The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen is a fast-paced, popcorn-style thriller with short chapters and dual POVs that really pulled me in from the beginning. Told through Amanda's first-person narration and Georgia's second-person (yes, second!), it had a unique structure, though I’m not totally sure the second-person POV served the story. It was definitely a choice, but felt more like a quirk than a necessary device.

What I continue to admire about Pekkanen is how fresh her plots feel. As a seasoned thriller reader, it's rare for a book to not remind me of something else I’ve read, and again, this one didn’t. It has an original premise, eerie setting, and the kind of twisty, over-the-top family drama that keeps the pages turning.

That said... I didn’t love the ending.


***SPOILER ALERT***
Georgia’s mother being the actual killer and pinning it on Georgia because her daughter learned the truth about her real father—a senator? It just didn’t quite land for me. The motive felt weak, especially given how much she supposedly loved Annabelle. And blaming Georgia, locking her away in a psychiatric ward, felt excessively cruel and hard to swallow, even in the heightened reality of domestic suspense.
***END SPOILER ALERT***


Still, this was a quick, fun read. Everyone’s hiding something, which is always enjoyable in this genre, and I didn’t fully guess the whodunit (though [one later twist with Georgia was a bit more predictable).

Would recommend to fans of domestic suspense, Shari Lapena, or Pekkanen’s other solo thrillers.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (more like 3.75 but rounded up for originality)

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I really tried to give this one a fair shot but it wasn’t for me. The premise sounded interesting, but the writing style didn’t work out well. The swapping of second and first narratives really took me out of the story. The beginning is super slow and I found myself not as invested.

This was a quick and entertaining read. The chapters are short and told in alternating POV between twin sisters Georgia and Mandy. The story sets up an intriguing premise for this “Help me – I didn’t do it” psychological thriller. The tension and sense of foreboding are a constant beat under the action. The plot is twisty and has a really good build to a satisfying end.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. If you are looking for a solid, well-crafted psychological whodunit that is great escapism – this book is for you.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange of an honest review.
I absolutely adoooredd The Glass House last year so I was super excited for this one.
The tropes in this one are not my cup of tea, but it being a Pekkanen book I was still hooked from the beginning so I had fun even though it won't be a fave of mine unfortunately.
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4

This book centers around Georgia Cartwright, who was adopted as a newborn, is accused of bludgeoning to death her younger sister Annabelle, who is her parents biological daughter, just 4 months younger than herself.

She is now locked up in a hig security psychiatric institution awaiting trial-no longer a successful wedding planner, and lover of ugly dogs. She is just Case Number NC-0416729.

Amanda Ravenel is a successful bar owner and Georgia’s OTHER sister-her TWIN sister, but she doesn’t find this out until the high profile case hits the news and a lawyer calls to inform her of this fact. Apparently the girls were separated at birth and adopted by different families. And, now Georgia is asking to meet Mandy.

The only words she whispers when she meets her estranged twin sister are, “I didn’t do it. You’ve got to get me out of here before they kill me.”
Is Georgia innocent as she claims? Does Amanda get her out? This novel keeps you guessing until the end with shocking twists. I really enjoyed this book. I rate it 4 starts.

Thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the advanced copy.

Georgia Cartwright swaps a glamorous life for a psychiatric hospital when she is accused of murdering her sister. The only person who can help her is her twin sister Amanda who doesn’t even know she exists.

This was my first solo book from Sarah Pekkanen but I’ve read all her book with Greer Hendricks. I tore through this book very quickly and appreciated the short chapters. Although it wasn’t anything groundbreaking, it was an entertaining, twisty thriller. It’s an easy read and I look forward to more of her stories!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing a free ARC for review via NetGalley.

Sarah Pekkanen’s The Locked Ward is a surprising read—a light and refreshing, heartfelt thriller. It might sound like a strange combination, but Pekkanen pulls it off beautifully. The story drops you right into the middle of a complex mystery involving a murder, twins separated at birth, a young woman grieving the loss of her parents, and a suspected killer locked in an asylum.

As the narrative unfolds, Pekkanen masterfully weaves together the past and present, revealing secrets and drawing you into a compelling exploration of what family truly means. The book is a page-turner, filled with plenty of red herrings, false leads, and shocking character twists that will keep you guessing until the very end.

My only slight disappointment was that the ending felt a bit too neat, tying everything up a little too perfectly. However, this is also where the book's heartfelt, hopeful element comes from, and it's a trade-off that many readers will surely appreciate. Overall, The Locked Ward is a quick, engaging, and emotionally resonant read that keeps you hooked from start to finish.

Read this if: you enjoy purely plot-based thrillers like The Housemaid.

Skip this if: you prefer a book with more character development.

Georgia seems to have it all - wealth, a job she loves, and strong political connections - but things change in a flash when she is accused of killing her sister and is confined to a locked hospital ward for the mentally ill. She reaches out to her other sister, Amanda, who has no idea she exists. Amanda must decide whether she can trust Georgia and how far she should go to help.

As a purely plot-based thriller I found the plot of this to be much slower than I expected. It started out strong, but then the middle lagged. As is often the case with a book told through two points of view, I found one much stronger than the other. Georgia’s sections were repetitive and I didn’t care for the unusual choice to write them in the second person. Amanda’s sections were much stronger, and I did find myself invested in her story. On a positive note, the ending was full of exciting twists, but it just took too long to get there.

This was BONE CHILLINGLY good. Sarah Pekklanen has becoming my go-to for a true thriller. The Locked Ward gave me literal nightmares and had me questioning my relationship with my sister. Would I believe her? Leave her to rot? OMG THIS WAS SO GOOD

I wanted to love this one so much more than I did! Sarah Pekkanen’s novels are usually a hit or miss for me and unfortunately this one was a miss. I wasn’t a fan of the first & second person writing style changes between the sisters. For some reason it really took me out of the story. Also I just couldn’t connect to either sister & wasn’t totally engaged in the goings on. Overall this was fine, but it didn’t blow me away.

I usually enjoy Sarah Pekkanen’s book, but this one fell flat for me. I wasn’t invested in Mandy or Georgia’s characters. I’m all for the long lost twins finding one another, but their relationship felt too contrived, considering they just met. Suddenly they can read each others minds, as a Mom of twins, I know that’s possible, but in this case it just felt forced in the storyline.

I also didn’t like the change of POV’s being written between first and second person. I thought that made the story fall out of sync at times. I do love short chapters, so that was a bonus in this story.

I am a huge fan of psychological thrillers, but this one won’t stay with me for any length of time. I will continue to be a Sarah Pekkanen fan though, and look forward to what she puts out next.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for the early copy of this book. This book will be released on August 5th, 2025.

Absolutely gripping from start to finish! The Locked Ward pulled me in right away with its chilling setting and twisty plot. I couldn’t stop reading, I had to know if Georgia was really guilty or if something more was going on. The twin storyline added so much emotional depth, and the chapters were short and easy to read. Sarah Pekkanen did an amazing job building suspense without ever losing the heart of the story. Highly recommend if you love psychological thrillers that keep you guessing until the very end

Fun concept that had me on the edge of my seat. There were some things that I figured out ahead of time but for the most part, this was a thrilling read with interesting, flawed characters that all had secrets that they wanted to keep hidden. Pekkanen does a good job of building the tension, particularly in Georgia’s scenes in the ward, and that helps to keep the story flowing well. There were a few “twin” things that really couldn’t had happened that had me shaking my head but other than that, this was a quick, fun read

Sarah Pekkanen is just not as good without Greer Hendricks, sadly. Greer seems to be sticking to Amazon short stories. I'm not sure why they parted ways but please get back together! The Locked Ward suffers from lack of research. You cannot look up patients of a hospital, regardless of the ward, online, and especially not a psych unit, are you kidding me?! HIPAA, ma'am, learn it. So then it was like, what else can't I trust? So the story didn't really jive with me. And a patient pretending to be mute or "not all there" but making phone calls to her lawyer? Okay? Just some unbelievable things happening here.

Georgia is accused of killing her sister at her sister’s birthday party and is subsequently locked in a psychiatric facility where she awaits trial. Amanda is Georgia’s estranged twin sister and, while she doesn’t trust Georgia, she can’t fathom abandoning her in a place so eerie and menacing.

THE LOCKED WARD is told in two POVs: Georgia’s and Amanda’s. Both perspectives are intriguing, offering unique and important insights and information. I really liked both POVs and was eager to discover the true motivations of one of them as I couldn’t quite peg them. The setting of the psychiatric ward is eerie and very atmospheric.

The plot of THE LOCKED WARD is one that is somewhat unique to me, particularly with the way it is presented and executed. I found it to be a slow build over the pages as both characters try to put together what they’re learning, but it’s certainly worth the wait. The plot is more character-driven so has a bit of a slower pacing than other psychological thrillers I’ve read. I enjoyed the ending, feeling as though it completed the story well. This is a gripping read that kept me intrigued from the first page to the last.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, St Martin’s Press, for the opportunity to read this advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review! All opinions expressed are my own.

The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pekkanen is an auto-read author for me, and this one was fine. Nothing surprising or super unique.

I loved the quick chapters and the alternating POVs. Both of these elements were successful and helped move the plot along quickly. I felt that this book relied heavily on a suspension of disbelief from the reader. A lot of stuff didn’t really make sense if I thought about it at all. For the ending, this book didn’t feel like it wrapped everything up. I still had outstanding questions. And I hated one thing was circled back to - it felt random and unnecessary.

On its surface, this was a fine read. Readers who are newer to the thriller genre, people who enjoy thrillers with psychological aspects, and fans of dual POVs may enjoy this.

The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen is a gripping, twist-filled psychological thriller that kept me hooked from start to finish. The setting is eerie, the characters are layered, and the suspense is nonstop. Smart, chilling, and impossible to put down!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Sarah Pekkanen for the ARC of The Locked Ward!

This book was thrilling from start to finish an absolute page-turner that kept me completely hooked. The pacing was perfectly executed, balancing moments of slow-burning drama with bursts of heart-pounding suspense that made it impossible to put down. The twin dynamic was fascinating two sisters who share DNA but little else, forced into circumstances that unravel buried secrets and strained family ties in a truly gripping way.

I loved how Pekkanen layered the mystery so cleverly that I couldn’t figure it out until the final reveal. Every twist blindsided me, and the atmosphere of the locked ward itself added such an unsettling tension that made the story even more captivating. It’s psychological, dramatic, and suspenseful in the best ways exactly what I want in a thriller.

This is another stellar read from Sarah Pekkanen, and I’m so thankful for the chance to read it early. If you enjoy fast-paced thrillers full of shocking turns and complex family drama, The Locked Ward is a must-read!

Sarah Pekkanen is a new author for me, and the premise really intrigued me. I loved the psych ward setting, the use of second person POV for Georgia, and the twins separated at birth theme, but I did feel like the big reveal fell a little flat for me (I didn’t guess it ahead of time, but it also wasn’t super surprising or twisty). Overall, it was a good read, and I’m interested in checking out the author’s other work.

Content Notes: Some strong language (though I honestly don’t remember there being much). Any romance is closed door. Mentions of abusive/neglectful parenting, death of parents, infidelity, and past sexual assault.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for sending me a copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions above are my own.

Parts of this book were spot on for me! Twists and turns abound! Except that most of them were so predictable and so many events were so coincidental. By the end of the book, it felt like I had read through a narrated version of the outline for a book. Was it a bad read? No, it was a good book. But I think I was expecting more. Maybe I am setting too high a bar?