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The Lock In
They'd like to be going out.
Instead they're stuck in . . .
Best friends Ellen and Alexa have always been close.
Until one fateful morning when they get locked in their attic with hapless housemate Jack and Alexa's date from the night before, Ben.
With no way out, hangovers and the hours crawling by, it seems best friends can get too close for comfort.
Especially when Ellen realises she already knows Ben - perhaps rather better than Alexa does . . .
Instead they're stuck in . . .
Best friends Ellen and Alexa have always been close.
Until one fateful morning when they get locked in their attic with hapless housemate Jack and Alexa's date from the night before, Ben.
With no way out, hangovers and the hours crawling by, it seems best friends can get too close for comfort.
Especially when Ellen realises she already knows Ben - perhaps rather better than Alexa does . . .
372 pages, Paperback
First published May 27, 2021
73 people are currently reading
2160 people want to read
About the author
Phoebe Luckhurst
2 books19 followersPhoebe Luckhurst is a journalist and author, who has written for publications including the Evening Standard, ES Magazine, ELLE, Grazia, Sunday Times Style, Guardian, Telegraph and Grazia.
The Lock In is her first novel, and she is currently writing her second.
The Lock In is her first novel, and she is currently writing her second.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 352 reviews
July 6, 2021
Without intending any disrespect to the author, this is simply the worst book I’ve ever read.
Firstly, it’s dubbed “hilarious” by the publisher, and so I expected some elements of humour - sadly, none were present. Any attempt at humour was poorly delivered and cringe-worthy; verging on embarrassing.
Secondly, there is absolutely no plot to this book - I’m genuinely unclear as to why it was even written or deemed worthy of publication. Absolutely nothing happens, and it is genuinely the only instance in my life that I’ve found myself skim reading pages (I skimmed the last 40 or so pages just to get it over with, and surprise, nothing happened).
Finally, the characters are so poorly developed, and the main plot line of the entire story is that Ellen was ghosted on MSN, by someone she never met, as a teenager, and is still haunted by it 10 years later? Please, that’s just pathetic. I simply cannot fathom how a woman in her late twenties could be still holding onto the premature ending of a non-existent, virtual relationship? Oh but, gasp, Ben never did ghost Ellen - instead, Ben’s younger brother Oli was the mastermind behind it all! Thank god Ellen can now live her life, no longer plagued by this mystery!
And that, I believe, is supposed to be the big reveal of the book, but like the rest of the novel, is so mundane and poorly done that it’s almost laughable. How has this been used as a plot idea for a book? Alexa and Jack are bland and add nothing to the story, and Elias the landlord is so cliche that I wonder why the author bothered trying to depict him in the first place? Seriously, if you’re going to use a stereotype, make it more interesting and funny than an illiterate and angry London landlord.
To put it plainly, there is absolutely nothing about this book that is good. And while I won’t suggest others avoid it, as I’m aware this is a debut, I certainly won’t be bringing myself to read another book from this particular author.
I think I lost brain cells whilst reading it (and only finished it because I have an inability to not finish something I’ve started.)
Firstly, it’s dubbed “hilarious” by the publisher, and so I expected some elements of humour - sadly, none were present. Any attempt at humour was poorly delivered and cringe-worthy; verging on embarrassing.
Secondly, there is absolutely no plot to this book - I’m genuinely unclear as to why it was even written or deemed worthy of publication. Absolutely nothing happens, and it is genuinely the only instance in my life that I’ve found myself skim reading pages (I skimmed the last 40 or so pages just to get it over with, and surprise, nothing happened).
Finally, the characters are so poorly developed, and the main plot line of the entire story is that Ellen was ghosted on MSN, by someone she never met, as a teenager, and is still haunted by it 10 years later? Please, that’s just pathetic. I simply cannot fathom how a woman in her late twenties could be still holding onto the premature ending of a non-existent, virtual relationship? Oh but, gasp, Ben never did ghost Ellen - instead, Ben’s younger brother Oli was the mastermind behind it all! Thank god Ellen can now live her life, no longer plagued by this mystery!
And that, I believe, is supposed to be the big reveal of the book, but like the rest of the novel, is so mundane and poorly done that it’s almost laughable. How has this been used as a plot idea for a book? Alexa and Jack are bland and add nothing to the story, and Elias the landlord is so cliche that I wonder why the author bothered trying to depict him in the first place? Seriously, if you’re going to use a stereotype, make it more interesting and funny than an illiterate and angry London landlord.
To put it plainly, there is absolutely nothing about this book that is good. And while I won’t suggest others avoid it, as I’m aware this is a debut, I certainly won’t be bringing myself to read another book from this particular author.
I think I lost brain cells whilst reading it (and only finished it because I have an inability to not finish something I’ve started.)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2021
Book Reviewed on www.whisperingstories.com
After a night out with work, Ellen awakes feeling rather rough. If she thought her day couldn’t get any worse she was wrong. There is water flooding the kitchen. Not sure where the stopcock is she heads to the attic to see if it is there. Screaming at a dead mouse she wakes her housemates who come to check on her in the attic, and one housemate’s guest for the night, Ben.
When a gust of wind from an open skylight blows the attic door shut, Ben tries to open it but knocks the handle off. The four of them are trapped. Ellen, who is nursing a hangover. Alexa her best friend, their housemate Jack, and Ben. They only have two phones between them, one which is about to die and another with no signal. After trying to yell for help the four settle in for the long run, knowing that they are trapped and the water is rising in the kitchen. How will they get out and what’s with Ellen’s deja vu when it comes to Ben?
The Lock In was a lot of fun, even if I was thinking at the beginning why did no one apart from twice shoulder barging the door, try to open it. With an attic full of items, surely there would have been something to wedge the door open or smash through it, anyway putting aside my logical head I enjoyed the relationships between the four stuck friends.
I giggled my way through sections of the book and enjoyed hearing from each of the characters in this multi-point-of-view novel. As the time went on the four became more desperate to leave and the topics they chatted about drastically changed, even going down memory lane, which is good for those wanting a bit of retro and giving the book a variety of paths.
The pacing of the book worked well, as did the way the characters bouncing off one another. I’m not sure how I would handle being stuck in a room, although I think like Ellen it wouldn’t be long before I had something else on my mind not just being trapped or the kitchen flooding!!
This is a book I devoured in a couple of days. It has good humour to it. A decent, well-thought-out different plot featuring realistic characters with everyday issues in their lives. It felt a little strange to be reading a book where all the action happens in one place, and just like the movie ‘Phone Booth’ this actually does work and I felt heightened the drama too.
After a night out with work, Ellen awakes feeling rather rough. If she thought her day couldn’t get any worse she was wrong. There is water flooding the kitchen. Not sure where the stopcock is she heads to the attic to see if it is there. Screaming at a dead mouse she wakes her housemates who come to check on her in the attic, and one housemate’s guest for the night, Ben.
When a gust of wind from an open skylight blows the attic door shut, Ben tries to open it but knocks the handle off. The four of them are trapped. Ellen, who is nursing a hangover. Alexa her best friend, their housemate Jack, and Ben. They only have two phones between them, one which is about to die and another with no signal. After trying to yell for help the four settle in for the long run, knowing that they are trapped and the water is rising in the kitchen. How will they get out and what’s with Ellen’s deja vu when it comes to Ben?
The Lock In was a lot of fun, even if I was thinking at the beginning why did no one apart from twice shoulder barging the door, try to open it. With an attic full of items, surely there would have been something to wedge the door open or smash through it, anyway putting aside my logical head I enjoyed the relationships between the four stuck friends.
I giggled my way through sections of the book and enjoyed hearing from each of the characters in this multi-point-of-view novel. As the time went on the four became more desperate to leave and the topics they chatted about drastically changed, even going down memory lane, which is good for those wanting a bit of retro and giving the book a variety of paths.
The pacing of the book worked well, as did the way the characters bouncing off one another. I’m not sure how I would handle being stuck in a room, although I think like Ellen it wouldn’t be long before I had something else on my mind not just being trapped or the kitchen flooding!!
This is a book I devoured in a couple of days. It has good humour to it. A decent, well-thought-out different plot featuring realistic characters with everyday issues in their lives. It felt a little strange to be reading a book where all the action happens in one place, and just like the movie ‘Phone Booth’ this actually does work and I felt heightened the drama too.
August 12, 2021
one star might be too much for this book. in this life i've already read a lot of bad stuff, but nothing compares to this.
January 1, 2022
3.5 stars
July 25, 2021
‘The lock-in’ is such a great summer page-turner; the story centers around three housemates and one of their dates who all get trapped in an attic- while the kitchen is being flooded- and they have no phone service- and it all gets very awkward, very quickly. Basically it starts as one of those comedic nightmare days but develops into a story about modern friendships that I really enjoyed.
At times the characters are a bit annoying or self-centered but they do have their friend’s best interests at heart in the end. Overall though I found although being lighthearted it really showed how connected we all are even if we feel totally disconnected from those around us.
The writing is well-paced and easy going and I loved all of the quirky and cringey moments. I definitely would recommend this as a great beach read; a perfect little piece of escapism.
At times the characters are a bit annoying or self-centered but they do have their friend’s best interests at heart in the end. Overall though I found although being lighthearted it really showed how connected we all are even if we feel totally disconnected from those around us.
The writing is well-paced and easy going and I loved all of the quirky and cringey moments. I definitely would recommend this as a great beach read; a perfect little piece of escapism.
May 13, 2024
If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
May 30, 2021
I really enjoyed this book! It was highly entertaining and so fun. It made for very easy listening (audiobook format for me) and the hours just whiled away whilst I was immersed in the reading.
It was narrated really well and brought all the characters to life, and I found I was soon very addicted to listening to it! It was light and funny and just what I needed as a cheer up, pick me up sort of read. The idea of the story really appealed to me and intrigued me and once I’d started, it was a sure fire hit.
I loved all the characters and it had such a nice vibe to it. I don’t think you can go much wrong with a book like this and I found I warmed to it immediately. It’s a definite read if you’re fancying a nice, easy entertaining read!
Thanks to the author and publishers via NetGalley for this book, in exchange for my honest thoughts and review.
It was narrated really well and brought all the characters to life, and I found I was soon very addicted to listening to it! It was light and funny and just what I needed as a cheer up, pick me up sort of read. The idea of the story really appealed to me and intrigued me and once I’d started, it was a sure fire hit.
I loved all the characters and it had such a nice vibe to it. I don’t think you can go much wrong with a book like this and I found I warmed to it immediately. It’s a definite read if you’re fancying a nice, easy entertaining read!
Thanks to the author and publishers via NetGalley for this book, in exchange for my honest thoughts and review.
July 7, 2021
A light hearted book that wasn’t too bad.
It took me some time to get into this, I kept stop starting. But once I did, it was a quick enjoyable read.
Ellen, Alexa, Jack and Ben get stuck in an attic for a weekend, after a door handle breaks and the apartment is flooded. Three of them know each other, one of a the, is a Hinge date.
I liked the references to MSN chars, it took me back to when I used to chat to friends and strangers.
The twists were good. And some of it was funny.
But not a lot happened, and there was no real character development apart from Jack.
This wasn’t amazing, but it was better than some of the recent light fiction I’ve read lately.
It took me some time to get into this, I kept stop starting. But once I did, it was a quick enjoyable read.
Ellen, Alexa, Jack and Ben get stuck in an attic for a weekend, after a door handle breaks and the apartment is flooded. Three of them know each other, one of a the, is a Hinge date.
I liked the references to MSN chars, it took me back to when I used to chat to friends and strangers.
The twists were good. And some of it was funny.
But not a lot happened, and there was no real character development apart from Jack.
This wasn’t amazing, but it was better than some of the recent light fiction I’ve read lately.
June 27, 2021
This was a quick read that was easy to follow. It was written in multiple POV but I did find I ended up skim reading Jack’s the most! It was also mixed media; emails, texts, tweets etc which also helped to break up the story.
I found the premise interesting and the MSN storyline nostalgic but I found it very predictable and I didn’t have any really amusing moments for me.
I felt it could have been executed a little better, or have a bit more to it maybe?
Wasn’t bad but also wasn’t great...
I found the premise interesting and the MSN storyline nostalgic but I found it very predictable and I didn’t have any really amusing moments for me.
I felt it could have been executed a little better, or have a bit more to it maybe?
Wasn’t bad but also wasn’t great...
June 10, 2021
#TheLockIn
By Phoebe Luckhurst
— Welcome to “The Lock In”. A hilarious story of housemates and hangovers, friendship and dating, as four twenty-somethings discover what the worst, morning-after-the-night-before, really looks like . . .—
Usually ‘lock in’ stories involve murder and suspense but it made a refreshing change for it to be based on a funny and often tongue in cheek rom com. As the housemates, Alexa, Ellen and Jack, along with Alexa’s date who stayed over the night before, become trapped in the the attic with no means of communicating to the outside world, they realise it’s going to be quite some time before they are rescued. They agree, they need to attract the attention through the roof’s skylight to request help but could Jack have a different secret idea of calling for help and how will it affect all their friendships?
Along with a flood that’s happening in their kitchen on the ground floor, panic sets in when they realise it’s not going to be quite as easy as shouting for help. With Ellen regularly needing the toilet and is in particular, a rather highly strung person, her emotions become fraught and on remembering an event in her teenage past - that is now suddenly in the forefront of her mind - the atmosphere becomes awkward. Ellen begins to suspect that Alexa’s date may not be the person he portrays and she’s determined to convince the others of the truth. Jack in particular is a great character and one I engaged with instantly.
Plenty of funny moments, hilarious dialogue and a decent storyline to keep you entertained, I flew through “The Lock In” and would happily recommend it, as a highly enjoyable summer read.
Phoebe Luckhurst was born in London and brought up in Glasgow. She is the Feature Editor of the Evening Standard. She has written for the Guardian, Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph and various elite magazines. “The Lock In” is Phoebe’s debut novel.
You can find out more about the author and “The Lock In” from the following link -
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/442/4...
Thank you to Sriya and Michael Joseph/Penguin for inviting me on the tour and for my copy of the book in return for an honest opinion.
By Phoebe Luckhurst
— Welcome to “The Lock In”. A hilarious story of housemates and hangovers, friendship and dating, as four twenty-somethings discover what the worst, morning-after-the-night-before, really looks like . . .—
Usually ‘lock in’ stories involve murder and suspense but it made a refreshing change for it to be based on a funny and often tongue in cheek rom com. As the housemates, Alexa, Ellen and Jack, along with Alexa’s date who stayed over the night before, become trapped in the the attic with no means of communicating to the outside world, they realise it’s going to be quite some time before they are rescued. They agree, they need to attract the attention through the roof’s skylight to request help but could Jack have a different secret idea of calling for help and how will it affect all their friendships?
Along with a flood that’s happening in their kitchen on the ground floor, panic sets in when they realise it’s not going to be quite as easy as shouting for help. With Ellen regularly needing the toilet and is in particular, a rather highly strung person, her emotions become fraught and on remembering an event in her teenage past - that is now suddenly in the forefront of her mind - the atmosphere becomes awkward. Ellen begins to suspect that Alexa’s date may not be the person he portrays and she’s determined to convince the others of the truth. Jack in particular is a great character and one I engaged with instantly.
Plenty of funny moments, hilarious dialogue and a decent storyline to keep you entertained, I flew through “The Lock In” and would happily recommend it, as a highly enjoyable summer read.
Phoebe Luckhurst was born in London and brought up in Glasgow. She is the Feature Editor of the Evening Standard. She has written for the Guardian, Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph and various elite magazines. “The Lock In” is Phoebe’s debut novel.
You can find out more about the author and “The Lock In” from the following link -
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/442/4...
Thank you to Sriya and Michael Joseph/Penguin for inviting me on the tour and for my copy of the book in return for an honest opinion.
February 17, 2021
The Lock In combines three housemates, a flooding kitchen, a Hinge date and a broken door handle as the basis for its plot where ultimately we witness four people interacting from a locked attic.
Whilst nursing a hangover, Ellen discovers the kitchen slowly filling with water. She enlists the help of her housemates Alexa and Jack, along with Alexa's Hinge date Ben, to help switch off the water supply, and instead, the group find themselves trapped in an attic after a series of mishaps. Complete with funny rescue mission tactics, and a box to pee in, there are parts of this story that I did find enjoyable. However, the premise of this all taking place in one room got old pretty quickly as a series of 'nothing' chapters showed. There were no real shenanigans or riotous behaviour that the situation clearly lends itself to, and instead, Phoebe Luckhurst focuses on the backstory of an MSN love story and a Twitter thread as the main focal points which whilst entertaining, weren't really what I was expecting from the story.
Each character voices a different chapter which is a great tactic for finding out each one's thoughts and feelings about the predicament they find themselves in. There were some chapters that were funny, whilst others were heartwarming, and unfortunately, some were just disappointing and didn't really add to the plot all that much. I was expecting this to be more of a light-hearted and funny story, but it feels a little anticlimatic.
I was dismayed to find that following the events of the Lock In, there was little in terms of character development or a sense of moral or lesson learned from the experienced. It appears as those the characters just simply carried on with their lives despite the intensity of the concentrated few hours spent together.
*Huge thanks to the Michael Joseph team, and Netgalley for the ARC
Whilst nursing a hangover, Ellen discovers the kitchen slowly filling with water. She enlists the help of her housemates Alexa and Jack, along with Alexa's Hinge date Ben, to help switch off the water supply, and instead, the group find themselves trapped in an attic after a series of mishaps. Complete with funny rescue mission tactics, and a box to pee in, there are parts of this story that I did find enjoyable. However, the premise of this all taking place in one room got old pretty quickly as a series of 'nothing' chapters showed. There were no real shenanigans or riotous behaviour that the situation clearly lends itself to, and instead, Phoebe Luckhurst focuses on the backstory of an MSN love story and a Twitter thread as the main focal points which whilst entertaining, weren't really what I was expecting from the story.
Each character voices a different chapter which is a great tactic for finding out each one's thoughts and feelings about the predicament they find themselves in. There were some chapters that were funny, whilst others were heartwarming, and unfortunately, some were just disappointing and didn't really add to the plot all that much. I was expecting this to be more of a light-hearted and funny story, but it feels a little anticlimatic.
I was dismayed to find that following the events of the Lock In, there was little in terms of character development or a sense of moral or lesson learned from the experienced. It appears as those the characters just simply carried on with their lives despite the intensity of the concentrated few hours spent together.
*Huge thanks to the Michael Joseph team, and Netgalley for the ARC
May 22, 2021
Sometimes we all need a good laugh.
Something to make us stop and forget our worries.
For me a good book can do this and Phoebe Luckhurst certainly hit the spot with her debut novel The Lock In.
This is definitely a rom-com for the modern ages.
Told from three points of view, we are rather rapidly introduced to three very different housemates - Ellen, Jack and Alexa (not forgetting Alexa's latest date Ben).
Hysterical from the beginning, it's like an episode in a reality TV show but in book form.
After discovering a flood in the kitchen, this unlikely trio + good old Ben find themselves trapped in their attic. I'll let you read the story to discover just how they ended up there but even that event in itself is humorous.
As the story progresses and we're wondering just how they'll eventually escape, Jack is sporadically tweeting about what's going on, think awkward arguments and peeing in a box.
It's more hilarious because I could honestly picture this sort of thing happening in real life.
Mentions of MSN had me reminiscing about my teen years.
When things go from bad to worse the entertainment actually increases.
Easy, quick and amusing.
There is a clever combination of drama, tension and wit the culminate to an ideal conclusion.
The Lock In is hilarious and heart-warming. With a cast of likeable and slightly eccentric characters and a storyline that is fresh and well paced, this is a novel that could prove to be a modern day classic.
Something to make us stop and forget our worries.
For me a good book can do this and Phoebe Luckhurst certainly hit the spot with her debut novel The Lock In.
This is definitely a rom-com for the modern ages.
Told from three points of view, we are rather rapidly introduced to three very different housemates - Ellen, Jack and Alexa (not forgetting Alexa's latest date Ben).
Hysterical from the beginning, it's like an episode in a reality TV show but in book form.
After discovering a flood in the kitchen, this unlikely trio + good old Ben find themselves trapped in their attic. I'll let you read the story to discover just how they ended up there but even that event in itself is humorous.
As the story progresses and we're wondering just how they'll eventually escape, Jack is sporadically tweeting about what's going on, think awkward arguments and peeing in a box.
It's more hilarious because I could honestly picture this sort of thing happening in real life.
Mentions of MSN had me reminiscing about my teen years.
When things go from bad to worse the entertainment actually increases.
Easy, quick and amusing.
There is a clever combination of drama, tension and wit the culminate to an ideal conclusion.
The Lock In is hilarious and heart-warming. With a cast of likeable and slightly eccentric characters and a storyline that is fresh and well paced, this is a novel that could prove to be a modern day classic.
September 25, 2022
like it was well written and some great British humour, like laugh out loud shit but the plot was actually so bad like I thought I might as well not finish it because I knew what was going to happen and how (and I was right). the rom had absolutely no stakes either so it’s a good job there was com otherwise it would have been unrateable.
December 5, 2022
It’s an okay book not amazing but not awful. All characters annoyed me immensely
January 25, 2023
I’m not one to give up on a book but I just couldn’t get into it. For me it was irritatingly implausible.
April 24, 2022
This was ...really not good. I kept seeing descriptions it was 'hilarious' and funny and entertaining - I didn't get any of that (be interested to see how many of the reviews singing the praises were from people who were gifted the book for free in return vs readers who paid for the book). I know it sounds shady, but I think possibly the people who found this hilarious are the 'welcome 2 da madhouse, we're all mad here LOL' people you encounter in some workplaces...the ones who actually have pretty mundane lives (which is fine) but do this weird cringe overcompensating thing. I remember a coworker telling me that hot tub time machine was the best comedy he'd seen in a long time and his favourite film of the year. Not gonna lie, I definitely viewed him differently after that.
Anyway, the book looks great, the illustration on the hardcover? Love it, it's cute, like the colour scheme. Didn't like the key shaped cutout on the slipcover, because it ripped (as it would obviously do) when the stupid cut out got caught on something in my bag.
The characters were all boring,
The 'drama', who cares??!!
Also didn't care for the romance. I found it odd the characters were pretty chaste (again millennials living in London - Jack the most recent arrival has moved from Manchester) while I understand why this was covered for Alexa, I don't know why it came into Jack's chapters
I had moments of thinking 'maybe it's just a 'not for me' book and it's not actually 'not good', maybe I'm just not the right reader' ...but nah. It was boring, the characters are dull and unconvincing, the 'drama' is over something so stupid and it again detracts from the believability of characters.
Anyway, the book looks great, the illustration on the hardcover? Love it, it's cute, like the colour scheme. Didn't like the key shaped cutout on the slipcover, because it ripped (as it would obviously do) when the stupid cut out got caught on something in my bag.
The characters were all boring,
The 'drama', who cares??!!
Also didn't care for the romance. I found it odd the characters were pretty chaste (again millennials living in London - Jack the most recent arrival has moved from Manchester) while I understand why this was covered for Alexa, I don't know why it came into Jack's chapters
I had moments of thinking 'maybe it's just a 'not for me' book and it's not actually 'not good', maybe I'm just not the right reader' ...but nah. It was boring, the characters are dull and unconvincing, the 'drama' is over something so stupid and it again detracts from the believability of characters.
January 20, 2023
This was such a light read that you can pick up and put down wherever but will leave you wanting to pick it up more than put it down. Nice short chapters told from the different characters’ points of view meant that you got to see events from every angle.
I actually really liked all of the characters, Jack definitely being my favourite towards the end and not feeling as enamoured towards Alexa. (Plus I couldn’t help but keep thinking of the lovely device we all have in our houses)
The book itself reminded me a bit of The FlatShare by Beth O’Leary - it has that same sense and style and ‘easy read’ feeling. I could predict some of the things that happened and it was all pretty run of the mill - realistic events that actually could happen - plus who doesn’t remember all the MSN quirks!!
Overall I really liked this book and will be keeping my eyes peeled for future books by Phoebe - the perfect summer day time read
I actually really liked all of the characters, Jack definitely being my favourite towards the end and not feeling as enamoured towards Alexa. (Plus I couldn’t help but keep thinking of the lovely device we all have in our houses)
The book itself reminded me a bit of The FlatShare by Beth O’Leary - it has that same sense and style and ‘easy read’ feeling. I could predict some of the things that happened and it was all pretty run of the mill - realistic events that actually could happen - plus who doesn’t remember all the MSN quirks!!
Overall I really liked this book and will be keeping my eyes peeled for future books by Phoebe - the perfect summer day time read
June 19, 2021
I’d like to thank NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for approving me for an ARC of this book.
I loved the premise for this story and once I started it I knew it would be a quick and easy read. We were thrown straight into the drama with Ellen waking up with a hangover from hell to all the flatmates and Ben being locked in the attic.
I loved the story being told from the different POV and I enjoyed Jack’s chapters most of all. He was the one who made me smile with his sneaky ways and I found his Twitter thread and responses very amusing. I thought Ellen was the most irritating of all the housemates. Something about her rubbed my up the wrong way so I struggled to connect with her or feel sorry for her when she revealed how she knew Ben.
Whilst I did enjoy this read and thought everything moved at a great pace I didn’t always find it funny. For me there were no laugh out loud moments. Perhaps that’s just my sense of humour?
I enjoyed the mystery surrounding Ben and Ellen, I wondered who was lying or what the final reveal would be. I also enjoyed reminiscing about my MSN days where I started talking to my now husband.
This was an easy listen that had a unique concept, it just didn’t quite hit the spot for me.
I loved the premise for this story and once I started it I knew it would be a quick and easy read. We were thrown straight into the drama with Ellen waking up with a hangover from hell to all the flatmates and Ben being locked in the attic.
I loved the story being told from the different POV and I enjoyed Jack’s chapters most of all. He was the one who made me smile with his sneaky ways and I found his Twitter thread and responses very amusing. I thought Ellen was the most irritating of all the housemates. Something about her rubbed my up the wrong way so I struggled to connect with her or feel sorry for her when she revealed how she knew Ben.
Whilst I did enjoy this read and thought everything moved at a great pace I didn’t always find it funny. For me there were no laugh out loud moments. Perhaps that’s just my sense of humour?
I enjoyed the mystery surrounding Ben and Ellen, I wondered who was lying or what the final reveal would be. I also enjoyed reminiscing about my MSN days where I started talking to my now husband.
This was an easy listen that had a unique concept, it just didn’t quite hit the spot for me.
July 15, 2021
The Lock in grabbed my attention from the start. It’s entertaining and funny and I really enjoyed the whole concept of the story. I can relate to the unusual situation the flatmates found themselves in and I believe this could happen in reality, however I found it extremely frustrating they weren’t making more of an attempt to break out. Personally I would have been frantically searching the attic for any manner to tool to help me break down the door, especially knowing the kitchen was filling with water.
Written in the multiple points of view of the main characters, some background history and flashbacks are incorporated into each narrative and this additional information fleshed the characters out. The characters are interesting and likeable, I loved their different personalities and quirkiness . I particularly liked Jack, he’s adorable, comical and I found his social awkwardness completely endearing and his Twitter texting hilarious. The MSN chat messaging back and forth between Ellen and Ben was a wonderful addition and it took me back in time and triggered memories I had completely forgotten about.
The Lock In is light-hearted and enjoyable read with some great characters. It is funny, well paced and engaging with a well executed plot. I was a little disappointed nothing ground breaking happened while they were all locked in together, I feel more could have been made of the actual lock in. However, I loved reading it, it’s a lot of fun and a perfect summer read.
Thank you so much to the publisher for the gifted proof for review.
TWISTED IN PAGES BLOG
Written in the multiple points of view of the main characters, some background history and flashbacks are incorporated into each narrative and this additional information fleshed the characters out. The characters are interesting and likeable, I loved their different personalities and quirkiness . I particularly liked Jack, he’s adorable, comical and I found his social awkwardness completely endearing and his Twitter texting hilarious. The MSN chat messaging back and forth between Ellen and Ben was a wonderful addition and it took me back in time and triggered memories I had completely forgotten about.
The Lock In is light-hearted and enjoyable read with some great characters. It is funny, well paced and engaging with a well executed plot. I was a little disappointed nothing ground breaking happened while they were all locked in together, I feel more could have been made of the actual lock in. However, I loved reading it, it’s a lot of fun and a perfect summer read.
Thank you so much to the publisher for the gifted proof for review.
TWISTED IN PAGES BLOG
May 27, 2021
Have you ever found yourself stuck listening to someone tell a long, desperately unfunny story? Maybe even something that, wrestled from the hands of this comedy blackhole, might have been interesting? Something with the bones of a pithy anecdote, but plumped up beyond all recognition by tedious backstory pseudo-‘drama’ about people you’ve never met? I feel for those people. God, I’ve been those people, and if you haven’t I salute you on your superhuman charisma/sobriety. But dear god, I’ve never tried to package those moments of abject social misery and sell one as a book.
Jennifer Probst, author of the fantastic guide to romance writing Write Naked, said that the hardest task any contemporary romance writer faced was answering the question why aren’t they together yet? With historical settings, this is always going to be intrinsically easier – whether it’s class, gender, race, a family feud or a history as a rake, the wrong romance meant that your life would be completely over. Contemporary romance has an uphill battle in creating something in the battle against love. Some go big – Clara in The Roommate has a company, a fledging PR career and a family terrified of scandal weighing against her relationship with porn star Josh, while Red, White and Royal Blue puts a whole US election at stake. Others, such as You and Me on Vacation (People We Meet On Vacation in the US), take our intimate, personal dilemmas and elevate them on the page until they feel exactly as urgent and awful as they do to us in real life.
There are no stakes in The Lock-In. Nada. None.
Oh, I guess they’re stuck in an attic. And yes, there is technically a flood in the kitchen while they’re stuck there. But you don’t read romance for other people’s real estate disasters. You read it for the romance and the humour, and this book has precious little of either.
Here’s the plot: Housemates Alexa, Ellen and Jack get stuck in the attic of their horrible rented house with Alexa’s hinge date, Ben. The book spends a tedious amount of time getting there, and the characters display very little urgency to leave once there. Alexa and Ben met on Hinge, had a few good dates and then he seemed to lose interest in each other until he suddenly texted her the night before attic-gate for a perfect date. She’s crazy into him, he seems crazy into her, Jack is busy having a subplot that goes absolutely nowhere. Ellen has to pee a bunch of times. I wait with bated breath for either joke or plot.
And then suddenly, during a conversation about their past, Ellen and Ben realise they grew up in the same place. At which point Ellen announces that she remembers him now, and he’s a total arsehole!
Fucking finally! I was on the edge of my seat. What dramatic break-up story happened here? Did he promise to run away with her and never appear? Cheat on her? Say something truly terrible?
He ghosted her on MSM ten years ago.
They never even met in person.
And (forgive me for spoiling the plot here) it turns out it wasn’t even Ben, in a ‘twist’ ending one could see coming from a mile away and has absolutely nothing to do with that bit where he semi-ghosted Alex. That detail was just included to be a faintly pink herring, I guess. They get out of the attic. He keeps dating Alex.
Look, I tend to switch between hard sci-fi, political fantasy and contemporary romance, and of the three contemporary romance is always going to have the fluffier problems. But these people? They have no problems. Oh, Ellen is worried she might have said mildly awkward in front of her boss at the CBD Tampon start-up, and Jack is feeling a little bit lonely in London, and Alex feels a slightly embarrassed by her civil service co-workers and really hopes this thing with Ben works out. Problems so slight that they could at best sustain three minutes of pub conversation, and even then only in the hands of a talented raconteur or the absurdly self-obsessed. 378 pages? Jesus wept.
It’s frustrating, reading this book. You can see the bones of a good idea for a novel in there. The desperation of the four of them, the wacky antics they might get up to trying to get out. The pressure-cooker tension building and building. Simmering grudges and old fights coming to the fore between Alex and Ellen, a millennial Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? full of absurd declarations and emotional clawing. Even the slightness of Ellen’s gripe with Ben could have become part of the joke. Instead we have this; a book where three people have a conversation that makes them slightly uncomfortable, while a fourth checks Twitter.
So much for the rom, but what of the com? There’s honestly not much to say here. If Phoebe Luckhurst did attempt any actual jokes, they flew under my radar. At any moment where there could be humour, Luckhurst dispenses of it with the ruthless efficiency of a kitten-drowner. There there, amusing-example-of-human-folly. Just stay under till the bubbles stop.
I ‘like’ Alex, Ellen and Ben, in that they’re fine. Nice, even. If they were real, I’d probably spend a happy twenty minutes chatting to them at a party before I left to find some people I actually clicked with. But if they told me this story? In the words of my braver self, the one who doesn’t just rictus-grin it through fifteen-minute recounting of someone’s sister’s break-up – I’m sorry, I just don’t give a fuck.
(Oh, the Jack subplot? Words cannot convey my fucking exhaustion. Don’t. Just don’t.)
Jennifer Probst, author of the fantastic guide to romance writing Write Naked, said that the hardest task any contemporary romance writer faced was answering the question why aren’t they together yet? With historical settings, this is always going to be intrinsically easier – whether it’s class, gender, race, a family feud or a history as a rake, the wrong romance meant that your life would be completely over. Contemporary romance has an uphill battle in creating something in the battle against love. Some go big – Clara in The Roommate has a company, a fledging PR career and a family terrified of scandal weighing against her relationship with porn star Josh, while Red, White and Royal Blue puts a whole US election at stake. Others, such as You and Me on Vacation (People We Meet On Vacation in the US), take our intimate, personal dilemmas and elevate them on the page until they feel exactly as urgent and awful as they do to us in real life.
There are no stakes in The Lock-In. Nada. None.
Oh, I guess they’re stuck in an attic. And yes, there is technically a flood in the kitchen while they’re stuck there. But you don’t read romance for other people’s real estate disasters. You read it for the romance and the humour, and this book has precious little of either.
Here’s the plot: Housemates Alexa, Ellen and Jack get stuck in the attic of their horrible rented house with Alexa’s hinge date, Ben. The book spends a tedious amount of time getting there, and the characters display very little urgency to leave once there. Alexa and Ben met on Hinge, had a few good dates and then he seemed to lose interest in each other until he suddenly texted her the night before attic-gate for a perfect date. She’s crazy into him, he seems crazy into her, Jack is busy having a subplot that goes absolutely nowhere. Ellen has to pee a bunch of times. I wait with bated breath for either joke or plot.
And then suddenly, during a conversation about their past, Ellen and Ben realise they grew up in the same place. At which point Ellen announces that she remembers him now, and he’s a total arsehole!
Fucking finally! I was on the edge of my seat. What dramatic break-up story happened here? Did he promise to run away with her and never appear? Cheat on her? Say something truly terrible?
He ghosted her on MSM ten years ago.
They never even met in person.
And (forgive me for spoiling the plot here) it turns out it wasn’t even Ben, in a ‘twist’ ending one could see coming from a mile away and has absolutely nothing to do with that bit where he semi-ghosted Alex. That detail was just included to be a faintly pink herring, I guess. They get out of the attic. He keeps dating Alex.
Look, I tend to switch between hard sci-fi, political fantasy and contemporary romance, and of the three contemporary romance is always going to have the fluffier problems. But these people? They have no problems. Oh, Ellen is worried she might have said mildly awkward in front of her boss at the CBD Tampon start-up, and Jack is feeling a little bit lonely in London, and Alex feels a slightly embarrassed by her civil service co-workers and really hopes this thing with Ben works out. Problems so slight that they could at best sustain three minutes of pub conversation, and even then only in the hands of a talented raconteur or the absurdly self-obsessed. 378 pages? Jesus wept.
It’s frustrating, reading this book. You can see the bones of a good idea for a novel in there. The desperation of the four of them, the wacky antics they might get up to trying to get out. The pressure-cooker tension building and building. Simmering grudges and old fights coming to the fore between Alex and Ellen, a millennial Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? full of absurd declarations and emotional clawing. Even the slightness of Ellen’s gripe with Ben could have become part of the joke. Instead we have this; a book where three people have a conversation that makes them slightly uncomfortable, while a fourth checks Twitter.
So much for the rom, but what of the com? There’s honestly not much to say here. If Phoebe Luckhurst did attempt any actual jokes, they flew under my radar. At any moment where there could be humour, Luckhurst dispenses of it with the ruthless efficiency of a kitten-drowner. There there, amusing-example-of-human-folly. Just stay under till the bubbles stop.
I ‘like’ Alex, Ellen and Ben, in that they’re fine. Nice, even. If they were real, I’d probably spend a happy twenty minutes chatting to them at a party before I left to find some people I actually clicked with. But if they told me this story? In the words of my braver self, the one who doesn’t just rictus-grin it through fifteen-minute recounting of someone’s sister’s break-up – I’m sorry, I just don’t give a fuck.
(Oh, the Jack subplot? Words cannot convey my fucking exhaustion. Don’t. Just don’t.)
September 20, 2021
When housemates Ellen, Jack and Alexa get stuck in their attic while their house is flooding downstairs, they have several problems to try and overcome - including the awkwardness of also being stuck with Alexa's fling from the night before Ben. Whom Ellen is convinced she knows from somewhere.
This book is definitely one for anyone who can describe themselves as a millennial. Those who grew up in the 90s and everything they included from teen discos, to late nights on MSN Messenger. Not to mention growing up to increasing rent prices, and being happy with anywhere you end up even if it means dealing with a terrible landlord.
The Lock In was laugh out loud funny with a perfect blend of characters and personalities that when all stuck in one place for hours brought out the worst and best in each other. I wasn't sure going in how engaged I would be with this entire book, and I hoped the plot line of being stuck in this one room wouldn't get boring, fast, like I feared but the story was well-paced and engaging enough I never stopped to feel anything but thoroughly entertained.
I do feel like maybe we didn't get everything from the characters the way I would have liked, and almost skimmed the surface of who they all were. I would have loved to have spent more time with Jack and learned more about him and his background, but what we did get with him in this book, I enjoyed. I would love Polly Lockhurst to included these characters in other books as a fun Easter Egg - it would be nice to see them pop up on occasion and see how they're doing.
This book is definitely one for anyone who can describe themselves as a millennial. Those who grew up in the 90s and everything they included from teen discos, to late nights on MSN Messenger. Not to mention growing up to increasing rent prices, and being happy with anywhere you end up even if it means dealing with a terrible landlord.
The Lock In was laugh out loud funny with a perfect blend of characters and personalities that when all stuck in one place for hours brought out the worst and best in each other. I wasn't sure going in how engaged I would be with this entire book, and I hoped the plot line of being stuck in this one room wouldn't get boring, fast, like I feared but the story was well-paced and engaging enough I never stopped to feel anything but thoroughly entertained.
I do feel like maybe we didn't get everything from the characters the way I would have liked, and almost skimmed the surface of who they all were. I would have loved to have spent more time with Jack and learned more about him and his background, but what we did get with him in this book, I enjoyed. I would love Polly Lockhurst to included these characters in other books as a fun Easter Egg - it would be nice to see them pop up on occasion and see how they're doing.
July 8, 2021
This was quite an unusual book but I enjoyed it very much. It was funny and very light-hearted. What a change to read something different. More please. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.
January 23, 2022
Lost me at the part when Ellen somehow thought the water mains would be in the attic which was only about page 5 and then it just mostly plateaued in plot line from there. Oh also, I hated the font the book was published in…
December 30, 2022
Lighthearted, easy read. Was entertaining and funny to read about house mates living in London stuck in the attic. The ending did drag on though which made it a bit boring towards the end but it had a wholesome ending.
July 21, 2021
3.5 rounded to 4
An easy to read, fun story with engaging characters and lots of humour. I liked the multi point of view telling and felt that the 4 characters were interesting enough to keep the story alive and moving along with just the attic setting.
An easy to read, fun story with engaging characters and lots of humour. I liked the multi point of view telling and felt that the 4 characters were interesting enough to keep the story alive and moving along with just the attic setting.
September 5, 2023
Was kinda fun, but the whole going viral thing was super unrealistic
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 17, 2023
i don't believe in cruelty towards authors so i shall stay silent..
April 18, 2025
i skim read the last 150 pages of this book i’ll be honest. It started off good but the more it progressed the shitter it got
December 19, 2021
I persevered with this book as it wasn't what I would usually read. However I found it quite boring and the characters shallow.
July 3, 2021
“Three flatmates. Two best friends. One old flame. And a very stuck door…” - cover tag line.
My thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph and Penguin Random House U.K. Audio for an eARC and a review copy of the unabridged audiobook edition, via NetGalley, of ‘The Lock In’ by Phoebe Luckhurst in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook is narrated by Remmie Milner with a running time of 10 hours, 11 minutes at 1x speed.
Before reading this I had wondered if it was about someone with agoraphobia, the pandemic, an escape room or a locked room mystery. Yet none of these speculations were right.
‘The Lock In’ is about three London housemates: Ellen, Alexa, and Jack, who with Ben, Alexa’s overnight guest, get themselves accidentally trapped in the attic of their rented house. Oops!
While they seek to find a way out including trying to attract a passerby’s attention, Jack gets an intermittent signal on his phone and posts of their dilemma on Twitter. It goes viral with amusing results.
Meanwhile, as the hours tick by Ellen, who is nursing a massive hangover, has the horrible realisation that Ben, her best friend’s new love interest, is someone from her past. Ben doesn’t seem to recognise her making things very awkward.
Having left the hijinks of my singleton house sharing days in South London long behind, the characters and situations didn’t particularly resonate with me though I still found it a pleasant romantic comedy that provided a few hours of pure escapism.
With respect to the audiobook edition, Remmie Milner has a beautiful, clear voice and she moved through the various characters with ease. One small issue is that sometimes when the name ‘Alexa’ was said it served to wake up my Alexa AI, usually with just a ping though sometimes I received a query or comment from Alexa in response.
Overall, a frothy and light-hearted novel that is perfect for summertime reading.
My thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph and Penguin Random House U.K. Audio for an eARC and a review copy of the unabridged audiobook edition, via NetGalley, of ‘The Lock In’ by Phoebe Luckhurst in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook is narrated by Remmie Milner with a running time of 10 hours, 11 minutes at 1x speed.
Before reading this I had wondered if it was about someone with agoraphobia, the pandemic, an escape room or a locked room mystery. Yet none of these speculations were right.
‘The Lock In’ is about three London housemates: Ellen, Alexa, and Jack, who with Ben, Alexa’s overnight guest, get themselves accidentally trapped in the attic of their rented house. Oops!
While they seek to find a way out including trying to attract a passerby’s attention, Jack gets an intermittent signal on his phone and posts of their dilemma on Twitter. It goes viral with amusing results.
Meanwhile, as the hours tick by Ellen, who is nursing a massive hangover, has the horrible realisation that Ben, her best friend’s new love interest, is someone from her past. Ben doesn’t seem to recognise her making things very awkward.
Having left the hijinks of my singleton house sharing days in South London long behind, the characters and situations didn’t particularly resonate with me though I still found it a pleasant romantic comedy that provided a few hours of pure escapism.
With respect to the audiobook edition, Remmie Milner has a beautiful, clear voice and she moved through the various characters with ease. One small issue is that sometimes when the name ‘Alexa’ was said it served to wake up my Alexa AI, usually with just a ping though sometimes I received a query or comment from Alexa in response.
Overall, a frothy and light-hearted novel that is perfect for summertime reading.
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