Amanda Ravenel meets her sister for the first time, when contacted by the public defender representing Georgia Cartwright. That sister she never knew existed is now in a mental institution as she awaits trial for the murder of her younger sister, Annabelle Cartwright (not related to Amanda). As you can imagine, Amanda is left with so many questions.

How were the sisters separated?
Is Georgia insane?
Is she guilty of murder?

It is a lot to digest for someone going in cold, but Amanda does her best to keep an open mind, rather than block Georgia. Not everyone would do the same given the circumstances. But Amanda finds one major plus, she can get a little taste for the luxurious life Georgia was accustomed to (wearing her clothes, sleeping in her bed, etc) something that was missing from Amanda's life. So, I didn’t exactly trust her intentions.

There's an interesting development in this story involving a Senator, who we are first led to believe is a pedophile. However, things aren't quite as they seem, and the big reveal uncovers more than one secret. I definitely was caught off guard by the killer's identity. Especially with the second twist revealed at the end. I love when thrillers end that way.

While I didn't really care for either sister, this was overall a gripping thriller. Go check it out!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

We're both the unreliable narrator and the gullible listener in our own life stories.

I absolutely loved this line in this book. Because isn't this the truth? Everything in life is seen through the glass of our preconceived notions, our biases, our trauma. It shapes how we want to see things and how we make the puzzle pieces fit. Then one day we realize we weren't even making the right puzzle.

This was a great journey and a unique thriller. I especially loved the setting of The Locked Ward. It kept me guessing and I didn't see the twists coming. There were even multiple bombshell twists.

On a biased note, I loved the setting was Charlotte! The author did a great job. She knew the Panthers chant was "Keep Pounding!". That the richest houses are near Queens. That the nicest apartment in Uptown is The Vue and Cam Newton had the penthouse not Georgia but maybe they were neighbors? 😂 The only detail she got wrong was The Penguin. It has been here since the 1980s but the location is brand new. Details though! I love when an author is well researched and I love seeing my city represented in books recently.

Overall, a fantastic thriller and I highly recommend it.

What happens when twins, separated at birth, are reunited after one of the twins is accused of the murder of her younger sister? They were raised in totally different environments. Which one really had the better life?

The Locked Ward is volleys back and forth between Georgia and Amanda (Mandy), their point of views, lives, manipulation of others.

This was a good, quick read. Perfect for the summer by the pool.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

this was definitely one of my favorites of sarah’s recent solo stories - it was captivating and fast-paced and full of heart pounding moments 👀

featuring two long lost twins, georgia and mandy, and their two completely separate lives, I was so invested in the separated at birth trope y’all, except the mystery itself didn’t really hold my interest as much…

I wanted more from the threats, the political scandals, and of course more unaliving tee hee whoops 😭 I just felt that the thriller portions were lackluster in comparison to her other books and instead focused on the family drama elements

I did indeed binge this in a few hours because I was so invested if I was right in all of my plot twist guesses - so that was a big win for me!! every time I thought I had it figured out, the story was flipped on its head again with another layer!

thank you to st martins press for the gifted copy!

rating: 3.5 stars
wine pairing: sonoma coast chardonnay

I really enjoyed this and didn’t want to put it down. Mandy and Georgia each surprised me in their own ways! This book has me leaning toward one person who did the crime and it ended up being someone else completely; never saw that coming. Then, there were other twists. I was like wait, what?! I’m really happy I got to read this one and I was really in the mood for a good thriller. Thank you ☺️

I couldn't put down Sarah Pekkanen's "The Locked Ward." This psychological thriller plunged me into the murky waters of twin bonds twisted by family secrets so dark they seemed to pulse beneath the pages.

The spine of this story—Georgia Cartwright locked in a psychiatric institution, accused of murdering her biological family's daughter—barely hinted at the labyrinthine plot I discovered. What struck me most was how Pekkanen reimagined the unreliable narrator trope through the lens of twinship, creating a dual perspective that brilliantly connected threads between past and present, truth and deception.

Mandy’s reconnection with her twin formed the emotional core that kept me riveted. Their relationship wasn't just complicated—it was a psychological minefield where every memory felt booby-trapped. I felt the cold institutional air on my skin as Mandy navigated the ward's oppressive hallways, never quite certain if she was rescuing her sister or being manipulated by a master puppeteer.

The Southern family at the center breathed with gothic dysfunction. Wealth, privilege, and adoption secrets created a powerful metaphor about inheritance both biological and psychological.

The dual point of view structure served the story perfectly, each revelation building toward a conclusion that left me gasping. I turned pages with increasing urgency as family dynamics unraveled into something far more sinister than I'd anticipated.

If you crave psychological suspense that weaves twin connections with generations of buried secrets, this book is for you.

Massive thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my advance review copies. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

THE LOCKED WARD
By Sarah Pekkanen

What if the only person who can save you is a sister you’ve never met?

3.5 stars rounded down
This story follows Georgia Cartwright, the adopted daughter of an extremely wealthy Southern family. Accused of murdering her sister, Georgia is locked in a psychiatric institution while awaiting trial. Claiming to be innocent, she concocts a plan involving her estranged sister, Amanda—whom she has never met—to help her escape the institution.

As Amanda is pulled into a convoluted web of secrets, lies, and deception, the narrative shifts between her perspective and Georgia’s. Is Georgia truly innocent? Or is Amanda being naive in believing her?

The book explores themes of sisterhood and family. While I wasn’t particularly invested in any of the characters, I found this to be a decent read with some intriguing twists. I’ve enjoyed other books by Sarah Pekkanen and look forward to reading more from her.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC ebook.

Amanda Ravanel gets a phone call requesting she visit someone in the local psych ward. Once she arrives, Georgia Cartwright, who is on a 72 hour hold for allegedly killing her sister, tells Mandy that they are twins that were separated at birth. Mandy is her only hope of proving her innocence. This takes Mandy on a path of finding out her true parentage and discovering who actually killed Annabelle.

When I saw the cover of this one I expected it to have the creep factor of Freida McFadden's Ward D. I was a tad disappointed to realize it was nothing more than a mystery. I did enjoy watching the story unravel as Mandy digs through clues to find out who her real parents are as well as discovering whether Georgia really did kill Annabelle. The story is told through back and forth chapters--Mandy's chapter is in first person but Georgia's is in second person which was interesting. There were a few tense moments on the psych ward but nothing anxiety-producing. I do feel like the ending kind of fizzled out. Overall, I liked the story and look forward to reading more by the author.

A locked psychiatry ward, a rival sister murdered. Did she kill her own sister?

It starts with Georgia in a psychiatry ward on watch. She's suspected of murdering her sister, Annabelle, a rival sister everyone will swear Georgia has had it out for since Annabelle was born. Our other POV, Mandy, gets a phone call that she has a long lost twin and - surprise - that sister is in a psychiatry ward for murdering her other sister. Can you come pick up her things? That is the start of our mystery.

And I have to admit, I was pulled it from the start. I did this as an audio and I loved it. I found Mandy's POV compelling as she tried to sort how she felt about a long lost sister, as she sorted her feelings about her family and if she felt lied to. She investigated not only Georgia but also where they'd come from, how they were separated and how this all came to be.

I found Georgia's POV an eerie countdown. You could tell she was not in a safe place and every one of her chapters were pulse-pounding and scary. You could tell she was running out of time and she was frantic to get to Mandy.

I loved that this one kept me guessing. I never knew where the next turn was going to take me and I also never tried to anticipate it, I just let the story take me. There were a few parts that maybe I had to suspend disbelief but I was able to slide right past them without raising an eyebrow. Compelling, suspenseful - it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I loved this one!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This was my first Sarah Pekkanen thriller and I was impressed. I started reading this one via digital ARC but found it a bit hard to get into so I switch over to the ALC and listened to the rest which was the best decision! The narration of this book was spot on! Perfect amounts of inflection and not too over the top that it took me out of the story.

I did feel like one of the big plot twists was given away right off the hop but after reflection it was a necessary piece of the story to make known right away in order to help lay out the narrative!

A bit slow overall but I did enjoy this and will give more of her thrillers a shot in the future!

The Locked Ward is out August 5th, 2025! Thank you NetGalley, Sarah Pekkanen, and Macmillan Audio for the ALC. This ALC was provided in exchange for an honest review.

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Rachel Hanes
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February 27, 2025
This was another book that I was eagerly anticipating. I loved the author’s previous book “House of Glass”, so I had high hopes for this book. While I did like this book, I didn’t love it unfortunately. I did love the short chapters, and the alternating POV’s between Georgia and Mandy. But the shock value just wasn’t there for me in this story, and I still feel like I have some questions/details that need to be addressed.

Georgia Cartwright, a wealthy woman wakes up in a locked ward accused of bludgeoning her younger sister to death. She is refusing to speak to anyone, but only wants to see one person and that is Amanda (Mandy) Ravenel.

Imagine Mandy’s surprise when she receives a call from Georgia’s public defender to go and meet his client- considering they have never met before. Due to curiosity and some sort of connection, Mandy goes to visit Georgia and she learns some deep secrets that turn her life upside down.

In this book you will learn about sibling rivalry, twin connections, wealth, what it’s like to be locked up in a psych ward, family relationships (or lack thereof), and then we get a little bit of suspense/shock value… I still feel like there were some missing details (which probably shouldn’t be that big of a deal), but it did bring my rating down a bit because of it.
All in all, it was still a decent read.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for sending me this ARC. I love a good twisty thriller, and this one ticked all the boxes. I love Sarah Pekkanen's writing style. The plot was interesting, and the twists were introduced at just the right moments. It was engaging and, most importantly, entertaining until the very last page. I highly recommend it!

What to expect:

🗝️ Psychological thriller
🗝️ Twists
🗝️ Dual POVs
🗝️ Suspected murder


As always, all thoughts are my own. 🖤✨

Pub Date: August 05, 2025

The Locked Ward is a tense, emotionally layered psychological thriller that pulls back the curtain on a world most of us only glimpse from the outside. Sarah Pekkanen delivers a gripping, unflinching look at the complexities of mental health care, institutional control, and the blurred line between patient and professional.

The story follows Dr. Elizabeth Stevenson, a psychiatrist working in a high-security psychiatric facility where the rules are clear—until one of her patients dies under suspicious circumstances. As Elizabeth digs deeper into the case, what begins as a procedural inquiry spirals into a chilling exploration of power, vulnerability, and trust. The deeper she goes, the more she must confront her own past, her role in the system, and the cost of silence.

Pekkanen writes with precision and emotional acuity, crafting characters who are flawed, nuanced, and painfully human. The setting—the locked ward itself—is a character in its own right: sterile, suffocating, and quietly sinister. The pacing is taut, with short chapters and escalating stakes that keep the reader questioning everyone’s motives, including Elizabeth’s.

What makes The Locked Ward stand out is its refusal to offer easy answers. It challenges assumptions about mental illness and institutional care, asking the reader to consider how much of what we call treatment is actually control—and at what point help becomes harm.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an eARC of this book via NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating: 4/5 Stars
Published: August 5, 2025
Series: A Novel
Pages: 336

So, it has taken me some time to pick up this story to read and good things come to those that wait. “The Locked Ward” by Sarah Pekkanen, new author to this reader was a very well-written story that captivated my attention right from the start and had me glued to the pages to the very end. Georgia, the MC of the story is placed in a mental ward after being accused of killing her sister Annabelle. She learns of a twin sister and enlists her help to prove her innocence.

I enjoyed a well-filled book with secrets, twists, and an onset of lies and deceit. Through it all, there lies room for personal healing in the process. Murder, mystery, and thrills wrapped in the mind of this inventive author. The characters are well developed, plot is good, and the pace is on point.

Overall, “The Locked Ward” is powerful, thought-provoking and a very much recommended read.

Sarah Pekkanen’s The Locked Ward is a taut, emotionally resonant psychological thriller that takes readers deep inside a psychiatric hospital—and even deeper into the fragile psyche of its characters. With her signature blend of suspense and empathy, Pekkanen delivers a compelling story that balances fast-paced intrigue with sensitive explorations of mental health.

The novel centers around Dr. Lila Frost, a psychiatrist who has recently taken a position at a high-security inpatient psychiatric facility. From the outset, something feels off—not just about the patients, but about the institution itself. When a mysterious patient arrives under unusual circumstances, Lila is drawn into a web of secrets that threatens to unravel both her professional composure and her carefully guarded past.

Pekkanen crafts Lila with nuance—a woman driven by compassion but haunted by her own inner turmoil. The setting of the locked ward is claustrophobic and unsettling, filled with unsettling dynamics between staff and patients, and Pekkanen does an excellent job of blurring the line between sanity and instability. As Lila begins to question the institution’s practices—and even her own perceptions—the suspense tightens like a noose.

The story unfolds with well-timed twists and mounting tension, but what elevates The Locked Ward beyond a typical thriller is its exploration of trust, trauma, and the systems that fail to protect the vulnerable. Pekkanen doesn't exploit mental illness for shock value—instead, she treats it with a level of care that adds weight to the plot and depth to her characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of The Locked Wars.

This was a solid thriller that exceeded the expectations I had based on the mediocre reviews. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but it was a fast, enjoyable read that would be great for the beach. Minus one star because the very last twist felt unnecessary to the main plot and thrown in just for shock factor.

4 stars

The Locked Ward is a gripping thriller centered on two adopted twins raised in completely different worlds. Georgia is brought up in a wealthy, influential family in Charlotte, while Amanda (Mandy) grows up in the suburbs with a modest, quiet life. Amanda has no idea Georgia even exists until Georgia is accused of murdering her other sister and reaches out for help. As the story unfolds, long-buried secrets from Georgia’s family and their inner circle come to light.

I was hooked during the first half. It was fast-paced and full of suspense. But the second half plateaued. Unless there’s a sequel in the works, the ending felt odd with unnecessary details. Still, it was a solid, entertaining summer thriller with a few satisfying twists. And… we all know I love rich people behaving badly plots.

Triggers: Abuse from a medical provider, infidelity, rape, alcohol abuse, murder, and bullying

𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗣𝗘𝗘𝗞
Glamorous Georgia Cartwright - adopted into a wealthy Southern family - is locked up in a psychiatric ward, accused of murdering her sister. With everyone turning their back, she reaches out to her estranged twin, Mandy, hoping she’ll believe - and save her.

𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗢𝗡
This starts off with a bang! It’s told in alternating short chapters from Georgia and Mandy’s perspectives. Georgia’s chapters are in second-person POV, creating an unsettling, dissociative vibe that mirrors her situation - such a clever touch.

The sisters made an engaging duo, but I wasn’t convinced by their twin telepathy thing, mostly because they’re fraternal.

Not gonna lie, I glazed over a little during the senator/conspiracy storyline, but I’m glad I stuck with it as the payoff was epic! I guessed one twist, but there were plenty to enjoy some surprises - even if they bordered on soap-operaish.

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗?
This was a fast paced, highly entertaining, and intriguing read. Just be ready to look past the occasional improbability and go with the vibe.

🎧 Narrated by January LaVoy
📖 Publishes 08•05•25 | 432 pages | 9h 3m

Thank you MacMillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press for these #gifted ARCs.

Note: I accidentally submitted a review before reading and am now updating after reading the book.

Quick summary: The story opens with Georgia, a woman locked in a psychiatric facility, accused of murdering her wealthy sister in a case that’s made headlines across the South. The perspective shifts when Mandy, a woman who knows nothing about Georgia, receives a call saying Georgia wants to see her. The twist? Georgia claims to be Mandy’s twin sister. When Mandy visits, Georgia appears catatonic until she quietly whispers that she didn’t commit the murder and that someone is trying to kill her. Mandy doesn’t know what to believe, but a DNA test confirms they’re sisters, and suddenly she’s pulled into a mystery that’s personal, urgent, and dangerous. Mandy decides to help Georgia clear her name, and what follows is a story full of twists, danger, and deeply tangled connections..

Review: I thought this was so freaking good. Easily my favorite ARC I’ve read so far. I absolutely loved the dual point of view, the eerie setup, and how quickly the tension builds. It’s creepy in the best way. I was genuinely scared reading it at night. I flew through it in three days and was looking forward to reading it every evening.

I have a PhD in psychology, so I’m usually really turned off by books about psychiatric facilities or mental illness because they tend to be cheesy or oversimplified. This one wasn’t. It felt thoughtful and compelling without trying too hard to impress or explain. It gave me Silent Patient vibes in terms of tone and setup, but I personally connected with this one more.

The writing was solid, the suspense never let up, and the pacing was exactly what I look for in a thriller. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a smart, fast-moving psychological thriller with a little darkness and a lot of depth.

I really enjoy how Pekkanen writes, Anonymous girl Is still a favorite book of mine! I knew right away that I had to check this one out.

I am a sucker for a good mystery and who doesn't love dark family secrets? I found the story to be fascinating and it did a great job holding my attention.