Review of House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen

Always read anything by this author without even reading the synopsis or glancing at the cover. Fortunately, she has yet to let me down, and this novel was no exception. I was engrossed from the first page and basically couldn’t put it down. I really liked the main character and her dedication to helping a young child in need. I had no idea , what the truth was and loved all the twists and turns in this book. I thought the ending was excellent. Can’t wait for her next book.

Synopsis:

On the outside they were the golden family with the perfect life. On the inside they built the perfect lie.

A young nanny who plunged to her death, or was she pushed? A nine-year-old girl who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak. A lawyer whose job it is to uncover who in the family is a victim and who is a murderer. But how can you find out the truth when everyone here is lying?

Rose Barclay is a nine-year-old girl who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny - in the midst of her parent's bitter divorce - and immediately stopped speaking. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. She never accepts clients under thirteen due to her own traumatic childhood, but Stella's mentor, a revered judge, believes Stella is the only one who can help.

From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, historic DC home of the Barclays, she realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far more troubled, than she feared. And there's something eerie about the house itself: It's a plastic house, with not a single bit of glass to be found.

As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays are desperate to hide, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present are set on a collision course in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny's murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny's boyfriend. Even Rose. Is the person Stella's supposed to protect the one she may need protection from?

House of Glass, by Sarah Pekkanen, is a well-written page-turner that you may feel sure you have all figured out... until a twist reveals you do not. The ending is likely not at all what you anticipated. Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. I’ve read a lot of Sarah Pekkanen and sadly, this was not my favorite. The story was fairly predictable and not very interesting. Plus it was quite clear she has no idea what an actual BIA does.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC**

This was a great thriller with lots of twists! Rose is a nine year old girl who becomes mute after witnessing her Nannie’s death. Big did she kill her nanny? Or was it really an accident?

Stella is a lawyer who acts in the best interests of the child, in this case Rose. The crime is solved and secrets are unraveled, such a great book with tons of twist.

3.5/5 stars! The first half of the book sunk its claws into me - great pacing, super eerie and suspenseful. The ending was where it fell short, the conclusion was all a bit too convenient and unrealistic. Overall, still kept me turning the pages!

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing this ARC for my voluntary and honest review!

I absolutely loved this book. The plot hooked me from the beginning, the characters were interesting and I enjoyed the character development of the narrator. I couldn’t put this book down, and never saw the ending coming

This was one of the best thrillers I’ve ever read! All of the characters are so well written, you felt like you knew them intimately. Until you didn’t. Everyone holds their own secrets, from the elderly grandmother with bad knees to the mute nine-year old girl. Something terrible has happened to Rose's family… their maid was murdered. No one can be trusted now, and all of the glass in the house is replaced with plastic. A lawyer tries her best to figure out the best living situation for Rose as her parents go through an ugly divorce while also trying to solve a murder. The tension in this story is palpable, a must read for psychological thriller lovers!

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Aug. 6, 2024
Stella Hudson is a “best interest attorney”, an attorney hired by the courts to speak for the children when custody battles get ugly. Hew new client is Rose Barclay who, after witnessing her nanny falling to her death, no longer speaks. As Stella struggles to understand Rose, she takes note of the girls’ strange behaviour, including hoarding sharp objects and, after speaking with her extremely close-knit and protective family, Stella wonders- did the nanny really die from a fall or was she pushed? Is Rose in danger from those who claim to love her? Or is it the other way around?
Sarah Pekkanen is the sole author of ten novels, as well as four works she co-authored with Greer Hendricks (including “An Anonymous Girl” and “The Wife Between Us”) so I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting into when I was asked to read and review her new novel, “House of Glass”. Suspense? Intrigue? Psychological twists and turns? A dysfunctional family and a main character plagued by trauma? All that—and MORE!
Stella is the multi-layered, complex protagonist with a challenging job. Going through a divorce herself, her experience with Rose brings her own childhood trauma to the surface, which explains why the Barclay case is far more personal than it should be. The Barclay’s are all dark and twisty and it makes the ending so hard to predict! The possibility that Rose could have murdered her nanny is completely believable- but any of the Barclay’s (alone or in combination) are just as likely. I loved being completely enraptured by the Pekkanen’s guessing game.
“Glass” was captivating and I easily tore through the pages. Not only do readers get to delve into the seemingly perfect Barclay family, but the novel investigates Stella’s personal backstory as well, which was interesting and provided rock solid character development. It may be difficult for some readers to come to terms with the idea of a child at the root of a murder investigation however for me (who works in the social work field), it was not only believable, but disturbingly likely. The ending was reassuring and the plot line was wrapped up in the best way possible. Pekkanen’s stand-alones are goosebump-inducing, and “House of Glass” is no exception!

First of all thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

This is my first 5 star review on a book and it was definitely worth the read. This book captivated me and I finished it in less than three days. With all the twists and turns, I was perpetually on the edge of my seat, never being able to predict how the story would end. Every time I thought I had came to a conclusion, I was wrong.

What could possibly be amiss in working in a elegant home, a murder perhaps, a glassless house, and a truly strange mute child?

It seems that the lies circulate in DC home of the Barclays. Stella, a lawyer representing Children has decided to become the child advocate for Rose, a nine year old girl who unfortunately witnessed the suicide of her nanny. It's a trauma that has left her mute, but there also seems to be something sinister about this child. Stella also is trying to find the causes of her parents' deaths, one to a tragic traffic accident and the other to drugs.

Rose's parents and grandmother seem overly protective of Rose and try to hide her away and limit her time with Stella. There is definitely something wrong and all sign seem to point to Rose, but she can't speak so how do you break through to this child?

I enjoyed the story on the whole until the author included a "topic of the day to her story." It just didn't fit nor did it do anything to the telling so sadly it lost a star because of that.

Thank you to Sarah Pekkanen, Orion, and NetGalley for a copy of this story due out in August of this year.

A psychological thriller, featuring Stella, an attorney for children in custody cases. Rose Barclay is a nine-year-old, who witnessed the death of her nanny and has stopped speaking. Stella soon finds out of the Barclays are not your typical family.

I enjoyed the story as it kept me guessing almost to the end. The character building was excellent. The detailed writing added to the atmosphere of suspense and creepiness. Everyone was a suspect, and Stella stopped at nothing to figure out who was responsible. The pacing was perfect and kept me engaged in the story. I highly recommend.

From start to finish I was mesmerized by the story, the characters and the need to keep reading.
Sarah Pekkanen did it again, and I'm so glad I was able to read this!
There were a few things I loved about this book more than most I've read: the deep characterization, the way we were able to dive deep into the deep emotional needs of the story and have 'feelings' for every single character. The twists, they didn't stop, but they weren't too much, over the top or feel forced...every detail about this story felt believable, like it could happen in real life.
I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Mhm.. I gotta say I really did enjoy this. The writing and pov of the main character stood out the most to me. I liked how detailed and relatable it was.
It was twisty to say the least. I was also surprised by how it turned out. I liked how the author portrayed Rose’s character! Only minor thing I wish is for Stella to have a male lead in the end. I pictured her with a strong male, lead. That’s about it. I enjoyed this very much! Thanks for the arc!

This was a super creepy binge worthy thriller. I was constantly feeling like I was on the edge of my seat not knowing when danger would strike. There was a lot going on in this book, several mysteries being solved in one. The plot twist at the end was not expected, I definitely recommend reading this one!

I received an complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Great thriller from beginning to end!
Well-written & full of shocking twists!
Definitely will recommend to others!!

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for an ARC of Sarah Pekkanen’s newest thriller: House of Glass coming out in Aug 2024

House of Glass is a fast paced multi storyline thriller about a young girl with trauma induced mutism and it’s up to our narrator, Stella, to help her find her voice again. I could not put this book down and I felt both storylines wrapped up nicely.

I would’ve liked a little more on Rose and a more expanded epilogue on Stella

still highly recommend!

This book was a whodunit that kept me guessing up until the very end. Every time I thought I figured out who killed the nanny, I was wrong! Really refreshing to read a thriller where the twists and turns are actually shocking.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an early digital copy of this book.

Stella Hudson was appointed Best Interest Attorney for Rose Barclay, a 9-year-old girl, who may have witnessed her nanny falling to her death from the third story window of her family’s mansion. The only problem… how is Stella going to help decide the fate of a traumatically mute child?

Beth and Ian Barclay, Rose’s parents, are both vying for full custody in the midst of a messy divorce, but the judge has reached an impasse due to the events involving the suspicious death of Rose’s nanny, Tina de la Cruz; now a cold case due to lack of evidence. Stella’s objective: figure out what is in the best interest of her client, and her client is Rose and nobody else.

It is clear to Stella that the Barclay mansion has a dark, ominous undercurrent; she feels unsettled and a shift in energy each time she enters the glass-less home. While Stella is dealing with her own childhood traumas, at first ones that mirror those Rose may be experiencing, she digs around in the lives of those closest to Rose and the Barclay family once she realizes that anybody could be a suspect in Tina’s death, not only Beth or Ian.

As the slow burn continues to BURN, Stella also begins to see the parallels between Tina’s and her own experiences taking place at the Barclay house: hearing voices, the police showing up to her house in the middle of the night claiming to have gotten a call from a neighbor who heard screaming, seemingly misplacing secured items. Is anybody really safe in that house?

House of Glass is a chilling and suspenseful thriller with no shortage of unexpected twists, family lies and secrets, and trauma. I truly enjoyed every page of this novel; the writing was incredible, placing me right at the center of it all.

Once I was able to sit with this novel for two days, I devoured it. A bingeable thriller, with sinister themes, no story line was left undone- relationships formed, mended, and budding. I absolutely love how all plot lines seemingly wove together in the end; yes, this is not plausible in real life, but perfection wrapped by the words of Sarah Pekkanen.

Thank you kindly to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my ARC of House of Glass in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me read this book. Pekkanen once again knocked it out the park.

House of Glass is Sarah Pekkanen’s latest thriller, and true to style, Sarah Pekkanen’s storytelling hooks you from the beginning.

We begin with Stella observing a potential client from afar. This feels a bit creepy, but we soon learn that Stella is a court appointed therapist who specializes in working with teens that have had significant trauma. The child she is observing is younger than her typical client, so she is trying to decide if she thinks she can help.

As the story continues, Stella does decide to take on Rose’s case, and becomes involved in the custody dispute between her divorcing parents. As she gets to know the family, she notices many odd things. Rose is secreting away small items that could be construed as weapons, like pieces of glass and a box cutter. After Rose’s nanny falls to her death, all the windows in her house have been replaced with plexiglass instead of glass. All of the cups in her house are plastic. Although the family can’t come to a consensus on custody for Rose, they are united in trying to protect Rose - but what or who exactly are they trying to project her from?

We also learn more about Stella’s background, and the trauma she experienced as a small girl that has led her to be an expert in childhood trauma and therapy. Stella’s mom died when Stella was young, and she still has questions about that long ago night. After this terrible experience, Stella had several bouts of luck that helped shape her. However, as Stella’s own life is beginning to unravel and she turns to history to learn more about her mother’s death, she begins to question everything about her life and the significant people in her life.

This is a psychological thriller filled with twists and turns, and an ending I never saw coming! Set a reminder for August 6th when this book hits store shelves!