Today I am so pleased to welcome you to my stop on the blog tour for The Lock In, a brilliant and funny romantic comedy and one of my most anticipated reads of 2021, I can tell you I wasn’t disappointed! I just want to say a big thank you to Sriya Varadharajan for a chance to be a part of this blog tour and for a copy of the book, I really did bug her about it as I was so keen to read this and she was so kind to give me a chance to read this (amazing lady!). I hope you like my review below and please do check out the previous stops on the tour for this book (I’m the last stop!). Oh and the book is currently available in digital and audiobook format to buy with the hardback being released on the 22nd July! 😀
Title: The Lock In
Author: Phoebe Luckhurst
Publisher: Penguin Michael Joseph
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Humour
Book format: Pre-release proof copy
Sweet Strawberries: 
Description: Ellen and Alexa have survived hangovers, dodgy landlords and most of their twenties together.
But can they survive this?
While nursing The Hangover from Hell, a flooded kitchen leads best friends Ellen and Alexa, and hapless housemate Jack, into their attic to turn off the water supply.
But when Ben – Alexa’s date from the night before – walks in, the door slams, the handle breaks and all four are trapped.
Cue the Worst Ever morning-after-the-night-before.
As the hours tick by, Ellen nurses her sore head and watches as her best friend falls for this handsome stranger.
Only for a horrifying realization to hit. She is sure she knows Ben from somewhere.
Frantically searching her memories, Ellen pieces together exactly how they’ve met before.
Is Ben really who she thinks he is?
And, most importantly, what on earth is she going to do about it . . .
This is a hilarious story of housemates and hangovers and friendship and dating as four twenty-somethings discover what The Worst morning-after-the-night-before really looks like.
*Free copy provided by publsher for review…
Review: After a long night out drinking Ellen wakes up to find the kitchen and downstairs of her shared house flooding. Groggy and panicking she tries to find a way to turn off the water and searches in the attic. Her housemates Jack and Alexa, soon join her in the attic to find out what’s going on, but when Alexa’s date from last night, Ben, also joins them he accidently breaks the door, locking them inside. The four of them trapped while Ellen nurses a hangover and needs the loo is bad enough, but when she realises she knows Ben from somewhere, things get much worse.
This is such a good story that made me laugh and enjoy it from the first pages. When Ellen and the others get stuck in the attic with only one phone, Jack’s, which has no signal, the four of them resign to waiting until someone can somehow rescue them. I like what happens with all of the characters and how silly the situation ends up being. The story is told in the thrid person perspective but switches between the different characters, Ellen, Jack and Alexa frequently with each chapter. While Ellen at first struggles with her hangover and her need for a wee, Alexa and Ben are happy in each others company, and meanwhile Jack struggles to try and get a phone signal. As the four of them chat we’re given some back stories into each of their pasts and Ellen soon finds out that she might know Ben from somewhere a long time ago.
I don’t want to give away what happens but the story is a mixture of silly and funny moments while also having some drama thrown in later when Ellen ends up remembering who Ben is. I like what happens with Jack’s chapters especially when things get interesting with him on twitter. At times Jack’s story and character ends up seeming like a secondary character compared to Ellen and Alexa but I like what happens with him overall and I especially enjoyed how things ended in the last chapter in particular. Alexa and Ellen’s stories are interesting, especially when Ellen remembers and things get interesting, and a little weird, with Ben. I liked the drama it created although unfortunately I did kind of manage to predict something that’s reviealed at the end, a few chapters before it was actually mentioned. This didn’t bother me much though as I just enjoyed how silly the story was and how things finished for everyone overall in the end!
I really enjoyed the way this book was written and some of the descriptions made me laugh, especially at the start of the book when the four are discovering things in the attic and I even enjoyed the reoccurring description of the mouse which made me smile! The story has a few uses of the f and s swear words but it’s very infrequent and contains nothing else I would consider upsetting. In fact the whole story is just a feel-good comedy which ends in a good and satisfying way.
I know I may be a bit biased, having been so eager to read this book for months after managing to read a short extract of it last year, but this book really didn’t disappoint and I have loved reading it. The story kept me turning the pages, eager to find out what would happen next, and I just love the fact that it was so fun and easy to read! I think I also enjoyed the fact that I actually know the area it’s set in as well as the area that a backstory was set in too which somehow made it even more interesting and fun for me personally! Overall I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to read a fun romantic comedy that will put a smile on your face! It’s certainly a book I plan on re-reading and I look forward to, hopefully, more great books like this one from this author too! 🙂
–The Lock In is available now in digital and audiobook and the hardback is released on the 22nd July 2021!
What do you think of this book? Do you like romantic comedy stories? Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂
The Strawberry Post 