Tom (16) and his new blended family have just moved into their new house when he notices the holes in his bedroom door. He figures out that they went to a lock, on the outside of the door. Someone had been locked in, and he has to figure out who and why. His OCD keeps him focused on the mystery, even when he starts falling for Amy, the girl that he thinks was the captive.
Most of the chapters are in Tom’s voice and chronicle his days in great detail. He and his Mom have survived multiple abusive relationships. But now she has married Jay who loves her and treats her with respect. Jay has 2 children, Nia (16) who lives with them and Aaron (4) who is there on the weekends.
There are some chapters in Amy’s voice where the mystery is explained through her eyes.
I don’t want to say more and spoil the story.
Give to your students who love psychological thrillers and tell them to stick with it till the end!

Thank you so much @NetGalley and @sourcebooksfire for gifting me a copy of Lock The Doors in exchange for an honest review.

👦🏼 Mini Review 🔐
This is the first year that I’ve started requesting thrillers on NetGalley and I am so glad that I did. The synopsis and title really caught my eye and made me want to read it.

This book was a crazy ride for me. There were so many theories I had, but towards the end I guessed most of it. But it was still crazy seeing it all play out for sure. Once I got about 50% into the book I had to know what was going to happen next.

Tom and his family, just moved into a new house. Him and his mother have been each others rock for a long time. This is the first time that his mom is happy and in a really good relationship. So when Tom starts finding weird things in his room that don’t made sense he doesn’t really want to put a damper on his mother’s happiness. When he finds out that the new girl in school used to live in his house he makes it his mission to find out what happened in his house and to save this girl from her secrets. What Tom doesn’t realize is he is digging himself into a hole that might be too hard for him to get out by himself.

I enjoyed this characters, the progression of the story, and all the twists. I did have somewhat of a hard time because I kept forgetting that this book was YA. Other than that I had fun reading this and trying to figure out what was going to happen next.

If you like twisty thrillers where you have to keep guessing what’s going on I def recommend this one to you. I gave it ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️💫.

Lock the doors is an interesting thriller perfect for YA mystery readers. The suspense is good and the darkness in the story is kept subtle to suit juvenile readers, I skimmed a lot through the chapters which is highly unlikely for me, a thriller-addict. But if you like your mysteries light with less cozy space, you might like this one.

Thank you Sourcebooks Fire via Netgalley for the reader’s copy.

Twisty, turns, locks, doors, lies. This one grabs you and doesn’t let go. Just when I thought I had it figured out, the author throws in another wrench. If you like a good mystery, this is one for you.

I was intrigued with the story plot but imagine my shock when I realised there were about 80 chapters in here. I thought I was going to be reading this for a while but thankfully each chapter is only 2-3 pages long so it was easy to read.

This story follows Tom who have just moved into a new home with his family. Tom’s mother had finally found a great partner after years of being in an abusive relationship. Although Tom is excited to live in a new home, he can’t help but notice that there are holes on his bedroom door, shaped like a lock in order to lock someone in. He finds it very strange and kept pondering on it until he met Amy, who coincidentally used to live in his current home. She behaves very strangely when he asks her about the holes. What happened in there? Most importantly, what is Amy hiding?

At first, I thought Tom was being very nosy and persistent on finding out what happened. I found him annoying when he kept pestering Amy about it even when she told him to leave her alone but I soon realised that Tom also suffered domestic abuse from his mom’s previous partner. He just wanted to feel safe in his space.

While the plot kept me interested, the whole story is just way too long. I felt some chapters could have been cut down to speed up the story. I felt the story only picked up when we reached the second part which is Amy’s POV. I also didn’t understand why the story had to be broken into so many short chapters because it doesn’t give readers many chances to dive deeper into the story.

I did love the plot twist at the end and how they solved the mystery together. I didn’t expect the twist and it really sends a chill to my bones! Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the arc.

Lock the Doors was an interesting thriller perfect for young adults! I think the author did a really good job showing Toms OCD and how he deals with the abuse him and his mom has faced. I would definitely recommend this to my students!

LOCK THE DOORS is a YA mystery book that tells the story of Tom and Amy, two strangers who get to know one another through sixth form, and through being neighbours. When Tom’s family moves into Amy’s old house, Tom notices holes in the bedroom doors and he quickly gathers that they were from locks placed on the outside of the doors. This piques Tom’s interest, which leads him to notice that Amy is hiding something—and he wants to know what.

This book, unfortunately, bored me for the first half. The chapters were incredibly short, which did not aid in helping the book develop. It just made me not want to read on. Tom’s character is one who had a troubled past, and while I think this helped Tom notice something amiss with Amy, I think the backstory fell flat. The prose was simple and clunky, which I believe stripped it of any emotion it was trying to portray.

This style of writing can be done well. For example, in Courtney Summer’s CRACKED UP TO BE, the simple sentences lend well to portraying Parker’s pain because it matches her personality and it’s intertwined with longer, more complex sentences that give her an emotional depth that otherwise would be lacking. With Lock The Doors, there are few longer, complex sentences and the ones that are there don’t add much to Tom’s character. His personality also didn’t entice me much, he was far too obsessive with Amy and seemed to be grasping at straws for a while.

The story telling made me annoyed. It was faced paced but in a strange way, where nothing would happen but because of the short chapters, it seemed like a lot was happening and before you know it, weeks had passed. I hated how the mystery was revealed. It felt less like a mystery and more someone was sitting down to tell me a tale. Tom did enough investigating to figure it out, but then we got told everything else. Tom didn’t figure it out. It literally changed point of view and took us through what had happened to create the mystery. This made the mystery seem incredibly anti-climactic.

However, when I got to this part, I did find myself becoming more interested in the story and the last part was fast paced and finished the story off nicely.

I’m unsure if I’ll read another of Vincent Ralph’s stories because this book felt more like a chore to read than something I’d willingly keep reading had I not read it for Netgalley.

I’m a big fan of publishing house Sourcebooks and their Fire division gives me some of my favorite Teen and YA Fiction novels, so when I saw a mystery thriller called Lock the Doors, I was intrigued. Sounded right up my alley. I was not disappointed.

My very first impression when I started reading Lock the Doors by Vincent Ralph was that the writing was not my favorite. The storyline seemed interesting, but the thought processes playing out from the main character as I read seemed almost simple and basic. After I got a little more into the book, however, I realized that this viewpoint is from a kid with severe OCD tendencies and it wasn’t simple or basic, it was organized. When I think of the thoughts in my head they are chaotic. Tom is far more organized and methodical. I quite liked Tom and feel we have a similarity in the sense that we are always suspicious of people and think there is probably a darker side to something most wouldn’t even look twice at. I love that Tom wouldn’t let his thoughts be brushed aside no matter how much his family and friends told him to let it go. Amy was weird from the very beginning and I’m not sure I’d have been as drawn to her as Tom, but I definitely would have questioned her family because they were strange and had very odd behavior.

One of my favorite aspects of this book was the family dynamic playing out in Tom’s home. I love how Ralph wrote about this mixed family where some people felt extremely accepted and part of the family, where others struggled with that intermingling concept of the two families becoming one. I also really appreciated how Ralph wrote about the negativity and abuse that Tom and his mom faced earlier in his life and how they’ve both adapted in very different ways to be where they are now. I love a good successful outcome for a family like this. I almost wish there was more of it. I wanted more family time, more family dynamic even though I understand that was not the main part of the story. I really enjoyed seeing the kids bond over time and watch how their relationships grew.

This book was not just about a mystery, but also about family and friendship and trusting your gut instincts even when others think you are wrong. It was an easy read and I really enjoyed the characters. I loved the different types of personalities Ralph was able to make stand out really well from each other. This was a good book and I plan to pick up many more from Vincent Ralph. A great mystery that had me guessing and gasping until the end.

This was a suitably creepy and interesting read that kept me entertained throughout. I thought the characters were well drawn and believable and there were moments of true peril, which I appreciated. The plot was interesting and the pacing was great, ensuring a fun and enjoyable ride. I would definitely read from this author in the future.

This is one of those twisted creepy thrillers that I couldn't put down! The opening line is, "Home is where the hate is." And this home IS! Tom is in high school when he meets "the new girl" who used to live in his house. And things go downhill from there! Crazy clues, abductions, liars...but fortunately really smart kids! Not for the faint of heart, this novel gave me chills from the beginning and I'm still thinking about it. Now off to read Ralph's prior book!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

This is a YA thriller and while I typically like that genre, I was not the target audience for this book. I didn’t find the characters realistic or believable and didn’t particularly care for the main character.
CW: domestic abuse, child abuse, death, PTSD

A brand new addictive, psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of 14 WAYS TO DIE - for fans of Karen McManus, Holly Jackson, and Lisa Jewell.

Tom's family have moved into their dream home. But pretty soon he starts to notice that something is very wrong - there are strange messages written on the wall and locks on the bedroom doors. On the OUTSIDE.

The previous owners have moved just across the road and they seem like the perfect family. Their daughter Amy is beautiful and enigmatic but Tom is sure she's got something to hide. And he isn't going to stop until he finds the truth behind those locked doors. . .

Will their dream home become a nightmare?


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The blurbs are pretty interesting but this is a YA suspense. The potentials are everywhere but the execution is not as good as what I thought this book would be. If you're into YA mystery books, this is might be good to you!

I loved 14 Ways to Die. So I had high hopes for this book. In fact I jumped at the chance to read it.
I don't know...this book, it fell sort of flat to me.
I enjoyed the story and found it original, but it did seem to repeat itself and drag on at some points. It was a good story, don't get me wrong, but there was something missing from it.

Thank you so much to #Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. I'm still a HUGE fan of Vincent!!!!

I loved this thriller about how a family gets their dream house, but everything is not what it seems for them. I rated this book five stars because it had me on the edge of my seat and I didn't want to put it down. When I finished the book, I was like wow this book was good.

This YA mystery was not my cup of tea. The plot and premise seemed interesting at the time, it felt refreshing at some point but fell short pretty quickly. I felt moved by Tom's story. His hardship in life from a very young age is definitely not fair. I felt like it was a little difficult to connect with the characters and had trouble keeping up with the story. My main take was Tom's story but I don't feel like I will remember much from this book.


Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the opportunity.

3.5 stars.

The premise for this novel was extremely interesting, but the execution just didn't live up to my expectations. Rather than being the gripping thriller that I was looking for, Lock the Doors was instead just an okay YA thriller that started off strong and had some good twists and a good ending, but lacked a realistic feel.

The writing for the story was fine. It wasn't overly descriptive, but it did the job. The characters...also okay. Tom's character was explored the best, but I still felt like there was more there to learn and a lot of his character was left unaddressed. He had a lot of historical trauma and mental illness struggles that were touched one, but somehow he still felt like there was a lot more to explore. He didn't feel fully real to me.

Some of the supporting characters, particularly the adults, were almost executed in hyperbole and this over the top tendency left them a bit unbelievable (along with occasionally being frustrating and/or annoying). In fact, the decisions and actions of the adults were awkward and they felt like completely unreliable individuals who had no grasp on reality or the ability to act responsibly. I can't say more without introducing spoilers, but Tom's mother was kind of a waste of a character and didn't do nearly what I would have expected her to have done. I was angry at her for a good majority of the read and felt she really needed a slap.

The twists and turns were fun and I did enjoy the ride, but there were also a lot of unanswered questions and some fairly unbelievable circumstances. It was a fun & quick read, but not a realistic one.

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

This was a solid mystery novel. I felt like the pacing was good, the characters were fleshed out, and like the mystery was actually good. I have the author's other book but I just didn't get around to it before reading this one. I will definitely have to check it out soon.

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Full disclosure: this was an accidental request and I wasn't in the mood to read it. I do enjoy a good teen thriller once in a while, (Courtney Summers, Karen McMannus, etc.) but compared to books by stellar authors like that, this one paled in comparison. Admittedly a fun creep factor and who doesn't enjoy scary neighbors at least a little bit, but I wasn't the right audience for this one, so don't take my word for it. And, teens might really enjoy it.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest, personal review. Going into reading this book, I was intrigued by the title and even more so with the mystery with the holes in the bedroom door. Let me explain... Tom's (the main character) mother has remarried and moved them into this new home together for what appears to be a fresh start. Her previous relationships have been horrific for both mother and son, so you are hopeful this will work out for them. Then Tom discovers holes that have been drilled next to his bedroom door and questions whether they were there to lock someone out, or lock someone in? Unfortunately, this book jumped around a bit too much for me to stick with it and although the short chapters were nice, it didn't do anything to keep my interest. I felt like it was just dragging towards an end result instead of making the reader excited to get there.

A quick, fun read that keep me flipping pages. Had a good mystery and thrills throughout. I highly recommend this one!