Watching Glass Shatter

This is a wonderful story about a family that had unconditional love, most of the time, for each other. The title fits this story perfectly! Enjoyed how the author developed the characters making me feel as if I knew them, I felt their pain & their joy! This story did bring me to tears toward the end. A little too wordy & descriptive in places, also the proof reader missed a lot.. Very upset with Olivia telling Sarah’s secret and never apologizing! Still highly recommend reading ??. Thank you James Cudney, hope you continue the story.

HOWEVER, I'm not sure about anything else. The story kept me reading, congratulations, but the "writing style" caused me pain on almost every page. "She checked the quiche, savoring the golden-brown crust and bubbling gruyere, her nose tempted by the comfort it offered." Noses aren't tempted!! "Paying for two egg sandwiches, bananas, and a raspberry scone, he pocketed the change from his favorite brunch restaurant, ran his fingers through his thick hair and set off towards the bike rack across the street to pedal home to the apartment he shared with his girlfriend." Makes me think that the author is getting paid by the word. So many examples in the book of excess words and weird phrases makes me wonder if English is Cudney's second (or third) language. If you feel compelled to read this book, I strongly suggest you borrow it from a library -- it is certainly nothing you'll want to hold on to.

Watching Glass Shatter is a family drama filled with love, humor and tragedy. It elicited strong emotions in me and I found myself laughing and crying multiple time while I was reading. And, that to me is the true strength of this novel. There is so much emotional havoc, yet I never once felt it was over the top. Instead, all the drama drew me that much closer to the family, even with characters I didn’t initially like. I absolutely loved Jay’s debut from start to finish and I truly can’t recommend it enough. He writes with the talent of a seasoned author and I’m excited to see what he comes out with next.

This is an excellent debut novel that touches on so many aspects of the modern family. The characters are believable as people I could know. The story includes twists and unexpected revelations that keep the pages turning. On the surface it seems like a simple story. A wife loses her husband and has to find a way to deal with his death and the way her life has changed. It is a lot more though. It isn't just her story, but the story of her husband and her family. It is the story of a mother who just wants to know her children, but who has let them slip away without even realizing it. It is the story of adult children who are struggling, but who don't want to share that struggle with their parents. It is a story of all of us hidden behind the Glass family. An excellent read that is simple on the surface and yet somehow manages to present the complexities of life.

In my teenage years and the early twenties, I used to hog on novels with family drama like it was the new Harry Potter series. My friend and I used to keenly wait for the release of the next Jeffrey Archer book and enjoyed to the hilt the emotional exuberance adorning the pages. However, with the onset of blogging and discovering new authors, somewhere along the way I started to ignore my comfort read. When James Cudney announced his debut novel Watching Glass Shatter, I read the blurb of the novel and was thrilled to read the book as it offered plenty of family drama and a strong female protagonist too. Although I was positive that I would enjoy the book, what I did not expect was for this book to make me reminisce about the old Jeffrey Archer novels and ponder as to why I ever did stop reading this genre. Cudney, through his debut novel, has wonderfully portrayed the trials and tribulations of a matriarch struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss of her husband and the mounting responsibility on her to honor her husband’s dying wishes and to do right by her five sons. I immensely enjoyed the book as it had its share of strong female characters (not just the protagonist) along with an intriguing plot. Moreover, it was indeed a pleasure to review the debut book written by a fellow blogger!

The wealthy Glass family has lost its patriarch Benjamin Glass in a tragic accident. His wife Olivia and their five sons are struggling to accept the loss of Ben when Olivia receives an unexpected letter from her husband’s lawyer that contains a devastating secret about one of her sons. However, Ben has withheld the name of the son in his letter and Olivia must figure out who is it that Ben has mentioned about. Olivia decides to spend a few days with each of her son before revealing this fateful secret. The time spent with her sons reveal new secrets and troubles that run deep beneath the calm and poised exterior of her sons. In the absence of Ben, it falls upon Olivia to sort their lives as well as hers and bring peace back to the family. Is she up for this task?

James Cudney has succeeded in creating an ever-lasting impression on the readers’ mind through the Glass family. The title is a clever play on the word “Glass” by the author with all pun intended. The story narrated from a third person point of view gives us a deep understanding of the main characters through their thoughts and actions. This approach of narration makes us feel closer to the characters and identify with their emotional turmoil. The chapters are arranged in such a way that the readers first get to understand the deeper fears and insecurities of each character before they are revealed by the sons to the matriarch Olivia. The troubles and concerns of each character are so varied that it is overwhelming to see Olivia struggle through these as well as her own personal grief. What stood out for me in the book was the sophistication with which Cudney evolved his characters as new understanding between them rekindled old bonds that were lying dormant. Olivia’s transformation was exceptional as she changed to become a more open and approachable version of herself which was beautiful to read as for me, initially, she appeared to be a control freak and conventionalist.

The plot was undeniably intriguing and the author has added to the mystery by cleverly removing any clues as to who the son addressed in the letter was. However, what added color and vibrancy to the main narrative were the subplots in the novel. The sub plots in themselves were mature and realistic which added more personality to the story. The sensitivity with which these were handled indeed flaunted Cudney’s maturity as a writer adept in handling a complicated theme. Also noteworthy was the inclusion of hilarious situations and witty dialogues that added textures to an emotional tale. The quality of writing was exceptional as Cudney succeeded in keeping the readers on their toes, laughing with the family sharing their happiness and shedding a tear or two with the unexpected loss and heartbreak of the characters.

Overall, Watching Glass Shatter, the debut book of James Cudney, is an introspective tale of bereavement, love and heartbreak that makes us believe in the healing power of family. It is a wonderful family saga that is deeply emotional and fills the readers with delight, laughter and torment. This will be a great read for people who love mystery and drama concealed in a great plot and good writing.

A really excellent book with great characters. The writing style is a mixture of John Grisham style mystery and Barbara Taylor Bradford family drama and family dynamics. The central character Olivia I didn't like throughout most of the book but I got to like her at the end. The five sons I loved. My favourite characters were Caleb and his husband Jake but there's a mixture of rounded characters and characters with distinct personalities in this book that different readers which take to different characters which is a good thing.

Very psychological about the human mind and how people deal differently with different situations and with a massive theme of secrets, this book is a brilliant read.

Wow! This is a fantastic book about a heartwarming family and the things they went through! Excellent book with the most interesting characters. This author draws you in the story very quickly and with all the mystery of where he’s going with the storyline he keeps you turning the pages till the very last one. I absolutely loved this book and what an awesome new author I’ve found!

Truly enjoyable reading. Any mother would relate to this reexamination of her past relationships with her grown children,especially if all things seem to be going smoothly. How many of us would take the effort to wonder if grown children are really happy. Wouldn’t it be a surprise to learn they haven,t told us everything?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author's excellent character studies will make you feel like you know the members of the Glass family. You will not want to put this book down until you learn their family secret. A wonderful first book by an author I am sure we will hear more from soon. Highly recommended!

An adeptly written family drama, which takes the reader through wide ranging emotions as the story unfolds. It moves from sombre to funny and back again quickly as it delves into the relationships and characters. You won’t be sad throughout; it has some laughs making it very easy to relate to the well-drawn characters.

Starting reading the summary during the late show, just because the cover picture and title seemed interesting. Finished reading the book at 7am . Actually going to lone my kindle to my BF so they can read the book now. I have actually never told anyone they should read a book because I thought they would like it or written a review before.

The storyline itself is a good one. Sadly the writing is so bad that it fails to deliver. The narrative is overly wordy and with a terrible choice of words ("Caleb couldn't stop his nirvana exploding..." Seriously?!), the dialogue flat and stilted, the characters lacking in colour and depth and the whole thing needs a thoroughly good edit and proofread. The poor punctuation made it hard to read and understand at times. I ploughed through to 30% then decided life was too short to waste time on such dire writing so skipped to the 90% mark and picked up the story easily from there.

An excellent debut novel, well-paced, thoughtful, well-written. Especially great as a study of family dynamics! Enjoyed it very much, as I'm also a fan of this author's blog, This Is My Truth Now, on Wordpress. Recommended reading!

When I read the following sentence I knew what kind of story I was in for: “She kept her shiny locks shoulder length...” Ugh! Who says “locks” any more?? The main plot was interesting and kept me reading, but the often bizarre, inconsistent behavior of the characters, stilted dialogue, and unbelievable scenarios made my eyes roll until I had a headache!

I wasn’t sure I would enjoy another “family secrets” novel and was pleasantly hooked into the story of the Glass family. The character ‘s secrets were intertwined deftly so as to seem like it could happen within your own family. I look forward to more books by Jay.