Wow! If you enjoy a psychological thriller with twists and turns, this is the book for you! I can't explain how much I enjoyed this one. As a thriller girly, I can usually pinpoint how the story will end, but House of Glass had me guessing right up until the end!

The way Pekkanen writes her characters with a dynamic complexity had me completely invested. The FMC, Stella, is a DIA lawyer for children going through divorce cases. Stella ends up getting a case to decide where a young girl named Rose should be placed in the midst of her parents divorce, after the tragic death of her nanny. There's only one thing, Rose suffers from traumatic mutism and can not speak. During Stella's investigation she is not only trying decide the custody battle over Rose but she also finds herself immersed in the investigation of the nanny, Tina's death.

Pekkanen writes a wonderful thriller and at the same time explores family relationships and the secrets that threaten to tear them apart.

Absolutely loved it! The characters were all well-developed and I found myself caring deeply for Rose. I've experienced traumatic mutism before, so this story was particularly special to me personally and I hope it maybe helped bring some awareness towards this little-known condition.

All my thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

In the interest of full disclosure, I received access to a free digital copy of this book in exchange for a thoughtful and honest review.

With that being said, let's talk about House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen:

I selected this book because I am already a fan of Pekkanen's work, and let me start by saying that as usual, she did NOT disappoint.
Throughout this novel, we follow our main character Stella, a Best Interest Attorney who is assigned a case to decide with whom a 9 year old girl should live with as her primary caretaker. The circumstances of this case, however, are more than ordinary - the young girl's nanny died under mysterious circumstances, and the trauma has led to the girl being unable to speak. How does Stella figure out what's best for someone who is unable to advocate for herself?

As Stella begins to dig into the lives of the family members, the circumstances of the nanny's death, and the secrets that the family members are obviously trying to keep from her, Stella begins to find herself in many forms of doubt - can she perform her duties without crossing the line professionally, can she trust any of the family members - including the child, and can she wrap up her assignment before her fate becomes the same as the nanny's?

This book was the perfect amount of thrilling, fascinating, and creepy. The characters are interesting and complex, and Pekkanen does a great job of leading the reader down the path of one theory and then subverting it so quickly that the rug is pulled out from beneath you. I mention this in many reviews, but I am the kind of reader who always tries to solve a mystery before it's revealed. This time around, I am both pleased, and a little miffed, to say that I was truly putty in Pekkanen's hands. She wove a tale so captivating that I was too caught up in the story to catch the hints prior to the grand reveal at the end of the story.

My one note is...the epilogue chapters! There were.... so many of them, and each one could've been a fine epilogue on it's own, but several of them back to back (many of which were only a page in length or so) made it feel like I was trudging through a wrap-up that took much longer than it needed to. I think simply combining them all into a single chapter with line breaks would've made them feel less overwhelming. Otherwise, I was very pleased witht his book and the way things ended!

If you love Pekkanen's other work, a good mystery with plenty of unease, or stories where the things humans are capable of are the greatest thing to fear, then you will certainly enjoy this book!

This book was great. It had me hooked from the beginning. I could not put it down. I highly recommend this book.

This was a fast-paced story that I could not put down! A nanny is dead and now the child she was caring for is mute. The parents are the prime suspects of the nanny’s death due to the affair the nanny was having with the husband. Now that the parents are getting divorced and since the child can’t talk, it is up to a lawyer named Stella to help decide which parent is better suited to have custody of Rose.

As Stella gets to know the parents and the child, she senses that something is off with the entire situation and she believes that there is more to Rose then she is being led to believe. As Stella works with Rose to try to help her, she has to relive memories from her own traumatic childhood.

The story is very good and keeps you in suspense, wanting to read more and more. It is told from Stella’s POV. This is a good suspense and mysterious “whodunit”, and I enjoyed it very much! Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press. All opinions are my own.

This was my first Sarah Pekkanen book but unfortunately it just wasn't for me. I was bored and the writing style felt clunky. Half the story felt far too predictable.

House of Glass is mainly about a custody battle following the murder of the family’s nanny. The child, Rose, is being fought over by her two parents and her grandmother, for full custody. An attorney, Stella, is brought in to make the decision.

I LOVED the creepy vibe of this story. Rose was super eerie throughout the book and her penchant for sharp objects really set the tone. The ending was good, satisfying.

This was fast paced but could also be kinda slow at times. It was fun to watch the story unfold, and there were a few twists that were awesome.

I didn’t care much for Stella’s story, I was more focused on the Barclays’. It was still a good plot point, just one I didn’t think about much.

I’d give this a 3.5. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

This one was a lightening read, had me hooked from the beginning!! Oh, the twists and turns and things you don't see coming, all over the place. Trust me, you won't figure this one out, so many possible suspects, or did anyone actually do anything wrong? It's a definite read and find out!!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.

OMG. This book was awesome. I couldn’t put it down. So well written. Didn’t guess the ending. Good character development. I would highly recommend. Thank you NetGalley for chance to read this before publication for honest review!

Not too long ago I had read "Gone Tonight" and loved it so when I got the chance to once again delve into a Pekkanen book I was ecstatic to get a gifted copy! This one also blew me away and kept me on edge throughout the whole book! I have yet to find a read attached to Pekkanen whether it just her own or part of her writing duo that I haven't absolutely loved!!!
We have Stella who is a best interest attorney appointed to represent the best interest of Rose Barclay, a 9 year old girl who doesn't speak, is a witness in some way to her nanny Tina's murder, and living in a house filled with twisted secrets, lies, and NO GLASS?!?! The Barclay's are all suspected in Stella's eyes since they all seem to be hiding secrets, lying, and trying to deceive Stella. This was a great psychological read that gives off locked room, claustrophobia, can't breathe vibes!! So many suspects when it comes to the Barclay's and then Stella's own backstory gave a thrilling twist to bring it all full circle! I loved how the end was wrapped up in a little bow all the loose pieces coming together so nicely falling into place!
Thank you NetGalley and to St. Martin's Press for the copy to review with my own thoughts! Sarah Pekkanen has once again got 5 stars from me!!

I've enjoyed some books written by Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendricks in the past, but this is my first book reading of only the former. Unfortunately, this didn't work for me. The writing felt clunky, the story was predictable, it almost felt like satire of the thriller genre more so than a serious crack at a good thriller or mystery.

I enjoyed so much about this book! Rose is telling the story, and she has a mysterious past that is hinted at throughout the book and is revealed more and more throughout the book. The other characters are all unreliable and you aren't really sure who to believe. There were a few twists I didn't see coming but was left to keep turning the pages to see who was the perpetrator of the crime that was central to the story. Would definitely recommend this book to my friends!

I absolutely LOVE Sarah Pekkanen’s books and this one is my far my favorite so far! The psychology behind the little girl’s mutism is fascinating and I loved learning about all aspects of it. The jaw dropping bombs just kept coming again and again! I was totally enthralled from the beginning until the end!

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to St. Martin's Press and Sarah Pekkanen for generously providing me with an advanced copy of this book. 😊💕 I have loved the author's previous works, so I had high expectations for this one - and I am happy to report that I was not disappointed. This book is set to be published on August 6, 2024, and I highly recommend adding it to your TBR list.

From the moment I started reading, I was immediately engrossed in the story. The author has a way of captivating her readers from the very first page and keeping them hooked until the end. She skillfully weaves a complex and multilayered plot full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end. Even when you're confident you've figured it out, a tiny seed of uncertainty always makes you question if you're right!

The characters in this book are well-developed, with each playing an integral role in the storyline. I became emotionally invested in their journeys and tried to figure out who 'did it.'

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a suspenseful storyline! 4.5 ish stars!

I read this book for a review and I could not put it down! This is one that, if I had time or not a huge tbr lost, would read again. I was definitely surprised by the ending.
I related to this book in several ways and I liked the topics that it broached: divorce, relationship issues, loss of parents and childhood trauma and how it can affect a person until adulthood.
To summarize, Stella steps into this family after a tragedy had occurred. The nanny for the child, Rose, had fallenen and died out of a top window. The parents are initially suspects but there is a lack of evidence. The parents are in midst of divorce and Stella is there to make a decision on placement for Rose. The more she interacts with thus family, she realizes something is off and sinister in the house. I don't want to reveal much so definitely read it!

Traditional format (digital). House of glass is a real page turning thriller. The story follows a best interest attorney who is trying to figure out the best custody arrangement for a young child and her divorcing parents. But this just isn't any ordinary divorce situation.....the father was sleeping with the child's nanny who plunged to her death out the attic window of her house. So the story was two fold; solve the "who done it" and then the back story of the life of the child/family. And there were a few other sub plots thrown in there to make things interesting.

I have a few criticisms of this book. First off, I felt the author tried a little too hard to make it look like one of the characters committed the crime, so when the big plot twist came it was a bit of a letdown because I knew that the author would not have spent the whole book writing about them and then them actually being the person who did it. Secondly, this book was a little longer than it needed to be. I would have liked this to be about 50-75 pages shorter as I found it a little draggy at points with some unnecessary plot elements. I think a shorter book would have packed more punch.

Overall this was a decent book and enjoyable to read. Because of the predictability of the main plot twist however I am only going to give this a 3.5/5.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley and St Marten Press for providing me a free copy of this book for my honest review.

It is a murder mystery and I enjoyed reading it. It centers around a family with a 9 yr old daughter Rose. Rose lives with her parents Beth and Ian who are very protective of her. They are in the process of divorcing and battling custody of Rose.. Ian's mom, grandma Harriet lives with the family and home schools Rose. Rose has a nanny, Tina. Tina is pregnant with father's baby. It is Tina who goes out a third floor window to her death.

The other main character is Stella Hudson, Rose's lawyer. Stella relates too the death of a loved one since both her parents had dramatic deaths. Her feelings and effects on her are brought out in the story. But, is why she will protect Rose as best as she can.

The house where they live is strange. The windows were glass and now are plastic. Rose was kicked out of school because she started to collect sharp items and brought a box cutter to school.

The story is written well so you can follow the clues and guess who did it but it's not obvious. The story and clues follow until the ending which is good. I recommend this book a quick murder mystery but a fast read with a satisfying ending.

This is a very fast paced, heart racing thriller with lots of twists and turns to it! On page one I thought I had gotten a clue and thought i knew how the book would end, but the more I read, the more I kept changing my mind about who was really the guilty party, and who I needed to believe It was a good thing I didn’t have anything else to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon and literally read it from start to finish in one day. Thanks, NetGalley for letting me read this arc for an honest review in return. I will be reading more of this Sarah Pekkanen’s books in the future.

Rose, a nine-year-old girl witnessed the possible murder of her nanny and immediately stopped speaking. Her parents are divorcing and Stella, a best interest attorney, is appointed to serve as counsel for Rose in the bitter custody battle.

Stella quickly realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far more troubled, than she imagined.

And there's something creepy about the house itself: there’s not a single shard of glass to be found: all glass was replaced by plastic.

Stella has quite a complicated past herself when she witnessed her mother’s death when she was a child, and also suffered from traumatic mutism. Which makes her the perfect person to relate to Rose.

Everyone in the house is a suspect, and everyone is lying. As Rose uncovers secrets she’s also forced to confront her own past.

This was an interesting premise that kept me guessing. A fun read, even if I did have to set aside some issues I had with the story, so a 4 star from me.

Talk about a thriller! I could not put this book down. It grew creepier with every page. An ad litem lawyer gets caught in a web of deceit with a muted by trauma child at the center. Adding to the story is the lawyer’s search for the true details about her mother’s death which cause intensified emotions.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.