This is my fifth read by Sarah Pekkanen (counting books that she co-authored). I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Laura Benanti. She did a fabulous job voicing all the characters from the mundane daily conversations to the moments of domestic tension and thrilling suspense. I could not stop listening to this one and kept finding more and more household chores to work on so I could finish it.

This story is told in first person by Stella, an attorney appointed to serve as counsel to Rose, a nine-year-old girl who has not spoken since her nanny plunged to her death and whose parents are embroiled in a bitter divorce, possibly due to the father’s affair with said nanny. Stella walks right into a family full of tension, secrets and lies, not to mention possibly murder. Stella usually works with children older than Rose but was specifically requested on this case due to her own issues with mutism after the murder of her mother as a child. While this gives Stella common ground with Rose, Stella is disconcerted that the child is squirreling away sharp objects, and the parents have removed all the glass and mirrors from the house.

I enjoyed the way Stella’s past unfolded alongside the investigation into just who killed the nanny as well as more information about how her own mother died since that murder remains unsolved. There’s a house full of suspects as well as a few outsiders who knew the nanny, including an angry boyfriend. I enjoyed watching Stella’s nosy attempts to get information from the tight-lipped family members and her efforts to get to know Rose who is clearly not interested in her interference. I was intrigued by both mysteries and although I was pretty sure what happened to the nanny, it didn’t detract from the suspense of the final reveal.

Recommended to domestic suspense and thriller lovers.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for a copy provided for an honest review.

Short synopsis: Stella is hired as a best interest attorney in a divorce case involving a nine year old girl who witnessed the death of her former nanny.

My thoughts: This was fun bingeable thriller that had me constantly guessing who was responsible for the murder of the Nanny. I honestly went back and forth in my guess for almost the entirety of the book.

The traumatic mutism added a fun complexity to the character Rose, and also increased the suspicion with her collecting sharp objects.

Pekkanen does such a great job at weaving a puzzle like thriller that in completely bingeable and makes the reader second guess their natural instincts.

The audio was so well done, easy to listen to and be sucked into the story. Highly recommend.

Read if you love:
- Unexpected twists
- Untrustworthy characters
- What’s hidden behind a perfect exterior
- Family psychological thriller

Overall really enjoyed this book. It was a solid psychological family drama thriller complete with a dead nanny and creepy kid- who wouldn't be intrigued? The narrator for the audiobook was fantastic, did a great job of conveying dread and spook. Each character had their own unique voice.

Absolutely loved this! Fantastic narration, creepy and excellent book. There was a climbing sense of dread throughout. Loved the tense family dynamic

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195790531

I could not get into the book it was a very slow start and the pages seem to be never ending

Read this if you enjoy:
- Domestic Noir
- Suspense
- Psychological Thriller

This is a solid thriller, following attorney Stella Hudson. Stella has taken on the custody case of Rose Barclay and determined to uncover the Barclay's secrets and give Rose the best placement. That's easier said than done - she's determined to find out what really happened to Rose's former nanny, and Stella quickly realizes the family is not being honest with her.

This was a fun one to listen to - I really enjoyed the main mystery. Stella's backstory was long and -ultimately for me - a distraction to the main plot. I liked the idea, but in the end it just didn't work as well for me. Otherwise, this one is a real page turner!

Stella, a best interest attorney, takes a care to at is outside her general scope of practice - a younger child, who collects sharp objects & is currently not speaking. Stella is tasked with figuring out the best interest of the child, Rose, when it comes to her parent’s divorce proceedings. But, what Stella enters into is deeper than just that - as the family nanny has recently fallen from a three story window in the family’s home & no one is quite sure how or why.

The storyline thickens as Stella’s own upbringing and trauma history infiltrate her work & the way in which she sees this specific case. I feel as though Sarah Pekkanen did a great job with portraying the complexities of the different characters in this book, as well as making them all equally suspicious and sketchy! In writing the book this way, I was kept guessing a lot, which I do love in a thriller! Not to mention the shorter chapters that left off on cliffhangers are also something I enjoy & this book had just that.

I was able to flip between the ebook and audiobook of this book - and I have to say, the narration was well done! The emotion of various situations was clearly conveyed & present through Laura Benanti’s narration - which I also enjoyed!

I love a good thriller with a creepy kid! This was my first book by Sarah Pekkanen and I'll definitely be reading more by her.
None of the twists were all that groundbreaking or surprising but I think she did a great job making the reader doubt every single character. I was drawn in right away and finished in two sittings.
I read and listened to this one and the narrator was engaging. I've been in an audiobook slump and this got me right out of it.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advanced edition of this audiobook in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I'll start first by giving a shout out to Laura Benanti who crushed the narration on this novel and kept me guessing from the first page until the end. Her voice really brought this book to life as she portrayed each character with vibrance and intensity.

I wasn't surprised at all to have been hooked from the start- I am a big fan of Sarah Pekkanen and this book fell right in line with all of her's I have enjoyed before. The plot was a little slow at first but through the middle it started to pick up and definitely ended with a huge bang.

Everything is truly not what it seems in this book, as you work through the pages, a very intriguing domestic mystery unfolds and you won't stop guessing until the very end. This was a breeze to listen to and I would recommend it to fellow thriller and audiobook lovers.

I just finished this book and I don't know how to feel.

I'm a huge fan of all the books Sarah Pekkanen's co-written with Greer Hendricks. I especially loved The Wife Between Us and The Golden Couple. House of Glass is the first book I've read by Sarah Pekkanen alone. I wanted to love it but...

Sarah Pekkanen is obviously a very talented writer, but I just found this story depressing. I needed at least one uplifting moment...or a likable character...anything positive. Nothing. Though the characters were well-developed, I couldn't latch on to any of them. I found the main character (Stella) incredibly annoying. The others were either tragic or boring.

The narrator had a lovely voice but her performance was a bit overdone. She had a huge reaction to literally everything that happened.

The book is slow at times but well-paced overall. I was (mostly) entertained throughout. But it's not a book I'll think about once I've finished writing this review.

3.5 rounded up to 4.

Sarah Pekkanen delivers yet again with another fantastic domestic thriller! This novel blends twisty plot lines with characters with complicated pasts and adds a dead nanny and a child who refuses to speak -- what a mixture just waiting to explode! Grab this and cancel all other plans immediately because you will need to keep listening until the very end.

Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook advanced copy of this book.

Having read several books by this author and Greer Hendricks that I thoroughly enjoyed I was excited to read something by Sarah herself. It didn’t disappoint. I’ve been stuck in a bit of a suspense reading trope and it was nice to switch things up. This novel centers around a custody battle with the increasingly creepy young daughter in the middle and the court appointed lawyer trying to best advocate for her while her suspicions grow about the child and the mysterious death of her nanny. In the vein of “Push” by Ashley Audrain, with the “is this child the absolute worst or am I losing my mind?” Would recommend to those who like suspense and a quick fun read.

House of Glass is an engrossing psychological thriller that you might be afraid to read alone in the dark.

Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, charged with making a recommendation in the best interest of a child at the middle of a custody battle. 9-year-old Rose Barclay is her new client. Rose witnessed the horrific death of her nanny and now has traumatic mutism - a rare condition Stella was also afflicted with after losing her mother at a young age. As Stella seeks to understand Rose and uncover all the secrets surrounding her, she digs in to her own past, finally looking for answers to her mother’s death. There’s something sinister at the Barclay mansion, is it the stoic little girl that collect sharp objects and doesn’t speak? Or is it the adults protecting her or protecting themselves?

The narrator keeps the dialogue engaging and creates appropriate suspense and drama. The audiobook would have been improved by multiple narrators but Laura Benanati could not have performed the single narrative better.

Thrillers and mystery lovers won’t be disappointed by Sarah Pekkanen’s latest.

Thanks to @macmillan.audio for the #gifted copy of this book.

Summary: Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney who has been appointed as a counsel for a custody case involving Rose Barclay a nine-year-old who is a possible witness to her nanny's murder. Rose is suffering from traumatic mutism, which is making Stella's job a little more difficult when the case becomes more twisted than it appears. All of the family in the house, including Rose, seem to have a motive and means to have murdered the nanny, so Stella begins solving that case to make her decision for Rose's custody. Can Stella figure it all out before becoming a victim herself?

Thoughts: This was such a great page-turner of a thriller. I was so interested in finding out what was going on in this house with no glass in sight. In addition to the mystery surrounding the Barclay's house, Stella had her mysterious backstory we were uncovering alongside her. I think a lot of the twists throughout this book were really involving Stella's own story because there were several I didn't see coming. I really enjoyed this one though because it made me truly think since everyone was suspect and could have been the killer. The ending was a nice wrap-up to the story to see how everyone was living after so many revelations.

Laura Benanti did a fantastic job with the audio. Her pace was perfect and she really kept me wanting to find more chores to do around the house to keep listening.

This was good, but kind of expected. The main character has some major trauma from her childhood, and her job is to decide custody of kids during a divorce. She didn’t have a lot of help when she was growing up, so she is very keen to help kids now:. There were some u expected twists, but they all really happened I. The last section of the book. The first part of the book felt kind of long.

Is seeing believing or is it our own perceptions that fool our eye?

This story follows Stella Hudson who is in charge of deciding who shall get custody of 9 year old Rose Barclay when her parent’s suddenly a divorce very shortly after the mysterious death of her Nanny, all of which Rose witnessed and has been mute since.

Questions surround the family as it comes out that the Father Ian Barclay had an affair with the Nanny shortly before she died, and someone else knew, but who?

Could it be..

Ian Barclay: The poor turned rich farmer in an unhappy marriage…
Beth Barclay: The Heiress from an important family and no more patience…
Harriet Barclay: Ian’s Mother, Roses Grandmother, who has a ban knee and is very protective of Rose..
Rose Barclay: The 9 Year old who witnessed her Nannies death and maybe more…

Trust me, you will want to find out! This books was on my TBR for a bit and just never caught my interest, but boy oh boy am I glad I finally picked it up! There were several times throughout this book that I was so sure I knew who the killer was…I was not even close. See if maybe you could put the clues together better than I did, it was worth it! 5 ⭐️’s

Thank you to Sarah Pekkanen for writing this and sharing it with me, I truly appreciate it!

Big thank you as well to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for my no cost audiobook copy of “House of Glass”.

I received this advance review copy at no personal cost and all opinions are my own.

"Is evil a natural force in some people, or is it created by man?"

"I believe evil is a natural force, like a hungry virus, perpetually swirling through the air and seeking places to infiltrate. Most of us bar the door against it...Others welcome it in."

There are quite a few fascinating plot points in the very manipulated perception in the House of Glass by acclaimed thriller author Sarah Pekkanen.

Stella is a "best interest" lawyer. She represents children caught in the middle of bitter divorces. Her mentor, a beloved judge, asks her to represent 9 year old Rose. Rose's rich parents are not only embroiled in a nasty custody battle over her, but they are in the headlines since Rose's nanny, Tina, fell to her death through her bedroom window. Was it a horrible accident, a devastating suicide...or was she pushed to her death?

The first thing Stella notices is "nothing in this house is made of glass." No one's breaking through glass anymore. The second, and more important thing, is Rose. She doesn't speak, diagnosed with traumatic mutism from Tina's death. It's why Stella is perfect for this case. She couldn't speak after her mom's death either.

Voice actress Laura Benanti, is such an engaging storyteller. She makes you feel all of Stella's drama and with the writer's eerie settings and subtleties, has you following Rose's every move as she becomes more unhinged and suspect.

Reading and listening I was fascinated at how Stella's Mom's death played into the story. It's with such nuanced precision that we see how it lets Stella's perception be manipulated to not see the truth. Like a house of glass, we have to thread carefully through this story because when it cracks open it's a sharp reveal.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own

4 🌟
House of Glass a dark and twisted story, well-paced, chilling, creepy, full of taut, suspense-filled, riveting moments and had me on the edge of my seat.
Stella Hudson is an attorney assigned to nine year old Rose. Rose's parents are going through a bitter divorce, both demanding sole custody of their beloved daughter.
Stella has the most difficult task of determining what's in Rose's best interest.
Just to complicate things further, there is an additional issue.
The family's nanny recently fell out of a second-floor window with dear Rose looking on. And she hasn't spoken a word since.
As Stella digs deeper into Rose's life she realizes this is a family harboring a host of secrets and she needs to tread carefully as she continues uncovering more lies!
Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for letting me enjoy and review this fantastic audiobook.

"House of Glass" by Sarah Pekkanen is a psychological thriller.

In this story, Stella is a Best Interest Attorney whose job it is to figure out which parent should get custody in divorces with fights for custody. In this particular case, Rose Barclay is a 9 year old girl with traumatic mutism precipitated by the suspicious death of her nanny.

A lot of the book is about Stella's childhood, and this detracted from the main storyline. I found none of the characters to be very likable.

The narrator, Laura Benanti, did a good job with the various voices and the dramatic voice acting.

Characters - 4/5
Writing - 3/5
Plot - 3/5
Pacing - 3/5
Unputdownability - 3/5
Enjoyment - 3/5
Narration - 5/5
Cover - 5/5
Overall - 29/8 = 3 5/8 rounded up to 4 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, MacMillan Audio, and Sarah Pekkanen for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I love Sarah Pekkanen books. House of Glass was quite enjoyable. The story was easy to follow and very engaging, giving us enough information on each character. I enjoyed learning the background of Stella as well as her present life. Having the story told from the perspective of a best interest attorney was so interesting as I hadn’t heard of the job (though I’m sure it’s important) of determining who a child should live with. Living in the DC area I absolutely loved all the references to familiar places. The narrator of the audiobook was great! Thanks to NetGalley and for a copy to review.