It's not often I find a book that's set in the lovely Welsh valleys but here we are. I absolutely loved this book and it was an absolute joy to read. Four stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the eARC of this book.

The download date was unfortunately missed, I would be happy to re-review it if it became available again. I have awarded stars for the book cover and description as they both appeal to me. I would be more than happy to re-read and review if a download becomes available. If you would like me to re-review please feel free to contact me at thesecretbookreview@gmail.com or via social media The_secret_bookreview (Instagram) or Secret_bookblog (Twitter). Thank you.

It is rare for books to be set in my corner of North Wales. It is even rarer for them to be so and be published by an English publisher, so it was an absolute no-brainer for me to request this.

Initially, I found it fine. The early sections, which focus on Gethin and Olwen's teen years and growing relationship, felt a little too much like several other books I've read. This one, although well written and engaging enough, didn't feel as though it was doing anything new or different with the ideas of the poor, rural childhood. However, after the first third things became much more interesting. Unfortunately, I can't explain why or what's so interesting about it because this is an ARC and that would be spoiler territory.

I will say that I really liked the idea of the book's direction and the things it was considering, although I felt it left a few important questions on the table and didn't interrogate some aspects quite as much as it could have done. In particular, the wider questions of Welshness are left unexamined in a way that felt frustrating to me. The empty house with its absent English owner looms large from the first page; the story is Gethin - the Welsh-speaking local boy - and Olwen's - the daughter of hippy middle-class incomers who goes to public school in Chester. (Did I think about Normal People when I read this? Yes. Yes, I did, and in a good way this book felt in conversation with that.)

So, because this is the story of a relationship, the storyline mentioned in the blurb - of the mysterious messages arriving at the house - is a fairly low-key part of the plot (it feels almost comical at one point) and anybody hoping for a novel that drives to solve the question is going to be disappointed. The sections of the book which develop that story initially felt a bit out of place. This is an unwinding character study, not a thriller.

But Reece writes with a gorgeous subtlety. I especially admired the way she's able to show entire friendships in a single paragraph. The dialogue is pitch-perfect. She's writing a place I know in a way I recognise. Reece understands people and the delicate tightrope of how to be.

If you like stories about flawed human people and their feelings, Glass Houses is one to pick up.

What I expected / hoped for was a potentially charming poignant coming-of-age / young love story of with hints of mystery as suggested by the book blurb. Sadly, that was somewhat spoiled by an increasingly frequent sense that I've read similar novels before and this one simply isn't new or different enough to intrigue or excite me. Yet another instance of the publicity machine not working well? I no longer know, since it seems to happen so often now.

Many thanks to the publishers and to Netgalley for the ARC.

Too much of love story for me but it was well written with intense characters whom well were developed. The writer does a great job describing the setting, makes wales sound truly beautiful. All in all a good read just not to my tastes

Somewhere, in a box in Margot Yates' attic there's a video of Gethin by the lake at Ty Gwydr. He's young - nineteen, maybe twenty. It's late spring and dusk, and a low sun leaks white light into the horizon behind the dark fringe of trees. Olwen is filming. Gethin narrows his eyes at the camera. Her bodiless voice says to him, I love it here. He says, good. This place is ours…….It's brilliant. It is well written, with a good plot and the characters are credible with plenty of twists and turns

Oh! I liked this one.
The first love story that ran through it, a near obsession really.
To be swept up and so utterly consumed by someone.... it was quite the read.
The background though, the house, the village, the trying times, it was all just fab.
I grew up in Wales, and have a fondness for any decently written book that uses places and phrases that bring back those memories. This one did perfectly.
I think I know Geth and Olwen, or if not them, people just like them.
Very very good.