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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
This book gripped my heart with a quiet ferocity I wasn’t expecting. It’s not just a psychological thriller, it’s a deeply emotional unraveling of trust, trauma, and the fragile bond between sisters. One moment I was biting my nails, the next blinking back tears, and then immediately suspicious of everyone. Pekkanen pulls you in with that eerie, off kilter atmosphere, and I found myself sneaking in pages every chance I could get, even just a few lines in between errands or calls. It was that compulsive.
I will say the shifting POVs between first and second persons, although clearly labeled, were still a bit jarring. It set up a sense of deeper narrative payoff that never quite landed, which left me wishing for more cohesion there. Still, it didn’t dull the emotional impact or suspense.
This book is haunting, heartbreaking, and hard to put down. And honestly, some of the doors it opened might stick with me longer than I’d like
I will say the shifting POVs between first and second persons, although clearly labeled, were still a bit jarring. It set up a sense of deeper narrative payoff that never quite landed, which left me wishing for more cohesion there. Still, it didn’t dull the emotional impact or suspense.
This book is haunting, heartbreaking, and hard to put down. And honestly, some of the doors it opened might stick with me longer than I’d like
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen
Narrated by January LaVoy
I was fortunate enough to have both the ebook and the audiobook for The Locked Ward so could read the ebook when in a waiting room but could listen to the audiobook in the car and at home. January LaVoy is such a good narrator that she's become another narrator that will be a reason I'll grab an audiobook. She handled all the voices in this book very well.
Adopted daughter, Georgia, of the wealthy and socially prominent Cartwright family, has just bashed in the head of her slightly younger sister, the biological daughter of the parents who adopted Georgia. Now Georgia is locked up in a mental ward for violent patients, waiting to see if she is ruled not guilty by reason of insanity. Georgia's only hope is her biological sister, Amanda, raised in another city by middle class parents. Amanda's world is shattered when she finds out she has a twin sister and that her parents never told her this fact. Now Amanda has to decide if she can trust Georgia, a woman with a reputation of treating the Cartwright sister with cruelty from a very young age.
Amanda had always felt as if something was missing from her life. Now she realizes it was that SOMEONE was missing from her life. But how can she help Georgia when she can barely talk to her, barely communicate with her? And what if Georgia really did kill her Cartwright sister. Amanda has her own secrets and isn't willing to trust anyone. After all, her parents lied to her all her life.
The story had me captivated although I had a good idea of a few things that were going on. What a tangled web is woven by so many. The reader will be taken on twists and turns all the way to the end.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for this ebook and audiobook ARC.
Narrated by January LaVoy
I was fortunate enough to have both the ebook and the audiobook for The Locked Ward so could read the ebook when in a waiting room but could listen to the audiobook in the car and at home. January LaVoy is such a good narrator that she's become another narrator that will be a reason I'll grab an audiobook. She handled all the voices in this book very well.
Adopted daughter, Georgia, of the wealthy and socially prominent Cartwright family, has just bashed in the head of her slightly younger sister, the biological daughter of the parents who adopted Georgia. Now Georgia is locked up in a mental ward for violent patients, waiting to see if she is ruled not guilty by reason of insanity. Georgia's only hope is her biological sister, Amanda, raised in another city by middle class parents. Amanda's world is shattered when she finds out she has a twin sister and that her parents never told her this fact. Now Amanda has to decide if she can trust Georgia, a woman with a reputation of treating the Cartwright sister with cruelty from a very young age.
Amanda had always felt as if something was missing from her life. Now she realizes it was that SOMEONE was missing from her life. But how can she help Georgia when she can barely talk to her, barely communicate with her? And what if Georgia really did kill her Cartwright sister. Amanda has her own secrets and isn't willing to trust anyone. After all, her parents lied to her all her life.
The story had me captivated although I had a good idea of a few things that were going on. What a tangled web is woven by so many. The reader will be taken on twists and turns all the way to the end.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for this ebook and audiobook ARC.
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
In THE LOCKED WARD, written by Sarah Pekkanen, Georgia, once a high-end wedding planner, finds herself strapped down on a bed in a locked ward. Mandy finds out Georgia is her twin sister from a public defender and is told Georgia has asked to see her. Mandy recognizes that Georgia is the person she read about online who is accused of committing the crime of the decade. I’m hooked and read on.
This book keeps me riveted to the plot. The chapters alternate between Georgia and Mandy, using a different verb tense for each one. The story of each sister is engrossing. I like that all the loose ends get tied up in the conclusion. I look forward to reading more thrillers written by Sarah Pekkanen. Thank you, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley, for the chance to read and review an advance reader copy of THE LOCKED WARD.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a fast paced, edge of your seat thriller you can fly through to see what happens! It also made me want to scream in frustration because every time something was going to help the main character, the other side were one step ahead and didn’t happen for her. This was a unique story of long lost sisters trying to help each other while old southern money, rooted in deception and lies tried to stop them. I really enjoyed the ending and how it wrapped everything up. I didn’t suspect how and what happened.
The audio for this one was great and I would definitely recommend it. I love January LaVoy and never wonder if only having the one narrator will hurt the book when she is narrating it!
The audio for this one was great and I would definitely recommend it. I love January LaVoy and never wonder if only having the one narrator will hurt the book when she is narrating it!
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Locked Ward was a mess lol it is centered around Georgia, who is adopted, accused of murdering her sister who is the biological child of her adoptive parents. If that's clunky it's because it's indeed clunky. She's shipped to a psych ward while she stands trial, where she runs into her twin sister, Amanda, whom she hadn't met prior, and chaos hits you at every turn.
This is one of those thrillers that has twists and turns for twists and turns' sake and it got to a point where it all felt very kitschy and predictable and it stopped being fun. Despite these characters having the potential to be dynamic and interesting they're very one-dimensional, self-serving, and flat out annoying to journey with, making them impossible to believe or like. It's not necessary for me to like characters in thrillers, but I think we should kind of like someone if they're suspected of murder and we're meant to believe they didn't do it. I think if Pekkanen had ratcheted up the mystery and suspense aspects of this novel it would have been received much differently by me, and would have made for a much less frustrating read. As it stands, I felt very fatigued by the pacing and while some parts were so nuts they were humorous, I had a difficult time buying the premise.
If you're someone who gets very invested in thrillers with unreliable narrators who also are defending themselves against murder charges with a crumb of a psychology background, this will be a fantastic time!
2 ⭐️s
🚨 Pub Date: 08/05/25
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ARC and ALC!
This is one of those thrillers that has twists and turns for twists and turns' sake and it got to a point where it all felt very kitschy and predictable and it stopped being fun. Despite these characters having the potential to be dynamic and interesting they're very one-dimensional, self-serving, and flat out annoying to journey with, making them impossible to believe or like. It's not necessary for me to like characters in thrillers, but I think we should kind of like someone if they're suspected of murder and we're meant to believe they didn't do it. I think if Pekkanen had ratcheted up the mystery and suspense aspects of this novel it would have been received much differently by me, and would have made for a much less frustrating read. As it stands, I felt very fatigued by the pacing and while some parts were so nuts they were humorous, I had a difficult time buying the premise.
If you're someone who gets very invested in thrillers with unreliable narrators who also are defending themselves against murder charges with a crumb of a psychology background, this will be a fantastic time!
2 ⭐️s
🚨 Pub Date: 08/05/25
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ARC and ALC!
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I had no idea where Georgia & Mandy’s story was heading, as these twin sisters discover the others existence while in the middle of a murder case. The first several chapters quickly drew me in, and the story overall had a good premises, but I think I would classify this more of a mystery versus a thriller. The story did have a few twists and turns that I was not expecting with an unpredictable ending. The author did a good job of letting you know there was something lingering beneath the surface, but it was not easy to guess what that was. I enjoyed the dual POV’s between the two FMC‘s in the story, considering these two sisters grew up in completely different circumstances. It was good to see the differences of their lifestyle. January Lavoy is becoming one of my favorite narrators, as usual she did a great job with the narration in the audiobook. It was easy to distinguish between the two characters voices. Overall, a decent read that fans ”whodunnit” storylines may enjoy. Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this advanced listening copy. All opinions are my own.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen
Thriller, mystery.
Georgia Cartwright is being held in a psychiatric institution while the police investigate the crime scene. Her sister Annabelle is dead. She was found over the body. She’s terrified to let down her guard. Or at least that’s what we hear as she waits on her arraignment.
Amanda gets a call that her biological sister is in a psychiatric ward of the hospital and is asking that she visit. Her sister seems lethargic but whispers for help when they are out of sight of others. Georgia says she didn’t kill Annabelle and is being set up. Amanda decides to do a little investigation into the southern family and Georgia’s life. What she finds is surprising. So many secrets.
🎧 I was able to alternate between an ebook and audiobook which is narrated by January LaVoy. The performance is marvelous with distinct voices and emotional emoting that vary by sister. Georgia in particular is either terrified, or manipulative and we aren’t sure which is true. Amanda is intrigued, envious and taking advantage of her sister’s wealth or diligently looking for answers with skepticism. Yes, their thoughts are coming from print, but they are also very clear in listening to the performance. These women don’t know each other but they are related and that’s pulling at them both.
I did listen at 1.5 or slightly higher so I could read along with the ebook. Both formats will draw you in. I would suggest trying the audiobook for the bit of suspense that will keep you listening find out what’s true or not.
Gripping and intriguing. Do you know the sisters by their thoughts? Watch out for the last minute twist.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio.