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michellewords's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Lock Every Door is my first Riley Sager book and it's probably not my last.
I kept rotating on my rating for this book between a 3 and a 4. In StoryGraph I have the real rating, but here I chose to bump it up to 4.
Lock Every Door is about a girl named Jewels, who is down on her luck, but somehow lands this sweet house/apartment-sitting job at a famous building called the Bartholomew. She's dreamed of this place since she read a book about it when she was a child. It seemed like luck was on her side, until a new friend at the Bartholomew disappears. She finds there's a lot more to the building than an oppulent dream.
It's hard to say too much in this review without ruining anything, so I don't know if I will say too much.
The book is a standard thriller/mystery with some basic characters and semi-predictable plot. I wish there was more to the characters and Sager really settled into them. The book is a lot about the setting, which is fun, but at some point there's a theme brought up that could have been explored better with some extra character development.
The theme being-something viewed as such a rich thing (the Bartholomew), held a lot of evil; but the poorest viewed thing held the real value (Jewels--kind of on the nose right?)
Anyways, fantastic narrator and a fun overall story. I recommend if you are into those type of books with a very plot-driven story.
I kept rotating on my rating for this book between a 3 and a 4. In StoryGraph I have the real rating, but here I chose to bump it up to 4.
Lock Every Door is about a girl named Jewels, who is down on her luck, but somehow lands this sweet house/apartment-sitting job at a famous building called the Bartholomew. She's dreamed of this place since she read a book about it when she was a child. It seemed like luck was on her side, until a new friend at the Bartholomew disappears. She finds there's a lot more to the building than an oppulent dream.
It's hard to say too much in this review without ruining anything, so I don't know if I will say too much.
The book is a standard thriller/mystery with some basic characters and semi-predictable plot. I wish there was more to the characters and Sager really settled into them. The book is a lot about the setting, which is fun, but at some point there's a theme brought up that could have been explored better with some extra character development.
The theme being-something viewed as such a rich thing (the Bartholomew), held a lot of evil; but the poorest viewed thing held the real value (Jewels--kind of on the nose right?)
Anyways, fantastic narrator and a fun overall story. I recommend if you are into those type of books with a very plot-driven story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, and Murder
chellyfishing's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide, Death, Murder, and Car accident
romorel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Another Sager title under my belt, this story was another compelling and suspenseful experience.
The hints build comfortably, but unlike other Sager thrillers my experience was simply “being along for the ride”. This book took twists and turns I absolutely did not see coming, but once uncovered made me nod appreciatively at the well paced “Chekhov’s Guns”. The execution was fantastic.
So much so that I’m writing this at 1:50AM on a Thursday and given myself a headache from staying up too late.
Sager’s characters are easy to connect with, though one thing I often notice with his protagonists is that I have no idea what they look like besides being “unremarkable” brunettes.
Overall a very satisfying story.
The hints build comfortably, but unlike other Sager thrillers my experience was simply “being along for the ride”. This book took twists and turns I absolutely did not see coming, but once uncovered made me nod appreciatively at the well paced “Chekhov’s Guns”. The execution was fantastic.
So much so that I’m writing this at 1:50AM on a Thursday and given myself a headache from staying up too late.
Sager’s characters are easy to connect with, though one thing I often notice with his protagonists is that I have no idea what they look like besides being “unremarkable” brunettes.
Overall a very satisfying story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Medical content
Moderate: Chronic illness, Trafficking, Car accident, Blood, Terminal illness, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Suicide, and Violence
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Rating: 3/5 stars
Jules is facing rock bottom when she agrees to move into a luxury apartment building as a paid house sitter. But when another sitter goes missing, Jules quickly realizes all is not what it seems…
I want to preface this by saying I’m a huge Riley Sager fan, and count some of his other books among my favorite thrillers. I think he’s super talented and he’ll always be an auto-buy author for me on the strength of some of his other work. Unfortunately, this one absolutely did not land for me.
I was bored for 99% of this book (the 1% was basically the very beginning, when I was waiting for the premise to set up, and my enthusiasm didn’t even return for the ending and final reveals). The FMC made some absolutely ridiculous choices and decisions, and I didn’t really like any of the other characters. I also never felt super invested in the mystery aspect of the plot, and I thought the big reveal was pretty bonkers and didn’t have great foundation laid to suggest it throughout.
I know a lot of people do love this one, so it may well have been a “me” problem…but the bottom line is if you’re reaching for a Riley Sager I personally think there are much better ones to grab.
CW: Death/death of parent/suicide; fire; blood/injury/violence
Jules is facing rock bottom when she agrees to move into a luxury apartment building as a paid house sitter. But when another sitter goes missing, Jules quickly realizes all is not what it seems…
I want to preface this by saying I’m a huge Riley Sager fan, and count some of his other books among my favorite thrillers. I think he’s super talented and he’ll always be an auto-buy author for me on the strength of some of his other work. Unfortunately, this one absolutely did not land for me.
I was bored for 99% of this book (the 1% was basically the very beginning, when I was waiting for the premise to set up, and my enthusiasm didn’t even return for the ending and final reveals). The FMC made some absolutely ridiculous choices and decisions, and I didn’t really like any of the other characters. I also never felt super invested in the mystery aspect of the plot, and I thought the big reveal was pretty bonkers and didn’t have great foundation laid to suggest it throughout.
I know a lot of people do love this one, so it may well have been a “me” problem…but the bottom line is if you’re reaching for a Riley Sager I personally think there are much better ones to grab.
CW: Death/death of parent/suicide; fire; blood/injury/violence
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, and Death
dizpig's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Body horror, Drug use, Death of parent, Classism, Death, Blood, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, and Murder
Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Dementia, Body horror, and Cancer
Minor: Stalking
jhabelita's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
Read this in less than 24 hours! The kind of stress and panic that I need. Nothing beats a book you read in one sitting. 👍
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking, Murder, Kidnapping, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
doodlebeanz's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was pretty let down by this book. After reading Sager's 'Only One Left', I was SO excited to pick up any other book by him that I could get my hands on and Lock Every Door was available via Libby and I jumped at the opportunity. Unfortunately, it fell relatively flat for me. It had so much potential which was the biggest let down to me personally. Sometimes books just suck and don't have any redeeming factors, but this book DID!
I could see the plot twist a mile away, nearly figuring it all out before I even got halfway through the book which was odd considering Only One Left kept me guessing until the bitter end... maybe I put too much pressure on this book and comparing it to it's book sibling is wrong to do, but it's impossible for me not to do!
This book, like many thrillers nowadays, was tied up nicely and too quickly.Like what happened to Jane? Why do we never find out? Also, it was just so easy for Nick to kill himself... like oh how coincidental that he decided to do that... I don't know, it just felt too perfect in the end and it bothered me. I also would've loved a chapter or two from Nick's POV. I love a dual pov story, and I think that may have been what was lacking with this story. I don't know if Sager often does dual/multiple POVs in his books, but this one would have benefited from someone else's POV since Jules' got repetitive and her naivety started to irk me.
That being said, the book was good; it kept me entertained and I couldn't put it down, I also didn't find myself skimming as much as I usually do. It didn't scare me, it didn't really freak me out *too* much, but the writing of such a spooky and creepy building was incredible! I also love that it's based on the Dakota since I see that building daily and now it looks so different to me lol!
I could see the plot twist a mile away, nearly figuring it all out before I even got halfway through the book which was odd considering Only One Left kept me guessing until the bitter end... maybe I put too much pressure on this book and comparing it to it's book sibling is wrong to do, but it's impossible for me not to do!
This book, like many thrillers nowadays, was tied up nicely and too quickly.
That being said, the book was good; it kept me entertained and I couldn't put it down, I also didn't find myself skimming as much as I usually do. It didn't scare me, it didn't really freak me out *too* much, but the writing of such a spooky and creepy building was incredible! I also love that it's based on the Dakota since I see that building daily and now it looks so different to me lol!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Classism, Confinement, Kidnapping, Murder, Death, and Medical content
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
astoriareader's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
SYNOPSIS
- Jules is a 25 year old, and she has had a bit of a rough patch. She was recently let go from her job, and she is having money problems. Her live-in (now) ex-boyfriend cheated on her, so she moved in with her friend, Chloe. She doesn’t have any family left, as her parents died & her sister Jane disappeared
- She gets the opportunity to apartment sit at a fancy building in Manhattan for $4000/month for 3 months, but there is a catch. She isn’t allowed to have any guests, and she is required to spend the night there every night. There are some other rules re: secrecy as well.
- There are a few other sitters living in the building. Jules befriends one, and shortly thereafter, the other sitter is MIA.
- What’s going on in the apartment building? What happened to the other sitter?
MY THOUGHTS
- I got through this quickly, and it is an easy read. The writing is fine, but there isn’t very much depth or character development.
- The ending was mehhh. Not great, not terrible.
- It is a slow burn, but pretty predictable.
- The main character overlooks so many things, and she comes off as a stereotypical woman written by a man in a thriller novel.
- Side note: I am intrigued at this point as to why Riley Sager always writes women as the MCs. He has written some books that I love, and some that I don’t.
TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️predictable + slow burn + thriller + set in NYC. not a huge fan of the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Medical content, and Suicide
kiwichill's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Self harm, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Medical content, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Cursing, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
woahemjo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Grief
Moderate: Medical content, Kidnapping, Cursing, Death of parent, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cannibalism and Cancer