Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

What readers think of The Glass Castle, plus links to write your own review.

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle

A Memoir

by Jeannette Walls
  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • Readers' Rating (176):
  • First Published:
  • Mar 1, 2005, 304 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jan 2006, 304 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Reviews

Page 4 of 23
There are currently 179 reader reviews for The Glass Castle
Order Reviews by:

Write your own review!

Somekid

Moving
I felt so much at home reading this book. To date, it is the only story I have ever read that made me cry at the end.
sandra

glass castle
I just finished this book and I could not put it down. It is a must read for anyone who needs encouragement to go on. I loved it!
Jessica K

The Glass Castle
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls was an unbelievably heartfelt novel that people of all ages can relate to. Jeannette Walls tells the true story of her turbulent life. The book begins at the age of three, where she is living with her family in a trailer in Arizona. After cooking hot dogs by her self one afternoon she becomes hospitalized for severe burns. Shortly after that her father, Rex walls, shows up and tells her they are going to do the old ske daddle. They just leave the hospital without a moments notice and from then on her life is a blur from one city to the next. Las Vegas, San Francisco, and many other small desert cities. Her mother is a free spirited woman who lives through her paintings. The oldest child is Lori, smart and determined. The second being Jeannette, always the hard worker. The third is Brian, adventurous and in love with the outer realms of the Earth. The youngest sister is Maureen, some what detached and far from the rest of the family. Throughout Jeannette's childhood her father tells them stories of the Glass Castle in which he is going to one day build. This infamous castle is to be their future home. However tall his tales are it is without a doubt that the family is tightly woven together through the things that set them apart from everyone else. This is a true story of a family struggling to survive. Whether it be food in their bellies or a steady job for their father. Its compassionate, bitter, sad, elevating and even horribly surprising. This story of love and terror will stick with you until well after the last page is turned. It is a book to be remembered and to be reflected upon. Something so delicate its readers will not know whether to shed a tear or a smile.
C Y

THE GLASS CASTLE
Laughed often, cried some, gained knowledge on others - their way of thinking - and gave strength to my own weakness. Please make a movie on this amazing book!
Pia

Best Book
If I could rate this book any higher I would. it was an awesome book and I will be reading all of the other books she wrote!!! This is coming from someone who loves to read. This was probably the best book I have ever read.
jane moates

mindblowing
Her ability to put a story to descriptive word is amazing. Having a similar desperation upbringing and picking myself up by the bootstraps I can relate all ways. I could not put this book down, Pay close attention to the moronic details of how her life could have been. Riveting.
Ryan

Awesome
I read this book twice now and I loved it, I love how she just says it like it is, I only wish she would make a movie out of it to go with the book.
Kountz

I Share this castle
I just finished reading this book and I can tell you that its a great story. Beautiful descriptions of events and people. I identify with this story a lot and recommend this book to my son who is 13 and so far he likes it and has a hard time putting it down.

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Small Rain
    Small Rain
    by Garth Greenwell
    At the beginning of Garth Greenwell's novel Small Rain, the protagonist, an unnamed poet in his ...
  • Book Jacket: Daughters of Shandong
    Daughters of Shandong
    by Eve J. Chung
    Daughters of Shandong is the debut novel of Eve J. Chung, a human rights lawyer living in New York. ...
  • Book Jacket: The Women
    The Women
    by Kristin Hannah
    Kristin Hannah's latest historical epic, The Women, is a story of how a war shaped a generation ...
  • Book Jacket: The Wide Wide Sea
    The Wide Wide Sea
    by Hampton Sides
    By 1775, 48-year-old Captain James Cook had completed two highly successful voyages of discovery and...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
Who Said...

Beware the man of one book

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Big Holiday Wordplay 2024

Enter Now

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.