Book Review for Jeannette Walls "The Glass Castle" by Sujal Mirchandani

 Sujal Mirchandani

12th April 2025

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a memoir of her life and her unusual experiences as a kid. Jeannette was raised in a strange and chaotic family which forced her and her siblings to face poverty and emotional hardships. Jeannette’s parents failed to provide her and her siblings with basic necessities, which is why they had to take care of themselves from a young age. Jeannette’s dad, Rex Walls, was an alcoholic and spent all of the money on alcohol and cigarettes, and her mom, Rose Mary, was an artist. The family were extremely poor and did not have a place to live, therefore, they were always moving to some different town. Since her parents did not take proper care of her, there were times where she had to eat food from a trash can since there was no food at home. Also, there have been times when she was sexually assaulted, including an incident with her own uncle. Her parents did not pay attention to these issues and believed that the kids had to learn how to solve their problems on their own. After Jeannette turned 17, she left her family and moved to New York in search of a better life where she can live peacefully on her own. 

I personally liked this book a lot since it was raw and straightforward. In this memoir, the author did not hide or change anything about her past, which is what makes it more genuine than other memoirs. This allowed the readers to better understand the author and build a strong relationship with her. Also, the book was paced perfectly which never made it seem boring or repetitive. One thing I liked about the memoir was how Jeannette never criticized her parents even after everything they made her go through. Despite the tough hardships she faced, Jeannette still had respect and love for her parents and did not blame them at all. 

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to any young adult who is ungrateful for their lives since this book teaches the importance of hardwork and determination through hard times. Lastly, I would give this book a 5/5 because it was very real and had a good message about resilience and perseverance.