Thank you to Dutton Books & Netgalley for allowing me to read a digital copy of this in exchange for an honest review.
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
384 pages
ISBN: 9781524745141
Publication date: July 2nd, 2019 by Dutton Books
Genre: Thriller
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Synopsis:
Jules no longer has a job or a boyfriend. Her life consists of feeling like a burden while she stays on her friends’ couch. She finds an ad for an apartment sitter, and she goes for it. When she gets to the apartment it wasn’t what she expected. It was the Bartholomew, a very Gothic but high-class building that most people know about. She meets up with a woman who shows her around, and just when Jules thinks it’s a done deal, there are rules. Rules that don’t seem practical, but Jules takes the job anyway. Soon she finds out that this place isn’t what it seems. It has history that dates back a long time, and it’s not pretty.
Review:
Characters | Surprisingly, Jules is my favorite character in this story. I don’t tend to like the main character of a book. She is quick on her feet, she is strong physically and emotionally, and she has a heart of gold. Her family’s past is very sad and depressing, but she doesn’t really learn that until later in the story. All I wanted to do was give her a hug. She was a well thought out character that I wanted to be friends with. The events and the people she dealt with in this novel are crazy. You can’t trust anyone, but you’re not sure why. You are following Jules on her terrifying journey in the Bartholomew.
Ingrid is another favorite of mine. I will admit that she was sketchy to me at first. I had an odd feeling that she was in on everything. It’s just because you don’t get to know her very well in the beginning, but she ends up being very helpful. She is also quick on her feet and strong. She goes through hell, but she makes it to the other side with Jules.
I hated Nick from the beginning. Don’t even get me started with him. He gave me bad vibes from the start. I’m not going to say anything else about him.
Story | I will admit that the story isn’t perfect. I did give it five stars, but it did drag a tiny bit in the middle. Nothing that made me want to stop reading. I couldn’t put it down. The story will get to you. You will get upset because you can’t figure out what the hell is going on. I did that in all three of his novels, but this one was intense for me. It gave you just enough information so that you couldn’t piece anything together. You were basically Jules the entire time. You learned information when she did.
I loved learning the history of the Bartholomew. It’s so interesting and I wish it were real. It has such a dark past, and it was used for things that it should not have been used for. It blew my mind when I figured out why this building was notorious. I never even thought the twist at the end could be a twist. It never crossed my mind once. It is so good! One of the best story lines for a thriller. I’ve never read anything like it. I’m very impressed.
Writing | It is a very similar style to the rest of his novels. It flops back and forth between present day and days prior. The present-day bits made me feel so uneasy. I hate anything horror or thriller that takes place in a hospital. You know it’s not going to pan out. I think his writing style worked the best for this novel. It gave it more of an ominous vibe. This is my favorite book from him. Sager developed the story well. The characters were some of the best, and odd characters I have ever read about. I loved everything about it.
Overall | Please, please, please go read this when it comes out. I want this book to become very well known. If you have never read Sager before you should probably read Final Girls first, and then jump to this one. If you have read this and loved it, you should pre-order it! Support the authors that you love.
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