The Locked Ward was a fun thriller read. There were moments of predictability and a little bit of cheesiness. But overall I really enjoyed it. I thought the characters, though unlikeable, were well developed. The sister element really made the story. I enjoyed reading both Georgia and Mandi's sections equally. I thought that the dual POVs served the story in that it was never boring from the very beginning straight through to the end.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Such an interesting book of two young women one accused of murdering their half sister the other finding out that they had a twin they never knew about. Both sisters are in for a wild ride. One is just struggling to hold on to their sanity not knowing who to trust while living in the mental health facility. The other finding out that the life they thought they had is a lie. This book is fast paced and packed with twists and turns. Readers will be engaged from page one and I am looking forward to recommending it.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

So good! I was so excited to be approved for this! Thank you!! The unreliable narrators were great! Love the twists!

I had an absolute blast reading this book. I’m definitely a mood reader. When I think to myself “I need a good thriller right now,” this is exactly what I mean. 😊
Sarah Pekkanen just knows exactly how to craft the perfect blend of thriller and mystery and I’m so excited that I got to be a part of this journey.

Here are some of the highlights for me:

• Twins - separated at birth but worked together to solve a murder.
• A psychiatric hospital - everyone is suspect and weird stuff always happens here.
• Rich vs middle class dynamics
• Every character has a questionable past and potential motive.
• The constant need to solve the puzzle while reading! #detectivemode
• Nailed the ending - which is not an easy thing to accomplish when writing a thriller.

A huge shoutout to #Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a chance to read this early in exchange for an honest review.

This book left me underwhelmed. As a psychological thriller, we should’ve gotten a much deeper exploration into the characters. The expositional writing style gave the reader a play-by-play of what was happening instead of descriptions and thoughts from the characters.

Switching from first person POV Mandy to second person Georgia was annoying. I think Georgia’s second person POV was meant to feel dreamlike, like she was experiencing the locked ward. But the whole point was that she was playing incompetent, so she wasn’t in a dreamlike state at all. The locked ward itself felt very soap opera-ish. How does someone who is accused of murder end up in the same room with someone who has voluntarily committed themselves?

Extra points for being set in Charlotte, and name-checking certain restaurants and locations. But other than that, there’s no mention of the city or why it was set there? And Mandy repeats often that she lives 90 minutes away, but her town is not named.

This twin connection concept was overdone and unrealistic. These two women have never met and suddenly they feel a pull to each other? Why doesn’t Mandy want to ask more questions? Like checking out her own birth certificate and her own history? I wanted to love this book but couldn’t wait to get to the end.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of The Locked Ward.
After reading House of Glass, I was eagerly waiting for this request to be approved. While this one unfolded at a fast pace, it didn’t live up to the expectations set by the book that came before it. There were too many points in the book that I felt the willing suspension of disbelief was pushed a little too far. I also feel there was not a good character buildup to make the shock ending feel genuine.
What I did like were the short, alternating chapters between Mandy and Georgia. I also like the use of the second person narrative though I thought it would have a plot payoff in the end and it didn’t.
Overall, solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️

A mental health institution, a twin you have never known about, a rich family with secrets - this book had it! The chapters were very short and alternated between two sisters. The book was well paced for me and it was a quick read. The chapters about the sister in the locked ward were tense and the evil seeped in throughout the story. The other sister's chapters were also good while she was trying to find the truth. There were a lot of characters here and lots of possibilities for the truth.
There was one thing about the book regarding HIPAA that should have been known or researched better by the author. There were also many times the "twin connection" was referred to and for me it was "yeah, yeah, I get it. They are twins".
Overall, I really enjoyed the book and look forward to this author's next one.

3.5 stars
I really enjoyed this thriller. Multiple POVs and a fun, twisty story. I liked the way that everything came together in the end. Of course I saw it coming, but I enjoyed the journey nonetheless. Definitely put this one in your beach bag!
I will recommend this to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC!

This was a fast paced read that I couldn’t stop. I enjoyed the dual POV and how the story kept you guessing! There were moments of unreliable narration, and then twists and turns I didn’t see coming. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While I was able to predict some of the twists, it definitely did not take away from me enjoying the book! The dual POVs brought the story together so perfectly as we see glimpses into the lives of these two women. It was shocking, twisted, and at times unsettling from the start up until the surprising end! Highly recommend this one!

Georgia Cartwright, socialite and wedding planner, is arrested for the brutal killing of her younger sister. She gets locked up in the psych ward and only wants to talk to her twin, Amanda. The only problem, Amanda doesn't realize she's even related to Georgia.

This was a fun and twisty one! Here's what I loved:

The dual POV: You get both Georgia and Amanda in here which really works for the story. Georgia is also faking a psychotic break so she can't come right out and tell Amanda things so you rely on the backstory Georgia gives you in the narrative for the mystery.

The twists: This one is loaded with them. I changed my mind a few times with this one. It was a tough one to figure out. So many of the characters had double intentions. Pekkanen does a great job with deceiving you as reader too. Bravo.


All in all, this was a good twisty thriller!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

This started off really good but missed the mark a little for me. I felt like there weren’t any surprises, even with the twist I was like “yeah sure could have seen that coming”. I just wanted more suspense.

I would recommend other books by this other before this one.

ugh, sadly this wasn’t for me. i’ve enjoyed pekkanen’s books in the past, but I couldn’t connect with the plot of this one. you have to suspend your disbelief sooo much. mandy and georgia are also both relatively boring characters and I really hated that mandy’s chapters were written in first person and georgia’s in second person. that did not work for me - I don’t like when books alternate between which person they’re written in and I especially don’t enjoy second person. just doesn’t work for me.

I think many people will enjoy this book, but i’ve read too many thrillers to add this to my recommend list. thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc! out 8/5.

I have read and loved all of Sarah Pekkanen's books. This one took me much longer to finish than usual due to "life" but nonetheless I finished it and enjoyed it very much. Although I usually love a twist at the end that I can never see coming, this one didn't blow me away but I did like the two smaller twists in lieu of one mind-blowing one. I enjoyed the two characters who learned late in their young lives that they were twins separated at birth, I would have liked to learn more about how that came to be although it wouldn't have changed the story. I loved the way the story was told from each sister's point of view which made the book very enjoyable and made me want to continue reading to find out what would happen next and learn each sister's secrets. Overall I did enjoy this book and can't wait for more from this author.

Georgia is being held in a locked mental ward awaiting a competency hearing to see if she can stand trial for murdering her sister, Annabelle. Georgia asks her lawyer to make a call to Amanda (Mandy) and he tells her that her sister needs to see her; Amanda says she does not have a sister, then she discovers that it’s her birth sister, as they were both given up for adoption.

Mandy out of curiosity more than anything goes to see Georgia, who whispers to her that she’s innocent and to please help her get out of there. Mandy doesn’t know this woman let alone if she’s telling the truth, but she decides that she needs to look into it on the off chance that it’s real..

The story, then proceeds back-and-forth from Mandy‘s point of view and Georgia’s point of view. Mandy realizes that there is something to Georgia’s story. As Mandy gets close to finding out, what really happened is she putting herself and Georgia in danger.

This was a great read! I was so thrilled to get an ARC copy of this book. Look forward to this author’s next book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to listen to a complimentary copy of this book in return for a review, based upon my honest opinion.

The Locked Ward is a quick popcorn thriller that will be perfect for beach bags or road trip reading. The novel features rich families with deep secrets and corruption, a psych ward (which seems a little stereotypical maybe? But is still an interesting setting, like it or not), and a few twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. There are short chapters in alternating viewpoints including second-person narration. Overall, this wasn’t my favorite thriller of the year, but was still entertaining and was exactly what I expected it to be!

I have loved reading the Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendricks books over the years so I was excited to get the opportunity to read one of Sarah Pekkanen's stand alone books to see how it compared. I must say, it definitely didn't disappoint. While I was able to predict the twist of the ending, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book and the mystery that was weeved throughout. It was entertaining and kept a thriller mood throughout. There were some small pieces of the plot that I wish would have been fleshed out a tiny bit more, but overall I'd still highly recommend The Locked Ward to mystery readers!

😱Thriller
🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒Family drama
👯‍♀️Sister relationships
🧠Psych ward
✌️Dual POV
🏃‍♀️Quick chapters

This thriller pulled me in right away, but it didn’t hold my attention as much as the book progressed. I thought the big twist was great, but getting the reader there became a bit repetitive and too much of a slow burn. Not a bad book, but there are better thrillers out there (like her last book - House of Glass).

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my eARC. The Locked Ward is out 8/5/2025!

3.5 stars

I am a huge fan of this author but sorry to say that I didn’t quite connect with this one as much as her previous books. Part of the issue here is the twin narrative which really fell flat for me. Nonetheless, I will always look forward to this author’s books and will read her in the future. On to the next…

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Oh this was a good one 👏🏻 👏🏻 This was a pretty fast paced thriller and I loved the dual POV! This had me guessing what could happen and I wasn’t expecting the ending! Read this!! Especially if you like psychological thrillers!