This was my second book by Sarah Pekkanen and it did not disappoint! The twists were juicy and I was rooting for the correct characters the whole time, which is a win in my book! I kind of had a hunch of who was behind the mysterious acts that occurred when we are first introduced to this story and the ones proceeding it, but I couldn't foresee the chaos that would ensue when our main character, Stella, solves the case. This was just the book I needed for a quick, summer thriller!

This was my first book by Sarah Pekkanen, and since I really enjoyed it and her writing, I will definitely be checking out her backlist and look forward to new releases from her in the future. Overall, this was a solid thriller that kept me guessing throughout and on the edge of my seat.

I liked Stella as a main character and how the book not only explored the current mystery of Tina's death, but included stuff from her background surrounding her mom's death when she was a child. There was one bit with Charles that I had assumed, but things ended up a lot more detailed than my initial guess.

That romance at the end did seem to just come out of nowhere. Overall though, no big complaints and a book I'd recommend.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for my #gifted ARC of House of Glass! #HouseOfGlass #SarahPekkanen

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐏𝐞𝐤𝐤𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐧
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

𝟱★

This book had me hooked from the start! This was my first time reading a book by Sarah Pekkanen and I am now hooked. This was such a creepy book that was so addicting that it was so hard to put down. It was so atmospheric and the premise was truly like anything I’ve read. The twists and turns were NOT what I expected at all. I love when a book totally throws you for a loop, and this one did just that. I found that the pacing was perfect too. This was truly an amazing thriller.

💜Atmospheric
💜Bingeable
💜A Twisty Thriller
💜Family Secrets

Posted on Goodreads on August 1, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around August 2, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on August 6, 2024
**-will post on designated date

I loved this author's book Gone Tonight. I was super excited and appreciative that I got a sneak peek at Sarah Pekkanen's new book. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press! This book is full of twists. You root for Stella who is a conflicted character when she is tasked to be the attorney for a child after surviving her own childhood trauma. It was a fast read. I enjoyed this book but did not love it as much as I'd anticipated going in. The ending threw it for me.

As usual Author Pekkanen doesn’t disappoint. Aptly titled, House of Glass delivers in several ways, educating us on various topics such as childhood muteness brought on by some sort of trauma. The main character Stella is a lawyer liaison to a mute 9-yr old child. assigned to protect her best interests in a custody divorce. How to do so is a challenge when Rose, the child, can’t or won’t speak after the death of her nanny, who either fell or was pushed from an upstairs window. She is also hostile towards Stella, who discovers that the child collects items such as shards of glass, and other items that can be used as weapons, why? There are a lot of questions about what is going on in the affluent Barclay household.

The secondary plot involves the lawyers own childhood which has some similarities to Rose’s. She was also mute after a trauma, and both story lines are equally compelling. One has to admire Stella’s commitment to the child’s safety, and her purpose, even as she battles her own demons.

I strongly recommend this to fans of psychological suspense,
My thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the ARC to read and provide my honest review.

I'm a huge fan of Sarah Pekkanen so I was ecstatic that I got to read an ARC of House of Glass. Holy cow, it did not disappoint!

Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney who's working with the Barclay family to determine the best custody arrangement for Rose, the nine-year-old daughter. Rose possibly witnessed the death of her nanny and has stopped speaking. The Barclay house is creepy and the parents both have secrets.

The story twisted and turned and while I'm not afraid of the dark, I felt uneasy staying up late to finish this book. There was something about reading it in a quiet, dark house that just had my hackles up.

This was a book that had me guessing until the very last page! Every time I thought I had it all figured out, I was wrong! I truly could not put this book down and would recommend it to any thriller lover.

"But I saw it. I know what this shy-looking girl collected off the sidewalk and concealed to keep." ~Stella Hudson

Stella is a best interest attorney assigned to Rose, a 9-year-old girl who became mute after her nanny (Tina) fell to her death from a window. Rose’s parents each want sole custody of her. Stella may be the only one who can help Rose because she also had traumatic mutism as a child. Did Rose witness what happened to Tina? Did she really fall or was she pushed?

Okay y’all, I couldn’t put this down! Poor little Rose is so traumatized she can’t speak, yet she’s collecting sharp objects, and reading a secret book, SHE HAS NO BUSINESS READING, disguised as Anne of Green Gables. Rose. Is. Creepy! I alternated between feeling sorry for her and thinking she was evil. Stella on the other hand, is endearing and affable. Her traumatic past is slowly revealed and her dedication to Rose and advocating for children in general is laudable. She’s also smart and clever, documenting events as they happen and thinking things through rationally, although some weird things happen that make her doubt herself.

This is my first book by Sarah Pekkanen and I was IMMERSED in her atmospheric writing. The sinister vibe was in full effect one minute and the next I wondered if it was really there! Pekkanen is a master of doubt and misdirection. I alternatively listened to the audio and physically read the book. Laura Benanti performed emotions perfectly including Stella’s increasing suspicion and fear, alongside her fierce protective and empathetic nature. The audio definitely adds a chilling element; I couldn’t listen if I wanted to sleep! Mixed in with the mystery and suspenseful anxiety was emotion and heart. I actually became teary at one point and that RARELY happens to me in a thriller. HOUSE OF GLASS is entirely riveting, brimming with unease, tension and uncertainty that doesn’t let up until the intense and shocking conclusion!

Thank you St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio & NetGalley for the gifted eARC, ALC & physical copy. All opinions are mine.
____

Potential spoiler content warnings below.








































⚠️Content warnings by me: childhood trauma, manipulation, gaslighting, Mention of: fatal motor vehicle accident, alcoholism, drug addiction, drug overdose & infidelity

Nine year old, Rose, deals with more stress than a little girl should have. Her nanny recently died from falling out of a two story window and now Rose is mute. Her parents are going through a divorce and Stella is the one who determines who gets full custody in the custody battle. No one can be trusted and everyone is a suspect, including Rose.

Creepy child who is untrustworthy? Count me in!
While I did enjoy it and will recommend it, it’s wasn’t my favorite and there was no “wow factor” there for me.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars
352 pages
Out 8/6/24

Picture perfect family on the outside. A family full of lies and deceit on the inside. A young nanny who plunged to her death.. was she pushed? Was it an accident? Rose, A nine year old that isn’t speaking & has a weird obsession with sharp objects. Stella, a lawyer with her own trauma filled background, is tasked to figure out which parent or family member is most appropriate for Rose to live with after this tragedy of her dead nanny & the new found divorce of her parents. Everyone is a suspect. Who did it?

I’m a big Sarah Pekkanen fan. I love her work with Greer Hendricks as well so as soon as I saw this was an option for an ARC on Netgalley I of course had to request! This book caught my attention from the very start. I loved the flashbacks to Stella’s own traumatic childhood & seeing how she uses her trauma to do good in her job.

Thank you @sarahpekkanen @netgalley & @stmartinspress for the eARC of this amazing new release!

Read if you like:
✨Domestic thrillers
✨Creepy kids
✨Family drama
✨A shocking ending

#sarahpekkanen #thriller #augustreleases #booklover

From the first page, this book had me hooked! I didn't want to put it down, until 3/4 of the way through when it turns out the main character decides that she is a lesbian. Now, if I know ahead of time that is what I'll be reading about that's fine, but to just spring it on me, I almost quit reading right then. The only reason I kept reading is that I had liked the story up until that point.

I first stumbled onto Sarah Pekkanen when I found a book she'd co-written with Greer Hendricks.  I instantly fell in love with their dual novels.  When I saw she had a book of her own, I knew I had to read it.  Since then, I've started devouring everything she's written or co-written.  So far, I have not been disappointed once.  

House of Glass gripped me right from the start.  A tragic death, a mute child, and a rich family are all catnip to me when it comes to thrillers.  I want all the details and, even more importantly, all the dark family secrets.  Because you just know a family like this has a few tucked away.  In addition, the author has a very smooth and easy style of writing that draws you in and makes for a fast read.  


Stella is a mixed bag of a character.  She has her own past trauma that she never truly dealt with.  But, instead of letting it drag her down, she uses it to her advantage, as a way to break through to Rose.  Hoping that their shared trauma might bond them together.  

Rose is an interesting little girl.  Smart, talented, and horribly traumatized, she retreated within herself in order to protect herself.  As her story unfolds, and you discover the truth, it's both worse and better than you thought at first.  I know that sounds odd, but for me, it was the truth.  Still horrible, but with a bit of relief at the end.  

I will admit, that I was absolutely convinced of the worst as I was reading this.  However, I kept hope that I was wrong.  That said, the back and forth of, "Oh my god, no," and "oh wait, maybe not" is what kept me plowing through this book, hoping to find out which was true.

An exceptionally twisty and suspenseful book, House of Glass really kept me on my toes.  I cannot wait to see what the author has in store for us next.  Her domestic thrillers just get better and better with each one.

Phew. This was a psychological thrill ride with a dash of horror. The atmospheric writing and tension setting worked wonders and some scenes had the air on my arms standing up. The house creeped me out for no tangible reason and I was cringe-reading some of the scenes following Stella trying to get into Rose's head and figure out all the secrets this family is holding. The characters are so well written and I loved the juxtaposition of the current case that inspires Stella to look more into her past trauma. A spine-tingling and action filled ending made this such a great book.

This story was a mess for me. I am over regular average characters being amateur sleuths. Her whole side story felt unnecessary to the plot of the entire book. I also didn't care about the person who was the "murderer" or whatever. I wish I could get these 10+ hours back it took me to read this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

This thriller had an intriguing plot line with a nanny plunged to her death and a nine year old who has suddenly gone mute after her death!

Synopsis:
On the outside they looked liked the perfect couple but on the inside they had built the perfect lie. Rose Barclay is a nine year old who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny and her trauma has rendered her mute. Her parents are going through a bitter divorce but are living together until the proceedings are finished. Stella Hudon, a best interest attorney, is called in to see which parent is best for Rose. Stella suffered her own childhood trauma that also left her mute for awhile. Inside the Barclay house it’s clear that someon is lying and doesn’t have Rose’s best interest at heart, are they guilty or are they protecting Rose?

My thoughts:
I was able to figure out the guilty party pretty quickly. I found the mutism interesting because I studied about selective mutism while in school. That’s when a person is mute in certain environments, say school. I had a student like that a long time ago that was only mute at school.

Overall this was a fine thriller but I didn’t enjoy it as much as her last one , Gone Tonight.

DNF
This was SO boring and SO slow and i felt like nothing was happening. It was a drag to read this, every sitting I could only get through a handful of pages. I made it to about 60% and just absolutely nothing was happening, the main character kept referring to the Barclays as "master illusionists" but there weren't examples of this in the text. The main character is also extremely unlikable, I wasn't rooting for her at all. Very disappointing as I've read quite a few books in the past by this author and have quite liked them.

While reading HOUSE OF GLASS, I experienced the same imminent danger ahead vibes that I associate with the old Alfred Hitchcock Hour Show with its sinister music by Bernard Herrmann overtook me, raising goosebumps on my arms. Hitchcock was an expert at creating scream-worthy fear from the ordinary be it a normal person, object or situation and now, in my opinion, so is Author Sarah Pekkanen. There's a sense of foreboding, of fear brought on by the unknown, a hidden danger you know is coming - just not from where, when or how in HOUSE OF GLASS.

Recently divorced, Best Interest Attorney Stella Hudson reluctantly accepts a child custody case at the urgent request of her dearest old friend and mentor Charlie after he convinces her she's the best lawyer to help a young girl suffering from Traumatic Mutism - a condition that rendered Stella unable to speak for a period of time as a young child following the trauma of finding her own mother dead. Young Rose Barclay hasn't spoken since she witnessed the mysterious death of her nanny Tina who either fell or was pushed from an upper floor window in the Barclay mansion. Rose's parents, Ian and Beth, are amid a bitter custody battle, and Stella must determine which one of them will provide the most stable, safe home for Rose. From her first arrival at the Barclay's large, sterile, historic home, warning bells sound in Stella's head. Something is very wrong in this gilded house and her first instinct is to run screaming, but she made a promise to see this assignment through and she will. As the story progresses, it becomes obvious that every person in the household is lying, and each has a motive for wanting Tina dead . . . including young Rose with the dark, haunting eyes who's been hiding sharp objects in her room. Why? Is she afraid of someone? Or is she planning on harming someone? Stella needs to uncover the truth quickly as threats warning her to leave and stay away escalate even as her own secret past comes calling.

Pekkanen has brilliantly mastered the art of creating a menacing tone that resonates throughout a story with highly atmospheric settings, hard to read characters and eerie, complex plot lines. A sense of unease and a strong undercurrent of danger increases page by page as you read HOUSE OF GLASS. The author offers up several red herrings with strong motive and challenges Stella and readers with figuring out which one of them is a killer. I had a strong feeling about the identity of the villain, and my intuition proved to be right, but the evil tone that permeates each page of this book kept me riveted in my seat, burning through pages until the end - with every light in the room on. The cast is outstanding with well-defined characters harboring dark, disturbing secrets. A second story line involving Stella's past intertwines throughout, adding another dimension and intriguing backstory into Stella's life.

HOUSE OF GLASS is a creepy, well-written, multi-layered psychological thriller that's sure to entertain fans who enjoy books that leave them with a sense of unease and armchair sleuths who love solving a good murder mystery. Lies, deception, fraud and secrets abound in the face of innocence in this story. Highly recommended to fans of psychological thrillers.

I love Sarah’s writing and her previous books (especially loved GONE TONIGHT last year), so it pains me to say this was just “meh.” 🥲

Unnecessary subplot coupled with an already slow main plot definitely took away a few stars.

Not every book needs an amateur/everyday person sleuthing and solving crimes. It just didn’t really work for me here.

I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the whodunnit, so there ya go. 😕

Definitely a quick read, and a fun one for those who may be newer to domestic thrillers! Just not my fav.

It is a tantalizing mystery involving family dynamics and the death of a nanny who plunged to her death through one of the many large glass windows. Was she pushed, or was it suicide or an accident? It was witnessed by the grandmother and nine-year-old Rose Barclay while outside in the garden. Her mother and father were inside in separate offices and became aware of the tragedy when they heard screams from the witnesses. They are in the midst of a bitter divorce.

Stella is an advocate whose role is to interview families during custody cases and recommend the most appropriate placement in the child's best interest. She has only worked for teenage clients, but her mentor and father figure, a revered judge, urged her to take this case. Once Stella enters the Barclay mansion, she gets an eerie feeling. Everything in the home has been replaced by plastic or plexiglass, including the towering floor-to-ceiling windows, household dishes, and drinking utensils.

She is determined to learn the best placement for Rose but has difficulty engaging with the girl. Rose has gone mute and barely acknowledges Stella's presence. Stella has observed Rose collecting jagged pieces of glass and other sharp objects and hiding them in her room. Is the purpose to defend herself from harm or to attack others? Rose has been reading a book with an Anne of Green Gables cover, but concealed inside is the non-fiction account of a serial killer. Stella successfully conducts in-depth interviews with both parents and the grandmother, but are they telling the truth? All family members and the nanny's boyfriend are suspects and have motives for the crime. Stella becomes uneasy, thinking Rose may have killed the nanny.

There are signs that Stella is now in danger, similar to the nanny. The suspense concerning Stella's attempt to connect with Rose and her interaction with the family was gripping. This reached a crescendo with a desperate chase with Stella and Rose running for their lives, and the tension was unbearable.

This would have received a 5-star rating from me, but I felt too much attention was placed on Stella. It was enough to know that, as a child, she suffered from a condition of muteness after the death of her parents, but this did not seem to be of much help in connecting with Rose. Her ongoing search for answers regarding her parent's deaths added an additional mystery to the story.

I recommend House of Glass to readers who enjoy compelling mysteries based on twisted family dynamics and deceit. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this entertaining and exciting ARC. The book will be published on August 6th, 2024.

Stella has been assigned to be a guardian ad litem for a young girl, Rose, whose parents are getting divorced after her father had an affair with the young nanny, and got her pregnant - the same nanny who suspiciously fell to her death from her attic room. While Stella's role is to determine what the best living situation is for 9 year old Rose, she is immediately plunged into the mystery of the super eerie house and the bizarre death of the nanny; how can she figure out what the best post-divorce custody situation is for Rose if she cannot figure out who killed the nanny (you don't want to give full custody to a murderer). Was it one of the parents, the grandmother or even Rose herself? While digging into this mystery Stella's own life is being threatened and secrets from her dark childhood are coming to light.

Sometimes going in blind to these novels is the way to go and for this one I am so glad I did! This was what I would call a light thriller; it hit all the right notes while keeping me totally entertained. I had both the audio and the book but since I was reading something else at the time I started with the audio and with the first chapter I was hooked. While this novel wasn't the most twisty turny unpredictable book, it had enough that I needed to know what happened and put down my other book so I could quickly finish this one. It's fast, it's fun and totally bingeable (a popcorn thriller) with a dose of family drama thrown in to make it more interesting. I think this is a good August book because if you are sitting by the pool or beach you can throw in your bag and ignore your kids for a few hours (so I guess I would call it a Spindrift and chip thriller rather than popcorn one because that's what I generally eat at the beach).

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC to review