I really enjoyed Pink Glass Houses by Asha Elias. It was a novel about the wealthy Miami PTA moms who want it all. It definitely had a desperate housewives feel to it but was very entertaining. Being from little 'ole Vermont, I couldn't help but wonder how realistic some of the thoughts were, but it certainly kept my attention and kept me engaged.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy of this e-book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

This was a delightfully juicy read! I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys books written by Liane Moriarity. As much as I enjoyed the ebook version of this book, I am super excited to listen to the audiobook because it is narrated by a full cast!

I can see this book being super popular this summer. I hope the next book by Asha Elias is just as good!


Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Pink Glass houses follows the stories of women/mothers involved in the activities and PTA at a school, Sunset Academy in Miami.

Each of these women have different lifestyles, perspectives, traumas, marriages/home lives, etc. One of the interesting parts is the book to me was really being able to identify those differences via each of their povs as they change through the chapters. Each story also showed that life isn’t always what it seems.

This book was a slow burn for me, but, I did enjoy it. It’s definitely a good example of women’s fiction and mostly centers around the drama of the pta election at the school. I wish it would’ve included more with the actual families that were highlighted versus the kind of cliff notes version we got. But still good read!

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

This was such an interesting and refreshing story. One thing about me is I absolutely love drama about wealthy people. It’s was the perfect of drama, intrigue and satire. If you watched and love Big Little Lies this will be right up your alley!

I just love the cover of Pink Glass Houses by Asha Elias. This is a very entertaining novel about rich people in Miami Beach. I gravitate towards books like this that are suspenseful yet have a thread of satire running through the story. Its dramatic and full of unlikeable characters, but it was pure fun.

There’s a reason people call Miami Beach “a sunny place for shady people.”

Welcome to Sunset Academy, the most coveted elementary school in Miami Beach, where there are three categories of families: rich, wealthy, and ultra-wealthy.

Perfectly tanned and smiling Charlotte Giordani is Sunset Academy’s alpha mom. With a sleek blowout and relentless charm, Charlotte’s brashness serves her well. She’s up for election as the PTA president and is riding high, having just secured a massive donation from billionaire Don Walker and his socialite wife Patricia. Don and Patricia are philanthropists, media darlings, and the owners of Villa Rosé, a newly built modern glass house that everyone is talking about. (It’s either spectacular or a tacky eyesore, depending on how you feel about billionaires.)

Enter Melody Howard, a wide-eyed transplant from Wichita, Kansas. At first a skeptic about Miami Beach and its endlessly hashtaggable social scene, Melody finds herself sucked into the glossy, frenetic world of Sunset Academy moms. Melody’s easygoing manner and background in nonprofit management make her an asset to the PTA. But when she emerges as a rival for the PTA presidency, Charlotte begins to unravel. Even the most powerful players on the social scene prove to be vulnerable when an investigation into white-collar crime — triggered by another school mom, the formidable Jamaican-American Judge Carol Lawson — threatens to take down the whole institution. No amount of rosé can soothe tensions as the drama builds to a shocking crisis point.

Thank you William Morrow for the ARC!

The publisher description was correct and the BIG LITTLE LIES vibes were STRONG! As a huge fan of BLL, I will absolutely read every book compared to it. Usually they don't live up to the comparison, but this one did.

If you want to read about a bunch of rich, petty, PTA moms at an elementary school, then this is for you. The sassiness and sarcasm and straight savageness truly dripped off the pages and I was soaking it all up!

People tend to assume any cover with a house with lit up windows is a thriller book, so please know that this is not a thriller. This is just straight rich mama drama, nothing more, nothing less.

The story is told from several different perspectives so you can really get inside the heads of each of these women, which is sometimes may be a place you don't want to go- LOL!

Overall, this was a total blast to read and I'm so excited that this was a debut! I will definitely be reading whatever Asha Elias puts out next!

This will be available on July 30th.

The drama! Reading this book was like watching an episode of the Real Housewives. My favorite quote from the book - ““What are you auditioning for the Real Housewives of Miami Beach? Your tagline is I’m Midwestern nice: I’ll bake you an apple pie while I stab you in the back.” I’m guilty of loving the Real Housewives. This was an easy read about the PTA moms of a Miami Beach elementary school. The cattiness had me laughing out loud 😂 Charlotte was a hoot. I really wasn’t expecting the ending. I loved the author’s writing and I’m looking forward to her new book!

This book leans into the stereotype of rich vs average in Miami Florida. I stopped reading at 9%. DNF


*******************I received an ARC for my honest opinion from NetGalley.*************

I sometimes need a book that tells a story about rich women who a bit unlikeable and yet I can’t want to turn the page to see what they are up to next! PTA Mom’s and their push to be noticed and on top of the heap was so fun to read. Seeing the women behaving badly was what kept me in the book.
This is the author’s debut book, and I will be watching for more from her. I would love to see her write a series about the goings on with all the characters in this book.
Thank you NetGalley, Asha Elias and William Morrow for the ARC of Pink Glass Houses. This is my personal review.
Publication date for this book is July 30 2024.

Pink Glass Houses is a fun summer read! If you're a fan of The Real Housewives, definitely add this one to your summer reading list!

This book has been compared to Big Little Lies and Pineapple Street, both of which I LOVED! This one is a book about the rich, and I enjoy reading books about wealthy people behaving badly. Lots of drama in this one!

Small snippet from Goodreads:
Told in rotating first person voices, Pink Glass Houses is an irresistibly voyeuristic peek into the lives of the rich and infamous, where cocaine playdates, $100,000 kiddie birthday parties, and relentless social climbing are a way of life.

Doesn't that sound good??
Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for allowing me to have an ARC of this novel.

Following an elite elementary school and it's parents, Pink Glass Houses shows the cut-throat process of running for PTA president. Charlotte is the fundraising chair for the PTA and president hopeful. Her friends mostly fund the entire school. But in comes Melody, a transplant from Kansas to shake things up for the PTA.

This is your typical rich people drama beach read. It was entertaining, if that's what you're going for. Nothing too crazy happens and I found it fairly predictable. This would be a perfect vacation read. My one major qualm is the author's description of Wichita, Kansas. As someone that grew up in the Wichita metro, I know about the city. The author makes it seem like Wichita is this small town, just because it's in Kansas. Wichita is the 51st largest city in the country and the largest city in Kansas. The different from Wichita to Miami is about 50,000 people. That's not a major difference but Melody acts like the culture shock is huge. Melody describes Wichita like it has one elementary school and her business was a major business in the city. If you're going to use a city as a major description for your character, pick a smaller city. Also, this rich white mom is probably not the demographic of Wichita public schools. I know for most people this won't matter but it took me out of the story every time Melody thought about moving from Wichita to Miami.

If you love “The Real Housewives” and “Mean Girls” then this debut novel by Asha Elias is definitely one you’ll enjoy. Thank you to @netgalley for the arc of this one. It didn’t disappoint!

Synopsis:
“There’s a reason why Miami Beach is called a sunny place for shady people.”

Welcome all to Sunset Academy; one of the most prominent and well to do elementary schools in Miami. Charlotte is the alpha mom at the school and is running for PTA president next year. She thinks she has this in the bag, until a new mom at Sunset enters the race. Enter Melody, a transplant from the Midwest who doesn’t like how things are being done at Sunset, and thinks she can change things.
As these two women go head to head during the PTA president campaign, they also come to blows over issues with their daughters and are now enemies. However, when a financial scandal breaks out at school, they will have to put their differences aside to do what’s best for the kids.

Review:

As a debut novel, I was really impressed with this. I needed something light and easy after my last read and this one fit the bill! I loved reading through the drama between the wealthy “alpha moms,” and how newcomer Melody got sucked right in to the toxic Miami mom vortex. I thoroughly enjoyed all the gossip and cattiness amongst the women and how two faced they were.

If you liked “Big Little Lies,” and have ever been a fan of Desperate Housewives, you should definitely pick this one up!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Marrow for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

SYNOPSIS: Welcome to Sunset Academy, the most coveted elementary school in Miami Beach, where there are three categories of families: rich, wealthy, and ultra-wealthy.

Told in rotating first person voices, Pink Glass Houses is an irresistibly voyeuristic peek into the lives of the rich and infamous, where cocaine playdates, $100,000 kiddie birthday parties, and relentless social climbing is a way of life.

No amount of rose, diamonds, or a good can soothe tensions as the drama builds to a shocking crisis point in this seductive social satire about the wealthy PTA moms of an elite elementary school in Miami Beach.

MY REVIEW: I absolutely LOVED this book!! What an incredible debut by Asha Elias. The entire time it felt like I was watching a reality show, but with a true peek behind the curtain. Each POV was unique and represented all types of moms you would find at a school like Sunset Academy. I don’t always find myself loving each of the main characters, but in the end I appreciated each part of the story being told because they all brought something different to the table. That being said, Charlotte was definitely my favorite; I felt like she morphed from stereotypical competitive rich mom to (more) relatable. She was absolutely hilarious and made me LOL several times.

Elias kept the story moving from page one with an explosive prologue, rotating POV, and short chapters with no lull in the timeline. She also used the addition of mixed-media (which I love), adding depth with PTA emails, magazine interviews, and newspaper articles.

I am obsessed with the satire piece here because rich people behaving badly, being completely outlandish with their money, deserves a good laugh (or several). Most notably Villa Rose. In the end the mansion served a greater purpose and loved that caged-bird element.

If you are a fan of competitive rich (ultra-wealthy) mom drama, scandal and fraud, with a hint of seduction, please do yourself a favor and read Pink Glass Houses. The vibe is Real Housewives meets Mean Girls meets Big Little Lies.

4.5/5!!!!!

I enjoyed it but it wasn’t the most memorable. A nice read though!! I think that the vibe of the book and the setting was more enjoyable for me than the actual book was. I think it just wasn’t my thing but will definitely be someone else’s cup of tea.

Thanks to Book Club Girl for the ARC.

I would give this 3 1/2 stars, I enjoyed the quick pace of this book with the short chapters and changing points of view. This book reminded me of Mean Girls but the adult version. I guess if you mixed Mean Girls with Real Housewives you'd get this book. So if you like either, definitely enjoy!

I enjoyed the characters a lot, especially because as the story progressed you get a little more background on each of the characters. My opinion of each of the characters really evolved from first chapter to last as we get to know them over the course of the school year. Each character is pretty nuanced, although in the beginning I was worried they were a bit too two-dimensional. However, Asha Elias does a great job of making the characters relatable. The only issue I had with the differing points of view was that about halfway through we get a 4th character's perspective and then towards the end, a 5th. I think the book would have gotten a little higher rating from me if the 5th point of view was explored more than just in the last quarter of the book.

Fun, fast read with lots of real life issues and a bit of a mystery laid out in the first chapter that I almost forgot about by the time we got to the end.

This was a quick, easy read! Miami is a fun setting, and I thought the author did a good job of describing the schools, neighborhoods, etc. I was excited to read this one because I loved Big Little Lies, but it fell a little flat for me. The characters all sounded pretty much the same and were not very likable. I also felt the twist at the end was predictable and would have liked a little more resolution for some of the characters. But, was a fun read and would be a great vacation book! Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

I absolutely loved this book in all its rose tinted glory!! Are you a fan of The Real Housewives, catty drama, or competitive rich moms? If so, this book is 100% directed towards you and I need you to grab onto it! I had the pleasure of talking with the author through Instagram DM's and (as if it wasn't obvious enough, granted I was only 25% in) I asked her if Housewives were a big inspiration for this novel. She said, "Oh, absolutely! I wanted the whole book to feel like those confessional sessions." I am so incredibly thankful for this conversation because after that I pictured each of these women dressed to the nine's with a green screen still of their mansions behind them sitting down for their confessionals and spilling the tea from their points of views for each chapter with a martini or glass of rose in hand. It heightened my reading experience to a whole other level. I highly recommend you do the same when diving into this book!

Charlotte - The IT mom who has found herself leading the pack, AKA the PTA for the most prestigious public school in Miami Beach. She has been in charge of raising money for the school with grand parties, assemblies straight out of a game show and even for elite parking spaces. PTA election is drawing nearer and it's pretty well known she has the president title in the Chanel bag. The only problem is, she didn't see Melody coming and that's when life begins to spiral.

Melody - New to town from Wichita, Kansas she is quickly sucked into the glitz and glam of Miami life after coming in a bit skeptic. With a background in nonprofit management she thinks she would make a great asset to the PTA team, maybe even a shot at president. After sending an accidental text to the queen bee herself, it becomes Melody's sole mission earn the title, but at what cost?

Darcy - Sure, she's an involved parent in the PTA, but surface level only. No way is she ever going to stoop to Charlotte's level of fakery and over-the-top obnoxiousness that she finds so ridiculous. Thank god she's connected with Melody. She sees an opportunity to take out her arch nemesis once and for all.

Patricia - Miami socialite, philanthropists, owner of Villa Rose; a house made entirely of pink glass, and the biggest donor to Sunset Academy. This school wouldn't be half as nice without her or her billionaire husband's generosity. It's the least they can do while keeping their twin sons grounded by enrolling them in public school rather than choosing the private school life. They really just want to give back to the community. But you know what they say. Don't throw stones at glass houses.

This was such a fun read and most likely will make it into my top ten of the year! I can't thank NetGalley or William Morrow enough for my early copy!
Pub. date: July 30, 2024

Liane Moriarty by way of Bravo (the Real Housewives franchise in particular).

The debut novel by Asha Ellis, PINK GLASS HOUSES follows a group of moms at a prestigious and well funded public school in Miami. Melody, a recent transplant from Kansas, butts heads with Charlotte, the PTA queen bee, as intrigue and secrets come out in the uber-wealthy Miami elite that circles around them. It's full of characters full of flaws and practically begging you to dislike them (not a bad thing... I love me an unlikeable female protagonist). The characterization of the Miami high society setting is done masterfully and truly gives you an immersive feeling into the environment.

The standout aspect of PINK GLASS HOUSES is the voices! Told from multiple POVs, each character's voice is clear, distinct, and tells you so much about the characters themselves. Charlotte's voice, in particular, tells you who this character is and what you're in for immediately -- exactly what you need in a book like this. With her background as a journalist, Elias also incorporates excerpts from in-world media into the narrative, bringing a unique tactic to build the world of the story.

The big downsides of this book for me were 1) underused and somewhat random POVs and 2) the resolution of the mystery set up at the beginning. 3 POVs (Melody, Charlotte, and anti-PTA Darcy) are quickly established (along with the journalism framework), but additional POVs are thrown in for only a chapter or two here and there as the book progresses. Rather than introduce these new voices seemingly randomly, I would have liked to see Elias focus on the primary voices and incorporate what we learn in the other POVs into the exiting ones. As for the resolution to the mystery, I found it ultimately underwhelming and feeling like it was a purposeful misdirection for the purpose of a twist to what the reader might be expecting.

That being said, this was an enjoyable read, especially for those who like a light mystery and social dynamics and is one I would recommend.

Pink Glass Houses is one of those books in which it's hard to like ANY of the characters. This is not a huge problem for me, as sometimes unlikeable characters are the most interesting. However, the characters in this book were a bit one-note and I would have liked more clear character arcs. However, I definitely enjoyed the "desperate housewives in a PTA" vibes and think the author nailed those dynamics. I also enjoyed the various plots (PTA prez, financial shenanigans, troubled kid) but feel like they took center stage sequentially rather than being woven together more successfully. All in all, this was an enjoyable read and I was engaged throughout. The audiobook was particularly effective, as it was full-cast and all the narrators were compelling.