A thriller with a family hiding lots of secrets by one of my auto-buy authors…say less!

Pekkanen has crafted an addictive and entertaining story surrounding the Barclay family. Their nanny was possibly murdered at their home and now the family is being investigated to see what they know. To make matters more complicated, their nine-year-old has stopped speaking and is busying herself collecting sharp objects 😲

The Barclay family was captivating. They all very clearly had secrets and I loved getting to unravel them alongside our main character, Stella, who by the way has quite a few things she needs to work out as well. Stella’s past and the Barclay’s have interesting overlaps that really tie everything together and make the story and character motivations flow seamlessly together.

The pacing of House of Glass is quick and keeps readers on their feet as Pekkanen reveals new twists and turns in the story.

🎧: I snagged a copy of the audio from Netgalley thinking this would be a perfect companion to my commute and I can definitely confirm that’s true!

As a lover of the domestic thriller genre, I was very excited to pick up House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen, particularly after enjoying the overly intricate twists and turns of The Wife Between Us from 2017.

House of Glass follows Stella Hudson, a “best interests” attorney, assigned to nine-year-old Rose Barclay who is suffering from traumatic mutism, something Stella herself dealt with as a child. Moreover, Rose’s condition, which does not stem from her parents’ messy divorce, began after she witnessed her previous nanny’s unexplained death. Was Tina, Rose’s young nanny, the victim of a freak accident? Could her death be connected to the Barclays' imminent divorce? And why is Rose, who grows increasingly distant toward Stella with each interaction, now obsessively collecting every sharp object she can find?

This novel definitely has some fun, thriller-y aspects to it, with a cast of unreliable adults, a scary mansion where voices carry (and surprisingly enough, nothing is made of glass), and a progressively creepier child. This should have all added up to quite an enjoyable experience for me, however, there was a general flatness to the storytelling, where no big reveal or twist truly managed to elevate the mystery. While Laura Benanti’s narration was layered and exciting, the text itself fell short many times, particularly with the characters being a little too one note, never really leaving their designated trope lane, and merely moving from scene to scene in a “and then” fashion. The ending also wrapped up way too neatly and lacked any real depth that would have made the final reveals feel earned. There were some particular threads involving Stella’s mentor and her own traumatic past that I was expecting more from as well.

While House of Glass did not match the hype I’d built around it, it remains an engaging, read-in-one-sitting mystery that’ll thrill most fans of the genre, and I’ll likely pick up Pekkanen's future releases.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and McMillan Audio for the ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

Gripped me from the very beginning! I loved the mystery behind the story, but the ending fell a little flat for me. I feel like I wasn't all that surprised by the twist. Great on audio.

3.5 rounded up.

Our main character Stella is a best interest lawyer who represents children in custody cases. Stella decides to help Rose, a 9 year old whose parents are getting divorced. Rose witnessed the possible murder of her nanny and is now suffering from traumatic mutism. This stirs up some memories from Stella's past because she also suffered from traumatic mutism as a child.

I liked this book a lot. It gave me a little bit of Silent Patient vibes because the person who could tell us what happened isn't speaking/can't speak. It has super short Cheeto chapters. Really fast read. I had to know what really happened and how everything was going to resolve. I will say it might have given me nightmares 😆 this or Gladiator.

The audiobook is very well done. Laura Benanti's voice is perfect for Stella.

I've always been a fan of Sarah Pekkanen's writing, but this will be my first venture into her solo works. I heard amazing things about her 2023 release, Gone Tonight, so I was very excited to dive into her 2024 thriller, HOUSE OF GLASS. This story is centered around the death of a nanny, witnessed by nine year old Rose Barclay. Rose is dealing with the trauma of her nanny's death, but also with her parents going through a divorce. When attorney Stella Hudson is assigned to this case, she realizes that the Barclay family is hiding secrets of their own. Stella is in over her head and quickly believes that this family is more sinister than she ever suspected.

I don't want to dive too much into the story, but I got such old school BA Paris vibes from this book, in the best way possible. The story of Elizabeth and Ian Barclay's divorce plays a big role into this story and it's a bit longer than it needed to be, but the mystery is front and center. While Stella tries to determine which parent would be the ideal fit for sole custody of Rose, the reader quickly sees her dive further into the chaos of this family. This whodunnit is pretty fun and the book is very atmospheric. It's hard not to root for Stella and see her battle the Barclay family. The title comes from the fact that this family does not own any glass within the house, which was a unique and oddly satisfying aspect to the mystery. The ending really was a perfect bow to the story. I will gladly pick up the next Sarah Pekkanen novel!

Very compelling and hard to put down. I've always enjoyed the author duo but Pekkanen is a force on her own as well! This was a read in one day thriller that keeps you on your toes.

Tragedy strikes a family after their nanny falls to her death, resulting in the young daughter Rose developing selective mutism. Amidst the turmoil, the parents move to divorce bringing children’s advocate, Stella, into their lives. Stella must observe the family,:mom, dad, daughter, and grandmother, and determine how Rose’s custody should be arranged. Without Rose’s voice, Stella must piece together the clues she can get from the verbal and nonverbal members of the household. But as Stella gets closer to her decision, some people start to feel threatened and Stella may need to be put in her place. An edge of your seat thriller that while you may think you know, still manages to surprise you.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for a copy of this audiobook in advance in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, I flew through this book. I loved the psychological piece of the book. There wasn't a single character that could be trusted. I mainly listened to the book on audio and the narrator, Laura, did a great job with the inflections in her tone. It helped create tension within the story. I think the short chapters made it easier to fly through the book and the ending caught me by surprise.

For any psychological thriller lover, I would highly recommend this read.

"Everyone holds a bit of darkness inside." This quote from Sarah Pekkanen's House of Glass perfectly encapsulates the chilling tension that runs through this novel. From the first page, I was hooked, and the story kept me guessing until the very end. The plot twists were masterfully executed, leaving me on the edge of my seat. I found it nearly impossible to put down and now, having finished, I'm already craving more. Pekkanen has once again proven her skill in crafting psychological thrillers that linger long after the last page.

House of Glass follows a lawyer, Stella, who is deciding the future custody of a child after her nanny dies mysteriously. With a unique connection to the child, Stella battles her own past as she decides Rose's future. If you enjoy thrillers where everyone is a suspect, you are bound to enjoy House of Glass!

I received an ALC from Macmillan Audio via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Narration performed by Laura Benanti was well done and definitely enhanced my reading experience.

House of Glass is a highly addictive, spine tingling suspense where everyone is in question.

The Barclays are a seemingly perfect, wealthy family. But when their nanny falls to her death and a divorce is imminent with an ugly custody battle on the horizon, a best interest attorney is put on the case to represent the young child, Rose. Stella usually doesn't take cases with kids that are not in their teens, but the judge on this particular case knows Stella is the perfect person for the job. Stella is the type of attorney that is beyond driven and will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of everything.

But when Stella steps into the Barclays home, she knows that this case will be unlike anything she has experienced before. She not only is acting in the best interest of the child, but now is drawn in by the creepy "plastic" home and its inhabitants. Everyone is off and seems to be keeping her from the truth that lies within the walls. Stella feels that she must now find out what happened to the nanny in order to come to her resolution concerning Rose. Who is guilty and who is telling the truth? The mother, the father, the nanny's boyfriend, the grandmother and even Rose herself are all suspects.

Sarah Pekkanen did a great job of creating a setting that was both suspenseful and characters that all seemed like they were hiding something. Even when it came to Stella's personal life, you had to wonder how that all fit in with the case of the Barclays and the nanny's death. I liked that everyone was a suspect and seemed to be lying or at least withholding truths. There was always an underlying tenseness within the characters. Their actions intrigued me. While I didn't feel this was a thriller that was full of twists and turns, it felt more like a psychological study on the characters and their actions. And I love a good "who dun it" with a bunch of questionable characters.

Overall, this was a good suspenseful thriller with some interesting characters that all seemed guilty at one point or another. I was led to believe that all were a little bit sinister. WIth the short chapters and interesting characters, Pekkanen brought a sense of urgency to the story and made it that much more exciting. A good overall read.

From the very first page of “House of Glass”, I was completely hooked and found it nearly impossible to put down. Sarah Pekkanen has delivered another gripping story with her signature style of storytelling that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

The book stands out not only for its intriguing plot but also for its exceptional character development. Pekkanen's ability to breathe life into her characters and make them relatable is my favorite. Each character feels multi-dimensional, real, and relatable which adds depth to the story and makes it all the more intriguing. The book's structure is my favorite format…...short, fast-paced chapters that create a highly engaging reading experience.

The audiobook format enhances this experience wonderfully. The narrator’s performance was excellent, capturing the essence of the characters and the tension of the plot with great skill. The pacing of the narration was spot-on, which amplified the already fast-paced nature of the story and kept me fully engaged.

“House of Glass”, Is a quick read due to its fast pace and engaging story, and it kept me eagerly turning the pages until the very end. I can’t recommend it highly enough—this one definitely earns a full 5 stars!

The characters were well written and the narrator did a good job. At the beginning the book was fast past but from halfway through I started to find the book was too long.

Stella, a best interest attorney for children, takes a case with a new client who is younger than the clients she usually takes. Her name is Rose, and as a nine-year-old caught in the middle of her parents' divorce, she needs the best and most neutral advocate she can get because of recent circumstances that led her to witness the accidental death of her nanny. Or was it an accident? Stella sets out to be the best she can for Rose because she too remembers being in a vulnerable position as a child.

Thank you to Sarah Pekkanen and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions shared here are solely mine.

This was definitely an edge-of-the-seat thriller that kept me hooked the whole time. Every time I had to set down the book, I was eager to pick it up again. That is one of the main things I look for in a thriller. I also liked the ending and how the story was wrapped up neatly. Although the main twist was not as gripping as some other thrillers are, I really liked how it all turned out.

The audiobook version of this book added to my enjoyment of the story. The narrator was excellent at putting fear, joy, sadness, and all the other emotions into each of the characters' voices. I definitely recommend getting ahold of an audiobook version of this book. What a wonderful read for the end of summer!

My only critique of this book was the random element of attraction between Stella and that detective. It was added in so out-of-the-blue near the end of the book and I do not think it added anything to the story. It felt clunky and irrelevant. The detective was not even an important character in the book. This will not deter me from rating this book five stars, but it almost did.

I'm a big Sarah Pekkanen fan, so I jumped at the opportunity to read an advanced copy of House of Glass. It did not disappoint!

I listened to the audiobook in two days, turning it on every chance I got. Laura Benanti is the narrator, who I thought did an excellent job.

At the heart of this riveting story is nine-year-old Rose Barclay, a silent witness to the tragic death of her nanny, which has shattered her family's facade of perfection. The author's portrayal of Rose alternates between haunting and heartbreaking. It's why I couldn't stop listening!

Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney (also sometimes known as a guardian ad litem) with her own traumatic childhood, who reluctantly takes on Rose's case. As Stella delves deeper into the Barclay family's secrets, we're drawn into a world where nothing is as it seems. Pekkanen's skill in crafting complex, flawed characters shines through, making each suspect in the nanny's death feel believable and potentially culpable.

The Barclay's historic DC home, with its iron gates and unsettling lack of glass, becomes a character in its own right. The author's vivid descriptions create a palpable sense of unease that makes this such a compelling story.

As Stella races against time to uncover the truth, the story takes unexpected twists and turns that challenge our assumptions and keep us guessing until the very end. The author deftly explores themes of trauma, loyalty, and the lengths people will go to protect their secrets, all while maintaining a pace that made me speed through this book.

House of Glass is a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers who crave depth, nuance, and characters that linger in the mind long after the story ends. It's a testament to Pekkanen's skill that she can tackle such heavy subject matter while still leaving readers with a glimmer of hope. This is one I highly recommend!

So I did accidentally start reading this book after finishing a different book with a creepy kid (I like to go in to books kind of blindly) but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of this one. Once I got to make the 30% mark I couldn't put it down.
This is a great one to consume with your ears. The narrator did a great job with pacing and bringing the unlikable characters to life.

I was provided both a print and audio ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

The narrator did a great job voicing the different characters and kept the pacing moving along wonderfully. She did a good job adding emotion and tension in the right places.

This was a really interesting phycological thriller. It follows attorney Stella as she works a case to figure out the best custody arrangement for young client Rose. Rose's parents have filed for divorce after their live in nanny fell out a window and it came to light that she was having an affair with Rose's father. Rose has stopped speaking after the horrible events in her home, so it is Stella's job to put together the facts and determine what the most suitable and safe environment for Rose will be after the divorce. As she gets to know the family, it is clear that they are hiding something and they know more about the nanny's death than they are letting on. The closer she gets to the truth, the more likely it is that anyone of them could have murdered the nanny including nine year old Rose. As Stella investigates the case, trauma from her own past surfaces, and she struggles to keep her own feelings out of the case she is investigating as her past overlaps her present.

This kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. One second I was convinced it was the daughter, the next it was one of the parents, then it was the grandmother, then in the next chapters I changed my mind again. The author does a good job providing the reader with a good amount of red herrings to keep you guessing but does leave enough clues lead you to the right answer. I also enjoyed learning about Stella's background story, it had you wondering if it was a distraction from the main plot, if she was projecting her own trauma onto the case or if she was doing a better job because of her past. I do think the addition of the romantic subplot was a bit unnecessary, it was a small part of the book so it wasn't that distracting.

Overall I enjoyed this, I thought I had great pacing, and while I normally don't like books with small children in them when it comes to thrillers this one was worth the read.

In The House of Glass, Sarah Pekkanen masterfully crafts a suspenseful narrative that keeps readers engrossed in a web of deception and intrigue. The novel revolves around the mysterious fall of Tina, Rose’s nanny, from a third-floor window, and the challenge of uncovering the truth behind the incident while navigating a landscape of lies and half-truths.

Stella, the protagonist, is a compelling figure who drives the investigation into Tina's fall. Her role as a detective is made all the more engaging by her acute awareness of the deceit surrounding the Barclay family. As Stella digs deeper into the case, it becomes clear that every member of the Barclay household has something to hide. Readers are drawn into Stella’s quest for truth, paralleling her own struggles to decipher what’s real amidst the tangled narrative.

One of the novel’s strengths lies in Stella’s backstory, which adds significant depth to the plot and her character. This background enriches the story, offering more than just a psychological thriller; it provides a nuanced exploration of Stella's motivations and personal struggles. Even when Stella isn’t directly engaged with Rose’s case, her past and the personal challenges she faces keep readers invested in her journey.

Pekkanen excels in maintaining suspense throughout the book. I found myself constantly on edge, nearly grasping the truth but never quite able to pin it down until the very end. This lingering uncertainty keeps the pages turning, as readers, like Stella, strive to uncover the secrets hidden within the glass walls of the Barclay home.

The novel’s conclusion is both satisfying and rewarding. It wraps up the central mystery while also providing a thoughtful glimpse into Stella’s future. This final touch adds a layer of resolution that enhances the overall reading experience, making the journey through the story all the more gratifying.

In summary, The House of Glass is a well-crafted psychological thriller that excels in its portrayal of complex characters and intricate plot twists. Pekkanen’s skillful storytelling ensures that readers are kept guessing until the very end, and Stella’s character development adds depth to the narrative, making this book a compelling and memorable read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this advanced audio version in exchange for my honest opinions!

House of Glass
by Sarah Pekkanen
4/5⭐️

Stella Hudson, a best-interest attorney, takes on a new case to protect Rose Barclay. Rose is a 9-year-old girl who recently witnessed her nanny’s murder and whose parents are getting a divorce. Stella would usually not counsel a child so young due to her own difficult childhood.

When Stella enters the Barclay home, she quickly realizes that the family is broken and twisted. Everyone, including the mother, father, grandmother, and even Rose, is a suspect in the nanny's murder. The house itself is quite unusual, with no glass, mirrors, or sharp objects anywhere. Can Stella figure out how to protect Rose before she needs protection from her own secrets and past?

House of Glass is a captivating character-driven thriller. I enjoyed the intensity of both Stella and Rose’s stories. The fast-paced chapters and great narrator made this book easy to listen to. The ending neatly tied up the story, although it felt a bit drawn out and somewhat predictable.

Thank you to @Macmillan.Audio and @netgalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review. All my opinions are my own.
Publication Date: August 6, 2024

Such a great thriller!! I thought I knew what had happened, but it went a different way. I loved the suspense and questions this story had. I really enjoyed reading this one. The audiobook was so good too! I really enjoyed the narrator, and the audio gave the story more suspense. Very good! Highly recommend!!

*Thank you @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted e-galley and audiobook in exchange for an honest review.*