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House of Glass
By: Sarah Pekkanen
Narrator: Laura Benanti
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Pub Date: 8/6/24

Stella Hudson is an attorney whose clients are children going through divorce and custody battles. It’s her job to assess the situation make a recommendation to the court as to whom the child should live with. She has her own trama from her childhood both her parents dying at different times and her moms struggle with drugs.
When Stella’s mentor Charles reaches out and wants her to work with 9 year old Rose she decides to meet with the family and that’s where things start to go off the rails.
The Barclay’s are an extremely well off family whose nanny was killed on their property by their 9 year old daughter. Rose hasn’t spoken since the accident. She’s doing odd things like hiding weapons and reading books that aren’t meant for a 9 year old. Her father had cheated with the nanny and gotten her pregnant which is the cause of the current turmoil in the family.
Rose’s grandmother Harriet lives in the home and helps out with Rose. Rose has been pulled from school and is being taught at home. Her life is very secluded but Stella is starting to see cracks. What really happened when the nanny was killed? Where was each member of the family really? I promise you won’t see the twist coming with this one!
The narrator Laura's voice really becomes Stella during the story. She really drags you in. Definitely one of my top thrillers of this year!

This book peaked my interest with the plot but I found myself rarely WANTING to listen to it more. I was interested in finding out what was really going on; however, it took me much longer than usual to get through the audiobook in its entirety.
The narrator did do a good job!

After a nanny fell to her death, a lawyer/child advocate interviews the nanny’s employers to decide which parental home would be best for the 9-year old mute Rose. The nanny’s death and preceding affair has lead to DIVORCE. Stella senses danger around her and questions if Rose is as innocent as she seems. You see, Rose is precocious and she can relate to Rose in her muteness. As a child, herself, Stella witnessed her mother’s death and became mute herself.

After spending time with Rose and her family, Stella stars to unveil a some secrets. Will Stella discover the family’s deep, dark and deadly secret before it’s too late?


𝓜𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼: Spoiler Alert!
☁️☁️☁️

Mysterious and suspenseful, this domestic thriller was full of secrets and had a TWISTY ending! I enjoyed reading this! Fans of Michelle Campbell and Rachel Hawkins will like this one!

House of Glass hooked me from the very start. I really enjoyed the beginning of the book and then it honestly started to stall out. I did enjoy it but was not surprised by the twists at the end. I found it to be pretty obvious as to what was going on. I am still excited about anything Sarah Pekkanen writes. She will always be an autobuy author for me!

Nine year old Rose has been witness to something that no one ever wants to see; Rose witnessed what appears to be the murder of her nanny. Ever since that horrible event Rose won’t speak, not one word. To make matters worse, her parents are going through a divorce and a custody dispute. Enter Stella, a lawyer who fights for the children that she represents, vowing to place them in the safest and healthiest environments. Stella has her own trauma to deal with, which is why she never accepts clients so young, but when she is asked by her mentor, who is also a judge, to take Rose as a client, Stella reluctantly says yes. Now she finds herself immersed in the drama of the Barclay’s, drama that includes not only the suspicious murder, but an overbearing grandmother, a house that is void of any and all glass, and a young girl who has so much to say but can’t. Oh, and Rose likes to collect and hide sharp things, but why?

House of Glass is a novel full of twists and turns that I rather enjoyed. There are a lot of chapters that make up this novel, and I do mean a lot, creating a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat novel; the chapters were like potato chips, I couldn’t read just one. I was also pleasantly surprised by the twists and turns throughout the story, not seeing many of them coming until they were there. The ending was a little odd though, and didn’t quite fit with the story and the characters in my opinion.

I went back and forth with the audiobook. My biggest issue was the pace of the narration. For a novel that is supposed to be a thriller the narration was way too slow; it was almost like Stella, who is the narrator within the novel, was sleepwalking through the story, even with the inflection used by Benanti. Once I sped it up quite a lot I was better able to enjoy the audiobook, and it did add to my enjoyment of the narrative. I also liked that Benanti didn’t use what I think of as ridiculous voices for the male characters.

House of Glass is a thriller that will keep you guessing; go check it out. Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin’s Press for gifting to me early audio and electronic copies of House of Glass, given in exchange for an honest review; all opinions are my own. House of Glass is out now.

An enjoyable and fast-paced thriller/mystery. After the suspicious death of their nanny, who was having an affair with the husband, the Barclays are divorcing and each wants custody of their daughter Rose, who has become traumatically mute after the horrific death. Stella Hudson is Rose's best interest attorney -- she tries to get to know Rose and her parents and grandmother to determine how custody should be arranged. She also does some digging into the nanny's death and deals with her own childhood demons.

This story moved quickly and kept me guessing: is Rose an innocent victim of trauma or a secretly deranged mastermind? Plenty of creepy vibes and thrilling bits. Laura Benanti's narration was very good as well. This is a solid thriller.

Thanks NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

This one was just okay. I felt like i had read something similar before, nothing really stuck out to me

On the surface, the Barclay family seems perfect, but beneath the façade they are hiding some dark truths. When a young nanny falls to her death, nine-year-old Rose stops speaking, and lawyer Stella Hudson is brought in to uncover the truth. With everyone lying, it’s hard to tell who’s the victim and who’s the murderer.
I really enjoyed this one! The mystery kept me hooked, and the tension between the characters and the eerie atmosphere of the house made it hard to put down. The characters are all deeply flawed, and just when you think you’ve figured out who’s lying, Pekkanen throws in another twist that makes you second-guess everything. The way she blends suspense with psychological drama had me questioning every character’s motive. It’s a gripping, twisty read that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.
If you’re into thrillers that make you think, this one’s a must-read!

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.