Thanks to NetGalley for the arc! I really loved this book, I read it in one sitting. The narrator is Stella, attorney guardian at Leitem, which is an attorney that represent children in custody cases. The murder mystery is surrounding a nanny named Tina, who Fell out of a window/was pushed. The nannies charge was rose, a nine-year-old girl who now doesn’t speak at all. Father, Ian, was having an affair with Tina and she was pregnant with his child at the time of her death. This book has some twists and turns, there’s a secondary mystery about Stella‘s mom and how she died. I found the characters to be a little one-sided, but in general, they were flawed yet likable. If you like thrillers and mysteries, this would be a great book for you.

Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney that works with children, but usually never under age 13 due to her difficult childhood. Her mentor, Charles, a judge, recommends that she takes the case of Rose Barclays, a 9 year old that witnessed the horrible death of her nanny after she fell to her death from a window of the family mansion and is now mute. Rose's parents, Ian and Beth are going through a divorce and it is up to Stella to determine the best custody arrangement. In order to do this, she must spend a lot of time with the Barclays and Harriet, Ian's mother/Rose's grandmother because she has her own wing in the mansion.

Stella quickly realizes all is not as it seems and everyone has something to hide. She witnesses some disturbing acts by Rose and grows increasingly concerned about what is going on at the Barclay house once she realizes there is absolutely no glass anywhere in the house.

Soon, strange things began to happen and Stella is worried about her safety. She sees the parallels between Rose and her own childhood and is forced to deal with the past and why Charles thought this would be a good case for her. The story is told in first person by Stella with some flashbacks/memories to help us learn about Stella's trauma. The book is not long, but it is slow with a tremendous amount of background, digging into the Barclay's and interviewing anyone that came in contact with Rose, as well as the side story of Stella's past and her current disintegrating marriage and possible new romance. Also many mundane details and descriptions bog the story down--I don't need to know about placing multi-grain bread in the toaster!!

It is a whodunit and there are plenty of red herrings to push you in one direction but once the mystery is solved, it is not what you think. The other "mystery" of her past was super obvious and I don't know that I really needed that for the story to work. Not a bad book but nothing mind blowing or earth shattering. Three stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Whether alone or along with Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen is one of those authors who consistently writes a good thriller. House of Glass is a high stakes, whodunit that had me questioning everyone. I found myself incapable of putting this one down until the twist was revealed. I had so much fun reading House of Glass and I think a lot of thriller fans will too.

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen will be available on August 8. Many thanks to St Martins Press and NetGalley for the gifted e-arc!

Simple summary: Best Interest Attorney (BIA) Stella Hudson takes on the case of Rose Barclay, a nine-year-old with traumatic mutism following the death of her nanny, Tina. Was it a terrible accident or murder? Rose can't say, though she has developed an unnerving habit of collecting sharp objects. Amid the contentious divorce of her wealthy parents, Rose needs Stella's help deciding in whose custody she'll be best suited. But the more she digs deeper into the family, the more Stella begins to feel as though Tina might not be the only casualty in their house. Stella herself might be next.

I enjoyed this book for the most part, as I have of the author's others, but it was far from my favorite. There were a lot of things that left me either confused or just annoyed.

First is the matter of Stella herself. I found the job as a BIA to be interesting, as lawyers are often a favorite pick of main characters' careers, but I haven't come across this type. I may like to do a little more research into this field as it seemed a little farfetched in this context (I know, I know; it's fiction). My understanding is that the parents had a burden of proof to show who would be the most appropriate custodian. But the Barclays treat Stella like an intrusion, show very little fight for Rose, and Stella herself acts like a social worker more than anything else. I had to remind myself that she's in law, and supposedly a sharp mind in the field. But she's extremely susceptible to manipulation, seems incredibly naïve and makes terrible decisions only to drive the plot forward.

Stella's relationship with Charles is a bit sketchy, but I suppose that's subjective; it was fleshed out and I thought the author connected the pieces of Stella's past and present nicely.

The pacing wasn't bad, but I did feel things dragging as the book went on. I missed having more of Rose in the book. I felt much was spent trying to get us to suspect her, and I suppose not much could be done with a girl suffering from the type of mutism she was, but we're given snippets of her actions which are all hastily explained in epilogue form. I would have loved some chapters from her voice. And for a woman who basically pined over her ex husband and seemed devastated by her divorce and his new girlfriend, Stella's "OMG I think I like girls!" eighty percent of the way though the book comes way out of left field and really did nothing to add to the plot. But it did add to unnecessary length and feels gimmicky, like someone trying to check off a box to claim their book has representation.

Overall, even with these comments, this was a fairly solid read for me. I got through eagerly and quickly. And though it's not my favorite from the author, I'm certainly looking forward to more from her.

Thanks so much to St. Martin's Press for the invite to read and review House of Glass through NetGalley.

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen

* Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for providing the ebook in exchange of a honest review.

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I liked all the books written by Sarah Pekkanen with Greer Hendrick. I was curious about this one and I wasn't dissapointed. The plot just kept me alert all the way to the end and to be honest, I wasn't expecting the end. I really like that we follow the main caracter in her job as well as her own struggles about her past. Highly recommend it if you like domestic thriller involving children.

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Okay, Sarah. You roped me in from the beginning in this ultimate tale of whodunit. I believed different characters were guilty at different times, then you hit me with a shocking twist! This is how to keep readers intrigued in a psychological thriller. I loved the background into Stella’s own traumatic past and being able to emotionally connect with her as she finally dove into her mother’s cold case.

I won’t give much of a synopsis here to avoid spoilers. But there’s a rich family with an overbearing grandma rallying to protect a little girl with traumatic mutism.
A dead nanny that was pregnant with the dad’s baby.
A best interest attorney diving into the intricate details of this family to determine who gains custody of this traumatized little girl in the divorce.
A whole lot of emotions, mystery, trauma, secrets, and lies.

Don’t skip this one!

I've liked this author from reading Gone Tonight. This book definitely kept me hooked throughout and I couldnt put it down. I just didn't care for how it ended up and how quickly everything wrapped up. But I'll definitely read another book by thos author

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for sending me an ARC of House of Glass in exchange for an honest review. The NetGalley description of the book tells you everything you need to know about the setup, so I’ll move straight to my thoughts.

House of Glass is a solid domestic thriller. Everyone living in the Barclay’s home seems to be a suspect in the nanny’s fatal fall, including 9-year-old Rose. As a result, every situation and conversation is tense, especially as Stella slowly comes to believe she may also be in danger. Stella is a good character with an interesting backstory, though I thought there were places in the back half of the book that dragged a little bit due to focusing a bit too much on Stella’s past. Rose is an especially creepy character, opaque due to her traumatic mutism yet plainly intelligent and obsessed with collecting sharp objects. The climax of the story has some nice cat-and-mouse action and a clever resolution. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Recommended.

I received an arc from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

The suspense in this book was very on point and had me guessing from beginning to end. Stella came from tragedy and would definitely understand her role with Rose but will Rose accept Stella after what she has seen and heard?

Hang on to your seat because Stella is thrown into a world where not all is as it seems and she has to figure it out for Rose.

Great read but I felt the little romance hint at the end was totally unnecessary but the book was great all the same.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy, in exchange for an honest review.

This was a slow burn mystery about an attorney evaluating a custody situation with a young mute girl who’s nanny just died. There are parallels between the young girl, Rose, and the main protagonist, Stella, who lost her mother as a young child.

This one had me guessing but also felt a little long. I could have done without all of Stella’s trauma background and the random love interest…? LOL. Overall it kept me reading, but finishing up and things feel a little too nicely wrapped up.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this digital book in exchange for an honest review.
Sarah Pekkanen’s newest book does not disappoint! This psychological thriller keeps you on your toes and will have you second guessing everything you read. There are twists and turns between suspects every chapter and the motives of each do not make it easier to determine who has committed the murder.

Pekkanen always have titillating novels and House of Glass is no expecting. I rate this book a 4.5 rounded down to a 4. While I did throughly enjoy this book and devour it within a few days, I found some of the subplots to be a bit predictable. Between the Charles storyline and the constant finger-pointing to one suspect(which happens to be a child and I also don’t love that), I found myself wanted to be a bit more surprised. I feel the end of the novel was slightly rushed and I wish there was more details of the aftermath of the incidents. Overall, this book is great and I recommend to any psychological thriller and Pekkanen fans!

It’s a cliche to say this…but I couldn’t put this book down. I am so grateful to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this new Sarah Pekkanen book for review. I read a lot of thrillers and mysteries, which means that I’ve reached a point where I can usually guess the twists and turns of a story before they’re revealed to the reader. This book kept me guessing! It was so refreshing to have that I-need-to-keep-reading-to-figure-out-what’s-going-to-happen feeling. The characters had histories and issues and multiple stories played out in the book in an organic way that did not feel choppy or confusing. I loved this book!

A compelling thriller that had me flipping through the pages very fast, couldn't wait to see what was revealed. Well developed characters, palable tension and unexpected twist that you don't see coming.

Was the nanny murdered or did she fall to her death?

A nanny has fallen out of a third story window at the Barclay's. How did this happen? Was it an accident or did someone do it? On the outside they were the perfect family with the perfect life but what secrets were they hiding on the inside. Just for starters the father was having an affair with the nanny, the dead nanny. What a great fast paced whodunit thriller. I loved this book, this is my first read from this author and definitely won't be my last. This book will keep you guessing the whole time. At one point I thought I had it figured out, I did not. If life didn't get in the way I would have had this book done in one sitting I didn't want to put it down. If I had one small complaint about this book it would be that it started off a little slow but it didn't last for long. If you love fast paced twisty thrillers then pick this one up you won't regret it.

HOLY SHEESH! This was a fab and propulsive read. I have loved every book I have read by Sarah, her and Greer are my fave Author Duo, I knew I needed to read this one. It was dark, it was fast and it kept me guessing until the end. It was explosive and left me wanting more. Amazing book!

A nanny has fallen to her death out of a window at the Barclay's residence. The nanny who was having an affair with the dad.

Was Tina, the nanny murdered or was this an accident?

I love a good whodunit thriller and this book was creepy and suspenseful!

I did find this a bit slow, but the tension was there from the very beginning and Rose gave me the creeps- a traumatized mute girl who has a habit of collecting sharp objects.

This story will keep you guessing until the very end!

Thanks Netgalley and St. Martins Press for this eARC

As a massive Sarah Pekkanen fan I was more than excited when I found out her new novel would be arriving in late summer 2024. House of Glass doesn’t disappoint and like all her other titles it kept me engaged from beginning to end. Rose is perfectly terrifying, Harriet’ the classic “worried Grandmother”, Stella the protector and rockstar attorney there to figure it all out and save the day.. I really don’t want to give away any spoilers so I am leaving this short and sweet with the advice Read This Book!!
Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC.

This book was such a great fast paced thriller! I could not put it down. It had me guessing the whole time and thinking I had it figured out which I did not. Would highly recommend this one to any thriller lover!

The house of glass left me guessing on the outcome until the very end. The characters were all very interesting and well written. The story was present day with the lead character Stella who is a court appointed best interest attorney. Her client, Rose is a child who has suffered traumatic mutism after witnessing her nanny’s death. This is something that Stella also experienced as a child following witnessing her mother’s death. We also meet Rose’s parents who are going through a divorce and her grandmother that lives with them too. Stella has to spend time with the family and recommend a future for Rose given her parent’s impending divorce. It’s my first time reading a Sarah Pekkanen book and I really enjoyed it.

This book was a blast to read! Read it in a single sitting. This is a story that keeps you guessing. All the characters are suspects with motive to kill the family nanny. As with many thrillers the sub plot didn’t really captivate me and was a chore to get through, the final 15% was a page turner! Super fun read.