I really enjoyed this story! It was thrilling and had me flying through the pages. I couldn't wait to see how it was going to end. Everyone seems guilty. Who is lying? How did Tina really die? Read it to find out!

Potatoes and Paperbacks 3.5 ⭐️

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Stella is a best interest attorney who works to help find the best outcomes for children of divorce. Her latest client, Rose is a nine year old girl who is mute after witnessing the death of her nanny in the midst of her parents contentious custody battle. As Stella gets to know the Barclay family, she feels something sinister in the house and suspects everyone. When secrets from her own past come to light, as well as eerie parallels between her and Tina the nanny, the perfect illusion at the Barclays begins to shatter…

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💭 Thoughts 💭

This was a fast and easy read that I did enjoy. The end was a little much with all of the revelations/connections but overall the story had a creepy vibe and I was intrigued to see who killed Tina.

Big thanks to both NetGalley & St Martin's Press for the ARC copy of this great thriller!!
This one is out Aug 6!!!

This started off super great with a quick, fast pace that I really loved. I was very ibntrigued with the story & how the MC & subject were connected on some levels. The middle did get a tad slow for me, but by the end it picked back up & was ready for all the action!!

I think Pekkanen did a fantastic job painting all the characters as potential villains to disguise the real cuplrit. The twists were definitely fun throughout this book.

I really enjoyed the way this wrapped up.
Recommend this one!

I really enjoyed this one! I had a lot of fun reading it and enjoyed how the title tied in to the story. It was very well written and the twist was only somewhat predictable. This book strikes me as one that would be good for Freida fans. It was a fast paced thriller that was quick and easy to read. However, I was slightly disappointed with the ending/conclusion to Stella's life. IYKYK

This book was so good I could not put it down. I stayed up a few hours past my bedtime so I could find out who did it! The characters were amazing and it kept me guessing all the way through! It was complex and intriguing. I never got bored and I loved the flow of the story! Highly recommend!!

Pekkanen is one of my must read authors. She didn’t fail me with House of Glass.
I really suspected every single person who lived in the rich but very cold and creepy Potomac house and who really offed the nanny.
Stella also gets out through the wringer.
I was on the edge of my seat wondering how it would all pan out.
The conclusion is good and I was fooled by who the actual perp was.

A nanny has died. The police suspect foul play, but they have no proof. Everyone at the house is a suspect. Stella has to determine custody for a nine year old girl in the midst of her parent’s divorce. The longer she is with the family the more danger seems to follow Stella.

In addition to the plot above, the readers learn more of Stella’s trauma as a child. She just like Rose was a mute child, so that is why the judge picked Stella to deal with this particular case. I was intrigued from the beginning. I really didn’t have a guess as to what happened, but in the end the pieces of the puzzle all seem to fall into place. I would recommend reading!

Thank you to Sarah Pekkanen, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was fun! Pekkanen is a fantastic writer on her own and House of Glass is a perfect thriller to tear through mindlessly.

Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC of Sarah Pekkanen's newest novel HOUSE OF GLASS. The story revolves around a little girl Rose, her mother father and grandmother and the main character Stella. Stella is a best-interests attorney (she recommends what the best living situation is for a child whose parents are going through a contentious divorce) and is called on in Rose's case. Rose has suffered a trauma (her nanny died after falling out or being pushed from a window) and doesn't speak. Stella suffered a trauma as a child and also stopped speaking and because of this was asked to evaluate this case.

Stella's job requires her to decide who Rose should live with and in doing that also tries to determine if the nanny's death was accidental. Everyone has a motive, including Rose, but accident or not Stella's job is to recommend placement of the child. The book kept me hooked trying to to figure out how this situation was going to be resolved,

I LOVED this book- the perfect thriller to get me out of a reading slump! As a lawyer, I am always a little reluctant to pick up books with a lawyer as the main character but I am so glad I did- although the main character is a best interest attorney, there is very little courtroom action (which is exactly what I prefer). There were two excellent twists, neither of which I saw coming! I love Sarah Pekkanen when she writes in a duo or on her own and will definitely continue reading anything she writes!!

2.5 ~ This one was not for me. Stella is an attorney that determines the best interest of a child in a case of divorce. Still haunted by her own childhood and a bit of a mess due to her own divorce, she is thrust into a case involving a girl, Rose, who has witnessed the murder of her nanny - but she's now mute and now sharing anything. Did one of her parents kill her? Or did Rose do it? Rose is odd in many ways including her obsession with collecting sharp items of glass. There is just so much going on here that it was a bit too much for me.

This book had me on a headlock from the beginning, not only do we have Stella on an assignment to help with some custody issues involving a young kid, who isn’t speaking, but it involves the death of the Nanny, did she get killed? Or was an accident? And also we are dealing with Stella’s own backstory, and this case triggers her past. Already I was on edge I couldn’t put this book down, because both stories were worth EVERYTHING. But I will say this, it fell flat for me, once we get to the end of the book we get out happy endings and that’s all sweet, but being how creepy and strong the book started I was hoping for a different type of ending. But I will for sure want this book to be read, because Stella’s backstory alone is worth it.

This is not my first time reading this author and she did not disappoint. Stella is an attorney who works for the children in custody cases. Her friend and mentor assigns her this case in which she has to figure out who pushed the nanny out of a second story window or if it was an accident?
Rose, her 9 year old client, has become mute from the trauma. Stella has to gather information mostly from behavioral cues and her own traumatic past in which she was also mute. She also interviews the family. But every time she spends time with someone, they add another layer of mystery to the story. Nobody is being completely truthful. The house itself is strange in that there is absolutely no glass of any kind inside it. Even the framed pictures have no glass. As she continues to put the pieces together she realizes that Rose may not be so innocent.
In the end, the twists are great and absolutely everything Stella believed shatters like glass.

I received an advanced review copy and the opinions in this review are mine alone.

4.5
I really enjoyed this mystery/thriller! Stella is an attorney and assigned to make the best custody decision for the Barclay’s- a rich family with a nine year old girl, Rose. At first, Stella doesn’t want to take the case. After the mysterious death of the nanny, the family is in the public spotlight. Rose, who witnessed the nanny’s death, is withdrawn and no longer speaks.

Stella has reservations due to her own childhood trauma, but is drawn to the case and feels protective of Rose. She quickly realizes that the Barclay’s are not what they seem. Each member acts suspiciously, especially Rose. Stella realizes that she needs to solve the mystery behind the nanny’s death before she to make her court determinations and get the best help for the troubled girl.

There were a lot of twists and turns with this one! I sped through it quickly and was very satisfied with the final who-done-it.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review!

I wanted to love this but unfortunately it fell a bit flat. I really love the other books by her but this one I couldn’t connect with.

First of all I would like to thank the publisher St. Martins Press and Net Galley for the advanced copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

House of Glass was a twisty story that kept me on my toes. I would consider this a 3.5 star book. I really wanted to like it but there were multiple good conclusion points in this book, and it just kept going. The budding romance story arc did not add to the story, and felt a little forced. I will say there were multiple story lines going and each of them had a really good twist factor, and an overall very creepy vibe to the book. I can definitely see this being a popular spooky season read!

This one was on my shelf for awhile before I got to it, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. A compulsive read, I had to know what would happen next!

Stella Hudson represents kids when it comes to custody cases. Often, she's the only one who listens to what the child themself has to say, or has their best interest at heart. She's the best at what she does. So when her mentor comes to her, asking her to take on the case of 9-year-old Rose Barclay, Stella breaks one of her rules and agrees. Rose is younger than other child Stella has ever worked with, but that's not the only thing that makes this case different. Rose has traumatic mutism, something Stella herself suffered from after finding her mother's body. It means having to face feelings she's put behind her, but she may be one of the only people qualified to reach Rose.

From their first interviews, it's clear that the family has a story, one they're sticking to when it comes to their nanny's death. The event that led to Rose's mutism, and the Barclay's divorce. It's also clear that they're hiding a secret, and as Stella seeks to keep Rose safe, she has to ask herself who she's keeping her safe from - her family, or herself?

Stella watches as Rose collects weapons - a set aside box knife, shards of glass. Watches the way she can go from interested and open, to non-responsive or even darkly angry. Sees the over-reaction from the family, who has banned any glass object from the house, going so far as to replace all the windows too.

Something evil is hiding in the plastic house, and Stella hopes she can get herself, and Rose, to safety before it's too late. Especially when it seems like Stella is being targeted herself.

While this was a compulsive read, I didn't connect fully on an emotional level. There were thriller aspects, and I could find no fault with the writing, it just didn't grab me and completely hold me captive in the way some thrillers can. I hope whatever block was there for me doesn't find you, because that lack of emotion on my end was the only thing that kept this one from being a 5 star book.

Stella is a best interest attorney and her job is to determine the best placement for a child. Her newest client is Rose Barclay, a precocious nine year old. What makes this case especially complicated is that Rose's nanny has recently died under suspicious circumstances and the death has caused Rose to start acting out of character; she's become mute and secretive.

Rose's mutism resonates with Stella. She experienced the same thing during her childhood when her mother died, so she desperately wants to make the right decision. Though the more she learns about the Barclays and investigates the nanny's death, she isn't sure who needs protection from whom.

This one kept me guessing the whole way through! There were times I felt like I had no idea what was going on. I kept changing my mind about who was a victim and who was a suspect. I spent the entire book on edge, waiting, expecting something to happen at every moment. And just imagine! A house without a single piece of glass in it! Is that even possible? House of Glass has this great creepy house vibe that provides a nice backdrop for the book's other elements. And you'll love to hate Rose's family.

However, Stella and her life story feature heavily in novel, almost to the point of distraction from the rest of the story. The ending, while satisfying, was possibly a bit too poignant and tidy. Although that didn't take too much away from my enjoyment of the book. Overall, House of Glass was a fast, enjoyable read with a fresh, original feel, that kept me glued to the pages until the end.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Sarah Pekkanen, and Netgalley for an advance digital copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and given voluntarily.

4½ stars rounded up to 5 stars

Recommend for fans of:
Thrillers, Suspense, Mysteries, Gothic Fiction, Women's Fiction, General Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Psychological Thrillers

A fast paced, read in a day thriller that was the perfect mix of twisty but not too scary. I was guessing what was going to happen until the end. An auto read for me!

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin Press for the advanced reader copy.

Mind blown. I was skeptical how this would end since I thought I had it all figured out. The parallels between Stella and Rose really added to the story.