Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC in audiobook format.

Rivers Solomon’s Model Home is a haunting and thought-provoking novel that redefines the haunted-house genre. The audiobook, narrated by Gabby Beans, brings an additional layer of depth and emotion to this already compelling story.

Set in a lily-white gated enclave outside Dallas, Model Home follows the Maxwell siblings—Ezri, Eve, and Emanuelle—as they return to their childhood home after the mysterious deaths of their parents. The Maxwells were the only Black family in the neighborhood, and their home has always been a place of strange and unexplainable occurrences. As the siblings confront their past and the secrets that have long haunted their family, they must unravel the mystery of their parents’ deaths, which may not have been natural.

Gabby Beans’ narration is mesmerizing. Her ability to capture the distinct voices and personalities of each character adds a rich, immersive quality to the listening experience. Beans’ performance is particularly effective in conveying the emotional nuances of the story, from the siblings’ grief and fear to their moments of resilience and determination. Her pacing is impeccable, maintaining the tension and suspense throughout the audiobook.

Solomon’s writing is evocative and lyrical, painting a vivid picture of the oppressive atmosphere and the dark legacies of segregation and racism that permeate the story. The novel’s structure, alternating between past and present, is handled with finesse, gradually revealing the layers of trauma and secrets that have shaped the Maxwell family. This narrative technique keeps the listener engaged, as each chapter peels back another layer of the mystery.

Model Home explores of themes such as family, identity, and the impact of systemic racism. Solomon delves into the psychological and emotional toll of living in a hostile environment, and the ways in which the past continues to influence the present. The characters are richly developed and complex, each grappling with their own demons and desires. The dynamic between the siblings is particularly compelling, as they navigate their shared history and the shifting loyalties that arise from their traumatic experiences.

The supernatural elements of the story are seamlessly woven into the narrative, enhancing the sense of unease and dread. Solomon’s use of horror tropes is innovative and effective, creating a chilling atmosphere that lingers long after the audiobook ends.

Model Home is a powerful and unsettling novel that is further elevated by Gabby Beans’ exceptional narration. Rivers Solomon has crafted a story that is both deeply moving and profoundly unsettling, with characters that resonate long after the final chapter.

For fans of psychological thrillers and audiobooks, Model Home is an absolute must-listen.

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.

Model Home by Rivers Solomon is many things. Part haunted house story, part family drama, part coming-of-age story, and more. The story is also about the love between siblings that transcends torment. It is about how parents want life to be better for their children, and that sometimes that doesn't work out. Filled with intricately realized generations of genderfluid black family, the story is raw and personal. Every time I thought I had a handle on what Solomon was doing with the story, they twisted things around and I had to start over with my detective work. At its core, Model Home is about the death of two parents and how their estranged children come together to figure out what happened to them. I loved this book so much. I look forward to every new Rivers Solomon book.

Model home takes us through the lives of the Maxwell siblings as they continue to navigate their distance from the white suburbia they were raised in outside of Dallas. Being the only Black family in the neighborhood, the neighbors were nice enough, but upon moving scary unthinkable things began to take place within the home. Was it ghosts? Demons? Whatever held power, the Maxwells heeded their mother’s word to stay put and not abandon their home.

Upon becoming adults, the siblings fled leaving their parents to dwell alone in the home. The siblings are called back home and soon realize the demise of their parents. The death wasn’t natural but was it supernatural? Ezri their sisters Eve and Emanuelle reckon with these passing determined to uncover their horrors and trauma being held in the home.

This is not your average haunted house story, this is the commentary that the dark history of segregation and deep seated racism of southern suburban America holds. It is elevated horror. This is a visceral, raw, heartbreaking story of a queer family trying to survive the traumas they’ve endured. This is the story of what lengths your mind will go through in order to protect you. This is story that is full of discomfort and disassociation as a means of protection. It’s compelling, poetic, horrifying and complex. I cannot even begin to imagine how painful and cathartic processing this story must have been. Solomon is so intelligent and concise in their writing this story will stay with me long after reading.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoyed Bad Fruit, Bitter is the Heart, and lovers of elevated horror. Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this arc!

Macmillan Audio ALC
I have not read this author before, and wow, what a writer. From the very beginning, the horror elements were dark and visceral. I was instantly hooked into Ezri's POV. Their character was written in a way that kept me on edge for the entire book because it was easy to wonder what exactly was happening in their house while growing up. The haunted house kept me on edge the whole time. When I thought things couldn't get scarier - they did. There was also a lot of trauma and sibling disagreements because of their upbringing in this house. I thought there was such palpable tension the entire time, and I was left shocked from beginning to end. This is so dark, so if you're a sensitive reader, I highly recommend checking triggers. While this was my first Solomon novel, it won't be my last.

A literary horror story about a wealthy Black family and the creepy haunted house they move into. This story has great neurodivergence and disability rep (diabetes and mental health disorders) plus very relatable queer characters. The story tackles race, class, complicated family dynamics and other timely topics in a nuanced way through the lens of what on the surface is just another horror story. Great on audio and highly recommended for fans of authors like Alyssa Cole or Akwaeke Emezi. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Parts of this novel were just a little too weird for me, but the horror itself could have been dialed up a notch.

Model Home by Rivers Solomon is a wonderful twist on a haunted house story. It is a deeply unsettling story with themes of generational trauma, racism, and gentrification. The writing feels very poetic and emotive. Almost a fever dream. It is absolutely gripping which makes the dark aspects of the story pop. Solomon makes you realize that sometimes a house is haunted by more than ghosts. The author has a wonderful way of weaving representation in the story with the way she writes about race, neurodivergence, and the LGBTQ+ community. This book may be triggering for some, but I felt it was an important read from a different perspective.

Huge thanks to Macmillan Audio for providing this audiobook for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Rivers Solomon for writing such a thought-provoking book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for a copy of the ALC! Publish date: October 1, 2024 (out now!)

<i>"I prefer to keep secrets. If I didn't show her who I was she couldn't disapprove."</i>

This is not your typical haunted house story! Model Home is unsettling, disjointed, and gives you creepy crawly feelings, but not in the way you might be thinking. This is very much a literary social horror book and is not for everyone. I loved how Rivers Solomon addressed so many social issues under the guise of a traditional horror plot. We go back and forth between the past and present as Ezri and their siblings navigate the unexpected deaths of their parents and also hash out their childhood experiences growing up in a rich and predominately white community. Slowly throughout the book you're putting pieces together to discover what really happened to their parents and get a very raw and genuine look into their family growing up in this community. You really get to see how hard their mother had worked to make them belong in this community but also advocate for her children. The transitions between past and present are a bit muddled and not clearly defined, which accurately depicts how victims of trauma experience flashbacks. The narrator does an excellent job with all the characters and different accents!

TW: some gore and other horror elements, transphobia/queerphobia, racism and segregation, sexual assualt to a child (off page), grooming of a child (on and off page), queer slurs, bullying, mental illness (PTSD and possibly DID), and one explicit sex scene with degredation.

Thanks to NetGalley, MCD books and Macmillan Audio for the ARC. Unfortunately, I’m really not sure which way I’m leaning on this one.

For starters, this was not at all what I expected, and it was not at all what I was looking for. While that’s not the fault of the book, it did hinder my enjoyment throughout. I find the blurb to be quite misleading, as it continually questions if things are supernatural, demonic, possessive. That’s not really what this is about. There are hints, or even outright comments, but it’s something all its own.

Now that the novel is out, and it’s getting into spooky season, it’s worth noting that this is not a haunted house story. At least not the Halloween month-style most readers will be looking for. One of the things I enjoyed the most, which I assume is what they meant by ‘a new kind of haunted-house story’, is that the novel is really pushing the idea that a house can be haunted in way more ways than the paranormal. With that concept it’s really pushing those bounds with its themes.

After the death of their parents, Ezri is forced home to Texas to meet with their sisters to finalize things. While each and every occupant of the house suffered, Ezri’s journey through childhood was the darkest. Perhaps that’s why they fled all the way to England. They’ve always been different, and that’s also a huge portion of why. The author labeled them as trans, although with their desire to be and broadcast as both at different times, I did wonder if the term gender-fluid was more accurate (but I don’t know). Either way, the author does make a point to showcase their experience and traumas as different, and that stood out much more to me than most of the commentary on race, even though a huge part of the plot is them being the first black family in an all white neighborhood. However the woman in the beginning saying “so articulate”, really led right off with how the book would commentate. And from the author of The Deep, you shouldn’t be surprised there. The twist at the end also hit in a kind of Get Out way that I will not spoil.

One this that took me 100% out of the story multiple times, is that the blurb mentions upper-middle class, but then the parents actions clash with that, and then there’s also all the kids feeling like their parents were frugal and they didn’t know they had money? Right in the beginning, a neighbor mentioned wanting the house but picking a different one, the mother insinuates that it was because the woman could not afford their house. The house is commented on as being large, and inside an entirely gated community. The mother’s tastes for furniture are expensive, even imported foreign pieces. They comment on the fact that the father HAD to have a $100,000 tv. In one pivotal scene, that showcases the mother in a particularly good mood, she wants to take them to a dinner to celebrate good news. It is remarked upon that they are not dressed for that kind of restaurant. So, instead of going to change, the mother buys every single on of them a brand new outfit. Head to toe to be able to go to the fancier dinner spot. Then one sibling asks if they can ice skate after dinner at the mall too and the mother says of course. Then in the present day portion of the novel, the family is astonished to hear that they were set to receive over a million dollars prior to liquidating anything else. I’m sorry, and maybe it’s just my lower middle class upbringing catching all the surprise here, but that sounds like an incredibly wealthy family, not one breaking into the upper middle class?

As one of four siblings, there were also some very odd things the siblings did together that stood out to me, but maybe that’s just my family dynamic? Like cuddling together in bed as adults, comments on wanting to lick tears away, as well as some questionably off massaging. Maybe this was another layer to show reactions to the trauma, but it took me out of the story a bit too much.

But at one point towards the end, someone’s reading The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, and I felt that the novel’s name drop was a really good choice as this is kind of an amalgamation of that book with the idea of a haunted house. All in all, some things in this that I really liked, and others that detracted from them.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get into this story right now. It's more literary than I expected, sort of a psychological suspense, and from the marketing/synopsis I expected more outright thrills and chills. Which is really just a mismatch/"me" problem! I will definitely continue this at a later time because the writing is beautiful and the vibes are great, it's just not what I expected (or wanted) for spooky season right now. Thanks for my audio ARC Macmillan!

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

will say that Gabby Beans’ narration made this one of the best audiobooks (quality wise) !!! on the other hand, the flip floppy narratives and theme reveals had my head done in a bit… not the most receptive with audio anyways so could be mi problem!
**major thanks to Macmillan & NetGalley for having a taste of this arc!

This was perfect for October TBR and spooky season I think everyone needs to listen to this! This story had me hooked from the beginning and I couldn’t wait to know how this ended!!

Model Home by Rivers Solomon is an extraordinary reimagining. The Maxwell siblings’ return to their childhood home outside Dallas forces them to confront not just a terrifying supernatural presence, but the haunting legacies of segregation and racism that shaped their family’s life. Solomon’s writing is both visceral and lyrical, capturing the raw emotions and buried secrets of a family determined to survive against all odds. The way the novel intertwines generational family trauma, grief, identity, racism, and societal horrors makes it unflinchingly powerful. This is a book that you need to go in blind to fully grasp the story. I know i’ll be thinking about it for a very long time.

I was shocked by the ending! It made sense and fit with the rest of the story. It also felt like a very Rivers Solomon ending. The ending doesn’t tie everything up in a nice bow. So bits and pieces keep coming back to me. I sometimes feel like the ending doesn’t fit and other times feel like it fits too well. So I am left torn by the ending and I think I should be.
My only minor complaint is that at times Ezra gets a little too philosophical. Some people will love that though.

Rivers Solomon does not disappoint. Their newest book Model Home follows Ezri, a nonbinary neurodivergent diabetic parent as they travel from the UK back to their childhood home in Texas to check on their parents. What follows is a dark, creepy, atmospheric story alternating between Ezri’s childhood experiences, their current grappling with that childhood and grief in adulthood, as well as the parallel of their experiences with their teenager. This is a book about a monster that grooms you to feel like maybe you’re the actual monster. This one hurt and there were many moments that were tough to read, times of wanting to yell out to the MC, wanting to hug and protect them. Be aware of the trigger warnings: death of parent, racism, pedophilia. Solomon writes a terrifying and heartbreaking story with beautiful and thought provoking prose, ending with a message of hope and healing through family after tragedy and trauma. The narrator brought this story to my ears so well, and I will definitely be looking out for more of their work as well. I will not soon forget Model Home.

This spooky story reminded me of Amityville, but the twist completely changed everything, and I was thoroughly surprised! It felt like we got a lot of details, and we also had the perspective of multiple characters. The story touches on several current issues we see, including mental health.

4.5 stars rounded up

Oof, this was intense but really good. Which is what I have come to expect from Rivers Solomon! Model Home is a horror novel dealing with trauma, abuse, mental health, and white supremacy. It follows a gender fluid parent with a 14 year old daughter returning to xir childhood home for the first time in years. A nice home in a gated neighborhood where they were the only Black family. A home that is seemingly haunted. I won't say too much about what happens, but this hits hard and is rough to read at times, but important. Note that there is a content warning for child grooming and assault, mostly off page. The audio narration is excellent and gives the right vibes for what is a disturbing book. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

This book is absolutely terrifying in its rawness and it’s one of those books that I thought I was devouring - but really it was devouring me. Model Home calls itself a “new kind of haunted-house novel” but that didn’t prepare me for everything that would entail.

Solomon has a way of writing that is beautiful and candid but also hits you square in the gut. I first read Sorrowland by them and adored it but still need to get to The Deep. It has definitely moved up the list after listening to the audio production of Model Home. Gabby Beans killed the audio for this and gave me nightmares (thank u.)

This book is a haunted house story at its core but also explores race and generational trauma, alongside the secrets we are willing to keep for family - and how that destroys us. I will be reading this book again off audio because there were so many quotes that hit me hard that I wasn’t able to save for later.

Check this one out if you love horror, haunted houses, dark secrets, and insidious suburban neighborhoods!

**Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this haunting title!**