Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really struggled to connect with this story at all. The more it went on the more absurd it got. The climax is literally a free loading grandma chasing the protagonist with a taser.

We’re told over and over how great of a lawyer Stella is, but she is easily manipulated by literally everyone she interacts with. She has no self confidence and she constantly second guesses her own judgment.

The relationship with Charles was so weird and inappropriate. Out of guilt he singled out a child and secretly engineered her whole life. His entire relationship with her was based on lies and manipulation but she just forgives him because she can see that he did it all for the right reasons. NO!

Wonderful book! Great characters and beautifully written. I had to force myself to slow down because I didn’t want it to end. It grabbed me from the first page and didn’t let go! Was not expecting a lot of things that happened as the story unfolded. Very enjoyable read and one of my favorites by this author. Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Pekkanen and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Well, I wanted to love this book, it felt like there were way too many threads getting tangled in the story. The mystery of the dead nanny was in the forefront, but then we also had to solve the mystery of the main character’s deceased mother. Then at the end of the book there was a sudden out-of-place romance that sprouted out of nowhere and just muddled the story. Unfortunately it was easy to pick out some of the big twists. Although I enjoyed learning how Stella figured out “the mystery” I felt like the story dragged, and I was ready for it to be over. Everything was neatly laid out in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!

This book was the perfect creepy thriller and my favorite Sarah Pekkanen read so far!

I find all of Sarah's books are 5 star reads for me and this one was no different. It kept me up at night and kept me guessing right until the very end!

5 stars!

Definitely a page turner! What a thriller with a bit of a creepy vibe. Loved it, very well written.
Thank you to everyone for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

I enjoyed this , everyone needed to be in therapy of some kind and I was actually surprised at the twist. One of the sub plots was kind of whatever but everything else was good.

Suspenseful and entertaining

Nine year old Rose comes from a loving family. She has a devoted mother, father, and grandmother. She had a devoted nanny—until the nanny fell out of third story window to her death. Rose, a highly intelligent and brilliantly gifted pianist, has not spoken since witnessing the tragedy. And, she is secretly hoarding weapons: shards of glass, knives, a box cutter…Who is this little girl, and what is she capable of?

Stella is hired as a best interest attorney for Rose. Her parents are divorcing and both want primary custody of their daughter. Stella also suffered from traumatic mutism as a child so understands better than anyone else could what Rose is dealing with.

As Stella begins her evaluation, she realizes something is definitely off with this family. Even though mother and father barely speak, they are united in protecting Rose, as is the grandmother. Why? And why is there no glass in the house? The windows are plexiglass, the drink ware is plastic, there are no mirrors.

Stella realizes to truly determine what would be best for Rose, she needs to investigate the nanny’s death. Because someone in that house knows exactly what happened to Tina. Is it Rose?

From start to finish, this is a top-notch psychological thriller that leaves the reader guessing right up till the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the eARC.

3 Stars
Cover 2 Stars

This just wasn't for me. I kept forcing myself to pick it up only to set it aside. I have trouble with books about self-righteous do-gooder lawyers and sad-sack children. Stella was so obnoxious and the kid was annoying. I wanted to toss them both from the window - problem solved.

I've like Sarah and Greer's other books.

Such a great twisty thriller!! I was hooked quickly by the writing and the characters were great, even when they were hateable! I love a good creepy kid thriller and this one didn't disappoint!

In true thriller fashion, Pekkanen did not let the reader go from the first page until the very end! This was a thriller that I did not know where it was going to go and it’s plot twists were unpredictable and blew my mind! I’ve read a few other books from this author and I can confidently say that House of Glass is my favorite! I can’t wait for everyone to read it!

Pekkanen's voice is truly one of a kind, and refreshing in the thriller genre. Loved this solo work of hers and can't wait to read more! The perfect thriller that not only gives you all the twists and turns, but leaves you feeling like you don't know/can't trust anyone.

House of Glass, Sarah Pekkanen
When Stella, a power attorney, is asked to cover a case for a young girl, she's apprehensive. Rose’s nanny fell to her death from a third story window. Was it an accident or did someone push her? Her parents are in the midst of a terrible divorce, a grandmother who has something to hide, and 9 year old Rose who loves sharp objects like knives and shards of glass. So many twists and turns where everyone is suspect and no one can be trusted. Stella also has her own past and trauma she's trying to cope with. Can there be a happy ending for everyone?
I always enjoy Pekkanen's book and this was a good one. Probably not my favorite, but worth a read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a fabulous twisty psychological mystery. So glad I got the opportunity to read this. Now I need to look for her other books

Absolutely love it. Addictive page turner for sure

I've read a lot of Sarah Pekkanen and I think she knows how to weave an interesting and thought provoking thriller. This book reminded me a lot of when I first got into psychological thrillers with it's fast pace and classic "whodunnit" vibes that make you keep guessing.

I found this to be good, not great. I thought the killer was easily sussed out to a well seasoned thriller reader but I still enjoyed seeing it through! I didn't care for the romance aspect at the end, it felt like Stella was "taking her eyes off the prize"

Rounded up from 3.5

After not loving Gone Tonight I was a little hesitant to give this author another go. I was thoroughly surprised by this one and really enjoyed it. I thought it was going to be a lot like the Push and was waiting for the evil child to actually be evil.

Oooo this book captured my attention very quickly. I loved the domestic thriller genre and this got me. At first it gave Sharp objects vibes especially when it went into the childhood trauma stories. It was a really great book and wrapped up well.

House of Glass relates the story of an attorney specializing in evaluating families for the purpose of making custody recommendations. The family Pekkanen brings to life is full of strife and secrets with full development of characters that pull the reader in to their turmoil. The twists and subplot about Stella, the attorney, add another layer of mystery to keep the reader captivated.

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eGalley read.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars

Rose Barclay is a nine year old girl who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. So begins this tightly woven psychological thriller of a story. A book that is fast-paced, tense and full of red herrings.

An eerie home, a child who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak, a mother, a father, the grandmother and the nanny’s boyfriend—all are suspects. Who murdered this young nanny?

Another addictive read by Sarah Pekkanen.

The Energy: Blithe, imploring, heedless
The Scene: 🇺🇸 Washington D.C. and a renovated historic mansion in Maryland.
The POV: We follow a children’s Best Interest Attorney dealing with a whirlwind case involving a nine-year old girl traumatized by her nanny's death and her parents’ impending divorce.

🎬 Tale-Telling: Stella's first-person narrative was present tense so that gave a sense of urgency for the drama, but most of the time it trended more toward melodrama. It sometimes felt like it was trying to do too much with too many storylines.

👥 Characters: Stella dominated the narrative with her self-proclaimed importance and taking the moral high ground. I was craving more depth and less posturing. Despite all the reminders about how she uses her past trauma to excel at her job, she made dangerous decisions not just for herself but for the people she is supposed to be acting in the best interest of, and we didn't really get any exploration of why she was doing that. The peripheral characters were more fleshed out, quirky, and unlikeable in a way that didn’t feel over the top.

🤓 Reader Role: Listener and observer. We get all of Stella's thoughts, justifications, and dilemmas. We rarely know more than the main character so we are sleuthing and discovering things alongside her.

🗺️ Ambiance: The setting of Washington D.C. and the renovated mansion worked well. The ‘off’ vibes in the house were felt from the start.

🔥 Fuel: The mystery around the nanny’s death and psychological suspense with the family was so compelling! But the suspense was undermined by spoon-feeding us the twists. The romance felt tacked on, like a last-minute instant-love addition. By the halfway mark I was irritated with the sub-plot of Stella’s past...I had so little interest in it, especially just as things were ramping up with the assessment.

🚙 Journey: The story started off promising with the eerie undertones of a troubled family. I feel like it needed polishing because most subplots started off interesting but fizzled out awkwardly in the middle of other storylines. The endings felt rushed to conclude and I disliked the action scenes. It did that thing where the ‘big bad’ and potential victim pause to have a deep discussion in the middle of high-stakes pursuit and escape.

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🐺 Growls: Contrived plot points. The YA-like writing style with overt guidance and lack of nuanced character development (on the plus side, this could be a good book for readers transitioning from YA to adult novels).
🐕 Howls: Trying to do too much by having Stella’s history compete with the mystery of the nanny’s death and the family assessment.
🐩 Tail Wags: The core murder mystery and the unsettling "creepy kid" vibes. The psychological elements, Rose, and her family dynamics. The sleuthing and interviews with people who knew the nanny.

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Mood Reading Match-Up:
-Melodramatic characters with touches of ‘how far would you go for your family”
-Amateur sleuthing and whodunnit foul play or folly mystery
-Psychological suspense with shady family secrets
-Commentary and light themes about manipulation, lies, child trauma, vulnerabilities of childhood, loneliness, and family secrets.

Content Heads-Up: Loss of a parent (in childhood). Drug abuse and overdose (recall, on page). Infidelity (descriptive, on page). Violence. Child abuse, emotional neglect.
Rep: Bisexual. Heterosexual. Traumatic mutism. White, ambiguous, and Latine/Latino characters.

👀 Format: Digital review copy from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley.

“Reviews are my musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶 refined by my AI bookworm bestie ✨”

First, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. This book came along at just the right time for me. I love mysteries, especially those with psychological overtones. I'd just finished a mammoth book, weighty in its subject as well, and this quick read was a great follow-up to it.

I must say that I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the last. I liked the main character, Stella Hudson, developed well by the author. Beievable and likeable too. But she seemed to get dumber as the book went on. This one is a page turner that you'll want to keep reading to see what happens.

The subplot disclosing Stella's background and her mother's death offered insight into Stella's career choice, although her benefactor's involvement at the end felt unnecessary and an unwelcome surprise.

Still, I enjoyed the book and would pick up another by this author.