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chaptersofchase 's review for:
The Locked Ward
by Sarah Pekkanen
fast-paced
Started strong, lost its way—but I’d read this author again.
Thank you, St Martins Press & Macmillan Audio, for the gifted copy of The Locked Ward {partner}
Genre: Mystery
Format: 🎧📖
Pub Date: 8.5.2025
Pages: 320
Star Rating: ☆☆☆
“The most dangerous animal on earth isn’t the great white shark or a hungry crocodile or a momma bear. It’s the human being.”
I really had high hopes for The Locked Ward—it had so much promise at the beginning. The atmosphere was unsettling, the setup was intriguing, and I was genuinely excited to see where it would go.
But by the halfway point, everything started to unravel. The characters lost momentum, their choices became frustrating or hard to believe, and the plot started to feel scattered. What began as a tightly paced mystery slowly shifted into something that felt less sure of itself, and honestly, I kept waiting for it to recapture that initial spark.
The one thing that kept me going? The short chapters. They gave the book a sense of pace and urgency that made it easy to keep reading, even when I wasn’t fully invested. And to the author’s credit, I thought I had the ending all figured out—but I was wrong. I always appreciate when a story surprises me, and this one didn’t take the obvious route, which I applaud.
Even though The Locked Ward didn’t fully land for me, I’d still pick up another book from this author. There’s clearly talent here, and I’d love to see how their next story unfolds with stronger execution.
Audiobook Review: ☆☆☆☆
The audiobook for The Locked Ward is narrated by January Lavoy and per usual she did an excellent job brining the book to life. My only criticism is that I think the story would’ve been better if there had been more than just one voice actor — I did find myself getting confused on which POV I was listening to.
Read if you enjoy:
💨 Quick Reads
📖 Short Chapters
🗣️ Alternating POV
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