I took this one on vacation recently and I'm glad I did as it was a great thriller to read on an airplane. In fact, I devoured it in one sitting. It was full of suspense and had interesting characters as well. One sister is locked in a psych ward, accused of murder and the other sister is investigating the whole thing. Full of twists and turns I didn't see coming, I recommend this to anyone who enjoys thrillers.

Imagine receiving a call stating that your twin sister (who you didn’t even know existed) is in a mental ward accused of murder and has requested to see you. Mandy does decide to visit her sister Georgia and with a bit of sleuthing uncovers some secrets others would do anything to keep buried.
There are a lot of twists and unexpected turns in this fast-paced psychological thriller that make it a must read.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was so excited to receive The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen! Wealthy socialite Georgia is locked in a psychiatric ward after allegedly killing her younger sister, Annabelle. She is being held for evaluation to determine if she is sane to stand trial. We are told that Georgia has learned she was adopted, and she finds a way to locate and reach out to her biological sister Mandy, who also first learns she has a twin. Georgia is depending on Mandy to investigate and prove her innocence. This is a strong character driven book with fast-paced short chapters. The claustrophobic feel of the locked ward, and the twin connection shine through this mystery of who is to be believed in this large cast of characters. I highly recommend this book. With thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC. My opinions are my own.

“We’re both the unreliable narrator and the gullible listener in our own life stories.”

3.5/5 ⭐️

I was SO HYPED to be selected for as an ARC reader for one of my favorite authors. Seriously, the scream that I scrumpt when I got the email 🤭

This book did a lot of things really well! It explores family dynamics, adoption, political scandal, and murder. For a majority of the book, the twists kept me on my toes and genuinely made sense for the plot. It was a fast-paced read that I could not put down. The family relationships were juicy and we never quite knew who was guilty right up until the end. 😍

A couple of things took away from the story for me. First off, the story alternates between first person and second person narration every other chapter. This made the narrative genuinely difficult to immerse myself into. Second, the twin telepathy aspect seemed a bit far-fetched and forced. Finally, the plot twist at the end did not feel necessary to me. The story had wrapped up very nicely, and I felt like the last chapter was a wrench thrown in for the “wow” factor.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed this book and would recommend! Thank you to Sarah Pekkanen, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review⭐️

I enjoyed this book - I was very intregued by the overall premise and appreciated the originality of it. I found the story fast moving and action paced with lots of twists that I didn't see coming. Also enjoyed the characters, I thought Mandy and Georgia were very well developed characters and I liked reading about their progression.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the premise of this book, but not the reality of it. None of the characters were likable, there was no real suspense, the twin telepathy storyline didn’t make sense after 30+ years and there were numerous gramatical errors that took me out of the story.
Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Thank you to the Author and Netgalley for the ARC! This was a crazy book! I love a good ward book! Spoilers coming……………….Georgia being locked in a Ward for the framed murder of her adopted sister and turns out it was her adoptive mother! 🤯 All because the murdered sister was about to find out that her dad wasn’t her actual dad and the mom did not want her to know the whole truth!! So insane! Also finding out that Georgia has a twin sister and that the adoptive mother basically sold her off to her ex employees!! This book had so many twists and turns and murders to keep people hush, hush! Not to mention Mandy was also a little crazy come to find out. Definitely a good read with lots of twists!

I really wanted to love The Locked Ward—the premise had so much promise with its dark psychological elements, twin dynamics, and an eerie mental institution setting. Unfortunately, the execution just didn’t deliver.

The plot leaned too heavily on clichés: estranged sisters, rich Southern secrets, and the "is she crazy or isn’t she?" trope. Instead of twists, most of the reveals felt telegraphed early on.

If you’re new to thrillers, this might still be enjoyable!

Do you love deadly secrets and cover ups so deep it feels like there’s no way the good guys could ever win? How about the threat of being locked in a ward for the rest of your life for something that you didn’t even do? AND what about a long lost twin?!

This book was a slow burn turned page turner. Once it got going I couldn’t put it down. I truly couldn’t figure out how Georgia was going to get out of that mess. Money and lies and scandals and murder. This book had so much to offer. I think what made it stand out for me what the fact that all of Georgia’s chapters were written in third person. You need to pre-order this now!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

I really love this author and I knew I'd love this book too. It was so intriguing and I'm always an enjoyer of rich people doing bad things. The twin sister element was so interesting and the end was great.

Thank you @stmartinspress #partner for the gifted copy of this eARC.

Listen… I’m a total sucker for thrillers, especially ones involving sisters or twins. Maybe it’s because my sister is my world and my built-in BFF, so I get instantly sucked in — even when one of the sisters happens to be completely unhinged and locked away in a mental ward. 👀

I’ve read several of Sarah Pekkanen’s books, and while I’ve loved a few of her other titles a bit more, this one was still wildly addictive. I absolutely devoured it without coming up for air.

The story centers around Georgia, who’s locked up for supposedly killing her sister Annabelle. Her only hope? Another sister, Mandy — who, plot twist, didn’t even know Georgia existed until she gets a call for help. Naturally, Mandy is concerned, cautious, and wildly confused. But the moment she lays eyes on Georgia, she realizes it’s true: she has a twin she’s never known about, and now it’s up to her to dig into their twisted past before things get even more dangerous.

This is one of those race-against-time thrillers where no one can be trusted, and everyone’s got secrets. I loved the constant sense of unease, the unreliable characters, the layers of buried family drama, and the fast-paced, totally bonkers ending. Bonus points for those glorious short chapters that make it impossible to put down. “Just one more chapter” turned into me finishing the whole thing in a single sitting.

If you’re into twisty thrillers with family secrets, unreliable narrators, and an ending you won’t see coming — add this one to your list.

The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen - I received an ARC for review. The story opens with Georgia Cartwright who is in a psych ward pending going to trial for the murder of her sister Annabelle. She was adopted as a newborn then just a few months later her younger sister was born to her adoptive parents. Annabelle was the daughter who could never do wrong in her parents' eyes. Georgia was portrayed by her parents to be the mean and cruel sister right to the very end of her sister's murder. Mandy is contacted by Georgia from the ward in a call of help. Mandy didn't know Georgia at all and wonders why she would be called by this glamorous socialite who is the top wedding planner everyone wants to have. This book will keep you guessing who the murderer is and why would they want to murder the precious Annabelle who could do no wrong. Another twisty novel you will want to read. I give it 5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this uncorrected digital ARC of 'The Locked Ward' by Sarah Pekkanen - expected release date 08/05/2025

ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Another strong book by Pekkanen! This one was on the shorter side and also had quick, short chapters, chock full of great writing so it moved very quickly. There were a lot of plot twists, some I saw coming and some I didn't which kept me on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what came next.

The Locked Ward will leave readers with their jaws dropped in shock. Going back and forth between first person perspective of Mandy and second person perspective of Georgia, the author paints vivid pictures of every scene from the psych ward, to mansions, to the bar. Readers will feel as if they have a bird’s eye view looking down as the scenes play out.
Georgia is accused of killing her younger sister, Anabelle. But did she really do it? She keeps to her initial statement that she didn’t do it. Now she tries to convince her twin… a twin she didn’t know she had until very recently. Mandy is going about her life adjusting to her parents being gone and leaving her their bar. She isn’t shy about breaking up brawls or kicking out unruly customers. What will happen when she finds out she has a twin she has no clue about either? WIll she believe Georgia’s claims of innocence? WIll she be able to help Georgia and save her before she is ruled competent to stand trial for murder? And what will happen when they cross powerful people? Find out in the Locked Ward hitting shelves on August 5, 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins press for the opportunity to review this arc.

3.5 overall rating.

This story follows two sisters Mandy and Georgia, one has been accused of murder. We are quick to understand stand that Mandy was unaware of Georgias existence or connection to her until this tragedy/murder occurs.
The books is pretty fast paced with short chapters which made for a quick read. The author wastes no time introducing us to the situation which I really enjoyed. The dual POV throughout the story gives us an opportunity to look into both of the sisters. This style of writing didn’t really work for me in this book but it can be hit or miss. In some moments I was questioning who I was reading which I think pulled me out of the story.
I was very interested in the plot when applying for an arc, but some of the plot points would pull me out of the story such as the psych ward descriptions. I wasn’t very fond of either of the characters and perhaps that was intended, but this book just didn’t land in a way that would stick with me.
I’ve seen it compared to Frida McFadden which is an author I don’t read but hear a lot of good things about. If you enjoy her work I would imagine you would enjoy this story.
Once again thank you to NetGalley/St martins publishing for the opportunity to review this book and good luck to the author on publication day!

Sarah Pekkanen is such an underrated author and this needs to change immediately. I went into this psychological thriller with fairly high expectations since I have never read a book that I didn't enjoy by Pekkanen, and once again my expectations were met.

This novel follows Georgia Cartwright, a wealthy and seemingly put together woman who is accused of murdering her sister and as such she is placed in a mental health ward to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Refusing to speak to anyone but her twin sister, Georgia requests a meeting with Amanda (Mandy) Ravenel. The first (non-spoiler) twist? Mandy has no idea that Georgia exists.

The story unfolds as Mandy tries to unravel what happened the night that Georgia's sister died, the circumstances of her own life that led her to only just meeting her twin sister, and the relationship development of the two women.

The story is written in short chapters which is my favourite format for a thriller novel, and the environment is eerie and lends to moving the storyline forward quickly. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and gave if 4 stars. Sarah Pekkanen will continue to be an auto-buy author for me!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's press for the digital arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

When I look at thriller reviews the first things I want to know are, is it twisty? and did other thriller readers guess the twists? and great news! This was certainly twisty and I did not see it coming. I can't help but guessing and revising as I was devouring and while the twist didn't come out of nowhere (also a pet peeve of mine) it was something I missed. This had a lot of things that I liked, the found family, the unreliable narration, sisterhood, institution setting, and exploring the vastly differently lives. I sat down and read it in a day.

Sarah Pekkanen has done it again!! She has the ability to do what most thriller writers lack - make you really care about the characters. Many books in this genre focus so much on plot twists and unexpected reveals, they don't carve out the types of characters that readers remember. This book, however, had fleshed out characters who I felt I understood. The writing was fast paced and enjoyable. The overall story was cohesive and kept my interest. It was also unique with an unusual setting. I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the aspect of twins who didn't grow up together.

Georgia has been locked up in the Psych Ward for murdering her sister. Georgia was adopted and Annabelle came a little later. So there is some friction there, but did she actually kill her? Maybe, maybe not, but she’s playing this out to the bitter end.

Georgia found out recently that she is a twin. Her sister gone to another family, but Georgia has hired someone to track her down and get her to assist in getting her released.

Mandy is suspicious of Georgia and not at all sure she didn’t kill her sister, but she also feels that twin pull.

The back and forth point of view was a bit distracting but the short chapters moved it along.

I didn’t care for this one as much as I loved her other works, but I would read it again.


NetGalley/ St. Martin’s Press August 05, 2025

I'm a fan of Sarah Pekkanen's writing so I knew this was going to be another good thriller. The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen is a psychological thriller about twins who have been separated since birth. Georgia, adopted by and born and raised in a wealthy, affluent family, is accused of murdering her sister, Annabelle. She is sent to a psych ward as she awaits her trial. The only person she believes can help her is her birth twin sister, Amanda.

Amanda grapples with the revelation that she is a twin and her family lied to her her whole life. While she don't trust Georgia, she can't help but dig deep into the mystery. As she gets closer to the truth, she discovers secrets that shouldn't be unlocked, and herself in greater danger.

There were twists I saw coming and some I did not. The characters have depth, the plot was fast paced, and the writing is always good as expected.

Another great thriller by Pekkanen! Thank you to Netgalley, publisher St. Martin's Press, and author Sarah Pekkanen for providing me with an ARC, in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.