Thank you so much to NetGalley for sending me a copy of Lock Every Door to review. This in no way affects my rating or review.
I’m sorry guys, I know I’ve been totally MIA for the past week! I’ve been dealing with my depression and lack of motivation to write anything, and I didn’t want to do a review half-hearted. But I’m back now! So let’s get on with this review, yeah?
TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF SUICIDE, MENTIONS OF GORE AND BLOOD, MENTIONS OF MURDERS, DEATH, LOSS, LONELINESS
No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both.
These are the only rules for Jules Larsen’s new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan’s most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.
As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly, disturbingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story . . . until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.
Searching for the truth about Ingrid’s disappearance, Jules digs deeper into the Bartholomew’s dark past and into the secrets kept within its walls. Her discovery that Ingrid is not the first apartment sitter to go missing at the Bartholomew pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building’s hidden past, and escape the Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent.
This book has a creepy, classic, shivers-down-your-spine feel to it. Even with all the foreboding sense, I couldn’t put it down. It’s basically about Jules, a broke, essentially homeless, woman who ‘apartment sits’ at the Bartholomew. (Is that a real job? If so, sign me up. I need one that pays 4k a month just to chill around and clean a place. How cool is that . . .) One of the other apartment sitters, who she befriends, Ingrid, goes missing and this begins the tirade of questions and secrets coming to light. The Bartholomew has dark secrets and a pretty tragic past, all of which are enough to make anyone go screaming in the opposite direction.
It is so good!!!!!!!!
Sager did such an amazing job with the writing. And the countdown? Guys, oh my god! It fills you with so much dread, as you read the NOW and the days leading up to it. As you flip back through the days, all of it catching up to everything NOW, it makes you completely tense up. At first, the story moves slowly before speeding up and becoming fast-paced, filled with action.
I read the entire book in one (1, ONE) sitting.
The subplots of missing girls, murders, privilege and loss all tie together really nicely. It explores the impact of death, how loneliness and mourning can lead to an intense sadness and how it ends up affecting later behaviour. There were a few scenes when I just wanted to cry. Lock Every Door at first glance appears to be a mystery thriller, but beyond that, it is about status and society, grief and prejudgments of others.
My rating for it is 4.5 stars and I would definitely recommend it to everyone, if you’re into mystery thriller books that make you continue turning the page.
This book is set for release on the 25th July. Make sure you have ordered a copy. Reserve it in your local library. Read it. You won’t be disappointed. And if you are, let me know why!
Have you guys read any other mystery books? What are your favourites?
Sumaiya, x
