_Model Home_ by Rivers Solomon is an unsettling, tragic, and unique telling of a modern haunted house. Ezri left their family home and country after a traumatizing childhood, only to be pulled back by their siblings and their concern about their parents who still live in the house that caused so much fear. Using the haunted house trope, Solomon explores racism and abuse to show the real ghosts haunting a family.

Model Home by Rivers Solomon is a haunted story that is unlike any other. It follows three siblings who have to return home after their parents die. While they are there, they have to grapple with how their past has changed their present and how their parents’ deaths may not be quite what they seem.

This is my second book by this author and much like the other book I read by them, this definitely left me thinking after the end. This book is very heavy in a way I wasn’t expecting so be mindful of that before picking this up. This book is told in a very unique style that I don’t think will appeal to everyone but I think the right audience will really love this book.

I really loved the majority of this book. I know this is marketed as horror and it definitely has some horror to it but it is much more than that. I think “unsettling” is the best word I would use to describe this book. The author is very good at word usage and I highlighted so many passages throughout this book.

My only issue with this book is that it feels a little short for the story it was telling. The end happens very quickly and left me wanting a little more. I still overall enjoyed this book and plan on grabbing a copy to annotate. I also think this book be even better with a reread knowing the full story.

I really appreciated the use of a new home as a haunted house allegorical narrative, and Solomon’s writing is beautiful and resonant. This was a five star read for me for 75% of the book, but I felt like the ending was very rushed and explained more than necessary. I would have preferred to make more connections on my own rather than have them explained to me. I also wanted to know more about Ezri’s gender identity and see the commentary on abusive cycles more profoundly based on Ezri and Elijah’s experiences. I don’t blame Solomon for this - it seems like changes an editor would ask for in a misguided attempt to make the story more “relatable.”

This is a stunning novel, as all of Rivers Solomon's works are, but it is HEAVY. It has moments of lightness and hilarity and joy sprinkled throughout, but do check content warnings before diving in to this story (particularly for child SA, grooming, and rape). The plot was astounding and so ideologically astute (of course, as with any Solomon book), and the ending staggered me. The characters were so richly developed and strange and relatable and clearly differentiated from each other and in their myriad interpersonal relationships, too. I'll be thinking about this book forever, basically, and while it isn't my favorite of their books (since Sorrowland is basically my favorite book ever), it's staggeringly good.

I was excited to get this title, I love haunted house novels, especially when you don't know if the house is haunted by ghosts or by family trauma. I am definitely going to read more by Rivers Solomon in the future. They have a very unique writing style, would recommend giving it a read!

I was initially excited by the premise of Model Home and thought it would be a book I would really enjoy. I liked the depiction of the house and the mysteries surrounding it. I also really enjoyed the ending as I didn't see it coming. However, It took me a while to read as I wasn't too keen on the writing structure and I found it hard to follow. I was also confused by the lack of speech marks in some chapters which resulted in me not knowing when anyone was talking and who it was.

A complete change of genre for Rivers Solomon and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it! This book was haunting and just brilliant, the twist and turns had me on the edge of my seat. There is nothing I love more in a horror book than an unreliable narrator. This book ticked every box for what I want in a horror book, and for that I would recommend this greatly.

Spectacular storytelling in the unique voice of Rivers Solomon. The story is perfect but the prose is the standout. I loved the characters, both human and inhuman. I enjoyed my reading experience so much that I told a friend that she should preorder a copy in time for the fall season. This novel couldn’t have been published at a better time. Its social commentary is timely and has been timely.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this novel ahead of its publication.

I love Rivers Solomon and they write some of the best horror sci-fi fantasy novels out there. They know how to take a subject we know and take it in a whole different direction. This book was no different. The concept of a haunted house how been so over done that I didn't think there was anything new to add but Solomon proved me wrong. This was amazing! Just when I thought I was getting a handle on things and that it couldn't get worse Solomon pushes it just that much further. I don't want to say much more as it best to be surprised with this one but just know you are going to really enjoy this one.

Rivers Solomon can take all of my money. Period. This book is so much more than just a haunted house story. It has a depth that is so high—it's crazy. The book touches on so much, racism, segregation, the entire black experience—oh! it's so good. And, this review is coming from someone who does not read a lot of mystery/thriller. Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Publishers for the early copy of Model Home.

3.5⭐️

In a narrative woven with haunting lyrical prose, "Model Home" delves deep into the scars of childhood trauma. We follow Ezri and her siblings as they return to their childhood home following the horrifying deaths of their parents. The police rule it a murder-suicide, but Ezri suspects the house itself harbours sinister secrets. As the plot unfolds, Ezri and her siblings confront the dark past that haunts their family. This intense tale keeps readers on edge with the chilling grip of a home that never let go.

Many thanks to NetGalley, MCD, and Rivers Solomon for the opportunity to read and review "Model Home" prior to its publication date.

“How cruel that our parents, unexorcisable, go on inside of us. How cruel that we cannot disimbricate their ghosts from our being.”

I think this is one of those stories where the less you know the better so I’ll keep this review short and sweet.

When Ezri gets a text from her younger sister telling her that she needs to come home immediately—back to her parents’ Texas estate—she enters back in to a house of horrors that she hoped to never return to. This is literary horror at its finest. It provides an enticing, fresh new twist on the haunted house trope, using the house as a vehicle to explore deeply buried trauma.

Luscious, lyrical prose brings this intense, gritty story to life. Beautifully haunting, the dread and tension palpable—nothing ever feels quite right—it’s a highbrow, fever dream of a story that is guaranteed to knock readers off of their feet.

Meditations on racism, mental illness, complex familial relationships and generational trauma, and queerness—specifically transness and gender fluidity. I can’t recommend this book enough.

“It is me who haunts, me who is the ghost?”

Thank you Farrah, Straus, and Giroux and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review! Available 10/01/2024! Posted to Goodreads. *Quotes are pulled from an advanced reader copy and are subject to change prior to publication*

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Model Home.

I love scary stories, especially haunted house stories (who doesn't) so I was an eager beaver to read this.

But Model Home isn't a straight forward scary story. It's scary, but not in the horror, supernatural way.

It's a domestic drama filled with triggering content that include horrific abuse and violence and the vile things terrible humans do to each other.

I wasn't prepared for that since I was expecting horror, ghosts, even a demon or two would be preferable.

Also, I greatly disliked the way the author's writing style. It was very purple-y, full of metaphors and exaggerations.

I found this type of writing very distracting and difficult to read. That's why it took me so long to finish reading this.

I don't mind books with a social message or commentary but Model Home was too much.

I'm not the right reader for this.

this book is an interesting take on the haunted house story. i found the writing very hard to get into. i would maybe recommended this if you like unique writing.

There’s nothing I love more than a haunted house and generational trauma but be forewarned: this book is heavy. Please please check the trigger warnings before jumping in but the dive is worth it. I’m scared to say too much about the plot itself and give anything away but the pops of humor were an unexpected yet pleasant surprise, also I guess the only thing I’ll say since it’s not really important to the story is I too used to ice skate at the Galleria. I forgot all about that memory until I read it. Anyway this was my first Rivers Solomon book and it definitely lived up to the hype! I took one star off just because I don’t personally vibe with the stream of consciousness style of writing, in my opinion it’s difficult to follow. But just my opinion, of course!

Thanks to NetGalley, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, and MCD for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this would be more of a horror story but sadly it's not. I had high hopes for the book after the reviews but i found it lacking.

The description of this book hooked me - I love a good haunted-house novel. This book, however, missed the mark for me. It was more of a family drama with some 'haunted house' elements, but not the book I was expecting. While I appreciate the LGBTQ and anti-racism themes in the book, I felt like they overshadowed the book itself and it took forever to get through it as I really did not enjoy the read.

Model Home is a beautifully written novel about siblings dealing with the death of their parents. When their mom and dad are found dead from an apparent murder suicide, the siblings must come together to determine if the haunted house from their childhood was the true culprit.

I cannot stress enough how gorgeous the writing in this novel is. Rivers Solomon is a true master at weaving together unique and stand out sentences that pack a punch.

The only issue I have with this book is that the middle feels incredibly long, but the ending moves by too quickly. I would love to drag out the end and really learn more about the haunted house resolution.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was brilliant! It kept me guessing all the way. Haunting and beautiful without being pretentious. Some dark themes, that were addressed so well.

Thank you to Net Galley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an advanced reader copy.

Listen, are we doing quotation marks, or no? I’m too stupid to keep switching back and forth. I understand it serves a purpose and it’s *artistic* but I just want to have a good time. I can’t have a good time without quotation marks :’(

I went back and forth deciding if I enjoyed this book or not. I feel like when it’s this much of a mental debate, I can’t give it five stars, so it’s a three star for me. I think this book will absolutely speak to some people, but the writing style wasn’t working for me personally. I found myself frequently confused.

It definitely had some pretty, poetical sentences (“Consider the Holocaust, how it could be so, how such a sad thing could be so—and yet, it is so. Genocide is to humankind like water, air.”). There are also some darkly humorous things which I chuckled at (“she’s going places. I’m going to die”). I can’t decide if I liked the prose. They gave a different vibe. The sentences were frequently succinct, which often feels juvenile to me. However, this book gave adult chaotic-neutral vibe in short sentences. I’ve never read anything like that. Absolutely unhinged experience being in that mind. This was definitely a new experience for this avid reader, so for that – well done on the author.

Here is a not necessarily comprehensive list of things I enjoyed: 1) the rep, I loved following a trans character, and that gender wasn’t used as a method of villainizing any characters (well, except from Mother, but she seemed super vile so…). That puts the bar pretty low; perhaps I need to read more books with trans representation. 2) 677. That house was creepy asf. How do you make a modern house in a subdivision creepy? This book succeeded. I wouldn’t set a single foot in that house. 3) Dude, that cover is so cool. Simplistic and ominous.

I feel like this review comes across as glowing; like it should be a five star. There are many very well-done things here, that I truly enjoyed. The reason this was three stars for me is because I feel like I missed something in these pages. I struggled to follow along and grasp what was happening.