This book is highlights difficult family dynamics and family trauma while keeping you guessing throughout each chapter. The main character must fight for her release from the locked ward and prove her innocence. However, she gets more information than she bargains for.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, as I have every book from this author. At first, I did not like the female main character of course, but she had good character development as the story went on. I began to feel more sorry for her and her situation. By the end of the book, I thought I had it figured out but there was yet another twist. The writing style makes it easy to sit down and read quickly and will end up on your favorites shelf when you finish.

Sometimes what you truly need, deep down, is a fun little thriller with asshole characters who you don't particularly care for and enough plot holes to make you stop caring. And this is what The Locked Ward was. Despite the aforementioned plot holes and annoying characters, I could not put this book down and I devoured it in 2 days. That says more than any of my nonsense.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the arc!

Nothing is what it seems! Easy to read, quick chapters that flip between two main characters, Georgia and Mandy. Great complexity, full of drama, which makes it like a soap opera. Good twists that are a little predictable, but ultimately, no one is innocent.

Well-written with a fantastic plot, I really enjoyed this book. The development of the characters and their different lives is well done and well served by the alternating POV chapters. The family dynamics and time in the ward have some dark parts, as expected, but overall the book maintains a fast pace and intriguing plot as we try to figure out what in the world is going on. I always appreciate twists that are truly surprising, and this book has a few.

Another awesome read from Sarah Pekkanen!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy.

This one was just okay for me. As a thriller, it had an intriguing setup, but a few elements didn’t land. I found the shifting points of view especially the mix of first and second person distracting and hard to connect with. What really didn’t work for me, though, were the stereotypical portrayals of the locked psych ward setting.

As a behavioral health professional, I tend to be more critical of how mental health facilities and patients are depicted, and this portrayal felt exaggerated and not very grounded in reality. While the story had potential, the execution and narrative style ultimately fell flat for me.

This was a solid thriller and I love Sarah's writing! It was so captivating and entertaining, and I would definitely recommend.

3.5-4 stars

What to expect in this book:

-Psychological thriller
-Dual POV
-Complicated family dynamics
-Sisterhood and secrets
-Entertaining

Thoughts

This author is one of my favorites for psychological thrillers and her newest is entertaining and packed with tension and intrigue. Adopted child to a wealthy Southern family, Georgia Cartwright is accused of murdering her younger sister, Annabelle, on the eve of her birthday. Georgia is now locked in a psychiatric ward where many violent patients are held as she awaits trial. While in the ward, she makes contact with her estranged twin sister, Mandy, and seeks to get out with her sister's help. Alternating between Georgia and Mandy's point of view, this book explores the impact of family secrets, lies, and what happens when people are pushed to their breaking points.

I have read and loved everything by this author and her co-author on other books, Greer Hendricks. House of Glass was one of my favorite thrillers of 2024. While I do feel like this book continued to grab me the whole time I read it, I do not feel that it is as strong as some of her previous works. This felt more like a Frieda McFadden book in the sense of being super compulsive and entertaining, but lacking in certain areas. Some people might call this a more "popcorn thriller." Which, I do love every now and then. This was a solid read until the end for me, but I just found the end to kind of take away from the whole story (which was maybe the point?). Basically what we learn in the last paragraph makes you question the whole book you read. I would love to know more of the author's thoughts on this.

Overall, I recommend to lovers of psychological thrillers, but I recommend her others more, namely House of Glass. Thank you to #NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this advance copy. This book publishes in August.

I really enjoyed reading this book and could not put it down! I finished it so quickly because I had to know what happened next. The book has complex characters with multiple points of view. The story line kept me engaged and guessing. I didn’t see the end twist coming at all and throughly enjoyed the book!

I didn’t realize that this author also wrote Throne of Glass which has been on my TBR for a while so I will be reading that one soon!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Sarah Pekkanen is one of my favorite authors, but I couldn’t wait to move on from this book. I won’t recap what you can read in the book description on Amazon. The very wealthy Georgia Chapman wakes up in the locked psychiatric unit of a general hospital. She is accused of murdering her sister Annabelle. She won’t talk to anyone and is only in the hospital instead of prison because some strings have been pulled. She claims she is innocent and there is only one person who can help her: her twin sister Amanda. What? She has a twin sister? Isn’t she dead? No, Annabelle isn’t her twin. Georgia and Amanda who goes by Mandy were adopted by different families at birth. Mandy has no idea she has a twin sister, but is intrigued enough to meet Georgia. Mandy had very loving parents. Georgia’s parents are wealthy and run in a circle of wealthy and influential people. Mandy is drawn in, but she is battling her own demons and Georgia is not always forthcoming even with her freedom at stake.

The book is a quick read. It is told in alternating Georgia/Mandy voice and fortunately they do not repeat the same story which moves the book along. Unfortunately, it is full of stereotypes, holes and leaps of faith. I also found the entire psychiatric unit description to be something out of the 1960’s and TV shows. Patients assaulting other patients repeatedly with no real action taken? Staff locked away with patients unable to reach them? Staff so evil they put patient’s lives at risk? Staff so inept they can’t properly diagnose patients? Even with special treatment Georgia would have been in the psych unit of a prison.

I was so disappointed in this book. The ending was a treat, but where did that come from?

I am a big fan of Sarah Pekkanen -author of ““The Wife Between Us”, “The Golden Couple”, “House of Glass” and more. So I was excited to be approved for the ARC of her newest book- ““The Locked Ward”.
This book is jumps between the perspectives of twins, Georgia and Mandy. Georgia is locked in a psychiatric ward for the murder of her sister. She has no one to help her prove her innocence and turns to her estranged twin Mandy. Mandy didn’t know Georgia existed until recently and isn’t sure if she even believes she is innocent. Twin
bonds are strong, but are they strong enough to help Georgia leave the locked door of the psych ward? Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for this ARC. This book will be published in early August.

The Locked Ward has an intriguing setup and explores some compelling psychological themes, but overall it didn’t quite land for me. While the pacing is quick and the premise promising, certain plot points felt too implausible to stay immersed; like Mandy walking into someone’s house after a funeral with barely a second glance?? And the moment where she finds the same book on Georgia’s nightstand and jumps to either a psychic twin bond or an elaborate, staged conspiracy felt especially far-fetched. I just don’t feel like that would have been someone’s immediate thought process in the moment. The story had moments of tension and atmosphere, but the emotional impact didn’t always resonate, and many of the twists felt driven more by coincidence than by believable character choices.

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

This book kept me on my toes! An intriguing mystery/thriller, surrounding newly discovered twin sisters, one arrested for murder, and the other determined to find out the truth and free his sister.

This had quick, short chapters between the sisters POVs which I loved. It made it easy to just sit and binge this book.

There were times when I felt this was slow and some of the “shock” moments fell a little flat for me, but the book still kept my attention. I really liked the twin aspect and the connections they have. Overall this was an enjoyable thriller!

Twisty, gripping and keep you on the-edge-of-your-seat kind of thriller!!

Sarah Pekkanen really delivered with The Locked Ward!

Mandy, finding out she has a twin sister, Georgia, (who just got locked up in the Psych ward for murder!!) is emerging herself in a whole other world to try and understand who Georgia really is and why/if she could really be a killer! From learning about their shared origin, Georgia’s privileged life yet sad and emotionally abusive upbringing, Mandy tries to put it altogether to see if she can save Georgia.

4.5 ⭐️ rounded up! This story kept me guessing as Pekkanen kept intertwining new character details to throw you off kilter! The writing is smooth, descriptive and engaging!

A good, suspenseful book with a nice twist at the end. A murder. An adoption. Twins. Secrets!!
One sister is in jail. One sister is dead. One sister is determined to find out the secret.

Georgia Cartwright, who was adopted as a newborn, is accused of killing the biological daughter, Annabelle, of her wealthy family. Georgia is locked in a psychiatric institution while she awaits trial. She asks her lawyer to see her twin sister Amanda who didn’t know she had a fraternal twin sister. Amanda (aka Mandy) runs her family’s bar after inheriting the place after the parents deaths.

The story was told from the first POV of Georgia and second POV of Mandy. The story involved twin connections, the inside of a mental institution, wealthy families, powerful people, secrets, lies, family drama.

This book took me longer than usual and should have DNF but I try to finish all books. I found this story boring, no suspense or thrills, no real surprising twists. The reveal in the epilogue was not a good ending and found it inconsistent with the storyline. I was disappointed with the book especially the ending.

This book definitely sucked me in from the start. The back and forth wondering what really was happening kept me interested. Never seen the twist coming and the ending 🤯👏🏻

Breaking News: The Crime of the Decade! A woman from a wealthy and socially prominent family is accused of bludgeoning her younger sister death. Mandy wouldn’t give such news a second thought if it weren’t for the phone call she receives from the public defender who is defending the accused, Georgia Cartwright. He tells her that his client is requesting a meeting since she is Mandy’s sister, her twin sister in fact. Georgia doesn’t want to just meet her sister, she wants her help getting out from the psych ward where she is being held. Mandy has no idea just how deadly of a situation she is getting pulled in to. This was a good mystery that held my attention until the end. I thank Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Georgia is counting the seconds inside a psychiatric hospital (literally), accused of killing her sister Annabelle — the town’s golden girl and their parents’ favorite. Georgia insists she’s innocent, but no one believes her, until she uncovers a secret weapon… her twin sister Mandy, who never even knew Georgia existed. Thrown into an unknown world, Mandy sets out to clear Georgia’s name, while questioning whether she's being manipulated or walking into danger.

Normally, the secret-twin trope isn’t my thing, but I appreciated how unapologetically it was within this novel. The twins’ borderline creepy (but sweet?) connection & the alternating POVs with flashback narratives kept me hooked, though I wish the tenses were more consistent. While it leans more mystery than thriller, I was drawn in. I wish the ending hit harder!

Thank you to author Sarah Pekkanen, NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the eARC.

Publication Date: August 5, 2025

The Locked Ward is another fantastic thriller from Sarah Pekkanen. This one had me hooked from the first chapter—a psychological maze filled with secrets, sisterhood, and shocking twists.

The story centers on Georgia, who’s locked in a psychiatric ward and accused of murdering her adoptive sister. She insists she’s innocent and reaches out to Amanda, a twin she never knew existed, for help. The alternating perspectives—one from within the ward and one from the outside—create nonstop suspense as Amanda races to uncover the truth.

Pekkanen masterfully blurs the line between truth and manipulation. Just when you think you have it figured out, another twist hits. It’s eerie, emotional, and totally gripping.

Highly recommend if you love psychological thrillers with strong characters and smart, layered storytelling.

I went into this book with the smallest bit of information and I think that was a perfect way to read the book. This book's concept is so amazing that that's really all you need to know about it.

The writing style had me hooked. The writing style along with the short chapters made for such a quick and interesting read. Every time I would reach the end of a chapter I would have to read just one more because I just had to know what was happening next.

I also think the use of second person point of view was so perfect. It's like we are Georgia who is actively trying to keep herself sane inside of the locked ward; she is telling herself "you do this, you did that, etc..."

I will say the ending lost me a slight bit. It felt quite rushed at the end. Things wrapped up very quickly and it was more like we were being told the big reveals rather than watching them unfold in real time.

4/5 stars