3.5 stars! This was a compelling read where I truly wondered how the mystery would get solved and wanted to tear through it to find out. Stella is an attorney ad litem working for her newest child client who recently witnessed an accident resulting in the death of her nanny. Stella, with her own demons, sets out to serve the best interests of her client while also getting caught up figuring out if the nanny’s death was really an accident or not.

House of Glass is a captivating novel by Sarah Pekkanen, and is beautifully written. Stella is a lawyer hired to advocate for nine-year-old Rose, whose parents are fighting each other for custody. Rose’s live-in nanny recently died after falling from her third floor window. As Stella fights to determine the best outcome for Rose, and what happened to the nanny, she also begins to face her own traumatic childhood, including solving her own mother’s long-ago death. Stella’s relationships with Rose and Charles (a judge who is her mentor and father-figure) are both heart-wrenching and heart-warming. I couldn’t put this book down, and I didn’t want it to end! The twists kept coming throughout the book, and they were all resolved in a satisfying manner by the end. This one will stay with me for awhile, and I feel confident that it will easily be one of my favorites for the year.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Stella is a Best Interest Advocate that normally works with teens. She takes on a younger client as a favor for a friend. She and this young girl have something in common and she is healing herself by helping Rose. Rose comes from a well to do family and everything looks great to those on the outside. After her nanny falls out of a window and dies, everyone is a suspect in Stella’s eyes.

The House of Glass has short chapters and moves at a quick pace. There were several characters that keep you guessing at what their involvement in the nanny’s death could be.

Although the chapters were short and the pace quick, I felt the story could have been shorter. There was a main side story that did add to the plot and help explain Stella’s childhood, but some others that detracted from it. There was a random love interest thrown in towards the end that was fine, but it just seemed unnecessary to the plot and out of the blue. The plot was a little predictable for me.

Overall the read was enjoyable, but it isn’t a thriller that will stay on my mind for long. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. Stella Hudson is a lawyer who is called to look into the case of nine year old Rose Barclay. The parents are divorcing due to the dad’s affair with the nanny who winds up dead from a fall from an attic window. Some odd things happened to the Nanny before she died, they then start happening to Stella. This is a fast paced thriller up until the end.

What a great read! It was filled with many twist and turns that I didn’t see coming. It definitely had a cool creepy vibe, which kept me flipping those pages. The writing was great, and the characters were likable and well developed. I would recommend.

I LOVE thrillers that have you questioning everyone and everything that's happening. House of Glass is a fast paced thriller that has you wondering if anything is true or if everyone is lying.

I loved everything about this, the characters, the writing style, mystery, eerie setting. The twists and turns will give you whiplash, but you can't stop reading. I read this in under 24 hours because I needed to know what the truth was.

Creepy kid stories freak me out so much and this one had me sleeping with the lights on!

If you've been in a book slump or want a bingeable thriller book.... look no futher.

Sarah Pekkanen does a good job of creating an eerie setting and an unsettling family dynamic in her latest novel, HOUSE OF GLASS. No one is who they seem and everyone raised my suspicion in this mystery/thriller, which reminded me a little of the 1990s movie “The Good Son” with Macaulay Culkin.

Nine year-old Rose Barclay suffers from traumatic muteness after witnessing - or causing? - her nanny’s untimely death. Stella, a best interest attorney, has been tasked with investigating Rose’s life in order to make a recommendation about who should have custody of Rose after her parents’ contentious divorce. Stella knows a thing or two about being unable to talk, because she suffered the same affliction when she was young after her own mother’s tragic death.

HOUSE OF GLASS definitely held my interest. However, there is a lot of backstory about Stella (her childhood and her failed marriage) and while it did give the character depth, it also took my focus away from the book’s central mystery. I was hoping Stella’s troubled past would tie in to what was happening a bit more, but that didn’t happen. Maybe she’ll be a recurring character?

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an early digital copy of HOUSE OF GLASS in exchange for my honest feedback.

Twisty!! Thought I had this one figured out, but it surprised me. I also like how the character’s stories kept bringing up repeated themes. The Charles side story wasn’t my favorite - I wish there was more focus on Rose.

I really really liked this book! I haven’t had many 5 star reads so far in 2024, but luckily this was definitely one of them! I was hooked from the beginning and breezed my way through the entire book. I really enjoyed the two different storylines and how they were weaved together. Definitely add this to your TBR list. 5 ⭐️s!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this novel.

This was the slowest burning and most dragged out thriller I have ever read. The first half was better, but it felt like the author needed to fill a word count at the end. I was definitely intrigued by who killed Tina, but I skimmed a ton at the end to comb through the unnecessary parts.

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BOOK REVIEW 📚

House of Glass
By Sarah Pekkanen
Publication Date: August 6, 2024
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚MY REVIEW:

I've been wanting to read this book for a while, so when I got approved on NetGalley for the e-ARC, I didn't waste any time getting into this one. And the book didn't waste any time captivating my attention, either!

This book pulled me into its story quickly and never veered off-track for me. The short chapters and fast pace of this book made it a quick and bingeable read, one I read in an afternoon. This was one of those books where you felt like maybe you knew what was coming, and aren't you so smart for figuring it out, and then discovered you couldn't have been more wrong. Lol. And the twists in some of the subplots going on were unexpected too, which added even more layers of surprise to this story.

As someone who worked in the family court system for much of my career, I was immediately fascinated with the plotline of the book. The main character is Stella, a court-appointed Guardian ad Litem attorney, tasked with assessing the Barclay family during their contentious divorce and providing the court with a determination about the best custody arrangements for nine-year-old Rose. There was so much intrigue and so much creepy mystery to the story, it was really a fun book to try and predict (spoiler alert: I didn't).

I highly recommend this book, especially if you like twisted family dynamics, creepy kids, old creepy houses, unreliable characters, and domestic thrillers. This was my first read from Pekkanen, and it absolutely will not be my last! I truly enjoyed this five-star read -- A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for gifting me this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

#HouseOfGlass #SarahPekkanen #NetGalley #ARC #fivestarreads #bookreviews #bookrecommendations #bookcommunity #thrillerreads #thrilleraddict #domesticthriller

I tore through this book so quickly! It is an awesome twisty thriller and I’m loving the main character and hope we see more of her. Sarah Pekkanen shines on her own. Loving her solo books even more than the books she wrote as a duo . I highly recommend you check this out unique thriller out .

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A lawyer who acts as a guardian ad litem for young clients is assigned to a child with traumatic mutism. The correlations between the lawyer's life and those of her young client's are triggering.

The outcome of the investigation was surprising. I loved the ending.

Stella is a guardian ad litem attorney responsible for a mute 9year olds custody recommendations. Rose, recently mute due to the trauma at her nannies murder. Or was it murder or an accident. And there are loads of suspect parents live at home . The father had an affair with the nanny causing a pregnancy . Was it the mom or dad There are other suspects. They live with an in law who was with Rod at the time of the murder. There are folks that came for lessons piano and Chinese. Stella must determine who is the best parent for Stella all while dealing with her own demand from both of her parents tragic deaths. Will Stella figure it out? Is there anything else to figure out? It is all so juicy and worth the wait!

At the beginning of this book, we think we’re getting a Bad Seed murder mystery, set in a suburban McMansion with a dysfunctional family whose nanny has died by either falling or being pushed out an attic window. But then the author dives into the tragic past of the attorney, Stella, who is assigned to a custody decision of who the child, Rose, should live with. Stella has demons of her own, as child she witnessed her mother’s death, so she believes she recognizes similar demons in Rose. Red herrings are thrown around unevenly to make us believe that Rose is a psychopath. How could a 9-year-old child make her way to Stella’s house, break in and turn off her stereo or rearrange her belongings? Plot twists and more red herrings are meant to confuse the reader off the scent but I figured out the real culprit, who seemed guilty, in some form or another, from the start.

A secondary plot deals with Stella’s mentor, Charles, which takes us away from the present action as mostly filler.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

House of Glass was so good! I seriously could not put it down. There are obviously only a few different ways this story could have played out, both professionally and personally for Stella but I didn’t see either coming. A must read this summer!

Thank you St. Martin’s press for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

Nine-year-old Rose holds the key to a chilling puzzle. Witnessing her nanny's fatal fall from a glass window has left her mute, a trauma Stella Hudson, the court-appointed attorney, understands all too well from her own childhood.

As a bitter custody battle unfolds, Stella delves into the secrets of the ultra-wealthy Barclay family. Each member – parents and grandmother alike – seems to have a reason for wanting the nanny, Tina, gone. (Tina was pregnant with Rose's father's baby - since Ian, Rose's father, had an affair with the nanny.) Stella, grappling with her own demons, is drawn deeper into the enigma that is Rose.

Prepare for a thrilling ride with shifting suspicions! Just when you think you've unraveled the truth, another twist emerges.

I will admit that I guessed a couple of the twists - which is why I took off a star. Additionally, there was a subplot of Stella trying to solve the mystery of her own mother's death from childhood. While interesting, it didn't flow well with the story.

Still, this is a strong read and I recommend it. If you like a good who done it that you can read quickly, this fits the bill.

Sarah Pekkanen is the queen of finding new and clever ways to look a what would otherwise be a familiar story.

After the nanny falls to her death from the glass window of the Barclay's house, young Rose Barclay stops speaking. With her parents going through a divorce and after witnessing such a horrific sight, who could blame the traumatized child? Stella Hudson is asked to take on the advocacy of the silent child, to determine what living situation would be best for her. This is both a very difficult and relatable situation for Stella. As a child, she, too, had ceased to speak after finding her own mother dead. As Stella is also navigating her own separation and pending divorce, her empathy for Rose runs deep.

As Stella goes about interviewing Rose's parents, grandmother, the nanny's friends and, tot extent she is able, Rose herself, she finds that all is not as it seems on this lavish bucolic estate. Everyone seems to have something to hide. Everyone seems to be lying. Rose is collecting shard shards of glass and other sharp objects and hiding them. She is clearly a troubled child, but does she need to be protected or do others need to be protected from her?

This is a well layered story with quality of writing I have come to expect from Sarah Pekkanen. Always thoughtful and true to the complex human experience, House of Glass is window you want to be looking in.

My thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Sarah Pekkanen for the opportunity to read and provide my honest review of this work.

This kept my attention from the the beginning until the end. It is a well written book that will grab you from beginning to end

HOUSE OF GLASS: A NOVEL
Sarah Pekkanen (Author)

This was a fabulous fast pace thriller that kept me interested and guessing all the way to the very end. I loved every minute of reading this book. The characters were well developed.
There was many things at play in this book, first you have Stella, an attorney, BIA, for Rose Barclay, a 9 year old daughter of Ian and Beth Barclay, and granddaughter to Harriet.
***This may or may not contain spoilers***
Ian & Beth have filed for divorce and both want full custody of Rose… Rose’s Nanny recently died from an accident or intentional fall through a third floor window at the Barclay estate… Rose could have been a witness or could have partaken, but she’s not talking… literally… she has traumatic mutism.
It is up to Stella to help the court decide where and what will happen to Rose, but is this case too much for Stella who is battling demons of her own? She was once diagnosed with traumatic mutism at the age of 7 when she found her mom dead in their living room… and it seems the whole family does really want Stella there…