I had a great time listening to this book - I am a sucker for a good dual POV psychological thriller. Each sister had a unique personality and there was an element of "can you trust her?" throughout the story. Psych wards are fun. They are even more fun when there is a secret twin and a "scavenger hunt" of sorts.

Definitely a popcorn thriller - don't go in expecting many insane twists - but there is enough going on to keep the pages turning. You may predict some of the surprises but likely not all of them. There were a few themes I wish had been flushed out more - mostly relating to the sisters' history/adoption to separate families but in order to keep the story fast and fresh, I can understand why it was written the way it was.

The narrator did a phenomenal job. It was pretty easy to tell which sister's POV you were in with her change in tone and inflection. And for some reason one of the POVs was written in second person, which I had to get used to. I listened between 1.85 - 2x for most of the book.

Dark, emotional, and deeply suspenseful, this psychological thriller unfolds within the walls of a psychiatric hospital. Sarah Pekkanen once again masterfully blends mystery with raw emotion, and the narrator pulls you right into the unsettling atmosphere. A gripping listen that lingers long after it ends.

The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen is a psychological thriller filled with untrustworthy characters, dysfunctional families, secrets, anger, and revenge - and murder, of course. The book opens with one of our main characters coming to in a psychiatric ward. Wealthy and young, Georgia Cartwright is accused of murdering her younger sister with many witnesses attesting to the fact that Georgia has always had it out for Annabelle. Now Georgia is in a semi-catatonic, sometimes dissociative state, waiting to see if she will be found fit to stand trial. She is able to request a meeting with one person - a long lost twin sister she recently found via a family dna website and whom she knew nothing about until now.

Mandy was shocked to hear from Georgia's defense lawyer claiming she is the twin sister of this accused murderess. She was raised modestly by her adoptive parents whom have since passed away and knew nothing about her birth family or the fact that she even had any other birth siblings. She decideds to meet with Georgia to see what her sister could want when Georgia tells her that she is completely innocent and she needs Mandy's help before they come for her and kill her. Well, that sure pulls the reader in!

I am a fan of Ms. Pekkanen's other suspense titles and was eager to get my hands on this one. While it was entertaining enough, it was missing something to move it up to the next level. I really enjoyed the short chapters that left the reader on a cliffhanger. I enjoyed the flashbacks into the Cartwright home and family life - getting quick glimpses into Georgia and Annabelle's relationship. I thought the little clues and misdirections were pretty good. But I did often find my mind wandering and the whole sudden twin bonding thing struck me as odd. How did that suddenly develop only after they found out about each other as adults? I also was thrown off by the second person POV in Georgia's chapters. The switch to that POV may have caused my mind to lose focus.

Overall, this was a decent suspense, but not really thrilling. As stated, I really have enjoyed Pekkanen's other couple of novels and will gladly try her next! This one just wasn't a big hit for me personally.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Amanda and Georgia are estranged twins, separated at birth. Georgia is now in a psychiatric institution, accused of murdering her younger sister. She seeks out her sister Amanda, who has no idea that Georgia even exists. After meeting with Georgia in the ward, Amanda begins following a series of clues from Georgia to try to unravel the mystery and deceit surrounding the murder Georgia is accused of. A fast-paced read and overall entertaining, I found some of the storyline predictable and a bit outlandish. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC of this book.

Georgia Cartwright is placed in a Locked Ward after killing her sister.
Only to realize, she was adopted. Once in the ward, she reaches out to her biological twin sister for help.
Amanda, who, too, just finds out about the twin-ship has to decide if she can trust Georgia. Help free Georgia’s name and innocence.

Genre: Thriller

Expected release date: August 5, 2025

This was my first read by this author.

****3.5 stars****

Georgia is locked in the psych ward after being arrested for killing her younger sister. The only person who may be able to help her, is her twin sister, Amanda. The problem? Georgia and Amanda were adopted and Amanda doesn’t know about Georgia.
The book is told from two perspectives…Amanda and Georgia.

I enjoyed this book. I thought the characters were well developed. It may have been my ADHD, but I found my mind wandering at times. I liked the short chapters.

If you are a fan of Freida McFadden, I think you would enjoy this book.

I did listen to the audiobook version. I thought the narrator did a great job. Personally, I had to listen to it at 2-2.5 speed, otherwise it was way too slow of a pace for me.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review. This has not impacted my review at all. Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan!

The Locked Ward
by Sarah Pekkanen
2 out of 5 stars

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

One-sentence summary: After being accused of killing her sister, Georgia is locked in a psychiatric ward.

One thing I liked about this book is the alternating points of view. The author uses "you" for one of the sisters so the reader can differentiate which narrator is telling the story.

Unfortunately, that was about all I really enjoyed. This was almost a DNF for me a couple of times, but I pushed on. I don't know that I would have continued if I had not been reviewing this for NetGalley. In the end, I was glad the story was wrapped up and I found out what happened, but it was a drag to get there.

The audiobook reader used a southern accent for one of the characters, and it got on my nerves after a while. It sounded fake and forced to me. She also sounded over dramatic in her reading. I don't need the narrator to become an additional character in the story.

Overall, this book did not feel suspenseful to me. I wanted to know what happened, but the way the story was built, it just got frustrating. There were many times I said, "Just get on with it already." The sister connection was a HUGE stretch. I did not like or connect to any of the characters.

I would not recommend this book to anyone. However, this is my first by this author, and I have heard fantastic things about her, so her fans may really enjoy this book. I will not be rushing to read others by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, this book was just okay for me. I appreciated the concept of having two parallel mysteries unfolding at once—it added some intrigue—but I found the characters and the storyline lacking depth. Much of the narrative seemed to focus on subplots that felt tangential and didn’t meaningfully connect to the central mystery.

Additionally, Georgia’s point of view was written in second person (“you”), which I found distracting. It took me a while to adjust to that style, and even then, it pulled me out of the story at times. There were some interesting ideas, but overall it didn’t fully come together in a satisfying way.

ALC review 🎧

I love a good thriller and this one did not disappoint. It kept me interested through the entire thing. I did not see the twist at the end coming.

Georgia has been accused of killing her adoptive sister. She is currently being held at a psychiatric hospital waiting evaluation to see if she’s fit to stand trial.

Mandy doesn’t know that Georgia is her estranged twin sister, until a lawyer shows up one day saying Georgia is requesting a visit from Mandy. When Mandy arrives at the facility and meets Georgia, Georgia says, “I didn’t do it. You have to get me out of here.”

Mandy doesn’t know whether to trust Georgia or not, but something is pulling her to look into what really happened. Can she prove Georgia is innocent? Or will helping Georgia be Mandy’s downfall as well?

The narration for the this book was so good. January LaVoy did such a great job bringing the story to life. I was so emotionally invested in the characters and couldn’t get enough. I highly recommend this one.

Thank you Macmillan audio and NetGalley for the alc for my review.

I absolutely love January LaVoy as a narrator. She never ceases to hold my attention, speaking at the perfect speed with such great voice inflection. You really feel like she is telling a story and not just reading off a page.

As for the story, I thought this one was good. It was a steady and reliable thriller. Sarah Pekkanen is an author that I will always automatically read, and this one did not disappoint.

Overall, I think people who are newer to thriller books, or not avid thriller readers will enjoy this one the best. People who read a ton of thrillers might find it a little bit predictable, It is full of dark family secrets and rich people behaving badly. It didn't have the most unique storyline, but I still enjoyed the ride.

This book was a great mystery, I feel like it kept me guessing who it was and who they characters are.

This title wasn’t my favorite from Sarah Pekkanen but it was still good. If anything, I would have like to see more of the behind the scenes type stuff, like how the PI ended up passing away or more interactions between the mom and the senator.

Overall, it was still a good story and I enjoyed the audio.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I picked up this book because I had seen many great reviews of this author's previous titles. I'm always looking for new mystery/thriller authors to read as I really do enjoy the genre. Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book at 68%. I wanted to love it. I wanted to enjoy the story and see where the mystery went. But it was boring for me. I didn't care about what was happening at all and at over halfway through the book I should have felt some kind of pull to finish. I didn't.
The narrator, January Lavoy, was enjoyable enough, though nothing special for me. She could have done better with voicing the different characters, making them more distinct as they all just sounded the same to me. Since it was dual POV, I struggled to remember which character's chapter I was on.
The alternating sister POV was also interesting to me. I like when books have more than one POV. It gives some interesting background. And it was intriguing how the author chose to have one in first person and one in second person, as well. I'm guessing this was to try and keep the perspectives straight, which normally works for me. Plus the author chose to write fairly short chapters which I very much appreciate.
But this was where it stopped being a good read for me.
The pacing was super slow. Even though things were happening, I honestly didn't feel like anything was happening. There was nothing gripping enough to pull me through the book and make me want to know what the mystery was. I didn't care if it was solved or not.
I also found the writing lacking. It seemed rather juvenile to me given it is an adult book. There was so much telling through the book when all I wanted was the author to show me what was happening.
I had zero connection with the characters. Their link was totally unbelievable to me. They were twins, though not identical which I found made their story lacking, who didn't know about each other until a huge tragedy strikes and they are somewhat forced together (I won't expand as I don't want to spoil it). I didn't feel their twin connection at all. The author had the characters telling you it was there, but that's all it was. Being told they had the connection rather than watching the chemistry that would indicate they did. I needed much more emotion and depth to them but their development was underwhelming.
While the opening was a strong start, and set the mystery up quite well, the plot line and pacing killed it for me by about 25% into the book. I kept going because I though maybe it was just a lull. Maybe it would pick up and I'd find more depth to the characters and the mystery. Maybe I'd love the action and the thrill of the chase. Alas, none of that happened for me.
Overall, I was disappointed not only with the writing but with the plot and lack of suspense this book provided. I found myself unable to stay engaged; my attention often wandering so I would have to rewind or flip back in the book to remind myself what was happening. I kept waiting for the shoe to drop, for some emotional spark to happen, or even for it to make sense but it just didn't. The premise was intriguing and the blurb seemed like the book would be entertaining but it just did not deliver. I'm not sure if I'll pick up another book by this author but it's possible I might give one of her older titles a try to see if maybe this was just a one off.

When Mandy’s parents die, she discovers a secret she was never meant to know – she has a twin sister. And not just any sister. Georgia has been accused of murdering the biological daughter of the wealthy, Southern family that adopted her at birth, and is now locked in a psychiatric ward while she awaits trial.

Georgia insists she’s innocent. She begs Mandy to help get her out. But Mandy doesn’t even know this woman – and she has no idea if Georgia can be trusted.

As Mandy begins to dig into the case, she uncovers a family history of dark secrets and tangled loyalties. Was Georgia pushed to the edge by jealousy or a craving for the life her sister had? Is she a victim of a family willing to do anything to protect their own, or a master manipulator pulling Mandy into a dangerous game?

I spent a blissful weekend working on a latch hook rug while The Locked Ward kept me company – and it turned out to be a solid, layered mystery/thriller that kept me hooked (ha) for hours.

This is a story about sisters and secrets, and Sarah Pekkanen does a great job layering those secrets as Mandy and Georgia each investigate from different angles. I loved watching the puzzle pieces come together while also questioning whether Georgia is a victim or a master manipulator – and whether Mandy’s grief is making her vulnerable to being pulled into a dangerous game. Both women were compelling characters in their own ways.

The audiobook narration by January LaVoy (one of my top narrators) made it easy to binge, and her performance added tension and nuance to the layered family dynamics.

A few things didn’t fully work for me. The psychiatric ward setting had my hackles up from the start – there’s nothing particularly egregious here, but I’m sensitive to how these spaces and populations are depicted, and one “ominous unstable patient” plotline fizzles out without much payoff. I also wasn’t sure the second-person narration in Georgia’s chapters really worked for me. It felt a bit gimmicky, and unlike Harrow the Ninth (where there’s a clear reason for second person), it seemed like it was mostly there to show Georgia’s detachment.

Overall, though, I enjoyed this as a layered, twisty listen, perfect for readers who love dark family secrets, unreliable narrators, and the eerie tension of “can I really trust this stranger?” stories.

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

For someone who isn't the biggest thriller fan, this one really had me hooked. I appreciated that even though the main characters were twins, the writing style seemed to change so you could easily follow the story. I kind of saw the ending coming, but the way in which the story was told really kept me engaged. The audio was great too - it was easy to tell the difference between the two characters based on their accents.

Thanks again for the ARC!

Meh. While this alternates between sisters, I feel a lot more happened through Amanda's POV. I wanted more Georgia in the psych ward. Very little happened inside the hospital with Georgia. So I guess my expectations were not aligned to the book I read. So I couldn't help but be disappointed..

January LaVoy's narration was the best part of this book.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Locked Ward is an easy quick thriller. Hooks you immediately, and keeps you invested throughout the whole thing.
What would you do if you were called to a psychiatric institute to meet your twins sister, who you didn’t have any idea you had? Amanda has to do just that, and then help her brand new sister, Georgia, solve the crime she was committed for. Will they be able to figure out the mystery before it’s too late? The locked ward is full of its own dangers.
Great read. Better listen. Loved it.
Thank you netgalley for this arc!

3.5 rounded to 4. I like the plot twists. The secrets the characters all were interesting and kept me entertainer I prior recommend!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC of The Locked Ward! As a longtime fan of Sarah Pekkanen, I was thrilled to receive this advanced copy. I devoured the entire book in just 7½ hours and trust me, it was impossible to put down.

Synopsis:
When Georgia Cartwright the glamorous adopted daughter of a wealthy Southern family is found standing over the body of her biological younger sister, Annabelle, it becomes the Crime of the Decade. Deemed not guilty by reason of insanity, Georgia is confined to a high-security psychiatric ward. Enter Mandy (short for Amanda), a bartender raised by loving adoptive parents with no idea she had a twin. Out of nowhere, she’s contacted by Georgia’s lawyer, and a DNA test confirms what neither sister imagined they’re twins separated at birth.

Told through alternating POVs, we watch Mandy navigate the shocking revelation of her twinhood while racing to uncover if Georgia truly murdered Annabelle or if she’s been framed. Meanwhile, Georgia endures the chilling, claustrophobic atmosphere of the locked ward and insists, over and over, “I didn’t do it. You’ve got to get me out.” Mandy becomes obsessed with uncovering the tangled secrets of family, wealth, and betrayal.

Edge‑of‑your‑seat tension filled every page. The story twists and turns so frequently I found myself second‑guessing everything. Just when I thought I had it figured out, Pekkanen blindsided me again. I was literally checking the time, thinking, “I’ll just read another chapter” and before I knew it, 7½ hours had passed and I was done.

Pekkanen masterfully peers into the dark side of family legacy, mental health, and identity. The locked ward setting is eerie and oppressive, grounding the psychological suspense in vivid reality. And that sibling bond? Twisted, complicated, compelling I felt for both Mandy and Georgia, torn between empathy and suspicion.

Final take:
One of Pekkanen’s most immersive, twisty thrillers yet. Gorgeous pacing, dynamic narrators, and so many unpredictable choices that kept me guessing until the last page. If you enjoy dual‑narrative psychological suspense that messes with your mind this is a must‑read.

Thanks again to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC. Can’t wait to see what Pekkanen delivers next!

Locked Ward was so good!! I’m still shook over that twist! This book had me second-guessing everything and everyone. Just when I thought I had it figured out… BAM. Nope. Mind blown.

One of my favorite quotes:
“The most dangerous animal on earth isn’t the great white shark or a hungry crocodile or a mama bear. It’s the human being.”
Whew. That one hit hard.

As a psychiatric nurse of over 14 years, I appreciated the setting in a forensic unit—it felt realistic and unsettlingly familiar. Small side note: at the beginning, it mentions red bands for wrists and blue for ankles. Typically, red is for ankles and blue is for wrists and while bands can be used on wrists or ankles, red bands are usually larger and more commonly placed on ankles. Just a little detail I noticed, but it didn’t take away from the story.