Rose Barclay is a 9 year old girl, who suffers from traumatic mutism, after witnessing the death of her young, live-in nanny, Tina.

When it’s discovered Tina was pregnant, by Rose’s father, an ugly divorce follows.

Stella Hudson, a best interest attorney is brought in to help represent Rose and determine what is best for her. However, what follows, is a crazy mystery about what is really going on in the Barclay family.

Was Tina’s death an accident, or did someone commit murder ?

I devoured this book in two days. The short chapters were fact paced and thrilling and I just NEEDED to know what happened.

Pekkanen really knows how to keep a reader on the edge of their seat. This book is perfect for any thriller lovers who need to get out of a reading slump.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I loved this one!

Our main character, Stella, works as an interest attorney to advocate for children in custody battles. After the Barclay’s head into a contentious divorce, their nanny is murdered and a young girl (Rose) witnesses it and goes mute. Stella is working to determine who is most fit to have custody of Rose and her investigation blurs the lines with the murder investigation.

Stella soon realizes this wasn’t an ordinary nanny, but instead the pregnant mistress of Mr. Barclay. She also finds Rose hoarding sharp objects and reading about serial killers, did she have something to do with the murder? Stella also navigates her own past trauma and experiences as she begins to be threatened to leave the nanny situation alone.

There’s something eerie about the house, their private spaces, but how can Stella do her job without any investigation? Who will Rose end up with? What secrets are they keeping in the glass house ?

It was a bit of a drag for me and while I felt it was slow paced, there were revelations and twist throughout that did keep my interest. I’m going 3.5/5 because it was just okay.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 🌟 Stella an advocate is given the assignment to determine the best interests of Rose, a nine year old little girl in a custody battle between her parents. When the nanny falls from a window just before Stella’s arrival this custody case becomes a murder investigation for Stella. Is the mute Rose responsible or is another family member hiding the truth to gain custody.

I found this novel to be riveting at the beginning. There were moments it became unbelievable and over the top. Still a quick read and enjoyable. Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.

Unfortunately this was my least favorite book by this author. I was not invested in the characters and thought the villain reveal was unrealistic. I was somewhat bored and did not feel that intrigued with the story. I will continue to read this author as I’ve loved her previous books. Thank you for the early copy!

Huge fan of Sarah Pekkanen, and this one included. Her ability to make unique thrillers in a world where redundancy is common, is my favorite thing about her.

Stella Hudson is a BIA lawyer who had a rough childhood. She gets a troubling case, a dead nanny, an Uber rich family.. a whodunit … with a mute child.

This had twists and turns. The first half was a page turner; the latter half was a bit too slow for me, rounded down to 4.

I’ve been in a reading slump and this got me out of my funk, thanks to netgalley for the ARC!

Wow! Loved this one by Sarah Pekkanen. I’ve read a-lot of her works and can’t wait to read more. Everyone should pick this up when pub date arrives!

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen was very engaging.
A lawyer is assigned a case to assess the parents of a child and recommend custody. The case hits very close to home and she struggles. There is mystery, heartbreak and danger in her future.
This novel is well written and enjoyable!

This was a fast and compelling read filled with family secrets, creepy children, creepier grandmas, and the twists keep on coming! I love Sarah Pekkanen, so this was another great one from her!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC on my kindle in exchange for my honest review. This comes out the first week of August!

This one had real potential from the start but it ended up missing the mark a bit for me. The story was there but I feel as if it fell a bit short. Things were described in detail that I felt didnt need it whereas other things I was waiting for more. The twists and “who done it” were a bit obvious and I feel the shock factor was not there at all which I am always looking for in my thrillers.

The characters were good and I loved the bond that Stella formed with Rose. There were tears in my eyes at the end when she first spoke and said “thank you”. The trauma they shared was a very good part of the story. It was very interesting to read about a custody battle and having a lawyer visit the house and family to make their decision.

Overall good not great and will be forgettable in my mind.

I am always hit/miss with this author…and this one was a bit slow for me. Rose, a 9 year old with traumatic mutism after the death of her nanny, is an odd girl. Her parents are divorcing after it was learned that her father had an affair with the nanny. But HOW the nanny died has always had people speculating. Was it an accident? A suicide? Homicide?? It was fairly predictable and bland.

Thanks to NetGalley for the early copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you, Macmillan Audio, for the gifted copy of House of Glass {partner}

Genre: Mystery
Format: 🎧
Pub Date: 8.6.2024
Pages: 352
Star Rating: ☆☆☆

Oh, y'all, I wanted to love this book, but it was not easy to get through. Between the over-the-top plot, unlikeable characters, and over-dramatized moments, I was afraid my eyes would get stuck from all the eye-rolling that I did. It was not necessarily the author's writing but the story itself that bothered me so much. Too many things were at play, ultimately making it difficult to follow along. 

But because I can't leave an entirely negative review, I will say that there were aspects of the story that I enjoyed, and while I did guess the ending fairly quickly, it was interesting to see the path that the author took us to get there. 

Audiobook Review: ☆☆☆☆
House of Glass was narrated by Laura Benanti (who has also narrated one of my favorites, Drowning by TJ Newman). Benanti did a great job of keeping the story moving forward and adding just the right air of mystery to keep me listening. 

Read if you enjoy:
Slow burn mysteries
Menacing atmospheres
Unlikable characters

I recommend reading Gone Tonight if you're looking for a book by Sara Pekkanen to read!

After her young nanny falls to her death, nine-year-old Rose becomes mute. But with her parent's divorcing and both asking for sole custody, Rose must be evaluated by attorney Stella. The second Stella approaches Rose's home, she knows something isn't right. What really happened with the nanny and how was Rose connected?

This was an amazing thriller! Here's what I loved.

The story. There were a lot of twists and turns in this one. Not only do you have the mystery of what happened to the nanny but you also delve into Stella's past as she investigates her own mother's death. Both mysteries have similarities in how Stella and Rose dealt with the aftermath.

The creepy house. This house definetly had a creep factor. It's a large manor house that really adds to the unsetting feeling of the book.

The twists. There are a lot of twists in this one. You start to not trust anyone and have to keep guessing at what is really happening.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy

Thank you @macmillan.audio for the audiobook! 🎧 and @netgalley

🖤Whodunnit
🖤Creepy kid
🖤Domestic Drama/Suspense
🖤Murder

Loved the audiobook on this one. The narrator did an excellent job.
A creepy whodunnit that you won’t be able to put down. This is a story where everyone is suspect and will keep you on your toes.

A solid thriller with the requisite disquieting setting, well-developed genre characters, and plenty of plot twists and surprises.

Stella is a Best Interest Attorney: in contentious custody cases, she represents the child and fights for a resolution on their behalf. Her mentor and father figure Judge Charles Huxley asks her to take on an unusually high profile case with a wealthy family. It’s high profile because recently Rose Barclay’s nanny tumbled out of a high window and, though nobody has been charged, suspicions abound.

9 year-old Rose has become mute since her nanny's death and it now falls to Stella to get to know her better and recommend a custody arrangement. But while working on this, Stella somehow (and this is a bit of a hole in the plot) also falls into investigating the nanny’s death.

The author, one of my favorites, has a sure and steady hand on the plot and pacing and builds up an unsettling atmosphere as Stella spends time in the malevolent-feeling Barclay house. The title is something of a misnomer as the house is actually devoid of all glass for complicated plot reasons, though there’s definitely something off there

There are four feasible suspects (within the conventions of the genre) for the Nanny’s death and they all fit comfortably into murder mystery boxes: Rose’s high strung mother, her oddly laidback sexy father, her doting disabled grandmother, and, of course, vulnerable Rose herself. The idea of evil/killer children is heavily played up as Stella wonders just how helpless Rose really is.

It’s not too hard to spot the red herrings but they are satisfyingly worked through. There’s also a secondary plot about Stella herself, whose mother died when she was seven, and the Barclay investigation spurs her to look more into that.

There is not much new here but I read a lot of thrillers so there rarely is. However, it kept me happily entertained on a train ride and sometimes that’s all you need.

Thanks to St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

4.25 🌟

I could not put this book down!

Seriously, from the moment I picked up this book I could not put it down. A nanny who mysteriously fell from a window and a family who all looks guilty. I felt like everything in this book was believable and the twists were just twisty enough.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
House of Glass - ARC
By: Sarah Pekkanen
Genre: Thriller
Format: Audiobook, ebook
Publication Date: August 6, 2024

✨ I found House of Glass to be a fun, fast read and a relatively hard to put down thriller. I read it in just a few short days.

✨ I immediately compared this to The Silent Patient. The main difference is that a kid is experiencing traumatic mutism and not an adult like in TSP. To complicate matters, the father had a known affair with the nanny who ended up dead at their family home, a death likely witnessed by Rose, but still unsolved.

✨ The main character, Stella Hudson, is the lawyer appointed to represent the child, Rose, as her very wealthy parents go through a disagreeable divorce and custody battle. Stella also experienced traumatic mutism as a small child from when her mom died in the same apartment as her. As such, she is one of the few who may understand and be able to connect with the child and is convinced by a dear friend and mentor to take on the challenging case due to her personal connection and circumstances.

✨ Altogether, this does make for a rather interesting and forward-moving story. The characters all carry a certain level of intrigue and you can plausibly predict a number of different endings. I do love trying my hand at thriller predictions and twists!

✨ To that point, it wasn’t as big of a twist as I would have liked, but it was a satisfying ending nonetheless and probably the one that makes the most sense for the story.

✨ Thank you to @sarahpekkanen , @Netgalley @macmillan.audio and @macmillanusa for providing me with access to this e-ARC.

✨ I will definitely read more of Sarah Pekkanen’s books after this!

Rose Barclay witnessed something horrific, at the age of 9 she watched her nanny plummet to her death. In the midst of a divorce, her parents also must deal with the investigating attorney assigned to their case. Stella has been tasked with determining which custody arrangement is best for Rose. Her job is made much harder when she finds out Rose is dealing with traumatic mutism. Thrust into the Barclay's life, Stella must battle demons from her past and suspicious activities within the family. Questions of who to trust arise as Stella gets closer to the truth. Could Rose be responsible for her nanny's death or someone else using her to cover their tracks.

House of Glass is a perfect, twisty family drama. Sarah Pekkanen does a wonderful job exploring trauma and how it interacts with others. She connects her characters in a way that leaves the reader questioning their objectives. This is another perfect summer read. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book.

Reading challenge category - 2024 Hoffbensen: Published in 2024 (3)

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC.

Stella Hudson is a Guardian-ad-Litem or 'Best Interest Attorney' (BIA). Her latest custody case is a 9-year-old girl, Rose, with reactive mutism due to witnessing a trauma. Stella can relate to Rose on a personal level as she experienced both trauma and reactive mutism as a child. Rose witnessed her nanny's death in her home. As Stella investigates which parent would be best for custodial care for Rose, she observes more sinister activity than what she expected and ends up solving the mystery of what happened to Tina, the nanny.

There are a lot of red herrings throughout this book -- is it more like 'The Orphan" or "Case 39?" Is it "Fatal Attraction" or "Presumed Innocent?" The final answer was somewhat predictable for me, but I did enjoy some of the twists and turns. I didn't care for the storyline about Stella's [past and how <spoiler>Charles </spoiler> was involved. I much preferred the current storyling of her recent divorce and grappling with losing family (and the final ending for her).

3.5 stars, rounded up.

This is my second Sarah Pekkanen book, after Gone Tonight, and I was very impressed with House of Glass!

Stella is a lawyer who helps the courts determine which parent should have custody during contentious divorces. Her current case is 9 year old Rose, who’s nanny fell to her death a few weeks prior, and who’s parents are not handling their divorce well. As the story goes on, the question of “who killed Tina” is front and center as all the household members are under suspicion.

While some of the twists weren’t completely shocking, they were fun enough to keep me engaged and I sailed through this read in less than 24 hours. Thank you to Sarah Pekkanen, NetGalley and the publishers for a free ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this latest by Sarah Pekkanen. This isn’t a spoiler bc the plots are way different but for some reason it gave me Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn vibes. Eerie kid and family, FMC sent to act as guardian ad litem for the child after her live in nanny is killed. This one is slower paced but still kept my attention.