I really wanted to love this. A haunted house novel, a trio of siblings, the complexity of race and gender... and much of the prose was really lovely. Unfortunately, it simply didn't come together for me. I found myself lost in the prose and unable to actually find my way into any of the characters besides Ezri, who felt at times like a cipher, lost in the language. I would try again with Solomon's next, and definitely would recommend giving it a shot, but it didnt' work for me.

Rivers Solomon can do no wrong!!! They remind me so much of Silvia Moreno Garcia in the sense that they can write in literally any genre and they always kill it.

I was especially excited for Model Home because it is my fave genre (horror!) and it did not disappoint. It is a short little book but left a lasting impact.

Model Home is about Ezri, part of a wealthy Black family that grew up in predominantly white area... in a haunted house. When their parents stop answering their texts, Ezri and their sisters (and Ezri's daughter) return home to check on their parents.

Like all of Rivers Solomons books, this tackled serious issues (gender identity, CSA, grooming, racism) in a gentle but incredibly piercing manner.

At NO POINT did I know what was coming next. This kept me on my toes and then broke my heart, in that order.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I went into this book blind and found myself so engaged through the whole journey. The storytelling is both poetic and linear, the details the author engages the reader in evolve with the story, moving you in and out of your imagination. Overall I loved the story and felt enriched by it.

"such beauty invites pain, because such beauty invites possession, devouring. who sees beauty and does not want to experience it?"

"there are no mansions without a torn-down forest."

"it"s terrifying not to see coming the things that might harm us, but it's more terrifying to be seen ourselves. the darkness hides us as much as it hides the ghosts."

many tw: read at your own discretion
grooming, sexual abuse, racism, violence, death

a fascinating and abstract blend of racism intergenerational trauma, identity, grief and tumultuous family dynamics. a telling of three siblings and the ways in which they experience their home -- one of the only black families in an affluent neighborhood in the south-- and their mother, their mother as their home, and the ways in which it shapes them into adulthood. it reminded me a lot of in the dream house by machado. it speaks volumes to how the horror of humanity and the blatant pain we endure can often be more terrifying than the monsters under the bed that we're taught to fear.

it was disturbing, uncomfortable, and often confusing at times - an optical illusion i couldn't tear away from. everything leading up to the twist was super captivating and i literally couldn't put the book down. i will say that the ending was not my favorite, but i think it made sense in the context of the story and the neighborhood they lived in. the more i was immersed in the story, the more questions i had. the prose is a beautiful whisper you're constantly searching for above the noise, breathtaking and intimately vulnerable, and i enjoyed getting lost in this book.

thank you to netgalley, fsg, and rivers solomon for the digital advanced review copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions!

I’m conflicted about this book. There was a lot about it that I loved but it wasn’t the book I was expecting it to be. I’ve actually read a few books like this that I believe will be a haunted house story but they actually aren’t real ghosts - it always leaves me a little disappointed. The story that was told here was a very dark and horrifying one. I loved the set up and the characters. Ezri was interesting and I enjoyed the sibling and family dynamics that were explored. It was written really well and it was almost haunting at times. It was atmospheric, creepy and uncomfortable to read. I appreciate the amazing build up to the twist/reveal but unfortunately I had mostly figured out what it was going to be. I liked the twist but I still felt slightly underwhelmed by how it all was revealed. There was just something in this book that I feel like I didn’t fully understand and maybe I’m just not the right audience for it. Beautifully written and I did love reading it for the most part.

Did not finish book. Stopped at 43%.
not the sort of book i'm in the mood for right now but i don't want that to discourage anyone else from reading it! it was very well written but a bit too dark for what i feel like reading right now.

thank you to netgalley and farrar, straus and giroux for allowing me to read an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

#modelhome by #riverssolomon is the ebook I finally finished last night. I was reading this in between other stories so it took me longer than it should have, but it was totally intriguing. Three grown sisters come together after their parents supposedly die in a murder-suicide scenario in their posh home in the suburbs of Dallas. Each sister does flash back moments of the house and are reticent to return to the scene of what they always concluded was a haunted house. They never really take you to a haunted house scene, rather they give you more of this feeeeeeeling that all of their traumatic experiences happened within the walls of that house. The children took these hurts and blamed the house. So why didn’t their wealthy parents just move? After their death, when they found out the true immense wealth and properties they kept thinking why did their parents allow them to be hurt in a home when they actually had choices? Who was actually hurting them and why? It’s a story more about childhood trauma more than anything else. How it affected them as adults, how it affected their relationships with each other and their children and with themselves… a very deep thoughtful book on family life, on parenting, on so many things that can happen right under your nose. Poignant and emotional and a fantastic yet disturbing finale. Recommend unless childhood trauma triggers you.
Thank you to @fsgbooks and @netgalley for this ebook! Scroll to see the next #ebook I’m adding to my #maytbr !!

"Model Home" by Rivers Solomon is a tense and emotional thriller that addresses myriad dark themes including complex grief, childhood trauma, racism, and queer identity.

Solomon masterfully reinvents the haunted house trope. In reality, homes aren't always haunted by ghosts— the echoes of trauma and painful memories linger and can fill a place with more dread and horror than even the supernatural.

Solomon's voice is uniquely beautiful, with a lyrical prose that often borders on poetry. The rich descriptions and lush metaphors can be a bit confusing at times, but I was able to follow the narrative fairly well. Most of my confusion seemed to stem from formatting issues, which I presume will be resolved in later edits.

If you’re a victim of abuse, this book might be difficult to read at times. While it proved challenging for me, it was also equally cathartic and captivating, evoking a full spectrum of raw emotions.

Thanks NetGalley & Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the ARC!

Model Home is an engrossing, emotional, anxiety-inducing, unpredictable story that I couldn’t put down. This book hurt my feelings in the best way. I really enjoy stories like this, which can be enjoyed at face value, but also as a metaphor for less concrete subjects. Solomon manages to tackle family, racism, identity, mental health, tragedy, and loss without ever making it feel like a messy trauma dump. As someone with my own family related trauma, I felt so seen by the unreliable narration and the way they all came to terms with their experiences. It had me reflecting on my own childhood, my family dynamics, the people who surrounded me, and my adult boundaries. I can’t wait to read this again in October!

I am officially labeling myself a Rivers Solomon fan. This is the third book I've read by them and I love them all. Model Home is such a different take on a haunted house novel and I cannot wait for more people to read it. There are so many aspects to love beginning with our main character, Ezri, who is a gender nonconforming parent to a daughter named Elijah. The pair travel from London back to Ezri's family home in Dallas, TX where they discover their parents are no longer alive. Ezri and their two sister grew up believing the house they spent their childhoods in is haunted and that the house murdered their parents.
The trauma the siblings experienced in the house has shaped their relationships with one another and caused them to be estranged from their parents. We see how they deal with their grief and secrets that are exposed from their past, as well as some of the trauma cycles that have been repeated, The novel explores what it means to be Black in the South, particularly in white neighborhoods, the experience of a person growing up gender queer, how family secrets can be harmful, and how we can protect our children. There is so much to unpack and Solomon's writing and thoughts on the human experience are great as always.

Highly recommend.

I found the premise intriguing and the writing fresh, but I didn’t connect with the characters and overall found it was a bit too much of an anxious, sort of disturbing, read for me. I’ve read some of the author’s short stories and enjoyed those.

“Model home” is a beautifully poetic book, that uses lyrical prose to contrast against the contents of what is essentially a horror novel, with dark themes surrounding tragedy, family ties, race, class and gender.

The plot follows three siblings who are forced to return to their home after the news reaches them about the death of their parents. There is magical realism, unreliable narration, flashbacks and more.

This book is complex and likely not for somebody who is looking to read a surface level horror. There is lots of depth within these pages.
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Thank you, Rivers Solomon, NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the EARC!

Pub date; October 1st 2024

I appreciated the lyricism with which Solomon writes, but I spent a large portion of this book utterly confused. This book illuminates issues related to gender and race, and the “grand reveal” offers commentary on trauma (individual and generational) in unique ways, but it was easy to get lost in all of it. I had trouble connecting to the characters and wasn’t as invested in this story as I had hoped to be, likely due to the levels of confusion I felt. Readers should be sure to review trigger warnings.

What a beautifully written book! Don’t let the word ‘beautiful’ fool you, the story itself is far from being beautiful: it’s a sad, tragic story of a family.
This book gave me House of Hollow vibes - 3 siblings, magical realism, similar writing style.
I found the story intriguing but I was often confused - I usually love an unreliable narrator but this book was too complex, full of flashbacks, a lot of characters, dark topics (check trigger warnings!), traumas so a lot of times I didn’t know what was going on.
All in all, it was a fine read, the writing style was lyrical, full of stunning quotes.
3.5 ⭐️ rounded down.
Thank you, NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Horror can be unsettling in fear and also reality. This tale does just that what if the thing you’re most afraid of is lurking in what you already know? Story dives into queer identity, sibling, relationships, and the pit of what we fear the most.

4 stars!

Ezri and their daughter Elijah travel to Dallas from their home in the UK to check up on Ezri’s parents. When Ezri find their parents passed away from an apparent murder-suicide, they are convinced it is the doing of their childhood haunted house which tormented their early years. What follows is a tale of family ties, trauma, and grief.

I really enjoyed Rivers Solomon’s prose and the commentary they provided. This novel touches on mental illness, sexual assault, race, gender expression, and death. This was at times a tough read, but the messaging was powerful and worth reading and reflecting on.

I enjoyed the main character Ezri who is deeply flawed and aware of their flaws. They proved to be an interesting POV to follow through and the unreliable-narrator nature of the story added another layer to the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for access to this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The word for this book is disturbing. Every time I picked it up, I was tense, clenching and terrified of what was coming next. The writing is beautiful, the story is disguising and I will be reading Rivers entire backlog.

I have so many quotes that will not see the light of day, but two of my favorite:

“I am not a person, but a place where bad things happen”

“Humans are gods, making worlds, then making miseries of those worlds”

Thank you NetGalley, FSG, and Rivers Solomon for the ARC!

Hauntingly delicious read.

Trigger warnings: Dark content, grief, Racism, trauma

The story is about a black family growing up in a gated white community. Very quickly, strange instances occur , but the neighbors seem nice and polite right? The children grow up and leave, but have to return at the news of their parent's deaths. The truth comes to light as the siblings are forced to enter into it head on.


3.5/5

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Model Home is a usual haunted house story that tackles trauma, family, racism, identity and isolation. The story is well put together and will force the reader to stare down many uncomfortable moments. While I fully appreciate how well crafted this was, I probably am not the right audience of this.

TW: death of a parent, sexual assault, grooming.

I don't know what to say about this book. I was hooked instantly and I couldn't put it down, but I was also so confused and sad and angry. I didn't understand half of it and the other half spoke directly to my soul.
I love this author. They do amazing work but this is not what I expected. This was truly art.
I need to sit and think about this one for a few days.