Meredith (Trying to catch up!)'s Reviews > House of Glass

Outlier Island

2.5 stars

House of Glass is a psychological thriller about an attorney who must determine the best living situation for a nine-year-old child caught in the middle of her parent's divorce. Adding fuel to the fire is the little girl might have murdered her nanny.

Stella Hudson, a best interest attorney, is assigned to evaluate which parent Rose Barclay should live with once her parent's divorce. Stella and Rose share in common that both suffered childhood trauma and experienced mutism, causing Stella to dig deeper into her trauma. Rose, however, expresses some scary behavior, including violent outbursts and collecting household items to use as weapons. As Stella spends time with the Barclay family, she finds herself in danger.

Rose is a creepy child whose behavior is alarming, to say the least. She also seems to have an obsession with collecting glass shards and other sharp objects. I would have liked more scenes with Rose. Stella, the primary narrator, has an interesting backstory, but her voice is flat.

The novel has some interesting things going for it--an intriguing premise, sinister characters, and a creepy mansion that serves as the backdrop for the drama. However, the narrative is uneven, the characters are erratic, and there is way too much telling vs. showing. A lot of superfluous details are woven in-- why do we need to have detailed descriptions of all of Stella’s meals? At times, it felt like these details were there to compensate for a lack of character development.

There are two main twists, both of which I partially guessed. This did not take away from my enjoyment, but the outcome of one of them had me rolling my eyes.

The ending was a bit OTT, and Stella's acceptance of a close friend's behavior had me asking some serious questions. It all wraps up nicely and too neatly.

What could have been a dramatic, sinister novel became just another thriller. On the plus side, House of Glass is an easy read that scored high for entertainment value. But ignore my rant and read other reviews.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.