Overall a good story, but definitely dragged often and was predictable. The plot twist in Stella’s story did not feel necessary and that added unneeded length to the book. Not a bad thriller by any means, but definitely slow paced.

Appearances are deceiving.

Ian and Beth Barclay would like you to believe that they live a perfect life.

Their nine-year-old daughter, Rose, wants you to look deeper. She wants your empathy. After all, she’s had enough heartbreak to last a lifetime! Not only is she witness to her parents' difficult marriage and divorce, she’s also witnessed the death of her nanny, Tina. It’s no wonder she’s suffering from traumatic mutism.

Now Stella Hudson wants you to pull back the curtains on this perfect facade.

Stella Hudson, the ‘best interest attorney’ allotted to Rose’s case, notices something awry when she investigates Rose’s home life and it leads her to question if the little girl is innocent or guilty.

What’s really going on? You must read to find out!

The eerie atmosphere, unforeseen twists and escalating tension in this story are fantastic! Readers are just spoon-fed enough to get the mind galloping ahead of the plot and surmising why there’s no glass in the house, why the adults in her case are untrustworthy and why Rose collects sharp objects. I loved how Pekkanen slowly placed the puzzle pieces before us and then ramped up the pace as her readers started to assemble the picture. As we get a clearer understanding of what is really going on in the Barclay house, we are left gobsmacked. I can’t imagine the pain and suffering for all involved in deciding custody or placement of a child caught in the middle of their parents’ divorce.

My only disappointment? Being sidetracked by Stella’s past.

Put your ‘oh-this-is-far-fetched’ radar in your back pocket, buckle up and enjoy.

I was gifted this copy by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I'm sorry to say this one just didn't work for me, and I say that as a huge Sarah Pekkanen fan. It was just...disjointed and stilted and didn't pack the punch that her novels usually do. 2.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley, Nolon King and Lauren Street for sending me this ARC!

This book kept me on my toes from the first page. I could not put it down and I want more! If you love Freida McFadden or Verity you’ll love this book! The characters felt so real and it was such a crazy, convoluted story that kept me wanting to cancel plans just to stay in and finish it. I can’t wait to see what more these authors put out.

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen

336 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Release Date: August 6, 2024

Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers, Legal, Mutism

Stella is an attorney assigned as a child advocate in a divorce case. Her young client is nine-year-old Rose Barclay. She has been mute since she saw the death of her nanny, Tina, after falling from a third story window. Her parents, Ian and Beth, argue a lot and Ian’s mother, Harriett, has been living with them after an unsuccessful knee surgery. Stella is conflicted. Everything points to Rose being responsible for Tina’s death. Stella noticed all the glass in the house being replaced with plastic. Was it because Rose was collecting shards of broken glass as weapons. Who could be the next victim? Is Stella getting too close for comfort?

The book has a steady pace, the characters are developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. Excellent writing style with suspense. I was hooked right from the beginning. If you like mysteries, you will enjoy this one.

I really enjoyed this. The twists were hard to guess, the suspense kept building throughout the whole book, and most of the characters seemed well-formed. A few of the twists seemed a little too convenient, but still worked to keep my attention. Overall a really solid read.

House of Glass is bit of a story within a story. We meet Stella, who is an attorney that evaluates custody situations for the best interest of the child during a divorce. Due to her past, she typically takes on older children, but when her mentor/father figure asks her to take on a case with a younger child, Stella is compelled to agree to take this client.

Stella is introduced to her client, Rose, who lives with her mother, father and grandmother at a large estate due to her mother's wealth. Her father has had an affair with Rose's nanny, which started the divorce discussions. However, the nanny has recently fallen out of a window, to her death, under suspicious circumstances but no true suspect. Rose may have witnessed the event, but she is experiencing traumatic mutism and cannot express what happened. Stella is definitely getting odd vibes and the cold shoulder from the adults and is seeing some odd and possibly concerning behavior from Rose. Meanwhile, Stella is battling some of her own demons from her childhood which are starting to resurface, and Stella starts to seek out information on her past.

I enjoyed the pace of the book, and the two main subplots. The author leads you in one direction as we examine Rose's situation and gives a twist at the end that leads to a very different conclusion. Lots of complex relationships in the book that blend together well for a great story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

This was a quick and easy read. I read several of Sarah Pekkanen's books and I find her very easy to read.

In this book, Stella is a lawyer who is tasked with representing a 9 year old girl, Rose, who's parents are in the middle of a divorce. Rose's nanny recently died in the house and after the trauma, Rose has traumatic mutism. Stella is set to investigate who should be awarded full custody of Rose after the divorce and spends time with Rose, her parents, and her paternal grandmother who also live in the house. Stella uncovers that the nanny's death may be foul play and she's suspicious of who it might be.

Throughout the book, I kept going back and forth on who I think did it. I really like when I don't guess correctly or when I keep changing my mind. That happened in this book. I had to wait until the very end to find out who did it!

This dark and twisty thriller left me guessing up until the very end. It was a page-turner for sure!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was received an advanced copy in exchange of my honest review. Stella is a lawyer that determines where a child lives when the parents fight over custody of a child. Her newest case is Rose Barclay. Rose has trauma mutism after the death of the families live in Nanny. It’s up to Stella to not only figure out the past home for Rose is but also which member of the Barclay family killed the nanny Tina. Everyone is lying to Stella and she isn’t sure who is telling the truth. On top of this case Stella is confronting her troubled past. This book was hard to put down and an incredible thriller. It makes you question is the house is haunted or if Rose was the killer herself. The way it unfolds is amazing.

Overall a fun and easy read.

The first few chapters of this book sucked me in. The parallel of Stella’s experience as a child with Rose and trying to piece together who the murderer was made for a fun puzzle.

I felt around halfway through it started to feel repetitive. A lot of coming and going and not a lot of change in the course of the story.

The twist was obvious but the final puzzle pieces coming together was exciting and made me want to keep reading. I will say I thought the ending was a little bizarre, a sorta of quick and choppy way to tie up loose ends.


Thank you NetGalley for giving me this ARC to read. I have read all of Sarah Pekkanen’s books and will continue to do so.

This book was a first for me by this author. I loved the characters. They all made you feel like there were secrets being hidden.

Rose seemed like a very troubled girl the more Stella dug around. Rose was surrounded by family that loved and protected her. There were so many crazy things taking place you couldn't put the book down and you wanted to keep reading. The ending is mind blowing! Definitely recommend this book.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book in return for my honest review.

OK, this story is creepy and haunting, unsettling and sinister. I will never look at glass in the same mindset again, I see it and the danger it could cause in a wholly different light after reading this story. There’s a couple going through a seemingly amicable divorce, still residing in the same massive estate. Except, there was an incident resulting in the death of their Nanny. One glitch, the parents have not agreed on custody, each wants full control of their young daughter. The girl is so traumatized from the nanny’s accident that she’s gone mute. In my very early career I worked for an attorney who was occasionally appointed as a guardian ad litem. It’s an important distinct representation for the interest of the child in divorce proceedings. I appreciated the protagonist character, Stella, and her role. Stella has her own emotional issues and baggage, at times I wondered how she could clearly evaluate, assist and make an unbiased recommendation for the minor child. Of course the parents don’t make it easy, there are always secrets and lies. They are almost too helpful while clearly covering up to hide something or protect someone. To complicate the situation there’s the mother-in-law who also lives in the huge house. Everything keeps circling back to the Nanny, was her death an accident or was she murdered? If only the little girl would speak, does she know what really happened? With so many possibilities I couldn’t settle on a theory, kept me racing to the end with some sharp twists thrown in. I’ve read the author before and highly recommend her books.
An uncorrected digital galley of “House of Glass” by Sarah Pekkanen, published by St. Martin’s Press, expected publication date 08/06/2024, was provided by NetGalley. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without any compensation.

Was the nanny murdered or was her fall just a terrible accident? The parents are getting a divorce and their daughter Rose is mute after the loss of her nanny so Stella is sent to look out for Rose's best interests and decide who she should live with. The problem is everyone in the house is hiding something so it's difficult for Stella to weed through the omissions and lies to come to a conclusion.

I continued to change my mind on what had happened to the nanny and what was going on with Rose until the very end. The author does a great job of creating tension and misdirection while providing multiple possible suspects. I was satisfied with the ending and the way all of the questions were answered. Plus healing and a better future for all of the characters.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Tina, the nanny who cares for 9 year-old Rose either fell or was pushed from her 3rd floor window. Everybody in the household is a plausible suspect. Rose has not spoken since the body was found. Why does she also collect sharp objects - knives, glass shards, etc.

Mommy and Daddy are in the midst of a difficult divorce and they each seek sole custody of Rose. Grandma Harriet also lives with the family.

When Stella Hudson enters as the best interest attorney for the child custody case, she remembers her own childhood when she found her dead mother and was unable to speak for months. She realizes that something is drastically wrong in the house, but she is sworn to do her best for Rose.

I loved this book and look forward to others by Sarah Pekkanen.

We’ve got a dead nanny, a cheating husband, a struggling investigator and a little girl who won’t speak about what happened. What’s not to love?

This book had so many of my favorite tropes in one and was such a fun read. The deception, reveals, twists, parallel stories, and the way it had me questioning myself made for an easy 5 stars.

This was such a good book! I loved the characters, and their story. The dialogue was realistic and enjoyable. I was very surprised by the ending!

Stella Hudson is a law guardian appointed to represent Rose Barclay, a nine-year-old child who has not spoken since her nanny tragically fell to her death. Was it murder or a tragic accident? After spending time with the family, the one thing Stella is certain of is that she cannot trust anyone in the Barclay house, including Rose herself. This case also forces Stella to face her own demons and past because she is unsure of her own mother's death, and the similarities between the two cases are evident.

House of Glass drew me in from the very beginning. The mystery behind the nanny's death leads you from one character to another until the very end. Rose is a complex character that the reader tries to understand through Stella's eyes.

If you love a good thriller/mystery, this book is for you. Thank you NetGalley for an arc of Sarah Pekkanen's newest novel.

I love this one! I spend the entire book guessing, in the best way. I don't know what to say without spoiling something because basically every thing is a clue!

House of Glass
By: Sarah Pekkanen
5🏡🏡🏡🏡🏡


The Barclays live in a historic home in DC. Their young daughter and her grandmother also live in this huge home. A tragedy happens when the nanny is found on the concrete below the home. It’s obvious to fellow out of the window below. Was this an accident or murder?

Nine year-old Rose witnesses her nanny’s body and after this she is so traumatized that she can’t speak.

Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney who has been hired to figure out what to do with Rose after her parents state they are getting divorced. Stella has a vested interest in this little girl.

Navigating Stella’s past and present prove problematic for Stella and Rose.

The title of this book is haunting once you read this book as it correlates to this twisted, spellbinding and creepy novel. Everyone has something to lose and how far they might go is taunting.

I could NOT put this book down. Stayed up late and SO worth it. Turning the pages to find out WHAT could possibly be next was on my agenda.