An awesome twisted novel where you are left wondering what the hell has gone on! You suspect things but are never quite sure bringing you to a good finish

What surprised me most about Lock Me In is that it’s a debut. I couldn’t believe that this twisty and dark thriller was the first novel of the author thar kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading.

The protagonist of the novel is Ellie, a nineteen-year-old girl with a huge secret. She suffers from a serious dissociative condition in which her alter ego Siggy makes bad things that Ellie can’t never remember. For this reason, her mother locks her in her room every night and she can’t lead a normal life. The only people to know about her condition are her mother Christine, her boyfriend Matt and Ben Mae, a police detective who, one day, is called to investigate Matt’s disappearance. However, this is not Ben and Ellie’s first meeting…

What I loved most about this novel is that nothing is what it seems and I was continuously taken by surprise by the many twists and revelations that the author put in when you less expected it. Also, I loved the unreliability of the protagonist. Are Ellie’s dreams simple nightmares or are they memories of a past she has blocked out? While the plot focuses on the mystery of Ellie, Ben Mae’s personal life also takes stage centre and makes a compelling and thought-provoking storyline.

If Kate Simants managed to create such an elaborate and unique plot for her first novel, I can’t wait to see what she has planned next. A must-read!

This book was OK, not the strongest read I have read from NetGalley, but alright in places. I had to dip in and out as I struggled to stay with the story, but I did finish it and I will be interested to read other book by this author

Lock Me In is an intense read. The "feeling" of an alter to the questions of "did I?", "didn't I?" keeps you off balance throughout the story. Siggy is not the only character to be wary of as the mother and the counselor were both sketchy. A Very disturbing story that had me thanking God I don't have to live that life.

You know what’s fun? When you’ve smugly figured out the twist in a book very quickly and then you find out you were only about 5% right and the other 95% of the twist smacks you in the face!

LOL – Yep, that was me. The book surprised me.

I loved our characters – especially our police officers – and was thoroughly into our plot.

This is one of those popcorn reads that you’ll just tear through.

Really enjoyed it!

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

This book was just heartbreaking to read. I felt bad for the main character the entire time and wanted to protect her and hated hearing about anything bad happening to her. The sessions with the therapist were so emotional to read. You are lead to believe that something major has happened to her for her to have a split personality and the constant need to move.

Having Mae and a narrator as well took away from the storyline. I would have preferred to only have Ellie and Siggy. That was a writing style choice that I wish I could change for this book.

Overall, it felt highly illogical and bent the realm of plausibility too much for me. However, it appears to that others are giving it rave reviews so don't take just my opinion on this one.

This was a complicated book for me. I initially felt as though I would fly through it, great premise, psychological thriller (heavy on the psychological) with a dysfunctional relationship between mother and daughter and unexplained disappearances that seem related to mysterious behaviors by the daughter that she does not recall. At around the 20% mark, I felt like I mostly figured out the major idea of the plot, which was a little disappointing. I'm glad that I stuck with it anyway however. It was a terrific debut book that offered more to the story than at first glance. In addition, I loved the relationships, good and bad that either existed or developed throughout the story. This was probably the most unexpected, pleasant surprise of the book. The addition of some diverse characters and the relationships between fathers and daughters, mothers and daughters was very nicely done.
This was a great read and I would definitely recommend it.

#LockMeIn #NetGalley #HarperImpulseandKillerReads #OneMoreChapter

It is hard to believe this was a debut novel - it had me riveted from the opening and all the way through! Sooo well done! The main character has multiple identities, there are multiple issues that seem to surround her and her mother, and I could not put this down. Told in varying voices, it was easy to keep up with. I also loved the Detective character and his story too.
A very original plot for this type of novel, and a fantastic debut overall. Read. This. Book!

This was my first read by this author and I will read her again. It was a great thriller that kept you on your toes.

4.5 Emotional, Clever and Unpredictable ⭐️‘s for this debut thriller!
Thrillers and mental illness are the perfect match! Like the PB&J of books! When I’m skimming through a book blurb, certain phrases pop out...Psychopath, Sociopath, DID (Split Personality), Multiple Personality, Serial Killer...the list goes on. I’m sure it’s not normal to get so excited about this stuff.
At 60% in, I didn’t want to stop, but unfortunately it was my birthday. Horrible timing! My husband had plans to take me out to dinner. Wonderful gesture, but I wanted to read! I did enjoy the evening out, once I pulled myself away from my book 🥰. By 75% I had to finish, so I could find out what the hell was going on! OMG...I was not prepared for those twists and never saw them coming!
There were several main characters that I really liked. I hope we read more about Ben and Kit! They all had their flaws and personal issues, which added to the story, but Ellie’s were the most tragic. Her illness dictated every aspect of her life. It was heart-wrenching to read about how lonely and vacant her life was. And scary! To think that there is another personality inside you, that could take over at any time...terrifying!
This was an emotionally-charged debut with a clever and unpredictable plot. Loved 💕 the short chapters. It makes it so easy to find a stopping point when you have to put the book down.
An interesting coincidence...the previous book I read also had a character with two different color irises. I’ve only known one person with this same issue and I thought it was so cool looking!
<i><b>“I stared at myself in the eyes in the mirror: one green, one blue. One for me, one for Siggy.” </b></i>
Thank you to NetGalley, Killer Reads and Kate Simants for a copy of this digital ARC, in exchange for my honest opinion.
<b>My Rating:</b> 4.5 ⭐️’s (rounding up to 5)
<b>Published:</b> Published October 3rd 2019 by Killer Reads
<b>Pages:</b> 400
<b>Recommended:</b> Yes
@katesboat #LockMeIn #NetGalley #BookReview #DebutThriller #MustRead #PsychologicalThriller

What a great read it was!
I really enjoyed the plot, with so many interesting twists. Ellie's story was so heartbreaking, I felt so sorry for her from the very begining and with every chapter I liked her even more.
It had a very good ending as well.
I would love to read more about Mae and Kit, maybe about another case?

A beautifully written psychological thriller! I was totally immersed from page one! Very real flawed characters who seemed to jump off the page! Disturbing! Spooky and totally absorbing! Loved it!!

This is a powerful psychological thriller debut by Kate Simants. This book follows the story of Ellie, who has to be locked in her room at night due to violent dissociative events. She has had them a few times but never remembers what has happened when she wakes up. Her boyfriend Matt mysteriously vanishes and Ellie wakes up with her door open and covered in bruises and cuts.

This book had me gripped from the beginning, it is just so well written. It's a gripping, psychological thriller and one of the best I've read in a little while. There is alot happening in this book but it just reads so easily. The characters are very likeable and I found the dissociation very interesting. It's a great read and a cracking debut!

Really enjoyed this book. Kept my interest throughout and story flowed well. Characters were relatable and easy to read

I really enjoyed this book. I was a bit worried that it would be poorly edited or boring given it was so long however this was not the case. The characters are well crafted for the most part and I liked the back story of Mae - it added a distraction to the heavier main plot. I'd be interested to read more stories featuring him and Kit as a pairing as I felt they worked well together. The plot was well created and hung together well. I'd be interested to read more by this author.

I have mixed feelings with this novel.
The premise was promising and it was the element of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) that really drawn me into the story. But I was losing interest steadily as the plot line unfolds. I did not care for DS Mae's personal life at all. It did not add anything to the story or gain sympathy towards him. But I persisted and the story line picked up steam halfway through. It kept my interest up until the end. Even though the ending sounded a bit far-fetching, every loose ends were meticulously explained and tied into neat little bows.

*Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I am totally aware that there are a lot of awful people in this world, unfortunately. However, it's always a shock to read these kind of stories that show us terrible things done by people, that even though are fictional, make us believe that this happen also in real life.

I really liked Kate Simants writing. The way she weaved the main plot with all others situations happening in parallel was very creative and I simply couldn't put it down. Towards the end though, I thought that things took too long to develop. I understood that perhaps the author wanted us to see a deep character growth in there regarding Ellie, but perhaps other stories could've been explained faster.

Ellie's character was a complete charade for me since the beginning. I never knew what's really happening to her. She was saying one thing but I knew that deep down, her interior person (her alter) was saying something else. It was very intriguing and complex and once I finally understood what had happened, I couldn't help but get a bit frustrated and angry, completely putting myself on her shoes.

One thing that didn't work for me at all, was the duo point of view. Don't get me wrong, I usually appreciate stories with that dynamic, in here though, I only wanted the detective to solve Ellie's case. I didn't care about his background at all, I didn't want to hear about his family drama, didn't connect with that plot.

All in all, it's a nice book, with neat plot twits and worth a chance.

This book took me on quite a roller-coaster ride! Plan to be so engrossed in the story that you’ll not be able to stop reading! I was very shocked by some unexpected twists—a sign of a fantastic thriller!

Amazing! Lock Me In is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It took a while to grip me, but I’m so glad that I stuck with it. So powerful and moving, I was crying by the end. I can’t explain it because I’m afraid I’ll give the story away and I don’t want to spoil it for others. Fantastic, I’d love to read a sequel and find out what happens next to the characters.

4.5/5⭐

Thank you #NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Hooked from page 1.

I adored this book. It made me feel so many things that I don't know where to start from!

It was scary. Going through was Ellie (One of the main characters) is going through has to be hard. There were so many situations and scenes described by her and her mum that Oh Jeez! Made my skin crawl.

It was sad. To live with a disorder like Ellie's makes your life so much difficult. We saw how she tried (several times) to get help, to get better without any luck.

It was soooo good too! I loved everything about it. I think the writing style is superb! It's written in a way that you just can't stop reading it! This book is considerably long but it felt like a short story because of how quick I read it!

I loved the story told by two people. Ellie, the girl with the disorder and Mae, the police detective that is already quite familiar to her for her past acts.

I liked both storylines. I found them both very intriguing, interesting, with likable characters and with a perfect chapter length to flew by!

I found Mae's chapters kind of funny, "easier to read" as in, less heavy with emotions and I thought his relationship with the TI was very cute.

A lot started happening fairly soon and it kept like that till the very end. There were a los ot twists and turns that I didn't see coming. There were so many awesome scenes and I couldn't stop thinking: Oh dear, this book is so so good!

The end was a great conclusion to the story. I really liked how the author wrapped everything up. I liked the answers given to everything that happened throughout the book and I liked the end itself.