The Glass Castle Review

Title of the Book: The Glads Castle
Author: Jannette Walls
Number of Pages: 288
Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Review:

    Have you ever thought about your dream house? The way that it would be built or the way that each room would look? For Jannette and her family The Glass Castle is their every own dream house. What exactly is the glass castle? Well that you will have to read to find out. Yet the journey to get to Janette's very own glass castle is one full of adventure, heartache, and trials. Jannette tells the story of her life from the young age of three to where she is now within her life. She speaks of the constant relocation of her family and the struggle to find food to eat every night. Her parents, you could say, are nomadic and constantly move before officials can find them and make them pay the money that they need to. The mother is whimsical and lets the children do what they please, whereas the father is an alcoholic that can not hold down a job.
    Throughout the story of Janette's life you see how her thought process begins to change from “my family will always protect me” to “this is not what I want for my own life.” With this change of mindset within Jannette the story begins to take a different tone of voice. In the beginning Jannette was very open and carefree of her actions, family, and self. Yet, as the story continues you start to see Jannette come to the realization that all her family is doing is living off of nothing and running. She comes to hate her own parents for not providing for her and her siblings as they should. When Jannette was a little girl her father came home one night and told the family that they were leaving. SO the family packed up their things and left in the dead of night. As they turned a sharp corner Jannette fell out of the car and was forgotten. Once the father came back he promised her that he would never leave her behind or do anything to hurt her. Now flash forward to Jannette’s teenage years where she had to go get her father from the bar and he let a man take her up stairs in order to have sexual relations with her. Jannette was furious that her father would just let a man do that to her and came to the realization that now she is just a way to earn more money for alcohol to him.
    The Glass Castle is a heart wrenching memoir that makes the reader admire Jannette and the life that she lived. Anyone who is looking to open their eyes to a different lifestyle of choice or get to know the trials faced by a victorious little girl, this is a great book. Not only does it open your eyes to the challenges that someone can go through but whether or not the life that we each live is our own personal choice or the life that is forced upon us.