Book Review: “Stay Awake” by Megan Goldin
Title: Stay Awake
Author: Megan Goldin
Genre: Thriller
Time to read: 8 days
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 claims to live in her apartment. She reaches for her phone to call for help, only to discover it’s missing. In its place is a bloodstained knife. Her hands are covered in scribbled messages, like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE. ~ From the book blurb
This is the first book I have read by Megan Goldin and I was surprised to find out that she is Australian. The book was set in New York and the author seems to have a grasp on the setting because I often felt like I was there (even though I’ve never been. But I’ve watched a lot of “Sex and the City” haha).
I was gripped by the story right from the beginning. It was interesting and at times unnerving to be inside the main character’s head. Liv has a rare form of amnesia, probably stemming from the trauma she has experienced. Every time she sleeps she forgets everything that has happened in the last two years since the trauma occurred. In the first few pages she gets a cab to her old apartment that she shared with a close friend and the new occupants get angry and tell her to stop harassing them. Liv just can’t understand why they are there and she’s not allowed in.
On the same day, a detective who is being tested to see if she’ll make it on the homicide team arrives at a crime scene. Darcy Halliday is an ex-soldier who is overcoming her own trauma by serving as a police officer. She is teamed up with a veteran of homicide, Jack Lavelle, to solve this murder. They quickly realise that Liv is somehow connected to the crime and is on the run.
I loved that this novel is set in less than 24 hours. Although the premise is quite far-fetched, the book is written in a way that makes it feel plausible. Each chapter starts with the time of the day that the action is happening and you can track in real-time where Liv is and how close the cops are to finding her.
As the reader, we are right inside Liv’s head and we feel confused and scared on her behalf. All of Liv’s chapters are written in the first person with some written in the current setting and some written about what happened 2 years ago so we can find out what Liv’s trauma was. All of the chapters involving Halliday and Lavelle are written in the third person and although we find out some personal information about them both, they are held at arm’s length from the reader, probably to maintain their sense of professionalism.
I think one of the best things about this book is that we are on both Liv’s and the detectives’ sides. We want Liv to overcome her amnesia, we want Halliday to become a respected homicide detective, and we want the murder to be solved. I also love that the main characters are complex, well-rounded, and female. Thrillers can often feel really “blokey” but that’s not the case in “Stay Awake”.
If you love thrillers, I highly recommend this one.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
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