🔐 M A N I C M O N D A Y review 🔐 featuring “The Locked Ward” by Sarah Pekkanen!

Georgia Cartwright is the adopted daughter of a wealthy Southern family and has always been considered the black sheep of the family. Her sister Annabelle is seen as the golden child and has her parents wrapped around her finger.

On the night of Annabelle’s 30th birthday, she is found dead after having a conversation with Georgia. Georgia gets locked up in a secure psychiatric institution while she awaits trial for her sister’s murder. Her family is fully against her and there is only one person who can help her out of this mess. However, Mandy doesn’t know she exists yet … or that she has an estranged twin sister.

💭 This book is deliciously dark and twisted and the shock factor is off the charts. The Cartwright family holds onto such dark secrets and has such cruel intentions towards one another! Riddled with jealously, manipulation, sibling rivalry and a savage game of cat and mouse, this book will knock you off your feet!

Thank you kindly to @sarahpekkanen @stmartinspress @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on August 5, 2025!

I had access to both the Kindle and audiobook formats, but I found the audiobook to be addictive! The story follows twin sisters, separated at birth, who are reunited when one is in a mental hospital. The plot drew me in, especially with the dual viewpoints of Mandy and Georgia, which offered fresh insights. Each perspective uses a unique narrative style—one in third person, the other in first person—adding depth to the psychological themes. Filled with suspense and intrigue, the story kept me engaged until the very end. The audiobook narrator, January LaVoy, did an excellent job of bringing the characters and story to life.

Thank you to NetGallery and to both Macmillan Audio
and St. Martin's Press for my copy.

Really enjoyed this one. It was not what I expected. I was afraid it would be more of a political thriller and it wasn't. Loved the twists at the end. Keep them coming Sarah Pekkanen.

What a fun read! I enjoyed this so much. The short chapters and fast paced plot were super engaging, and I loved the dual POV of the sisters. I was hooked immediately and had a really hard time putting this down. Both perspectives really kept me on edge, but in different ways. I did like the big reveal, but feel like everything did wrap up very quickly and neatly.

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

Mandy and Georgia are twins separated at birth. Mandy finds out about her sister when Georgia had been accused of murder and is currently on a psychiatric hold. Told in dual POV, we learn along with Mandy about her past and her present. I found this book drawing me in and making me guess what the truth was and who was telling the truth. Compared to previous reads by this author, this was not my favorite. I found parts of the storyline predictable and there were other parts that could've been fleshed out more.

Overall it was a good read with mystery and made me question if either narrator was telling the truth about their past and who I could trust. My rating is 3.5.

This was just okay. The premise just did not entice me - this is an alternate POV with Georgia & Mandy. The short chapters and alternating POV made the book go by quickly, but Georgia's in second person threw me off slightly. However, it did help keep track of which woman's POV I was in. It just kinda fell flat for me. The shock value wasn't there, the ending was somewhat predictable, and I feel like there were parts missing to form the whole story.

Thanks very much to NetGalley for the ARC! I will still look forward to books from this author.

Thank you to all who allowed me to ARC read this Book.

I really wanted to give it a higher rating but to me the POV took me out of the story. If it had been written in a different POV I would have ate this story up. The premise and Idea were great and I was really excited to read. It I’m very disappointed it didn’t live up to the hype for me.

From the first page, The Locked Ward grabbed my entire attention. The short chapters made it easy to keep reading “just one more,” and before I knew it, I was fully invested in reading the dual POV’s of Georgia and Amanda and how they were brough together. Sarah Pekkanen does a fantastic job building strong characters and the complicated new relationship between the sisters.

The storyline held my attention throughout, even though I found the buildup a little long before the real suspense kicked in. Still, the wait was worth it. The tension built with every chapter, and the eerie setting of the psychiatric hospital added to the setting. I couldn’t stop reading because I needed to know how it would all play out!

I thought the story wrapped up perfectly with a twist that I didn’t quite see coming. It was a great read overall, and despite the slow burn at the beginning, I truly enjoyed the ride. I love this author’s work and definitely recommend for anyone wanting a psychological suspense read.

The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen is a captivating psychological thriller that draws you into the lives of twins who meet for the first time under extraordinary circumstances. Told from alternating points of view, the story keeps you questioning what the truth is. Is either sister telling the whole story? Do they even know it themselves? Lies, deception, and cover-ups run deep throughout the book.

As their stories unfold, a ticking clock adds urgency as one twin needs to save the other. Ultimately, they may both need to save each other. The short, alternating chapters create a fast-paced rhythm that makes the book hard to put down. Some of the twists I anticipated, but others surprised me.

I give this book 4.25 stars and recommend it to anyone looking for a fast-moving story with twists that will keep you guessing until the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Sarah Pekkanen for the advance reader copy.

This was a fun campy thriller that was fast paced with high entertainment value! I definitely guessed some of the reveals…but also still gasped and was completely locked in! I have to say I absolutely love a little twin trope in any kind of book so this one really was the perfect book for me!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the e-arc copy of this book!

4.5⭐️

I always enjoy a Sarah Pekkanen book, particularly the ones written with Greer Hendricks and the ones Sarah has written since then.

I am giving this book 3.5 stars rounded up. It was not as good as her last 2, in my opinion, but it definitely is easy and fun to read, especially if you like this psychological thrillers.

It’s written from two perspectives- Georgia and Amanda, twin sisters separated at birth. Amanda didn’t know of Georgia’s existence until Georgia contacts her for help after being accused of a crime and ending up in a psych ward. I didn’t enjoy Georgia’s POV as much since it was written in second person.

Thanks to Sarah Pekkanen St. Martin’s Press for a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own

Thank you to the publisher for sending me this ARC on Netgalley! (Available 8/5/2025)

4.25 stars! This was my first Sarah Pekkanen book and I really enjoyed this one. This story was very multifaceted for a thriller and gave the reader ample time to really understand the main characters. I thought the writing was great and I would definitely read more by this author in the future! I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the thriller/mystery genre that also enjoys more character-driven stories.

It's official...I'll read anything Sarah Pekkanen writes! The Locked Ward is a great story that keeps you guessing until the end. I listened to the audio version and read the ebook. I enjoy the mystery of Sarah's books, such as The Glass House, and the complex mystery of this one does not disappoint.

Georgia Cartwright is accused of killing her younger sister, Annabelle Cartwright, and is locked in a psychological ward while awaiting trial rather than prison, due to her adopted family's noteworthy & wealthy reputation. Georgia previously discovered a family secret- she was born a twin, and separated at birth. She's able to contact her twin, Amanda (Mandy), who tells the other POV in the book.

Mandy visits Georgia, curious about the credibility of her claim to be twins. Georgia coerces Mandy to dive deeper into their family history of secrets by whispering to her, “I didn’t do it. You’ve got to get me out of here.” Mandy is thrust into investigating Georgia's claim to be family and innocent for Annabelle's death.

Once Mandy goes down the path into investigating the wealthy Cartwright family, she can't stop. The story develops smoothly over dual POV of Georgia and Mandy. Shocking secrets are uncovered about the powerful family and Mandy's world is turned upside down in this eerie & twisty thriller!

I really enjoyed House of Glass in 2024 so I immediately requested The Locked Ward. Unfortunately, this book didn't live up to my expectations. My first dislike was that half of the book was written in second person POV. I also found the plot to be boring and not thrilling enough to get me really invested. I won't turn down another book from Sarah Pekkanen in the future, but I will not remember The Locked Ward beyond writing this review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy. The Locked Ward is available on August 5, 2025.

This book took me on quite the wild ride. I was not sure what to believe or who to believe at times. This author knocked it out of the park yet again!

I was excited for this e-ARC because I absolutely loved House of Glass and was looking forward to another page-turner by this author. Twins who didn't know they were sisters until adulthood, one accused of a crime she claims she didn't commit and locked up in a psych ward, recruiting her long-lost sister to help prove her innocence--all this seemed intriguing to me. Unfortunately, I was a bit underwhelmed by this one. The chapters were short and alternated between the sisters, which moved the story along quickly. However, the characters were a little flat and just not particularly interesting. Some of the side characters seemed completely unnecessary, adding little to the story. The plot twists were somewhat predictable, and the ending a bit anticlimactic.

Thank you so much to Minotaur for the gifted ARC!

This was definitely one of my most anticipated 2025 books as Sarah is one of my favs ,so it pains me to say this one was less than my favorite by her so far.

I'll start with the good: it was a quick hook, easy to fly through for the most part, and a unique plotline! Also the cover is SICK!!

What didn't work for me were the chapters in second person point of view talking to one of the characters. Almost every sentence began with "you did this" or "you said that" and it felt so off-kilter with the rest of the book that flowed so well in first person, I can kind of understand why it was written this was, but wish it wasn't so it could have been consistently readable throughout the whole story.

I also thought the ending fell short and even slightly confused me. Overall, it just didn't hit like her books usually do, but I'll still be first in line for her next release!

Thanks Sarah Pekkans , St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the advance copy of Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkans. Lock Ward is psychological thriller dual perspective of recently discovered twin sisters one accused of murder and the other tasked to find her innocences. I enjoyed the pace of the chapters and the beginning of the book gasp me but the ending was a little flatter. I felt like the ending of the book came quick and I expected a little bit more but it still was a twist. Sarah Pekkanen still will be one of my favorite authors to recommend and I will continue to get so excited to read all her new novels. Thank you again.

Thank you for the ARC!
The book started off slow for me but as I kept reading it turned out to be really good and the story sucked me in! Definitely enjoyed reading from different point of views and did not see that ending coming .

I feel like this book is getting quite a few "meh" reviews, but I actually really liked it! I liked the premise, setting, and (most) of the characters. Some of the little twists at the end were pretty fun, too. I really liked House of Glass so I think Sarah Pekkanen might be one of my new go-to authors. 4 solid stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this novel.