Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: The Glass House
AUTHOR: Suki Fleet
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 219 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2018
BLURB:
At 17 Sasha is a little lost and a lot lonely. He craves friendship but his self-destructive tendencies cause problems and he pushes people away.
Every day he collects glass for the sculptures he makes and every day he dies a little more inside. Until he meets Thomas.
Thomas is shy but sure of himself in a way Sasha doesn’t understand. He makes it his mission to prove to Sasha that everyone deserves to be loved, and doesn’t give up even when Sasha hurts him.
Their friendship becomes more than Sasha ever thought possible. And when Sasha is forced to confront his past he realizes that accepting he is worthy of the love Thomas gives him is the only way to obliterate the darkness.
REVIEW:
The Glass House is a beautiful, hurt/comfort love story by one of my favorite young adult authors. As always, Suki Fleet is masterful at creating layered young characters who brim with pain. She uses the journey through pain and healing to develop a deep love that defies the odds. She makes first-time love between teenagers magical, poignant, and sweet just the way it should be. All the while, she pulls on our heartstrings as the boys struggle to overcome the hardships blocking their way. The path is never easy for Ms. Fleet’s boys, but the payoff is oh, so worth it. In this book, it’s seventeen-year-old Sasha and sixteen-year-old Thomas who fall deeply in love, as seen from Sasha’s point of view.
The story begins with Sasha being suspended from school because of an unwise decision he makes due to his need to feel wanted. He’s a broken boy whose childhood has left him hating himself profoundly. He was abused and his parents both deserted him. He now lives with his twenty-four-year-old sister, Corrine. He feels like an awful person – worthless, unlovable, and ugly inside. He pretends he’s okay alone, not caring about other people or what they think, but his behavior is harming his soul.
Fellow young artist, Thomas, is somehow able to see beneath the façade, even when Sasha is cruel to him. It’s almost masochistic the way he keeps trying to break through to find the good person inside Sasha. It’s a testament to how strongly Thomas wants, or needs, to have Sasha in his life. Thomas lives with his loving Gran rather than his absentee parents, so he knows his own brand of desertion. He’s an honest, sincere, shy boy who’s concerned for Sasha’s well-being and just won’t give up on him.
“I’d never had someone reach out to me like Thomas had. I’d never had someone not give up when I’d pushed them away. It fucking terrified me, and I didn’t understand it in the slightest.”
Sasha doesn’t understand why Thomas is befriending him. He knows he’s unlikable and prone to hurting others, but he’s so grateful for Thomas’ effort. It turns out he badly needs Thomas’ friendship and comfort, and then his love. He’s a confused mess, though. He feels protective of Thomas – particularly when the younger boy’s asthma acts up – even though emotionally he feels like the younger of them. He’s aroused by Thomas but doesn’t understand his feelings because attraction is foreign to him. (He appears to be demisexual but has no knowledge of that concept.) He mainly needs Thomas’ touch to feel close, not even in a sexual way. He feels safe and understood by Thomas but, above all, he’s afraid he’s going to hurt Thomas and mess up their fledgling relationship. He thinks he’s a coward not being able to express his feelings, but he’s not fluent in the language of emotions.
What makes The Glass House work so well is the personal growth Sasha experiences. He discovers he’s stronger than he ever thought possible. Thomas helps him heal and shows him he’s unbreakable, not as fragile as the broken glass sculptures he creates. Aiding Sasha is Corrine, Thomas’ Gran who warmly accepts him, and a glass works artist who intuitively understands him.
As much as I love this book, I have to deduct from the rating because of the ending. It was sudden and too incomplete without an epilogue. Many young adult novels end with an HFN rather than a solid HEA because of the young ages of the main characters. And that’s okay, it’s realistic. But The Glass House ends very tentatively. There are too many important loose ends that leave the future uncertain. While an epilogue is not imperative in all stories, a one-year epilogue could’ve given closure on several topics to take it to a place where love could conquer all. These boys share a deep love and seem to be the type to fight hard for each other. At the point it ends, though, I’m just not convinced Sasha’s in the headspace to conquer all even with all the desire in the world. It made me sad because I want so badly for Sasha and Thomas to achieve a hard fought, happily ever after. I just have to believe they will.
RATING: 
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