I feel mean saying it but honestly I just didn't get it.
I didn't really find the circumstances quirky or funny or that there was much of a storyline beyond the obvious and the rest was slow & very predictable.
The thing I did like was it reminded me very much of the big houseshare I lived in when at university and that kind of student house vibe, this brought some nostalgia as did the MSN storyline, so that was amusing.

I was sold on the concept of The Lock In straight away; I love a locked in narrative! The writing style was light and comical and all of the characters were likeable. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and their history whilst still moving forward with the plot and loved the friendship that Ellen and Alexa had. Jack was a little awkward and cringe, bless him, but very endearing.

I think my favourite part of the book was how relatable it was. The MSN chat spoke to my inner 16 year old, which made me very nostalgic!

The Lock In is a fun, relatable read, perfect for summer!

This was a really fun, quick, easy read. Not much happens but there are enough backstories and flashbacks to keep this entertaining.

For a twenty something living in London the characters were all very relatable - we’ve all had a landlord like Elias at some point in our lives..

For a light hearted quick Sunday afternoon read I’d definitely recommend.

I found The Lock In a quick and easy read. It was a fun book with an interesting story. It's not my normal genre but it was nice for a change.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

This is a light hearted fun read.

Three London flat mates and an internet date find themselves having the Saturday morning they DON’T want when they inadvertently find themselves locked in the attic of their rented home, while downstairs their kitchen floods.

The only signal to the outside world is a sporadic connection to Twitter which one of the flat mates uses to tell the world of their predicament....

As the flatmates wait out a rescue, we flit back in time to discover the events leading them to this point and discover some alarming coincidences.

This was a great little romp of a Rom com, which will be a perfect beach read, good escapism! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This started quite slowly for me and I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy it but it then suddenly picked up somehow and I found myself really engaged. It’s cleverly written and the characters are great. Would recommend.

This Book is about three flatmates plus a date who get stuck in the loft after there kitchen floods and the handle comes off the door ,

Will they get out and if so who by ?

I did like this book

With thanks to netgalley & publisher for the arc of this book in exchange for this honest review

Locked in a loft mixed with the back story of the characters. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

This started really well and introduced the characters and situation really well, I couldn’t quite understand why they had access to the loft considering it’s full of their tyrannical landlords stuff however it certainly added to the ambience. The characters were quite a mismatch and the joy in Jack from the reaction to his tweets was fab and the fact they were so badly thought out was what made them work so well. I enjoyed the time together when they were locked in but the aftermath was a bit of a let down, for me it should have been 90% lock in and 10% tying up the story or 50-50 to develop it more after. Overall though this is a fun relaxing read, 7/10

What would you do if you were locked in a stuffy attic, hungover, with three kidults and a dodgy Hinge date while a flood raged in the house below? Such is the stuff of nightmares, but Phoebe Luckhurst has turned it into a charming locked-room meets romcom in The Lock In.
A tale for our time, The Lock In is a feel-good read full of wit and intelligence. The bizarre comedy of errors that leads to Alexa, Ellen and Jack (and Ben) getting stuck in the dusty loft occurs early on and I was wondering how on earth Phoebe L was going to hold my attention for the remaining 80% of the story? But she did, in a sleight of hand that would make David Blaine do a double-take.
The action unfolds alongside characters’ backstories, allowing the plot to roll with points of mystery and comedy that really grabbed my interest. I’m not usually a fan of this kind of story-spinning but the joke was truly on me, and I read the final 60% of the book in one sitting.
It helps that the situations are all too cringeworthily familiar. The bitchy slumlord, working for peanuts, looking for love, the housing crisis, the idea of community, nights out…are all covered with humour and warmth. The characters have been lovingly crafted in three dimensions, warts and all. There’s an energy that comes from the liminal space they occupy, and that their decisions are not all going to turn out for the best. I liked, especially, the way the character Jack developed (much as he would in real life). We meet a loner oddball who grows into a, well, not-so-lonely eccentric.
Hats off to the author for this delightful little real-life drama. If you liked ‘The Flatshare’ by Beth O’Leary, Daisy Alderton’s ‘Ghosts’ or ‘So happy it hurts’ by Anneliese MacKintosh, then this will be right up your street. Thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for the eARC from NetGalley UK.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me access to an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Lock In was exactly as I’d expected it to be, a super chill and easy to read contemporary. If you’re looking for something super simple with some fun twists and nostalgia in there too then I’d definitely recommend! This is the story of Ellen, Alexa, Jack and Ben who get trapped in an attic whilst a few floors below them the kitchen is flooding and it’s as crazy as you’d expect.

I will say that it’s quite a slow plot in the middle although the nostalgic aspects like chats about MSN and school life kept me going with it and I was too curious to find out what happened to let it stop me! It’s definitely a super chill read with nothing super intense or life changing but I’m so happy to have read it because it’s made me realise I definitely love reading about characters in their twenties! Although I think it’s the kind of thing I’d have loved as a teen before I became more obsessed with fantasy. If you love contemporary then this will 100% be one for you!

Reread: ❌
Recommend: ✅ (definitely if contemporary is your thing!)

London landlords, eh? To escape the wrath of their landlord Elias, a group of young Londoners - Ella, Alexa and Jack, and one of their Hinge dates - get stuck in an attic. Evening Standard journalist Phoebe Luckhurst serves up a delightfully light first novel that'll make your lockdowns look bearable! Thanks to Michael Joseph and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

An fun premise, however it did get a little old too quickly and I felt that the character development was lacking at times. It was humorous at times and overall an enjoyable read, however I was hoping for a little more from this.

An interesting idea for a story when 3 housemates, plus a date that stayed overnight, get stuck in the attic of the house they live in! It all starts with a flood in the kitchen and in not knowing where the stop cock is, Ellen decides to look in the attic and calls on her fellow housemates to help her! Ben, the overnight stay, accidentally shuts the door and the handle drops off, leaving them marooned in the attic, attempting to attract the attention of any passers by through the skylight!
It is a good exploration of their characters as we examine the new relationship between Alexa and Ben, and also the old online relationship that Ellen believes she had with Ben as a teenager as they were both from the same part of Essex! In the midst of this, Jack, an employee of GreenGenie and a Human Bean (love it!) is trying to break into the social media team at work by tweeting about their predicament, unbeknown to the other housemates!

A funny, witty tale that gets better the more you read on!

I think this is an ideal comedy for twenty-somethings. There were parts that I really enjoyed, but some of it I just couldn't relate to. I think it is wrongly categorised as romance, it does have a romantic side plot, but it is far from the centre of the story. Despite it not being my favourite read this year, I did read it to the end and laughed out loud at some parts.
Thanks to Michael Joseph and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Meet housemates Ellen, Alexa and Jack. They're broke. They're lonely. They're hungover. And things are about to go from bad to worse . . .

Whilst nursing The Hangover from Hell, Ellen stumbles downstairs to discover the kitchen slowly filling with water.

Panic quickly sets in, and the three flatmates find themselves in the attic desperately attempting to switch off the water supply. But when Ben, Alexa's Hinge date from the night before, walks in, the door slams, the handle breaks, and all four of them are trapped.

As the long hours tick by, Ellen nurses her sore head whilst Ben and Alexa really get to know each other, and Jack plans an unorthodox rescue mission.

But soon Ellen wonders if Ben really is a stranger after all. She is sure she knows him from somewhere . . .

Will these housemates ever get out of this attic? Will they survive the wrath of Elias The Evil Landlord? And will Jack please stop live-tweeting this whole fiasco?

Thank you to Netgalley and Michael Joseph for an early copy of this book in return for a honest review.

I was really looking forward to reading this book and don't get me wrong, parts of it are hysterical...but once the point of the story is resolved the book just kind of ends! I would have been more than happy to read on further about the characters and what happens to them next however there is not enough of this in the book.

An enjoyable read and I will look out for the author's name again. Would recommend for fans of Hannah Doyle or Mhairi McFarlane.

The story is about three twenty somethings who get stuck in the attic of their rented house whilst the lower floor is flooding due to a burst pipe. One of them has spent the night with her online date and he’s there too.

I didn’t enjoy it at all. Let me say that it may be an age thing and maybe if you are a twenty something or a teenager you might just enjoy it.......although I don’t feel confident about that statement at all!

Nothing much happened except and it was all tedious flashbacks to teenage years on MSN!

I got to the end because I hate giving up but feel like I’ve wasted a lot of my time!

My thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy in return for what is clearly an unedited review.

This one took a little while for me to get into, but about 1/3 in I really started to enjoy. cheeky, fun and nostalgic if you are a late 20s/early 30s reader. MSN chats and usernames completely related to me and I really started to enjoy.
Did like Jack checking his twitter every now and then and shaming his housemates.
The pre-lock in scenes didnt add much for me, but I liked the crazy landlord.
A light hearted read with some great moments.

Waking up with a hangover in their shared house, and discovering a huge leak in the kitchen, Ellie panics and tries to find out how to stop the water. She finds herself in the attic, and one by one her housemates and boyfriend join her. An accidental gust of wind slams the attic door shut. the door handle falls off and = bam - 4 of them are stuck in a dusty cramped attic where noone knows they are there.
Funny, entertaining, well plotted. One of the plot lines was quite predictable but great fun nonetheless

4/5 stars
thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read it

How anyone can write a book about 3 housemates and a hinge date stuck in an attic for hours, and somehow make it a page-turner is very impressive. I found myself chuckling out loud to myself at times and also cringing at other times. A perfect read that sucks you in and makes you feel a part of the story, almost as if you're the 4th housemate stuck in the attic with them.