🔐🔐
The Locked Ward
Sarah Pekkanen
Publication Date: August 5th, 2025
St. Martin’s Press
320 Pages
Amazon | Goodreads | Bookshop.org
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers | Women’s Fiction
I was really looking forward to this book, and what an utter disappointment it was. I loved the titles You Are Not Alone, The Golden Couple and An Anonymous Girl that this author wrote with Greer Hendricks. I should have known this might not be a hit with me because the last book I read, which this author wrote alone, Gone Tonight, didn’t appeal to me either.
This one is about Georgia (adopted), who is accused of murdering her sister (the parents’ biological child). Georgia is sent to a psychiatric hospital for people who commit violent crimes while she waits for her trial to start. While there, she touches base with her twin sister, Amanda, whom she has never met. Amanda is then sucked into Georgia’s dramarama.
What I did like about the book was the setting, which created a tense, claustrophobic atmosphere that is perfect for a thriller. The plot, however, was so frustrating to me because it was so damn predictable; the so-called twists had no impact on my reading experience whatsoever. I had a hard time connecting with Georgia or Mandy. Georgia didn’t seem realistic; she was very one-dimensional, and I didn’t sympathize with her grief or her fears.
While the premise is an intriguing one, the execution failed miserably. It didn’t live up to the interesting setup, and it lacked the suspense needed to make it worthwhile. This was such a promising idea that just didn’t deliver.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Leave a Reply