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thatcydney 's review for:
The Locked Ward
by Sarah Pekkanen
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!