I struggled through the first half of this book, skimming through excess self talk and description. It got a little better for awhile, but the final flip of the script totally turned me off. Clever surprises often help sell books, but in this case, I found the premise to be unbelievable and ridiculous. And, by that time in the story, I really didn't care because the characters held little to no interest for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance read.

This book was so deep and exceeded all my expectations. What an enjoyable mystery that kept me guessing and guessing. I loved the writing style and felt a strong connection to the characters.

This book ended up surprising me. For most of it, it felt like a pretty standard mystery, damaged detective with a painful past, rich family with secret, better written than some. then came the twist and yes i saw how they were setting it up and appreciated the skill that that took.

A great, insightful look into a powerful, yet dysfunctional family where years of secret sexual abuse holds power over all the members. Even as the children grow old enough to leave, an invisible chain seems to hold them under the iron fist of their father. However, every action has an ultimate reaction and this perpetrator is about to experience a monumental reaction from a most unlikely source.

This is a dark and disturbing, slow-burning read with an interesting (albeit far-fetched) twist at the end. However, I had a very hard time connecting with the characters or really feeling much of anything for any of them, except for maybe some disdain. And the going back and forth with the timeline made it somewhat confusing and distracting.

Maybe it's just a case of it not being the right time or me being in the wrong state of mind, but this was not a book I constantly thought about or looked forward to picking up.

Twisty plot with slightly overdramatic writing. But that's just one opinion. Maybe it was because I sat on for too long, not having the chance to read it in one sitting.

Loved the cover design.

Girls of Glass# NetGalley#
Brianna Labuskes

Wow! This was a fantastic read. I never could have guessed the final direction it would take. It is one of the best psychological thrillers that I have read. The main characters Alice, Charlotte and Trudy were all very well thought out and I was very sympathetic to each of these characters. Alice, the lead detective on the case, Charlotte the mother who everyone suspected, and Trudy the niece who was also a victim were very complex characters and it was hard to sort out which direction the story was going. I was trying to sort it all out right up to the very end and it took me totally by surprise. The title Girls of Glass was a very telling name, one that only reveals itself when reading. I totally recommend this book to all who love a good psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the end. I see a big future for Labuskes. A solid 5 stars.

When you read as many books with varied plots as I end up doing in a single year, it is hard to surprised by the turns a plot might take. You anticipate the possible discrepancies in the narration by all the main characters and sometimes revel in being proved right and sometimes be disappointed by it.

Sometimes, like in this case I do not see a lot of the book's story coming until it was too late, and I was surprised more times in this one book than I have been in the recent past in multiple ones!

The story is told in a very random chronological order, moving forwards and backwards around the pivotal point of Ruby Burke's kidnapping. The see-sawing of the times was annoying initially but the ending proved why it was the only way the story could have been told. The beginning also had so many facts that should have been crucial to the outcome of the tale with the revelation of evil living under the guise of genteel local nobility. (All of this is revealed very early on, so I am not providing any spoilers) I say should have because it did not matter here and as the story progresses and things get murkier, it paid to read/listen till the end.It could have been shorter but the length does add to the atmosphere and gets you more invested in all their lives.

Alice Garner and Jo Nakamura are assigned to the case and they spend sleepless nights worrying about all the dead ends. Each person in the Burke family, are dealing independently with the aftermath of the kidnapping. The only reason I was unable to give the full five stars to it was because I could not digest a few things that happen in the tale, and will find it hard to shrug off and resume the reading of another book nonchalantly. It lives up to the thriller genre and for those used to the emotions that come with reading a well written thriller, do give it a go!

First, thank you NetGalley for an advance copy. WOW, WOW, WOW!!! This is an amazing and well written book by Brianna Labuskes. If you are looking to read a book that will have you intrigued and captivated from page one, then Girld of Glass is the book to read. This book was written so well that I was not able to figure out the truth of “who done it” until the reveal. Brianna does a great job of keeping the reader interested in each character, especially, Alice, Trudy and Charlotte. This is a must read!!!!

This book pretty thoroughly covered the ramifications of child sexual abuse. And the pain a mother goes through upon losing a child as well, as a sub plot. I have suffered from dissociative episodes in the past, so the writer got that part pretty accurate. What you go through. How it feels. I have to say at the end I was very surprised. I did not see that one coming!

The elevator pitch:

Female rage is all the rage. A female cop on a case that forces to relive her trauma.

Why I liked it:

First because it's well written with gorgeous descriptive passages, even if the plot is expertly laid out, there is plenty of space for flourishes. Second, you can't help but judge a book by comparison. I recently read The Disappearing by Lori Roy, a very similar book: Based in Florida, a prominent family with a dominant pater familias, it deals with the disappearance of the daughter. But where The Disappearing was heavy-handed, sometimes vague, and tried to stuff too much story in the plot Girls of Glass has way more direction, it's a no fuss, trimmed down, gripping mystery, that uses emotional turmoil for its twists and turns. There is a slew of books, TV shows and movies dealing with female rage these days. What is interesting about this suspense novel is that it plays around with victimhood. The girls in this book are not at all made of glass, it creates that illusion, of them being weak and fragile, all the while offering interesting fully formed characters, that remaine opaque till the end, to then show you they are made of steel.


What it is about:

Detective Alice Garner and her partner Joe Nakamura are tasked to investigate the disappearance of the granddaughter of judge Sterling Burke, one of the more influential men in Florida. After the little girl is found dead, her mother Charlotte becomes the prime suspect. And Alice is confronted with her past: the death of her daughter.

I received this title from netgalley in exchange for my honest review/opinion. Well, definitely didn't see that ending coming. Which is always a great thing when there's a mystery thriller. I enjoyed the characters, dark and detailed. Fast read and thoroughly enjoyed it.

This book had lots of twists and surprising turns!! I love it when a story surprises me at the end as this one did.
Characters were richly developed and easy to love some and hate others.
Lots of twisted family secrets that become unraveled one thread at a time.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

OMG, I should have not started this book when I was on a volunteer project in Guatemala! I had a hard time putting it down when I had activities to do with the program. Loved the pacing. The characters were ones you loved to hate or at least want to shake them and wake them up. There were some great twists along the way. All of the characters are flawed and products of their circumstances and/or upbringing. This will be a great read for those who love detective stories.

Thank you, NetGalley for early access to this book in exchange for an honest feedback.

The story was predictable as I could figure out the truth by the end of the book all by myself. Some of the characters were very good portrayed, but others were just so weak. Honestly, it took me some time to let myself drowned by the story and the action, but in the end, it was worth it. I want to give it a four-star rating, but I feel that something is missing and I cannot figure out what just now. Overall, it is a good book, but not the best of this year.
Maybe I will re-read it in a couple of years.

Girls of Glass is a solid read, beginning with a kidnapping, and following the repercussions on different family members. It also shows the events through the eyes of Detective Alice Garner, who experienced her own tragedy years ago.
Make sure you pay attention, as the book jumps around in the timeline. And be prepared for an ending that will leave you reeling.

Alice is a police officer whose child was kidnapped and killed a few years ago. When she is assigned to work another child kidnapping case, old emotions quickly find their way to the service but Alice refuses to step away from the case. Everyone suspects Charlotte, the mother, but having been through the horrifying experience of being the mother of a missing child, Alice withholds judgment. The story is told in various voices and moves back and forward in time from before the kidnapping to after. This is a really interesting novel and the plot takes a sharp turn in an unexpected direction. The plot twist took away from the credibility of the story for me, but overall, I found it to be a fascinating read.

Girls Of Glass is a suspenseful psychological thriller. I liked some things, such as, the suspense, the pace, so many twists and turns and a shocking end. I disliked the timeline jumping all over the place because that's just confusing. The characters are likeable and unlikable and intriguing. Overall, it's a well written story. The suspense will keep you reading. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really like the different characters perspectives and how the author describes things. All the secrets and lies keep you so sucked in!!

"There was a human need to be known by others. It drove criminals to confession; it withered the souls of those who had no one to be known by."

A very dark drama that simmers with hints of the revelations to come. Secrets and pain that overwhelm and result in the kind of tragedy that should never happen. What a story! Although this is, on one level, a detective novel, it's so much more psychological and domestic noir. It starts out with a kidnapping and ends with a shocker. NO SPOILERS.

The Burkes are St. Petersburg, Florida, royalty. The patriarch is Judge Sterling Burke who has complete control over his 2 daughters, Charlotte and Mellie, and his granddaughters, Trudy and Ruby. His wife, Hollis, is a cold and calculating jailer, and nothing escapes her notice and scathing punishments. When Ruby is kidnapped and the police are called, it's detectives Alice Garner and her partner, Joe Nakamura, who take point on the investigation.

Three women share the narrative point of view: Alice Garner, a recent transfer from DC to this beach town, she's still grieving after the kidnapping and death of her own 5-year-old daughter, Lila. She's emotional and fragile (and you won't be able to forget that because the author keeps reminding you). She is determined to figure out what is going on behind the Burke's mansion doors and to keep control of this case. Charlotte is the second Burke daughter and she's a bit of a mess with all sorts of psychological issues stemming from her personal situation in the home and the horrible circumstances surrounding her daughter, Ruby. And lastly, there's granddaughter, Trudy, who is only 18 but still has a little bit of strength and rebellion left inside. She adored Ruby and goes to great lengths to uncover what happened. At first it's a bit hard to keep all the characters straight and the shifting time frame with each new chapter, but it quickly falls into a rhythm.

One thing that becomes obvious almost immediately is that the writing is so darn good. The author has a way with a turn of phrase that just jumps off the page. "The Burke women were the snakes who couldn't bit the foot that stepped on them." Wow. And so many more that help with making the characters and their motivations become more clear -- "It had already been her cage. Now it was her prison." I was so torn throughout trying to figure out what really happened to Ruby and who did it and why. Did I connect with the characters? Some more than others but many made decisions and acted in ways that I found hard to understand. The Burke women...well, I wish that the book hadn't ended as it did because I wanted to know the aftermath. The detective due was an interesting pairing as their personalities were night and day and Alice was an enigmatic mess who seemed to want it that way. Very interesting individuals.

So, I really liked this one. It was the first I've read by this author but I intend to look up anything else she's written and delve into that. I like a slow build and surprise. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the e-book ARC to read and review.