The Book:
Stay Awake by Megan Goldin
Published August 9th 2022 by St. Martin’s Press
Date read: July 17, 2022
The Characters:
Liv
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Liv Reese 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 ago, 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.
The Twist:
Liv’s boyfriend Marco had been cheating on her with her roommate and best friend, Amy. Amy’s boyfriend Brett caught them together and killed Amy and Marco. Liv stumbled onto the scene, but escaped with just amnesia. She couldn’t remember what happened the night they died, but for a while was otherwise okay.
Liv then moved to Europe to get a fresh start, and got engaged to Ted. Her memory issues began in earnest sometime after she and Ted broke up. Ted cared about her and wanted to get her help, including a journal in which Liv recorded her life in her own handwriting to remind her when she woke up.
When Liv and Ted started poking around in the past, Brett got nervous that she would remember what happened the night Amy and Marco died. He started trying to sabotage Liv, then killed Ted. He burned Liv’s journals and research.
The Ending:
Brett kidnapped Liv and brought her to a warehouse to kill her, but the detective found her in time.
Liv regained her memory after a good night’s sleep and was told it wouldn’t happen again if she slept enough and didn’t take stimulants. (This was the only bit I didn’t like–it felt too simple!)
The Review:
It’s been a while since I have felt into the insomnia/amnesia trope, but this one happened to really work for me. This might have been my favorite Megan Goldin so far!
Going into it, I was concerned that I would feel like the amnesia trope was overdone, but this one certainly stood on its own. It was just so engaging! It moved at such a fast pace, despite the repetitive nature of Liv needing to re-remember who she was every time she woke back up. I thought this was very well done, in that Goldin was able to convey Liv’s desperation over and over again without boring the reader.
I was absolutely dying to figure out what was going on with Liv. I flew through this audiobook, because I just couldn’t press pause!
Unfortunately, the only thing that didn’t work for me was the ending. While I liked how the case wrapped up, I felt like certain things were resolved somewhat magically and without explanation, which always irks me. It didn’t spoil my overall enjoyment of the book, though!
Audio Review: Stay Awake was narrated by Imogen Church and January LaVoie, two long-time favorites of mine. I absolutely loved it and flew through this production! Their narration added so much to the suspense, and they did an amazing job of conveying Liv’s panic and frustration.
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