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Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Model Home by Rivers Solomon

36 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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kristasorocks's review against another edition

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4.0

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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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proletarikat's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Recommended to me on the premise of being a horror haunted house. Misleading and though I do adamantly admire the authors view on standing with Palestinians as mentioned in their acknowledgments that is where my love for this novel begins and ends.
I wish I had read the trigger warnings for this novel before picking it up or that the bookseller would’ve mentioned it before selling. I understand it’s a fact of the world but as I’ve lived through these triggers myself I’d rather not go through it again even vicariously. 
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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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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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squidreads12's review against another edition

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

4.25

Whew, buckle up for this one. Make sure to read the content warnings.
I struggled to get through this book. Not because it wasn’t well written, because it was. But the darkness did threaten to put me off a bit. And it is I think, necessarily dark. And then there was a bit in the middle where I thought I wasn’t getting it, there was some larger metaphor I was missing, or I couldn’t determine whether the narrator was reliable, or I dreaded to find out the twist. But really compelling, raw, twisted, difficult. It’s kind of “get out” vibes - the horror elements are layered in being black or queer or disabled or all of the above in America. 
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kevinjwangler's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

4.5

3.5-4 stars until the ending elevated it to a 4.5. This could be a book the sticks with me king after I've physically moved on.
Comparing it to the movie "Mysterious Skin" is, I think, an apt comparison.
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archaicrobin's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

Model Home is so much more than a haunted house story and I would not recommend this to someone looking for your classic ghosts and supernatural phenomenons in a house.

Model home is about racism, hatred, and childhood trauma. How we run from the things we can’t face until we can’t run anymore, haunted by the moments that shaped and plague us. 

Amazingly diverse representation in this novel, heartbreaking prose, and characters you feel you know. This one was a difficult read and it went to so many places I didn’t expect. This reminded me a lot of White is for switching, where the house itself may or may not actually be the issue here….
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