Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of The Locked Ward. This was a quick read with short chapters and different POVs. I enjoyed Georgia’s POV much more than Mandy’s. Mandy’s POV didn’t get very interesting until she went to the PI’s office. Also what ever happened to Josh?! Still a creep, just more medicated? Can he get a constant one on one to protect the other patients? Honey was THE WORST! As a mother myself, her behavior was piss poor. No child deserves that. I absolutely adored that we were able to see Georgia and Annabelle reconcile and become real sisters even though it was short lived. Overall, pretty decent thriller read. Thank you again for the ARC!

Wow. This book was full of twists and turns! I liked the psychological aspect of it mixed with the fictional family situations happening as well. So many big events in this story but I liked how the author brought it all together at the end.

Was it...
Bitter, all-consuming jealousy?
Pathological sibling rivalry?
Pure insanity?

Whatever the cause—and everyone has a theory—it's the Crime of the Decade when glamorous Georgia Cartwright, who was adopted as a newborn, is accused of killing the biological daughter of her wealthy, Southern family

This was a great twisty and mysterious Thriller! You couldn't tell who to trust in this story which made me wanting to turn the pages as fast as I can to see what was going on! Sarah Pekkanen is a master class author at a Thriller and this one did not dissapoint!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC. The Locked Ward comes out August 5th!

"The Locked Ward" is an exciting and fast-paced thriller that I could not put down. This story involves wealthy Southern families, sibling rivalries, and secret twins. Need I say more? I was hooked from the first chapter and binged the entire thing in about a day. The story is told from the POVs of Mandy and her long-lost twin sister, Georgia, who is in a psych ward after being accused of murdering her younger sister. I loved the dual POVs because I had no idea who to trust or who to believe. There weren't a lot of huge twists, but the plot was just so fun and unique that I couldn't stop reading. Loved it!

I listened to the audiobook narrated by January LaVoy. As always, she was amazing. I could seriously listen to her read the dictionary. She expertly voiced the many characters and was able to make them easily distinguishable. Her performance was full of emotion, and she was able to build so much tension and suspense with her narration. She did such a great job bringing the story and characters to life.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you netgalley and St Martins Press for allowing me to read this as an ARC.

I loved “House of Glass” so I was so excited to get the opportunity to read this one early. Unfortunately it didn’t really hit the mark for me. The way Georgia’s role was written was such a weird narrative, which was hard to connect with her as a character. The dual POV worked to an extent but then didn’t work to an extent. It bounces around POV and timelines and it made it hard to stay connected with the story. I think the plot had potential but the characters and some of the storyline just fell to flat for me. It was to slow of a burn for me, predictable and not as climactic as I would have anticipated.

is Sarah Pekkanen an auto-read author? yes. Did fail to live up to her high standards? a bit, yes.
Georgia and Mandy are twins. However neither of them know this until they are in their 30s. Apparently separated at birth, no one knew that there were two. Except that Georgia (the rich sister) was adopted, obviously a few people knew. Honey could have simply not followed through with the adoption when she discovered she was pregnant (happens more often than you would think) and then there would be no need to separate the girls. Despite not ever knowing about each other they suddenly have "twin speak" and one of them is able to recall to the minute a random nosebleed that the other "caused".

minus the weird twin stuff, the book has good short chapters that fluctuate between the two sisters. inexplicably, one speaks in first person and the other one second person. The plot was also weak when motive was discovered. And whatever happened to the two men introduced to us as paramores of Mandy? too many untied strings for my liking.

thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Pekkanen, and St. Martin's Press for my ARC of this book.

4 Stars

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for sending me an advanced copy of this book!

I liked this book… definitely not as much as house of glass by Sarah, but it was still good! I did find this book to have a bit of a slow/boring start but it really picked up towards the end, I mean I absolutely LOVED the ending!

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing an ebook ARC of this title.

I had high hopes for this book, as I enjoyed their previous book, House of Glass. The short chapters made it feel like a quick read, and alternating between Georgia and Mandy was interesting, but I didn't feel the thrill or shock value in this one, and still have some questions about the ending.

In this book illustrating what it's like to be locked on a psych ward, we also have story lines about sibling rivalry, twin connections (which I have to admit, I really dislike), wealth and family standing.

Overall, an interesting read!
3.5 stars.

This was my second book by this author and I would say I really enjoyed this book. The story is engaging, mysterious, and kept me hooked from the start. I especially loved the alternating POVs, they added depth and made the plot even more compelling.

3.5⭐️ Georgia Cartwright, adopted at birth, is locked in a psych ward accused of murdering the biological daughter of her wealthy parents. Completely silent but for the words she speaks to her newfound twin sister Amanda, “I didn’t do it”, Georgia is desperate for help in proving her innocence. But is Georgia a victim or a master manipulator?

I have come to realize that Sarah Pekkanen writes stories that cannot be placed inside just one box. While often labeled as “thrillers”, they are clearly so much more than just that. Most books deemed thrillers are not as character-driven, with such nuanced and complex family dynamics. I have really come to appreciate that her books, with the inclusion of so many additional non-thriller elements, read more like literary thrillers. Which of course means, they won’t necessarily have the fast-paced popcorn vibes of other popular books on the market— and I have come to absolutely love that about her writing.

Going into The Locked Ward, I knew given the newly discovered twin storyline, that this would most likely have a slower burn feel to it, and it indeed does. It starts off with a bang as we learn that one of the women is locked away for the murder of her sister. I absolutely loved the atmospheric setting of the ward. Oh, the creepiness factor, every single time we hit Georgia’s perspective. The writing is so evocative, there were moments I felt I myself was locked in there with her. I enjoyed our deep dive into each of the two main characters; particularly the backstory around each of their upbringings.

That said, something in the execution of the story fell flat for me, particularly from the midway point through to the ending, and I am still unsure as to what exactly it was. Perhaps I had an idea in my head as to what was happening, and then not encountering nearly that type of twist left me wanting. However, if nothing else, Pekkanen does write insanely bingable books. And so while this may not have been my favorite of her thrillers, it was still a quick and entertaining read I found to be enjoyable nonetheless.

Read if you like:
▪️genre mashups
▪️psychological suspense
▪️twin sisters separated at birth
▪️locked ward setting
▪️dual perspectives
▪️family drama

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copies of this book.

The Locked Ward had a great premise, but the execution was a bit too far fetched for me. Georgia and Amanda are long lost sisters who grew up living in vastly different worlds. Georgia, in the lap of extraordinary wealth and luxury, and Amanda in a working class family in small town America. When the two finally learn of each other's existence and have the chance to connect, it's when Georgia is stuck in a "locked ward" for the murder of her OTHER sister. Amanda begins a quest to get to know her long lost Georgia, learn the truth, and set her free. I'm usually able to suspend my beliefs for the sake of a storyline, but this one just fell flat to me. I have seen both the rich family gone wrong and the psych ward tropes executed much better in other books, which potentially soured my opinion of this one. It also felt like there was both too much and too little going on at the same time. I've enjoyed this author in the past and will return to her again, but The Locked Ward unfortunately wasn't my favorite.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest feedback.

The mystery surrounding Georgia's innocence and the secrets of the Cartwright family are executed with a strong trajectory, featuring short, fast-paced, action-packed chapters. While some twists were a bit predictable, and I had hoped for a more earth-shattering conclusion, I still thoroughly enjoyed the character development and the magnetic-at times, eerie-bond between the sisters. That connection alone made me round my rating from 3.5 stars up to 4!
I highly recommend this well-crafted thriller to devoted fans like me and to any reader looking for a gripping, unputdownable read from the very first page.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of one of this year's most anticipated thrillers in exchange for my honest feedback

The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
This is a super exciting and intense psychological thriller! This book is full of drama, mystery, crime and lots of twists!
Georgia is in a Psych ward after being accused of killing her sister. While locked up, Georgia finds out that she has another sister, a twin, Amanda. Georgia wants to meet Amanda and is hoping she can help uncover the truth.
Has Georgia been framed? Is she innocent?

It’s definitely a fast paced read and the excitement doesn’t let up! The book is well written and I enjoyed the storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of this fantastic thriller!!!

*This book comes out August 5th and I recommend grabbing it!!*

Long lost twins meet murder mystery,. I felt like this book had unused potential. The murder mystery portion and ultimate resolution felt a little far fetched. The writing was okay but again nothing spectacular

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed The Locked Ward! It hooked me from the start and kept me completely invested the whole way through. I love multiple POV books generally and I thought this author's way of doing it was interesting. It was really well done and it was a great, suspenseful mystery. Thank you so much for the advanced copy!

thank you to St. Martin's press and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own. I give this read a solid 3.5, partly because it just wasn't good enough to squeak its way up to a 4 but was an entertaining read. Alternating POVs and short chapters help make for a quick beach read. You have one character, Georgia, in a locked ward of a psychiatric hospital after being arrested for her sister's murder and the only person who can help solve the mystery and free Georgia is her secret twin sister Mandy whose existence was just discovered by Georgia before her sister Annabelle's murder. I felt like reality was bent a little too much and things got a little far fetched as this reached its conclusion but because the writing was fast paced and there were some less predictable twists, I didn't mind it.

Sarah Pekkanen does not disappoint! The Locked Ward has it all; strong, flawed female characters, a complex, well developed plot and a satisfying ending. Short chapters keep the reader engaged. Perfect beach or vacation read. The perfect summertime thriller!

I liked how twisty this mystery was, and I enjoyed watching Amanda try to put the pieces together to save her sister. The short chapters made the story move at a quick pace and kept me engaged and present.

The very final part of the story, I was not expecting that, but I loved it.

I loved this. This book reads so quickly and is suspenseful and exciting. Good character development and this is a fast paced one day read. Indulgent!

The Locked Ward is a fun thriller told from the dual POVs of Mandy and Georgia. Georgia has been accused of killing her sister and is locked in the psychiatric ward of a hospital. She reaches out to her estranged twin, Mandy, for help but Mandy isn’t convinced of her innocence and is left trying to piece together what really happened and who she can trust.

Sarah Pekkanen nailed the atmosphere; locked wards are a favorite setting of mine. Pair that with a wealthy Southern socialite, and I was hooked on the premise. I do wish it had been darker and grittier, but overall, this was a fast-paced and enjoyable read. The short chapters kept me turning the pages!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.