House of Glass by Susan Fletcher – Reader Witch

Genre: mainly Gothic. ⭐️Stars from Goodreads: 4. ⭐️Stars from me: 3.5

House of Glass is a platypus of literature. The book has a body of one creation and a tail of another. It starts out as a Gothic mystery but turns into war and peace in the end.

What is the book about

It’s a story about Clara, a young woman whose bones are as fragile as glass and whose emotional state has also been destroyed by a recent loss. Clara is hired to work in a glass house on an old property and of course the property hides many puzzles that Clara will try to solve.

What I liked about the book

The Gothic part

The book creates a perfect Gothic atmosphere. There’s an old mansion, creepy noises, and a story of complicated life.

The mystery

I absolutely loved Clara’s demeanor, which turned a scary story into almost a detective story.

character

The characters are neither good nor bad. They are multidimensional and complicated. It’s hard to come to any definitive conclusions about this.

Storylines

There are many storylines, all of which are interconnected on some level.

Chekhov’s weapons

Every detail mentioned in the story has its function.

What I liked less

Women’s rights agenda

I know it’s a touchy subject so I’ll try to handle it carefully. I understand the need to acknowledge the historical and current problems, but modern female-authored literature seems to overuse the subject to the point where it begins to turn people off rather than putting the spotlight on the problems.

Random villain

It feels like the characters are pulling straws to pick up a villain and whoever landed the role didn’t really fit in with it.

The platypus tail

If I want to read War and Peace, I read Tolstoy. If I am attracted to its Gothic atmosphere, I prefer that the atmosphere last to the end.

Final thoughts

It is a well-written book with an interesting and intricate storyline, largely combining mystery and Gothic. If it hadn’t been for the ending, I would easily have given the book five stars.

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