Can Rivers Solomon do wrong? I truly do not believe so.

I am here for the unique haunted house stories this halloween season.

Arc via netgalley.

This novel is an extraordinary and haunting masterpiece that captivated me from the very first page. The dual timeline is expertly woven, alternating between Ezri’s chilling childhood memories and their present-day struggles. After the death of their parents, Ezri returns to their childhood home in a gated Dallas community, where at the time they were the only Black family in the neighborhood, thus igniting a journey through grief and trauma.

Prepare to confront deep themes of family dynamics as Ezri and their siblings, Eve and Emanuelle, face their shared past—one that is both intricate and heartbreaking. Is the house truly haunted, or is something more sinister at play? Expect a twist that will leave you reeling.

Ezri's perspective is raw and unfiltered, and Solomon masterfully creates an atmosphere of dread that lingers in every chapter. The author doesn't shy away from dark themes, addressing the harsh realities of racism, abuse, and transphobia with unflinching honesty. The horror unfolds in unexpected ways, challenging readers to confront uncomfortable truths that reveal far more terrifying realities than any supernatural element.

This book is a must-read for anyone seeking an intense, thought-provoking experience. Solomon has crafted a stunning, heart-pounding narrative that will resonate long after you turn the last page. Don't miss out on this unforgettable journey.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the eARC.

I have no idea what I anticipated when I started Model Home by Rivers Solomon, but this book was so beyond any expectation I could have ever had.

The relationships, the chaos, the spookiness, the sadness. I don't even have appropriate words to summarize this story. These sisters, their parents, their home... It was wild.

Author Rivers Solomon writes thought provoking, challenging narratives, and this one is no different. The author gives us the Maxwell siblings, who reunite, after years apart, in their parents' home in a white, upscale, gated neighbourhood in Texas. Their parents have died in a shocking manner, leaving the siblings rocked by a mix of unresolved emotions.

Our viewpoint character is Ezri (they/them), who has been living in England for years. They have a failed relationship, the best part of which is their bright, curious, musical daughter, Elijah, who comes with them to the US, and to meet her aunts Eve and Emmanuelle.

Ezri suffers from depression, and is not always sure what is real, and what isn't. They are haunted by ghosts of their childhood, and as we learn, their mother's perception of them.

Eve is a high achiever and is raising twins on her own, while Emmanuelle is making a name for herself on social media.

When children, there were a number of unexplained, terrible incidents that left all the siblings emotionally, and in one case, physically scarred. The siblings grew up thinking there was a ghostly woman without a face who lived amongst them, but their parents disbelieved them, only compounding the frustrations and difficulties of their thoughts and perceptions being dismissed by their white, affluent and bigoted neighbours and schoolmates.

Now that they're all back together under one roof, they cannot avoid dealing with their memories, even while they wonder what actually happened with their parents (the police believe it is a murder suicide, much to the family's anger).

Ezri suffers much being back home, and feels guilt and confusion about their past-- did they actually harm their siblings multiple times, or was something else at work? Is their mind to be trusted, ever? Was this why their parents are dead, or why Ezri has trouble bonding with their daughter?

Rivers Solomon pulls no punches, giving us a deeply emotional, and often brutal, story of the ways family can support and tear one down, but also the ways in which bigotry is incredibly damaging for those on the receiving end.

The narrative deals with dysfunction in the family, and the insidious, false friendliness of the white neighbours, constantly looking for ways to undercut the Maxwell family and drive them away.

At the same time, Solomon shows how support, honesty and compassion for oneself and for others leads to a long overdue rapprochement amongst the siblings, but also the reveal of the shocking cause of so much pain and mistrust in the family.

I read and listened to this story, and Gabby Beans delivers a nuanced, sensitive interpretation of Ezri and their siblings, and all of the horrors surrounding them in the audiobook.

It's difficult and intense reading, and listening, but there is also hope at the end. I liked this story, and appreciated its darkness and terrific prose.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and to MacMillan Audio for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I loved this story. It was terrifying in a way I didn't really expect, and I felt a palpable fear for the characters in the second half of the book. The queer representation was handled so, so well and offered a unique perspective that can be hard to find in the horror genre. The themes of isolation, grief, racism, mental illness, complicated family trauma, etc. made me care for the characters in such a visceral way.
I recommend this for spooky season but also for literally any season because I think it's such a worthwhile experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and FSG for providing this arc in exchange for my feedback.

This book packs a punch and does what I think the author set out to do:: highlight family trauma, struggles around racism, and violence and abuse. Rivers Solomon does a great job at putting the reader into the shoes of our narrator, Ezri by giving us blunt bits of information of their experiences. I was creeped out, uncomfortable, and really unsure of where Solomon was going to take me in this story. I was worried for Ezri and their decision making, I was concerned for poor Elijah who seems to be following suit to her parent, and I was hopeful that maybe all three children could turn this story around in their favour. The house was a character in and of itself which I truly loved. It felt eerie, unpredictable, and also very powerful which I think added a huge layer to the feeling of suspense.

I did find all of the names starting with "E" to be very confusing and it took me out of the story for a little while in the first 30% until I had them figured out. I know why the author may have done this, but perhaps Elijah could have had a different name, since she represents a newer generation of the family?

I'd recommend this to lovers of haunted house stories, readers who enjoy LGBTQ+ rep, and commentary on racism.

Go in knowing that this is a very heavy book. While I liked it, I did not love it. I had both the audio and the ARC and first want to say that I enjoyed the narrator. The prose is lyrical, and it is a literary horror. I just did not connect and I feel that it jumped around a bit.
Thank you to Netgalley / Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Audio for the audio and ARC
3 Stars

I loved this book. I had such a good time reading this. When it published I bought the audiobook. Its so good.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for this ARC! This book was deeply eerie, haunting, and moving. I enjoyed the plot very much, as it’s a departure from books I find myself reading most often. The ending was surprising and gripping, and made me feel physically sick. So many layers to this book, I feel like I could actually write an essay about it. I particularly enjoyed the relationship between Ezri and Elijah. Sometimes the POV got to be a bit confusing for me, and the structure was hard to follow at times, which is why I didn’t give it a higher rating. A good read for spooky season.

A wonderfully weird book with a cast of E names and a narrator so unreliable than even when you've guessed the twist you'll go well maybe though.

Opens with a gut punch set of sentences and the writing does not let up from there. I've been lightly referring to it as Haunted House or Racism? But the book really hits hard in how it is written and the topics handled.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I went into this thinking it was a typical haunted house story, and it very much is not. It is so much deeper than that. This book was a thought provoking look at childhood trauma and how it affects our lives, as well as a journey through growing up facing extreme judgement for things out of your control. Once I realized this wasn’t your typical thriller, I enjoyed the book more. There were parts that had me confused for sure but I would definitely recommend it.

I’m impressed not only with how Solomon tells stories but also with what stories they choose to tell. <i>Model Home</i> delivers its promise of being a haunted house story unlike any other you’re likely to come across. This book is best read without knowing what to expect, trusting that Solomon will stir up an unsettling horror that keeps you guessing until the end. I’ve come to learn that the best parts of their writing are the characters that come to life on the page and the subtext that permeates their prose. The social commentary in this book is a scathing admonishment of whiteness as predation, trauma as omnipresent, and family dysfunction as an insidious inheritance.

I love the way Rivers Solomon writes. I’ll read pretty much anything they publish. Their writing is visceral and unsettling.

This one took me ages to finish, not because I wasn’t interested, but because it was so heavy. The last 40% went really quickly, but I kept putting the book down in the first 60% just because of how depressing it was. To be clear, the last 40% is still depressing, but you also need to know what’s happening, so it’s easier to push through.

The story follows the Maxwell siblings, who are forced to return to their childhood home after their parents’ mysterious deaths. The house, and the white suburb it’s in, holds dark, unexplainable secrets tied to their family’s trauma. Solomon turns the haunted-house trope on its head, weaving in themes of racism, segregation, and unresolved trauma.

There’s a lot to unpack—racism, mental illness, sexual assault. It’s not an easy read, but it’s worth it.

Rivers Solomon save me Rivers Solomon....... I love their brain and their commentary and their rage and this book was absolutely spectacular. Horrifying and Real and Visceral.

This is now maybe my favorite horror novel of all time. From the first page I was hooked, and Solomon doesn't rely on eye rolling gimmicks, instead this was truly terrifying and so well done. Highly, highly recommend.

This book manages to deal with grief, abuse, trauma, racism, and family dynamics all within a haunted house story. I was genuinely scared and shocked throughout the story and the TWIST, OMG! Fans of Jordan Peele’s horror movies will absolutely devour this story.

The proposed idea behind gated communities is that they keep the horrors out; but all too often people overlook that those gates can also hide horrors within.

Normally, I’d take you through the plot of this story just a little bit, but I honestly believe this book is best going in blind. The official blurb isn’t 100% accurate but it’s accurate enough to get you started.

One thing the blurb does get correct is that this isn’t your usual haunted house story. The ghosts that haunt the Maxwell siblings are numerous: historical, generational, parental, personal, and maybe even supernatural. The lion’s share of the family’s burdens fell on Ezri, the eldest Maxwell sibling, who was different even apart from being black in a white-as-snow neighborhood. Even as kids the Maxwell siblings knew it wasn’t a good idea to be the only black spot on a white canvas in the suburbs of Dallas. It made for an unhappy childhood and an unhappy family.

Rivers Solomon writes about race, queerness, childhood, and trauma in a very raw, almost poetic way. The prose in some passages reminds me of early Pahalnuik (think Invisible Monsters), with these repetitive phrases containing slight word changes that seem to hit harder each time they land. Model Home isn’t polite or refined. It isn’t pretty or kind. This book is about a horrible mother, discontented sisters, parental alienation, racism, homophobia, mental illness, child abuse and predation, pride in being black, but so much internalized hate for who you are apart from being black and where you came from.

One of the main differences between a thriller and a horror is that horror asks us “what” is causing the conflict. In the case of Model Home, Rivers Solomon is asking us, “What isn’t causing all of this horror?”

(Last note: So many snaps to Solomon for excellent LeGuin allusions and references! I swooned.)

I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Disability Rep/Ghost Fiction/Horror/LGBTQ Horror/Literary Fiction/Supernatural Horror

3.5 stars and my thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC!

It was hard to get into Model Home at first, and I think that was mostly because Ezri was such an unreliable narrator. They were fascinating and interesting, especially their relationships with their sisters, but I had a hard time getting a read on them. I think the hardest part about it was the fact that the narration skipped time and POV without much warning. It made it equally hard to get a feel for when and where we were.

With that in mind, it was truly a spooky book. The little we got in the way of information about the house was enough to send chills down my spine. Ezri's anecdote about kids taking bets to spend time in the house with one going missing was chilling.

All in all, it was a truly creepy look into the way race, gender, and family in an affluent white neighborhood.

Rivers Solomon's Model Home is an unrelentingly haunting tale centered on the Maxwell siblings - Ezri, Eve, and Emmanuelle. Their childhood in a gated community outside Dallas, where they were the only Black family, was marred by strange and terrifying events in their home at 677 Acacia Drive. This traumatic past has kept them at a distance from both the house and their parents in adulthood. The siblings' forced return home following their parents' mysterious deaths sets the stage for a confrontation with their history. As they delve into family secrets and attempt to unravel the truth behind the house's disturbing occurrences, Solomon crafts an atmosphere of intense unease and palpable dread.

I already love reading about the complex dynamics between the siblings, and Solomon's portrayal of the family kept me invested throughout. I found myself particularly drawn to Ezri's perspective, though it was often a difficult and heartbreaking place to be. Spending time in Ezri's head was truly horrifying at times, as their trauma and struggles were so vividly portrayed. Model Home was not anything like I expected. Solomon doesn't pull any punches when it comes to dark themes and disturbing scenes - it's a brutal read, no doubt about it. But I found myself unable to put it down, even when it made me uncomfortable. If you're up for an intense, unsettling read, this book offers a bold, unconventional take on the haunted house story. It'll make you think, and it'll take you deep into the heart of family secrets and hidden horrors.

This was my first experience reading Rivers Solomon's writing and this book was fantastic! It wasn't sure what to expect when I was reading the story. I love the take on the haunted house theme. This book will definitely keep you on your toes and keeps you guessing. I can't wait to read more from Rivers.

Thanks to NetGalley for this eARC!