Member Reviews
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Sarah Pekkanen for my advance copy! Publishing on August 6, 2024
Was veryyy excited to read this thriller with all its incredible reviews but the story really fell flat (not .. thrilling). And the random love interest at the end? Meh
I liked this book a lot…at first.
Then it became predictable and I just wanted to finish it to confirm my suspicions. Overall a good book, but honestly felt like there was a last minute push to add an lgbt agenda in it. It didn’t feel authentic, like someone said, here you need to add this in before we can publish it. Just didn’t fit the story line of her mourning her ex husband and her recent divorce
3.5 stars rounded down. I was so excited to read this book. I saw the glowing reviews and the fact that it is a thriller. I thought, oh boy, I can't wait. I really did love the first half of the book, but then something seemed to happen and the book started to drag. The story became more about the investigator than the family.
Stella is a BIA (best interest attorney) who is sent in when couples are divorcing and an impasse is reached as to who should get custody of the child. Rose is the child in question. She witnessed her nanny die after falling, tripping, or being pushed from the 3rd floor window of the house. Her parents, Beth and Ian, cannot agree on who should get custody. Also involved is Harriet, Ian's mother, who lives with them. Rose is also mute due to the trauma which is why Stella was chosen for this case, as Stella suffered trauma induced mutism as a child when she found her dead mother.
The first half of the book flew by. It's creepy and interesting. I read quickly trying to figure out who actually pushed the nanny to her death. Then, the book veers off, focusing more on Stella and her past than the family she is investigating. A love interest is also thrown in which really threw me as it was during investigating the family. I'm reading happily and all of a sudden the author veers off to sparks flying. I'm like WTH. This flat second half of the book is why I rounded it down to 3 stars. Also the ending is predictable and not much of a wow moment. Overall it is a good book.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. I greatly appreciate it. Publication date is in August. I do recommend this book.
Thank you St. Matin’s Press, Sarah Pekkanen, and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in return for an honest review.
All I can say is wow. This book was fantastic.
Meet Stella. She is a best interest attorney. Her clients are minors whose parents are going through a divorce. It’s her job to decide who she thinks should have custody of the child. She usually represents teenagers. However, Charles, a man who is not her father but has been a father figure to her, asks her to take on a 9 year old client, she reluctantly agrees.
That 9 year old client is Rose Barclay. Not only are her parent’s divorcing and going through a nasty custody battle, but she also witnessed her nanny falling to her death from their 3 story home. Ever since she witnessed her nanny’s death, she has been mute.
What happened to the nanny? Was she murdered? Did she trip and fall? No one knows.
While Stella is interviewing everyone in Rose’s life to see who should have custody of her, she discovers she is being lied to and nothing is what it seems.
She begins to suspect that the nanny was murdered. But who murdered her? Was it Ian, Rose’s father? Or Beth, Rose’s mother? Or could it even been Harriet, Rose’s grandma? Or perhaps it was Rose herself?
As Stella starts to discover the secrets that the Barclays are desperate to hide, she realizes that someone is trying to scare her away. Is she in danger? Will she suffer the same fate as the nanny? Or is it all in her imagination?
I finished this book in 2 days. It had me hooked from the beginning to the end. This was definitely an edge of your seat thriller. 4.5/5 stars. I totally recommend it.
I'll be honest - I wasn't sure if I was going to like this. It was a combo murder mystery / psychological thriller, but also had a touch of a horror vibe. I ended up loving it. I couldn't stay away, just wanting to know how it all turned out. It didn't disappoint. Highly recommended.
I was given an advance review copy, but this is my honest opinion.
Love a good page turner from Sarah Pekkanen! This book wasn't my favorite of hers but entertaining, nonetheless! The first half was fast paced and I couldn't put it down. Slowed a bit after that but all came together at the end!
3.5 STARS rounded UP
The first half was such a page turner and this is why I'll be rounding up!
I had such high hopes and was getting all the eerie house type of vibes. I was so intrigued, then the second half shifted gears and the execution failed me! There was a lot of Stella and her background as a child, her trauma and inner thoughts. It became a subplot that slowed the pace down and took away from the main mystery of what happened to the nanny.
There are some intense moments that propelled the story, some good Deja vu moments that had me guessing wildly, but the wrap up was too convenient and didn't really give me that fist bump moment I was anticipating.
I still enjoyed so will round up on this 3.5 STAR review!
House of Glass is the first book written solely by Sarah Pekkanen that I’ve read (though I have read her joint novels with Greer Hendricks, and I loved them).
This book is fast paced, and does a wonderful job of making everyone feel incredibly suspicious. It also does a good job of trying to send you down the wrong path early on, and reinforcing this path repeatedly to throw you off. I had a hard time liking the main character, Stella - some of her decisions and the way she did her job seemed highly questionable, and more about solving a murder than actually identifying the best interests of the child she was working with. Obviously, solving the murder was integral to this being a “whodunnit” type thriller, but it made her a bit unlikeable to me.
I appreciated at the end that the author really tried to go back and tie up any loose ends that you may still be thinking about. There was a lot of plot, a lot of small details that would have been easy to overlook but she made sure to wrap it all up and leave you with no questions.
House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen was sent to me through the publisher and NetGalley. Thanks for the chance to review this ARC!
A fabulous suspense of whodunnit and the potential killer is someone in the Barclays family.
Stella, a lawyer who is trying to decide who will get custody of 9 year old Rose, whose nanny was the victim. Not just does Stella interview everyone, she has become an amateur sleuth.
A great read!
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book was SO entertaining. I felt like I was reading an Agatha Christie Novel but more ominous and sinister. This is my first venture into this author's writing and it most certainly won't be the last. I am usually a romance girlie but every once in a while I love a good thriller to cleanse my palate and boy did this ever. Very, very good read. 4.5/5 stars
Fast paced, intense thriller about a family that closes ranks after their nanny died in their home. Tina is the nanny for the wealthy Barclay family, who dies when she plunged through a low window in her room. Was this a tragic accident or was she pushed to her death. Stella is a family attorney who is tasked with deciding which parent the now mute young daughter of the divorcing homeowners will go to. The story the police is told is that the 9 year old girl was in the yard gardening with her grandmother when the nanny fell through the window and the parents were both working in their home offices. As Stella investigates she must find out the truth behind the death before she can help the young girl. Fantastic, impossible to put down thriller, not to be missed.
Wow! Words cannot express the feelings I have after reading this book. There were, what I felt like, several different storylines with some nice twists. Everyone was a suspect and I loved the character development. By far her best one yet!
Every time I finish a book by Sarah Pekkanen I say "this was her best book yet" and House of Glass is again her best book yet. Like fine wine, Sarah gets better with each book. House of Glass is a story of a young girl Rose who has lost her voice when her nanny suddenly plunges to her death - was it a tragic accident or a murder? Rose is the daughter of Beth and Ian Barclay who are in the middle of a divorce. As Rose cannot speak, the courts appoint Stella to be the BIA (Best Interest Attorney) to recommend custody of Rose. Stella is the perfect attorney for the job even though she never takes clients under thirteen due to a traumatic event in her past, but her mentor encourages her to take this case and assures her she is the only one who can help this child.
The great part of this book is not only does it focus on the dynamics of Rose's family - her mother Beth, her father Ian and grandma Harriet and whether or not Tina, the nanny, fell to her death accidentally or some one pushed her and if it was a murder just who was responsible, but the book also has a sub-story of Stella's growing up and her trauma.
As Stella gets closer to the truth of her own history, she gets closer to the truth of Rose's lost voice for an ending you will not expect.
This is a must read 5 Star book - do not miss it.
I've been in a reading drought for the last few weeks and this book took me out of that. House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen is a page turner thriller that kept me turning the pages. You didn't know who to trust but once you found out the author give you clues throughout to see it was there the whole time. Highly recommend. I will read anything Sarah writes. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.
Whoa…what a ride! I love all her books! Thanks to NetGalley & the author for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review!
I've been in a book drought for a couple of months and this one broke the spell. It was paced well and kept you guessing until the end. It made you doubt all of the characters and twisted right up until the end but left me with a very satisfying ending. Fully developed characters with lots of breadcrumbs throughout the book that you see all put together at the end. The main character, Stella, was especially enjoyable. Would definitely recommend this one!
On the outside they were the perfect little family. On the inside they were living a perfect little lie. A young nanny who plunged to her death after an affair with the husband was discovered, or was she pushed?
This book had an eerie house, a collection of characters who were all suspicious, and twists I didn’t see coming. Great unfolding of secrets and page turning revelations.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this advanced reader’s copy.
Stella is a "Best Interest Attorney" who makes a career out of being appointed by judges to determine the best situation for children in divorcing families. Her history of as a traumatized child gives her a special connection to their anguish. Her newest client is a nine year old that has witnessed the death of her nanny , and hasn't spoken since.
This case feels wrong from the moment she is greeted at the door of the expansive D.C. estate. Stella meets mom, dad ( separated in place) and grandma as well as her client Rose. The house is beautiful but forbidding and there is no glass anywhere, Everyones explanations are off.
This is a perfectly twisted mystery and my second Sarah Pekkanen novel- it won't be my last.
I received a copy of House of Glass for an honest review. I actually finished House of Glass two days ago but i had to take time to process it. . It’s that good. A young girl named Rose witnessed her nanny’s death. Did mom or dad push the pregnant nanny to her death from the upstairs window? Or could Rose have done it? The incident left Rose mute so she’s not telling. She lives in an expensive creepy house where all the glass has been removed. Why? A court appointed guardian is sent to keep Rose safe and investigate. I lost sleep reading til after midnight because I couldn’t put this one down.. The writing never missed a beat. If you don’t read one book this year you have to read this one! Put all plans on hold and settle in. It’s going to be a long night.#Netgalley
House of Glass was a page turner that kept me wondering which character I could even trust throughout the entire book. Once the truth was revealed, I was able to see the hints the author gave early on. This was a well written psychological thriller that was hard to put down. I also appreciated the complexity of the main character, Stella, and her own childhood trauma that mirrored much of what she was experiencing as an adult.