This is social horror that relies heavily on
Vibes. I loved it set up- siblings reluctantly going back to their family home after their parents die- and it gave me a lot to think about. The house was a character itself and I loved that. Maybe a little less scary and a little more social than I typically like my horror, but I get where the author was going.

This is a hard book to review. It’s well written and the author is gifted at putting you in their character’s shoes. The issue for me is I found Model Home listed a horror novel, and went into reading it expecting horror. What I found is more of a drama with elements of horror. It’s a beautiful look at generational trauma and I loved how the literal haunting of the characters played out next to their family trauma haunting them as well. I enjoyed the relationship between the siblings, and the representation of Ezri as a gender-fluid character. However, there were some parts that felt unnecessary and slowed the pace of the book. As a drama, I would give this a 4, but as a horror I would give it a 2. Meeting in the middle to give it a 3.

A lot of people describe this book as bleak and painful - and I couldn't agree more. Yes this is horror, yes this is an excavation of childhood trauma, yes this has so much to do with sibling dynamics and relationships. I loved Solomon's use of the Haunted House and personally appreciated the controversial second half of the novel. To me, it felt satisfying.

Model Home by River Solomon? Straight-up masterpiece. This book is everything—powerful, thought-provoking, and deep on a whole other level. The writing is lyrical and haunting, and the themes around identity, class, and the American dream hit hard. Every page felt like a gut punch in the best way.

The characters were so real, their struggles so raw, and the world-building was absolutely next level. This book isn’t just a story, it’s an experience. It stuck with me long after I finished it.

Big shoutout to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars--

Rivers Solomon is an incredible author. They are at the top of my list of authors who I will read every new release from, though this one didn't hit quite as hard for me as An Unkindness of Ghosts, The Deep, Sorrowland. Even so, this was a gripping gut punch of a horror read.

The Maxwell siblings--Ezri (they/them) and their sisters, Eve and Emanuelle--were raised in a very white gated community in the Dallas suburbs by affluent, upwardly mobile parents with exacting standards of Black excellence for their children. When their parents die in a horrific way, the siblings are drawn back to the home they grew up in. A home that haunts each of them in different ways. A home that may have killed their parents.

Solomon upends the haunted house trope, making their characters and the reader question what's real-world horror and what's supernatural horror. There's a lot to dig into in this book. The relationship between the siblings, between Ezri and their tween child, the history of racism and segregation in the US, how siblings process shared childhood experiences differently, how childhood trauma affects one in adulthood. It's definitely a thought-provoking read, as one should expect from Solomon.

Many thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

what a unique take on the haunted house story — not my favorite Rivers Solomon but still very well written and it’s chewing on a lot of themes. Monsters are amongst us!!

This was a whole new spin on the classic hated hours horror movie trouble and it was a wild ride from start to finish. I loved every minute of it.

Thank you NetGalley for the readers' copy but unfortunately I had to DNF this book quite early into the story. Let me be clear, Rivers Solomon is incredible and this book is, I have no doubts, fantastic but this is a question of bad timing. I did not have the mental fortitude for these particular trigger warnings. Pausing reading this was self-care.
I have every intention of finishing it but right now, in this current climate, I’m gonna take a beat.
👍

I love the inclusion Solomon always puts in their stories. This was a haunting tale that explored mental illness, racism and parenthood. Beautiful written and horrifying.

A long, repetitive and not entirely satisfactorily resolved novel that nevertheless is delivered with passion and deep feeling. The haunted nature of living as a successful black family in a wealthy, all white community is not exactly a novel scenario but Solomon does a goodish job of delivering the gothic goods with racial overtones. More problematic is the narrator’s voice which grinds away at their sexual complexity and accursedness to the point of near farce. I wonder if it should have been a novella?

“When we speak of a house that is haunted, all we are speaking of is a house that is violent, and many houses are violent.”

This is a haunted house story like no other. A lyrical masterpiece of a horror story!

You might love this book as much as I did if you enjoy:
💚 explorations of generational trauma
💚 complex familial relationships
💚 disability and lgbtqia+ representation
💚 unique writing styles
💚 nonlinear narratives

From the very first page, I was utterly captivated by Solomon’s writing style. Its deliberately disjointed, metaphor-heavy and nonlinear nature perfectly captures the horror of the events unfolding in the life of the protagonist Ezri and their siblings. Their writing made me question what was real and imagined, literal and metaphorical, and while it fits the narrative, it also made it difficult to follow parts of the plot, which is the reason this wasn’t quite a 5⭐️ read for me.

While the writing was, at times, somewhat difficult to follow, I appreciate how perfectly it encapsulated Ezri’s thought processes, and their own inability to understand their past. I also highly appreciate how Solomon has chosen to illustrate the very different influences trauma can have on people through the depiction of Ezri and their two sisters. They are all complex characters, each dealing with grief and resurfacing memories in their own distinct way.

I’m already looking forward to rereading this in the future, but until then I’ll be busy reading all of Solomon’s other works!

TW: Death of a parent, animal death, sexual assault, child abuse, racism, suicide, hate crimes, grooming, and possibly more.

'Mother is God, and we are here.'

This story unfolds in such a dreadfully lyrical way that has you questioning everything you're reading all the way through. The story revolves around the Maxwell siblings, primarily Ezri, as they are forced to confront the harsh realities of their childhood & home. Some of these areas included abuse, both physically and emotionally, mental health trauma, rape, and racism. While incredibly bleak, I am a sucker for dysfunctional families drama and anything that has me questioning which character is worse. Creeping up on the ending and that final twist had my jaw on the floor. I can confidently say, that that was one of the more disturbing twists I've read in a while.
This was one of my more anticipated reads of this fall and it did not disappoint. Thank you very much to MCD x FSG publishing for my gifted copy!

4.5/5

I absolutely loved the slow, suspenseful build of this novel. The way the book weaves conflict and horror together is just masterful. I need more people to read it so I can discuss it with them!

I am so thankful to MCD, Macmillan Audio, Rivers Solomon, and Netgalley for granting me advanced access to this galley before publication day. I really enjoyed the dialogue and plot of this book and can’t wait to chat this one up with my friends!

What began with a slow start, turned into an incredibly slow burn terrifying novel. In the suburban, very white, enclave outside of Dallas, the three Maxwell siblings grew up living in terror. The family, despite the daily horrors inflicted upon them in the house, stayed until the siblings grew up and left, now estranged from their domineering mother and ambivalent father. However, the death of the matriarch and patriarch of the family brings the siblings back to the house, for closure, and for answers.

The characters, the family were fully brought to life by Solomon as was the terror they went through. The second half of the book kept me on my toes, looking for answers to what had actually happened in what looked like a picture perfect home.

For such a slow and steady book, it wrapped up super quick.

This book is so full of quotes you just want to highlight and I will definitely be getting my own copy so I can.

This is about a haunted home in the loosest sense and I'm not mad about it. Turns out I like literary horror when written by Rivers Solomon.

CW for CSA

Honestly, I think Model Home proves I will read anything by Rivers Solomon, without a doubt! This was a fantastic, spooky but also wistful and hopeful, haunted house story — not that you could really call it a traditional haunted house story anyway. This one feels more like if the house and the people who live in it are haunted in supremely different ways and constantly go at each other for it. I could go on forever, but Solomon does a very neat and discerning exploration into so many issues like queerness and Blackness and class and trauma and 'the American dream' and the horror that lies at the centre of all of those things. I was mesmerised by the internal haunting of the characters as much as I was over the external supernatural-ness. It's a slower-paced read, but coupled with the shorter chapters, I think it all comes together very nicely, and without a doubt, Solomon's prose was the key factor here. Can't wait for the next one from them!

As always, Rivers Solomon poetically explores the darkness of the human experience. This was a slow burn for me personally, unsure of where I was being lead. But when I just trusted Solomon to navigate me through I found a comfort in the richness of the prose. I just wanted to highlight entire pages of this, and found myself nodding along to paragraphs exploring complicated a complicated childhood and sibling dynamics. In many ways this book should be bundled with In the Dream House as a companion for those with CPTSD and an appreciation for lush writing.

Okay I LOVED this book. I loved each and every character (except THAT bitch, you'll understand at the end of the book) and the storyline was flawless, rivoting, and I never knew where I was going but I was just happy to be along for the ride.

This novel is jam packed with themes and messages. Solomon touches on LGBTQ+, racial tension, generational trauma, grief, depression, identity, sexual assault, trauma, AND SO MUCH MORE.
Generally when one story tries to include this many different themes it feels too much but Solomon interwove each theme so perfectly into the storyline and plot.

Model Home wasn’t anything like I was expecting. Definitely not a traditional haunted home story. I don’t want to say too much but I think this was so well done. I loved the writing, the exploration of gender identity, class, and the horror of being Black and trying to achieve the American dream. This was haunting for sure and I will definitely be checking out more Rivers Solomon!