Sarah Pekkanen does it again! She has definitely become an auto-buy author for me. I couldn’t put this one down. It was fast-paced and kept me guessing and while I wasn’t really shocked by the ending it was still enjoyable!

What would you do if you found out you were a twin? 32-year-old twins, Amanda and Georgia, were separated at birth and have no knowledge of the other. Georgia finds out about Amanda, but before she can make a connection, she's thrown in jail for murdering her other sister, Annabelle. Changing back and forth from Georgia and Amanda's point of view, definitely keeps the story interesting and suspenseful. I truthfully could not put my finger on who the murderer was, up until the very end. I sped through this e-galley eager to get to the conclusion, was Georgia a heartless murderer? I thoroughly enjoyed this intense tale. Sarah Pekkanen did an amazing job keeping a twisty plot. I would like to give a huge thank you to Netgalley, Sarah Pekkanen, and St. Martin's Press for the complimentary e-galley.

When Georgia Cartwright wakes up in a high-security psychiatric ward accused of murdering her sister, she’s cut off from everything she knows—and the only person who might help is a twin she never knew existed. The Locked Ward unfolds in sharp, alternating chapters between Georgia’s unsettling second-person narration and Amanda’s more grounded first-person voice, creating a tense and immersive dual perspective. The short, fast-paced chapters drive the story forward with relentless energy, building a chilling atmosphere where nothing is quite as it seems. Just when you think you’ve figured it all out, the ending lands with a twist that’s both surprising and satisfying. While the second-person POV may not work for everyone, it adds a layer of psychological depth that enhances the story’s disorienting tone. A gripping, twisty read perfect for fans of dark psychological thrillers and layered family secrets.

QUICK GLANCE-
My format: ARC ebook
Other formats: 📖Physical (320 pages) Audio (9 hours and 4 minutes)
Spice: 🚫 implied but not described
Language: 🤐mild

MY THOUGHTS-
This one starts with a bang and never lets up! A fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat thriller that’s impossible to put down, this story kept me guessing from start to finish. While the middle slowed just a bit, I was already too invested to stop—I had to know how it all ended. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, the final reveal completely blindsided me. I did not see it coming! If you love dark family drama and twisty psychological thrillers, this is a must-read.

READ IF YOU LIKE-
🚨Fast-paced
🧠Complex Characters
🌀Twists you won’t see coming
👯‍♀️Sister Bond
🔀Dual POV

Sarah Pekkanen’s The Locked Ward delivers a gripping psychological thriller wrapped in tension, sibling rivalry, and dark family secrets. The premise—twin sisters separated at birth, one institutionalized for a crime she claims she didn’t commit, the other drawn into a sinister web—instantly hooked me  .

What stands out is the alternating POV structure, contrasting Georgia’s eerie, second-person narrative inside the locked psychiatric ward with Amanda’s more grounded, first-person investigation into Georgia’s past. This duality keeps both your heart racing and your mind guessing .

Character development is strong—Georgia is nuanced and unpredictable, and Mandy’s moral conflict (eager to help, unsure whether to trust) feels genuine. The novel’s pacing, with short, cliff-hanger–driven chapters, rarely lets up and helped me stay immersed.

That said, there were moments when the narrative felt a bit stretched. A few twists leaned toward familiar territory, and some plot beats felt slightly contrived—even though the overall atmosphere kept me invested. The ending, while satisfying, may not surprise veteran thriller readers looking for a truly jaw-dropping conclusion.

Bottom Line:
The Locked Ward is a compelling read for fans of psychological suspense and twin mysteries, especially ones that explore identity, memory, and trust under pressure. Its haunting setting and tense narrative make it hard to put down—even if some narrative beats feel familiar. A solid 3.5 stars that’s well worth its intrigue-filled ride.

nnalee Newitz's The Locked Ward is a novel that immediately grabs your attention with its intriguing premise. It's set in a fascinating future where intellectual property rights are fiercely enforced, even to the point of people and robots being considered property. The story follows Jack, a "drug pirate" and scientist who reverse-engineers patented pharmaceuticals to give them to the poor. When one of her drugs has lethal side effects, she is pursued by two agents—a military man and his robotic partner—while she works to find a cure. This is a brilliant concept for a cyberpunk thriller, but the book ultimately feels like a journey with more twists than a satisfying destination, leaving me with a mixed impression.

The strengths of the book lie in its world-building and thought-provoking themes. Newitz masterfully creates a dystopian future that feels both wildly imaginative and disturbingly plausible. The narrative explores complex questions about consent, personhood, and the nature of freedom in a capitalist society. The relationship between the two pursuers, Eliasz and his robot, Paladin, is particularly compelling. Their evolving bond provides the most emotional weight and serves as a powerful centerpiece for the book's core ideas. The writing is sharp and the pace is brisk, making the initial chapters a thrilling ride.

However, the novel's fast pace also becomes its primary weakness. The plot can feel frantic and at times, a bit scattered, jumping from one action sequence to the next without allowing enough time for the emotional or thematic depth to fully land. I found myself wanting to spend more time with the characters and in the world, but the narrative often moved on before I could fully invest. The ending, while addressing the central conflict, feels a little too open-ended, which can be frustrating for readers who prefer a more definitive resolution. It leaves you feeling like you’ve toured a magnificent, sprawling landscape without ever truly getting to rest and appreciate a single view.

In conclusion, The Locked Ward is a smart, ambitious book with a lot to say and a fantastic concept at its heart. It’s an easy and entertaining read, but the breakneck speed and a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion hold it back from being a truly great one. It’s a book I would recommend to fans of cyberpunk and social science fiction, but with the caveat that it’s more of a thought-starter than a fully realized masterpiece.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I have loved all or Sarah Pekkanen's book including the one written with Greer Hendricks so I was happy when this one did not disappoint.

The suspense happened in the first chapter when Georgia wakes up in The Locked Ward and is accused of killing her sister, Annabelle. Her only sliver of a chance is Mandy, her twin sister that she has not met before. Mandy is hesitant to meet Georgia but does anyway and she needs someone in her life. Georgia has proof that they are not only sisters but twins. Adoption was never kept out of the story but to learn they adopted separately is sad. What Mandy finds out as she tries to clear her twin sister is shocking.

Told from dual POV of Georgia and Mandy, Pekkanen's ability to keep the suspense and tempo going while building the story is perfect. while some of the reveals felt predictable there were also moments of shock and sadness. Definitely a good, fast paced, have to find out who did it read. 4 stars

Entertaining but not surprising or overly unique. The title and cover gave me the perception it would be a lot more unhinged/questioning sanity of the narrators than it was.

3.75 stars? This was a good book, super short chapters from two different perspectives, Georgia and Amanda (Mandy), Georgia accused of murder and Mandy trying to prove the accusation wrong. Before Mandy was called and invited to see Georgia in The Locked Ward she had never heard of or met her so why her specifically? Guess you’ll have to read to find out. There were quite a few suspects as to who actually committed the crime and I was completely WRONG in my guess. This was a fun book!

This book was so fun! I've read all of Sarah Pekkanen's books, including the ones with Greer Hendricks. It's safe to say I have devoured them all, and always find her writing fast-paced, intriguing and exciting. I loved the dual POV between the sisters, and the juxtaposition between the creepy ward and the seemingly lavish yet mysterious life of the sister living in her shoes to get answers. I read this in a few sittings, and overall I enjoyed it and would recommend! Out of all of her books, I'd say this is in the middle of my favorites though with a 3.75/5 star rating. I found some characters to be thrown in and not really fleshed out enough. For ex: the sister was on a date with a creepy guy in an isolated setting, and gets a call that he is dangerous and to not be there. I'm on the edge of my seat and scared as to how she will get out of this without raising suspicion, but then...the chapter just kind of ends. The next chapter we get of her POV, it's a new day. I couldn't help but wonder how she got out of this, and wanted more happening there! His character just kind of fell out of the picture as well. Also the creepy man in the ward who came into Georgia's shower and would always creep her out...what was his story? Why did he target her? I felt like he was thrown in there for a reason but then was never fleshed out either or expanded upon later. Maybe I missed something. Some twists I predicted, others not. A pretty good thriller overall!

This started off with a bang and did not let up! Pekkanen is an auto-read author for me so I went into this blind. Once again, she layers the mystery so well while developing strongly written characters. Told in two POVs, you get to see two women working to get Georgina out of the locked ward. Georgina’s POV is told in second person and it worked so well when coupled with her mental state. I did the audio for this since it was narrated by the fantastic January LaVoy and I highly recommend that format!

Any storyline that spends a lot of time in the psych ward setting is always a wild ride. We alternate between Georgia story (inside the psych ward) and Mandy's story. Mandy and Georgia have recently found out that they are twins separated at birth and Georgia is suspected of killing her younger sister. Mandy is determined to clear Georgia's name.

I did enjoy this book but it wasn't my favorite of Sarah Pekkanen's. The way Georgia's story was told was strange and it was hard to get to know her character. Felt like something was missing in this one.

This was such a tense and twisty read! I was hooked right from the opening, when Georgia finds herself locked in a psychiatric ward and accused of killing her sister. Her only lifeline is Amanda, her estranged twin, and that setup alone had me flipping pages quickly.

I really enjoyed the way the story alternates between Georgia and Amanda’s perspectives. Georgia’s chapters, especially, have this unsettling tone that makes you constantly question what’s real and what’s being manipulated. The atmosphere of the locked ward itself is claustrophobic and adds so much to the suspense.

The book does a great job keeping you guessing about who to trust. Is Georgia truly innocent, or is she hiding something darker? The family dynamics, buried secrets, and shifting loyalties kept me fully engaged. Some of the twists toward the end stretched believability a little for me, but it didn’t take away from how compulsively readable this was.

Overall, *The Locked Ward* is a gripping psychological thriller with strong pacing, well-drawn characters, and just the right amount of creepiness. I think fans of Sarah Pekkanen’s previous books and readers who love psychological suspense with unreliable narrators will really enjoy this one.

Georgia Cartwright grew up in the lap of luxury, seemingly wanting for nothing. As the eldest daughter of a wealthy, socially prominent Charlotte, North Carolina family, she seemed to have her life completely together, living in her own luxury apartment while running a successful high-end wedding planning business. The last thing most people would have expected is for her to be accused of murder, and especially not the bludgeoning death of her younger sister Annabelle.

Mandy Ravenel is the owner-operator of a bar in a town ninety minutes away from Charlotte. She’s seen the sensational headlines regarding Georgia but figures that the case has nothing to do with her… until she receives a phone call from Georgia’s lawyer. Turns out that Georgia wants to see her, of all people, due to a bombshell that changes everything Mandy thought she knew about her life.

It’s no secret that both Georgia and Mandy were adopted as babies. What Mandy is only now discovering is that they were adopted separately despite being twins. Mandy was lucky enough to be raised by loving parents. Georgia, on the other hand, was not.

In the aftermath of Annabelle’s murder, Georgia is being held in a locked psychiatric ward, under close observation for fear that she might harm herself or others. She doesn’t trust anyone from her old life, and turns to Mandy in desperation:

QUOTE
You need to play this moment carefully. Everything depends on it. You are supposedly in a dissociative state, which you learned about years ago because you wrote a twenty-page paper on it for a college psychology class.

The topic interested you, so you did your research and spent late nights crafting your paper. It turned out to be the most important thing you learned in college.

That paper may have saved your life.

You keep your facial muscles slack, your voice and body devoid of expression. You speak in a low monotone–too low for the watcher to hear. This message is for your twin alone. Everything depends on how she receives it.

“I didn’t do it,” you tell your sister. “And if you don’t get me out of here, they’re going to kill me.”
END QUOTE

Mandy doesn’t know what to believe. But she’s always been the loyal sort, and Georgia is clearly in need of a friend. Besides, Georgia has irrefutable proof of their connection, and is pretty much all the family that Mandy has left now. Investigating might also help Mandy shed light on the secrets of her own murky past, even as she struggles to uncover the truth behind Annabelle’s murder.

The more she discovers though, the more unsettled she feels. The Cartwright family were highly adept at keeping up appearances, despite the sinister secrets lurking just beneath their glittering surface. Georgia was always the family scapegoat, especially in comparison with golden child Annabelle. Is she taking the blame now too, or has her upbringing served to make her even more devious than anyone realizes? As Mandy wonders:

QUOTE
Maybe the DNA my twin and I share has dictated our choices, creating these uncanny overlaps–and potentially more that I have yet to discover. We wouldn’t be the first twins to experience this; I read about two identical twin brothers, both named Jim by their adoptive parents, who were separated at birth and went on to lead eerily similar lives, down to driving Chevrolets, vacationing at the same Florida resort, and marrying women named Linda–before both Jims got divorced and remarried women named Betty.

But there’s another possibility.

Georgia is a professional planner; she stages scenes for maximum impact.

Could she have staged these links between us before lulling me here?
END QUOTE

Told from the viewpoint of both sisters – with the clever use of first and second person narratives to denote each one – this twisty tale of female solidarity is page-turning and heartfelt. Georgia and Mandy are both unreliable narrators to a certain extent, as they struggle with the overwhelming pressures of their circumstances. And while this is a book about the power of sisterhood, there was absolutely a moment of feminine betrayal here that left me gasping. Overall, however, this is a terrific novel about the power of kinship, determination and love to overcome even the worst imaginable circumstances.

This one was a wild, unsettling ride. Sarah Pekkanen takes us into a psychiatric ward where secrets, lies, and manipulations run deep — and nothing is as it seems. The atmosphere was tense and claustrophobic (perfect for the genre), and I couldn’t stop turning the pages.

That said, parts of the story felt a little uneven for me — some reveals landed hard, others felt predictable. Still, I loved the psychological layers and the exploration of trust, control, and survival. It reminded me of why Pekkanen is such a go-to for twisty, bingeable thrillers.

🌿 Overall: Dark, fast-paced, and thought-provoking — not a perfect hit, but definitely worth the read if you love psychological suspense.

This started slow for me but the deeper I got into the story the morning entranced I got on trying to figure it out. Kept me guessing till the end,

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I think as a forensic mental health nurse I find it challenging to enjoy books in a psych setting. I just find that it’s either too much like work, or not at all like work.

Chapters were short with different POVs which I like. I hated the second person pov and then the first person POV. I found that annoying. I didn’t find this book had any real shock aspects. It was just an ok book for me. Good enough mystery but nothing overly memorable.

Any time I thought I knew where this was wrong I was completely wrong! Got to be my favourite Sarah Pekkanen novel so far!

The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen is a fast-paced, psychological suspense thriller, murder mystery, and dysfunctional family drama all rolled into one!

Georgia Cartwright, a 32-year-old high-end wedding planner, was adopted as a newborn by a wealthy and socially prominent family. She is placed in a psychiatric ward for violent offenders while awaiting trial for killing her younger sister, Annabelle (the Cartwright's biological child).

Georgia recently discovered she has a twin sister (Amanda Ravenel); the two of them were separated at birth. She now calls on Amanda (Mandy) for help. Mandy has heard about the "Crime of the Decade" from the news, but is taken aback when she gets a call from Georgia's public defender saying that Georgia has asked to see her. What? Why? You're her twin sister. WHAT!?!?!

Told through Georgia's and Mandy's points of view in alternating and short chapters, this fast-paced book is hard to put down. There are plenty of twists and turns, some I expected, but others took me by surprise. This is a very entertaining read. I would have binge read it, but was visiting family while reading it and that would've been rude ;0)!

My thanks to St. Martin's Press for allowing me to access a DRC via NetGalley. This book is available for purchase now. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

What a chilling psychological thriller that burrows deep beneath the surface of Southern wealth, exposing the darkest corners of family loyalty and betrayal. The story’s heartbeat is the fractured bond between twins Georgia and Amanda, one accused of a crime and the other caught between suspicion and the desperate hope for truth.
This book keeps you unsteady, blurring the line between sanity and manipulation as Amanda navigates a psychiatric institution that feels haunted by more than secrets. The narrative coils tighter with each chapter, leaving you to question every motive, every memory. The answer as to who is the actual victim and who is the villain slips just out of reach, even as the sisters’ past and present spiral together.

With its suffocating atmosphere and sharp, psychological twists, this book lingers long after the final page. Some doors are best left shut!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced read in exchange for my honest review.