Sarah Pekkanen does it again. I have been a fan ever since she was co-writing with Greer Hendricks. I was so excited about this book and it did not disappoint. The main character, Stella, is a lawyer with a personal tie to what her new client, Rose, is experiencing as a result of a traumatic experience. Stella witnessed the death of her mother when she was a young girl and developed traumatic mutism. Rose has developed this too after witnessing the death of her once beloved nanny.

Stella is hired to determine which parent is best to care for Rose after their divorce is finalized. However, Stella finds herself investigating what she believes to be a crime. The nanny fell, right? Stella doesn't think this is the case and for the safety of Rose and her parents she feels obligated to find out what truly happened.

Just when I thought I knew who was responsible there was another twist that had me questioning myself. I love a book that has me guessing until the very end and this book did just that. No matter what you thought of Pekkanen's previous books, give this one a shot.

Thank you to NetGally, Sarah Pekkanen, and the publisher for allowing me the pleasure of reading this book ahead of the pub date. I enjoyed it very much.

What a wild ride - a murder mystery with everyone from a small child to an elderly woman as a suspect!

This was one of those stories where you keep changing your mind...she did it, no he did, no they both did. I was definitely hooked from the beginning but the one thing that kept me from giving 5 stars was that I didn't like any of the characters, not even the little girl at the center of the custody battle. Maybe I wasn't supposed to? Personally, I want to have someone to root for, a character who I can be hoping didn't do it or won't be the next to be murdered.

Still, I read every last page and I will read anything Sarah Pekkanen puts her name on. She is truly a terrific writer.

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.

Stella Hudson, a special interest attorney, has been appointed to Rose Barclay to help decide who should gain custody of her, her mother or father. While Stella doesn’t normally take on cases with children under 13, she makes an exception for Rose’s unique situation. After having seen her nanny fall to her death, Rose has refused to speak making it even harder to Stella and the investigators to know what really happened to her nanny. As Stella begins getting to know the family, Stella’s concerns for Rose grow as everyone in the Barclay is hiding secrets, even Rose.

This whodunit mystery had me at the edge of my seat and I flew through it. While Stella’s self-work to resolve her own childhood didn’t derail the plot, I don’t know that it helped it as much as I would have liked. Instead, it made the book feel a bit longer than necessary, which is really my only comment. Otherwise, I loved the creepy atmosphere of the house, Stella’s determination to do right by her clients, and the suspense of the overall story.

With plenty of twists and red herrings, House of Glass is a page turner. I feel myself still thinking about the characters, which is huge for me. Even with guessing the ending, I still think this is a stellar psychological thriller!


House of Glass comes out June 11, 2024. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my advanced copies in exchange for my review. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen

Absolutely love this author, she writes the stories that grab you and you can't stop reading till you reach the end and this book was no exception! Fabulous story and turns that keep you wondering! Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for this book.

Suspenseful, intriguing, and unsettling at times. Sarah Pekkanen hits it out of the park with this beautifully written story. HOUSE OF GLASS kept me happily reading for hours on end. Such a great book, and I can't wait for her next thriller.

I have such mixed feelings on this book. I was intrigued by the story and the writing and got sucked in for the first 70% or so. I liked that there were many layers to the story and the characters at the center of the mystery, without it feeling too full of plot twists. The ending really lost me. I thought the author had set it up for a finale that felt interesting and shocking, but she took a turn that kind of came out of nowhere and made the ending feel more "safe", but ultimately unsatisfying. She also threw in a completely random romance in the last 10 or so chapters that served no purpose for the plot, and the conclusion felt rushed and haphazard. I don't think I'd necessarily recommend this book, but I did enjoy the first 50-70%. I've read some of the author's other books and like those much more.

One more note, the last line of the first 15 or 20 chapters always seemed to end in "... and it was made of glass". It felt like a lazy and overused call-back to the title and honestly distracted me. It was used so many times I had to laugh at some points.

I was so looking forward to this book and just feel so bummed about the outcome. I saw the ending coming, The book was just to slow for my liking! The parts where there was a lot of action and a lot going on, were fantastic and i loved the writing, but there was a lot of unnecessary parts in the book i thought that really slowed the story down.,

"I thought this was really well written and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. I think it will find readers at our library, so we will definitely be purchasing for the collection.

I received a copy of House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen from Netgalley!

I absolutely LOVED this book. The premise was so intriguing from the very beginning. How can Stella really know the truth when everyone around her lies? This book embarks you on a journey where you will feel all of the emotions for Stella ranging from early childhood to the present day, including anger, fear, love, sadness, redemption, excitement, proud, etc.

I normally do not like to read about a backstory that may tend to take away from the main storyline, but Stella's backstory had me hooked, and I feel like it all came full circle when she came to the Barclays' home to investigate the well-being of Rose.

.. and who doesn't love a book with a creepy kid surrounded by mystery?

I would 100% recommend this book to anyone I know. I knew from the very beginning that this had the potential to be a 5 start read for me. I was hoping that would remain true through the book's entirety, and it did not disappoint! There were a bunch of jaw-dropping twists that made me not want to put the book down.

Sarah Pekkanen did a phenomenal job with House of Glass, and I cannot wait to read more of her books in the future!

House of Glass featured the most original plot I’ve come across in a thriller in a while! While perhaps a tad predictable, it was still a very engrossing and enjoyable read. Thanks to Net Galley for an advanced copy to review!

This thriller has a really interesting premise: a little girl witnesses the possible murder of her nanny and stops speaking. I enjoyed the mystery and the slow burn storytelling that kept me interested in what comes next. This isn’t a book filled with lots of plot twists, but it is a solid mystery and psychological thriller. It would make a great book club read and I’ll definitely be recommending it. Thanks so much for the opportunity to read in advance!

This was a struggle for me to get through. I was kind of waiting a while for something to happen and it was just meh for me. This read like a legal thriller, which I’m not the biggest fan of, so maybe that’s why? It was just veeerrrryyyy slow. It was missing the thrill for me.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for my ARC.

Thank you @stmartinspress #partner for the free eARC!

Attention attention I have still not met a Sarah Pekkanen book I haven’t LOVED! She knows exactly how to grab my attention and not let go until the entire book has consumed me! This one was no different AND had one of my favorite attributes included…a creepy kid! 😂 Scary kids freak me out and this book included a child named Rose. In this book we learn that Rose has witnessed her Nanny plunge out of upstairs window. What follows is Roses odd behavior which includes not speaking to anyone and collecting sharp objects. 👀 This is where we meet Stella, a child advocate to help determine Rose’s future and best interests. Shortly after the tragic incident, Rose’s parents file for divorce. Stella must determine which parent is better to love with. Shortly after her first visit to the house she realizes there is not one ounce of glass in the house. But why?

Ok I don’t want to tell you more but I will leave you with this….you need to read this one! I LOVED that I found myself flip flopping the entire book on who did what and why and how and when 😂 Those are my favorite types of books! This simply kept me on the edge of my seat and kept was extremely suspenseful. I found myself having a sense of dread the entire book and the ending felt very ominous! I read this one with the #sleuthcrew and it was SO hard to stop each day at the stopping point! This one comes out in August and you’ll definitely want this one on your radar!

This book was a page-turner and it kept me engaged but I kept waiting for the big twist or the big moment that kind of took the book to the next level and it never happened. Enjoyable enough but wish it took it up a couple notches. Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC!

One of the best thrillers I've read so far in 2024! House of Glass was equal parts creepy and intriguing! I was tossing and turning trying to figure out what was really going on with this eerie mansion and suspicious family.

Stella's services as a Best Interest Lawyer are required for the contentious divorce between Beth and Ian while they're fighting for custody of their daughter. The family was traumatized after their nanny fell (or was pushed?) from their house and died. Everyone was under suspicion but the case went cold, leaving only a broken up family and the daughter losing her ability to speak due to the trauma.

As Stella slowly uncovers the secrets the family is hiding, she can't deny there's a trickle of evil woven throughout the house and Rose may be the source. When similar events start happening to her that mirror the nanny's last few days, she starts to wonder if she may be in danger too.

Sarah Pekkanen did a phenomenal job turning a seemingly straightforward case into a hairs standing up on the back of your neck thriller. Each person involved had reason to be a suspect and I was kept guessing until the end!

Over the past several years, Sarah Pekkanen has really proven herself to be a top notch thriller writer. Her upcoming novel, House of Glass, is further proof. This was such a spooky and chilling story from beginning to end.

Stella is a strong lead character and she has quite a challenge ahead of her when dealing with the Barclay family and the child at the center of their tumult. She's also dealing with her own demons and trying to find out the truth about her mother's untimely passing. With an intimidating and unreliable child witness and strange things happening at every turn, you will be on the edge of your seat, if you're not already jumping out of it. I was not able to guess who the real killer was and I know you'll be surprised too!

Side note: I love that this novel takes place in DC and the Maryland suburbs. So easy to picture everything.

Be on the lookout for this one in early August and prepare to look over your shoulder at all times...

(Trigger warnings below.)

Movie casting suggestions:
Stella: Alexandra Daddario
Charles: Mark Harmon
Beth: Bryce Dallas Howard
Ian: Chad Michael Murray
Harriet: Tyne Daly
Detective Garcia: Aubrey Plaza
Ashley: Madisyn Shipman
Tina (in flashbacks): Isabela Merced
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TW: death of parents, addiction (Stella's mother in flashbacks)

This book was a page turner! Make sure you have some time to read when you start this one because you are not going to want to put it down! The entire time I was reading this, I seriously thought I knew what was going to happen, but once again I was wrong! My heart was pounding almost the entire time I was reading it. I was immersed with a tense feeling from the start and the feeling grew more intense as the story exploded into its ending. I loved the main character, and felt for what she was going through in her own life as she was trying to do a difficult job. Overall I highly recommend this read!!

4.5 stars

Stella has a job to do, and it is to help determine which parent of nine-year-old Nina, should have primary custody following their divorce. Oh, did I mention the parents are divorcing after the live in Nanny mysteriously died at their house. And the Nanny was pregnant with the father’s baby. Oh, and Nina is so traumatized by the whole situation she is secretly collecting sharp objects and is completely unable to speak.

This thriller pulled me right out of a reading slump. Nina totally gave me the creeps and had me completely on edge, not to mention the creepy setting of the old, dark, huge home. I enjoyed the pacing this story had. The author did a good job of building up the mystery of what really transpired, and just made me more and more anxious about who killed the Nanny. The resolution was fantastic for me, I really didn’t see the ending coming and really enjoyed how it played out. The only thing keeping this from a perfect 5⭐️ for me was some of the subplots. While I enjoyed knowing Stella’s past and how it formed her, I think the story could have done without some of how that background plays out. But that’s just me being a little nit-picky.

4.5 stars
This book follows Stella, a Best Interest Attorney; who is assigned a case regarding a young girl whose parents are going through a divorce. Stella is asked to determine which parent deserves sole custody of their daughter, Rose, after a tragedy; and affair, occurs in their home.
This book had me hooked from the get go. Perfect pace, great writing and lots of minor stories in the background that kept you on your toes. Another awesome storyline by Sarah Pekkanen!

This is my first book that I have read just by Sarah Pekkanen. I have read and loved her colab books with Greer Hendricks which is why I chose this book to read. It was a good book, I enjoyed the story and journey the book took me on. What I didn't enjoy was the ending, the actually ending of the book/story was good, but the last 3 chapters, "a month later".... Like, what was the point? Didn't really add anything to the story and just felt forced. Actually feel like it took away from the entire book and gives me pause about reading future book just by Sarah.