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Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Model Home by Rivers Solomon

51 reviews

shauneebroadley's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Well… justice for Elijah they were the only character  throughout the whole book I cared. The MC really said family trauma? yea defo passing it to my kid even if I don’t think i am.
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yrioona's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Absolutely gorgeous prose telling a gripping, gut-wrenching, genre-transcending story. Works equally well as a horror novel and as a novel about real-life horrors. Something about the way Rivers Solomon writes is just totally engrossing to me.  Such a brilliant, fucked up, chilling, moving, story full of complicated and multi-layered characters.
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materiality's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

WOW, WOW, WOW.
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biolumi221's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Have you ever sensed that if you and the author were both students in a college creative writing class, the author would spend the entire time arguing with the professor and prevent other students from getting critiques on their work? That was this book for me. A very interesting premise that did not (again, for ME) pay off in the end. Rated 2 stars for some very well-written and evocative turns of phrase.
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rachaelwho's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I didn't *like* the beginning, but I understood why it was so... Impressionistic? So I kept with it. I liked the middle and thought this would be a 4 or better even though it wasn't quite my cup of tea. And then we got to the last third, where the supervillain tells James Bond his whole evil plan. Did the author (or maybe their editor?) really think it wasn't clear what was happening?
I had it about 70-80% sorted when they alluded to having constant UTIs as a child, and I clearly was meant to notice that. Why not trust me to notice it??
It was the weirdest combination of telegraphed from miles away, over-explained, and very muddled; it didn't make sense. 

Voice acting was VERY good. But I'm puzzled at Elijah not being portrayed with a British accent when the text pretty much says she has one, and Elijah's mum was read with a perfectly fine English accent. Still-- excellent performance.
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nadiarausa's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It’s difficult to review this book without spoiling anything, so I’ll just say this: The prose is utterly gorgeous and haunting—Rivers Solomon is an absolutely incredible writer and storyteller.

This could definitely be a triggering book, so please read with care! I didn’t find anything overly graphic or explicit, but there are definitely some disturbing things that occur. The trigger warnings in the “graphic” section I included were because they were themes throughout the story. 
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definestrange's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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dark_marble_eyes's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
One negative someone noted was that it felt like the author was trying to check too many diversity boxes. My advice is to google the author and learn even the bare minimum about them and reflect on why you assume people can’t belong to all those identifies.
Anyway, painful read. I can’t tell if reading this was cathartic or not. Definitely to an extent, but still painful. 
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siglesias's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was devastating. I cried within the first few pages at how gorgeously it was written. I was so scared throughout the book because I felt like I knew what was going to happen, I just didn’t want to believe it. So I accepted that the house was haunted and that was it. I sat awake reading this book until 2 a.m. The last 50 or so pages destroyed me. I am very sad but not upset that I read this beautifully written (but very tragic) book. It will stay with me, that’s for sure. 

I think many reviewers of this book have never experienced the wrath a white person will put upon a person of color over things like land and their “community.” I think this book obviously takes it to an extreme (god, I hope this is an extreme) but it’s by no means unrealistic for a POC to have their life ruined by a white neighbor.
 
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libraryoflanelle's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Model Home follows Ezri, their family, and their childhood home… On one hand, the escalation of suspense and relentless unknowns feel reminiscent of traditional haunted house stories. But in every other way, this book shatters the previously established ‘rules’ of the genre. The eerie occurrences tied to the home become increasingly real, raw, and terrifying as more is revealed, blurring the line between psychological and supernatural horror.

Rivers weaves together themes of intergenerational trauma, rigid gender ‘norms’, racial violence, and the neurodivergent experience in a neurotypical world in a truly mind-blowing way. The depth and complexity of these intersections are so powerful that many connections didn’t fully click for me until the latter part of the book. The way these themes are integrated into the horror elements makes for an unsettling yet deeply resonant reading experience.

I found the atmosphere of Model Home particularly striking. The house itself becomes a character, twisting and shifting right along with the realisations that Rivers slowly reveals to the reader. The writing is immersive and haunting, making even the seemingly more mundane moments fraught with tension.

This is the third book I’ve read by Rivers, and my goodness, I will forever read everything fae write, the storytelling is just that captivating. Rivers has an incredible talent for crafting engaging narratives that pull you in completely, making it feel almost impossible to put the book down. Similarly to Rivers’ previous books, the characters are so incredibly well-developed, with relationships that feel deeply complex, and emotionally charged in ways that mirror real life.

As always, be sure to check the trigger and content warnings before diving in, as Rivers does not shy away from difficult and intense themes. 

Thanks to Random House UK and NetGalley for the e-arc. All opinions are my own.
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