. This was my first Megan Goldin but reading this made me want to search out more, I’ve been told Night Swim is good.