House of Glass is a gripping and atmospheric read! The suspense builds beautifully, keeping you hooked until the end. Sarah Pekkanen’s writing is sharp, and the twists were unexpected. Definitely worth the read for thriller fans!

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen is a gripping Murder Mystery. It is a suspenseful page-turner that I recommend for readers who enjoy psychological thrillers and legal thrillers. Readers will find a story with a complex, twisty plot and a dark, atmospheric setting. House of Glass is a unpredictable ride! Readers should know there are themes of childhood trauma and divorce.

Fun, fast, and creepy! The house felt eerie, the pacing was slow enough to build suspense. but fast enough to be a page-turner! I couldn't figure out whodunit and that always makes for a great read!

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book was amazing. It sucked me in from the very first page and was hard to put down. I had to because I am up to my eyeballs in work, but I did stay up tonight to finish it. It is now 2am!

This one has great characters, a main storyline surrounding the family and the crime, and a side storyline about the lead character’s background. It is thoughtfully written and was just an incredible read!

This is my first time reading this author and I am now going to see what other books she has written. Loved it.

Nobody does a twisty, edge of your seat thriller quite like Sarah Pekkanen and The House Of Glass is no exception! This book will keep you guessing and wanting more! I can’t wait to see what this author writes next.

House of Glass
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Sarah Pekkanen

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: On the outside they were the golden family with the perfect life. On the inside they built the perfect lie. A young nanny who plunged to her death, or was she pushed? A nine-year-old girl who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak. A lawyer whose job it is to uncover who in the family is a victim and who is a murderer. But how can you find out the truth when everyone here is lying?

Rose Barclay is a nine-year-old girl who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny - in the midst of her parent's bitter divorce - and immediately stopped speaking. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. She never accepts clients under thirteen due to her own traumatic childhood, but Stella's mentor, a revered judge, believes Stella is the only one who can help.

From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, historic DC home of the Barclays, she realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far more troubled, than she feared. And there's something eerie about the house itself: It's a plastic house, with not a single bit of glass to be found. As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays are desperate to hide, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present are set on a collision course in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny's murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny's boyfriend. Even Rose. Is the person Stella's supposed to protect the one she may need protection from?

My Thoughts: I am behind on reviews, I am slowly getting caught up. Rose Barclay witnessed the death of her nanny while her parents are engrossed in a nasty divorce. Rose stopped speaking. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, she is the voice of children in divorce cases. Stella normally will not take on any clients under the age of 13 but when her long-time mentor personally requests her for this sensitive case, Stella reluctantly agrees. From the moment Stella entered the Barclay estate, she knew this family was really troubled. As Stella uncovers secret after secret, when the past and present collide in an explosive way, Stella must wade through everything to determine the best interests of Rose. Will Stella be able to preserve the child’s best interests while not trenching her own traumatic past up? This follows the tropes of a claustrophobic whodunit.

The story is narrated through the POV of Stella. The Barclays have removed all of the glass from their home when Rose started to collect sharp objects after the death of her nanny. The tone and setting is a chilling atmospheric vibe. The characters were well developed with depth, were mysterious, secretive, and intriguing. To say that the characters are sinister barely scratches the surface. Every character is a suspect with their own motives. The author’s writing style was complex, multifaceted, twisty, chilling, and disturbing. The author does an amazing job at creating a creepy atmospheric environment with a child you will feel cautious of. The intense scenes are built with tension and intensity that creates a chilling, creepy setting and when you mix in the host of characters, Beth (Rose’s mother); Ian (Rose’s father); Harriet (Rose’s grandmother); and Rose herself, it just provides an explosion of twists and turns, as secrets are divulged and the truth boils to the surface. The character’s backstories are established through a slow burn, the plot is delivered is twisty layers, and the conclusion was satisfying.

I had the pleasure of having the digital and audio ARCs. I leaned on the audio more. This psychological thriller carries all of the traits we have come to expect from Pekkanen, slow burn, intense scenes, angst and tension built up, and the twists had twists, equaling thriller perfection. I always enjoy reading Pekkanen’s novels and this one was no different. She knocked it out of the park and I would highly recommend to other readers.

Stella is an attorney who specializes in working with traumatized children because she was one herself. Her newest client is 9-year-old Rose Barclay, who has not spoken since her nanny died in mysterious circumstances. Stella realizes right away that something is not right in the Barclay household, and as she is trying to determine which would be the best custodial parent, she also tries to figure out what happened to the nanny.

Sarah Pekkanen delivers a twisty and suspenseful novel that had me guessing until the end. Every character is used as a red herring, making it almost impossible to figure out the ending. This is a must-read for thriller lovers!

Stella is a best interest attorney called to work on the custody case of a nine-year-old girl. The girl witnessed the death of her nanny and has stopped speaking. Stella is concerned for the girl, and troubled by the family.

The story is told from Stella’s point of view. She doesn’t normally work with children as young as her latest case, but the judge believes she’s the best fit to help the girl. Stella suspects the family is keeping secrets, and she tries to uncover the truth. As she tries to find a way to connect with the girl, she also suspects there may be a killer in the home.

House of Glass is an atmospheric and intriguing thriller. Fans of this author are sure to enjoy this book too.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very interesting book. I loved the premise of it and the twists and turns were very, very well thought out.

Thank you so much @StMartinsPress for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 06 August 2024)

SYNOPSIS | Stella is a Best Interest Attorney meaning it is her job to make recommendations (such as in the case of a divorce) on the custody outcome that would most benefit the child. She has been appointed by the court to provide an assessment for which parent nine-year-old Rose should live with. One complication is that Rose is unable to speak for herself anymore after the trauma of seeing her nanny die.

WHAT I LIKED:
- love a good mystery where you feel like you can't trust anyone
- red herrings galore

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- the premise immediately grabbed my attention, but the execution didn't live up to my expectations
- I struggled with Stella's voice (which is challenging considering the entire book is from her POV)
- I wanted more scenes with Rose and she sadly didn't get nearly as much focus
- slow pacing throughout and lacked the "thrill" factor I was hoping for
- way too much telling vs showing (+ it felt a little like the author didn't trust the reader to pick up on some of the clues / reveals so the MC had a whole inner monologue about them instead)

Who killed the nanny? And why is the child now mute? This twisty thriller takes you on a wild ride. The ride is sometimes too wild, and more unrealistic as it goes on. This is not my favorite by Sarah Pekkanen, but I will definitely be reading more.

The narration was good. I did find my mind wondering while listening to it.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for an advanced reading and listening copies of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so gripping! I loved all the twists and turns in this book. I could not wait to find out how it would all end. This was a great thriller. I also loved the characters and their interactions. Rose was a creepy child for most of the book and she had me terrified.

I love a thriller when I learn something. Did you know nelophobia is the fear of glass? I didn't either before reading this book?

Sarah Pekkanen is one of my favorite thriller writers because of the care she takes with building intelligent prose and how she keeps readers guessing. House of Glass is one I enjoyed.

This book was just okay.

It reminded me a lot of “The Turn of the Screw”. Very similar vibe.

There were a lot of red herrings to throw the reader off from the ultimately obvious answer to the whole puzzle.

Overall, it was entertaining enough but I wasn’t impressed.

Stella Hudson is an attorney who is appointed by the court to advocate for young people. She has a rule that she won t work with anyone under the age of thirteen. But when Charles, a family friend and her mentor, asks her to take on the case of nine year -old Rose Barclay who has stopped speaking, Stella feels like she must accept it. She is ambivalent about it because Stella herself stopped speaking for awhile after a traumatic event when she was young so this case hits a little too close to home.

Rose witnessed her nanny fall to her death from an upstairs window and stopped speaking after that. Her parents are in the midst of a bitter divorce and it is Stella's job to determine which parent will get custody of Rose.

When she approaches the gated D.C. home of the Barclays, Stella gets a creepy vibe. The Barclays seem to have the perfect house and life but everyone from the mother, father, grandmother, the nanny's boyfriend and even Rose seem to have secrets. Did the nanny fall or was she pushed? Why are the parents replacing all of the glass in their expensive home with plastic and they have removed anything glass from their home. Why does Rose collect sharp objects? As Stella tried to reach Rose the reader also begins to learn more about Stella's traumatic childhood and what caused her to stop speaking like Rose. While reading this book it is difficult to figure out who is telling the truth and who is lying. Was the nanny murdered? House of Glass is an engrossing, suspenseful mystery that has a surprising ending.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced reading copy.

The premise of House of Glass is interesting - who killed the nanny? - but I struggled a lot with the main character in this book and her actions.

I feel like Pekkanen’s thrillers, particularly those co-authored with Greer Hendricks, focus on client work (doctors, therapists, research subjects, etc). Now, this one is just by Pekkanen, but I immediately had to double check I hadn’t already read it once those first words began discussing the MC’s client. But, turns out it was new to me.

I enjoyed this book. I found it to be adequately twisty. I was pretty convinced of one person’s guilt, but quickly begun to see clues pointing to the real truth. Though there were several directions the story could have taken, all the clues were there to point to what really happened, so I was glad to be able to look back once it ended and really know that it had been leading up to that point all along.

What did really bother me though, was the entire subplot with Stella’s ex-husband, Marco. I think maybe it’s meant to show character development, but it seemed really unnecessary to the story and wouldn’t have really changed much of anything if it hadn’t been included. It felt added in last minute as something an editor recommended, and it didn’t add to the story at all.

I found more important the relationship between Stella and Charles, and I appreciated how much of her growth likely stemmed from his mentorship from her time as a young adult and beyond.

Overall, this was a strong, thrilling murder mystery.

I did not like this book as much as I thought I would. I have enjoyed prior books from Pekkanen but this fell flat for me it became predictable. Not good. It started off good!

Thanks to Netgalley, Sarah Pekkanen and publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Already available.

I’ve loved Pekkanen’s novels cowritten with Greer Hendricks, so I was excited to pick up her latest solo novel. This psychological thriller definitely had dark and sinister twists as the reader tries to solve the mystery along with Stella, the protagonist. The setup was interesting and I felt engaged and invested in the first third. However, by about halfway, I felt like the story was too drawn out and I quickly lost interest. I think a slow burn suspense novel can be done well if there is interesting character development or depth in the story, however, I felt this novel was lacking both.

It took me a while to make it through this one, and while it did come together eventually, and tied things up with an almost-too-tidy bow, I can’t say I was really invested. It was entertaining enough to make it through but I can’t say this is a story I’ll remember for long.

House of Glass
Sarah Pekkanen
4⭐️

Pub Date: 8/6/2024

Family drama, suspense and a potential murderous child? 🫣
This one kept me so entertained, I think I binged it!
Basically, Stella is a wellness lawyer for children. And her newest client is Rose who has traumatic mutism from "witnessing" her nanny fall to her doom in their house. The question was, was it an accident or was the nanny pushed? And who did it? This whole plot was so unsettling. The child's behavior was just so weird and troubling. The family members were also acting very suspiciously. There were things that happened to the nanny that Stella was also experiencing that it made me feel like there was also some supernatural thing going on. Overall, I thought all the characters had motive and means and I couldn't discern who really was the culprit. It kept me on my toes. I also liked that Stella's story was also unpacked here, but not overpoweringly so that it distracts readers from the main plot. Definitely a Thriller that I would recommend.

Thank you St. Martin Press for a gifted e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.