This one was a slow burn for me. Expected straightforward horror; got something far more complex, but uniquely frightening instead. I did have momentary struggles with jumps between characters, but not enough to dissuade me from finishing. It was worth the ride. 

I did appreciate the tender complexity of the siblings and their family in general. It felt very real.

I'd walk down any literary path with Solomon. At first I was disappointed it was so short - but when the reveal happened (truly horrifying, because of the plausible aspects) I saw how the story needed to be tighter than their other works. You still have to trust Solomon but they won't betray you. But do read the content warnings! There isn't detailed child molestation on page but the dread and implications of past and active abuse are gnarly.

The 'haunting' turns out to be white neighbours who have been drugging the protagonist's family and, in the case of an older female neighbour molesting the protagonist most of their childhood. The protagonist's teen child is also groomed and assaulted by a different female pedophile. The protagonist's inner monologue of self-hatred and disgust might be rough for someone who is in a depressive episode or struggling with autistic burnout.

I’m not into slasher horror. I’m more of a mind fuck horror type of reader. And I am deeply DEEPLY disturbed by this book in the best way.

A black family moves into white suburbia. Into a haunted house.

Now, the children are adults and discover their parents the victims of what looks to the police like a murder-suicide. But the siblings know different. They know it was the house that killed their parents. And it’s not letting go of them either.

I knew throughout the book that everything wasn’t as it seemed. It was never supposed to be. The air of mystery and the Easter eggs left throughout the plot were obviously leading somewhere. But definitely not where I expected. It’s so hard to surprise me with a plot twist, my pattern recognition picks it up every time, but I was FLABBERGASTED. 

I’m a big Rivers Solomon fan already, but this one is their best yet!!! The way that they discuss systemic racism and queerness in such an insightful way that fits perfectly into the plot is  unmatched. If you’re a horror fan, be warned that this book has so many triggers, but it is an absolute must read!

Model Home is a terrifying look at trauma and the way it shapes our lives and family dynamics. Ezri's memories from their childhood home are awful and inexplicable. Along with their sisters, Eve & Emmanuelle, Ezri became estranged from their parents for many years. All three siblings had known evils from which their parents didn't protect them. That initial ominous text that reunites the trio and cracks open their trauma forces them to heal together -- even as it simultaneously tries to tear them apart.

This disturbing and heavy book had me riveted from the start. Solomon is definitely one of the best literary horror authors and Model Home only cemented that fact. The only reason this wasn't a five-star read for me was that I felt that the storyline and POV of Ezri's daughter Elijah was disjointed. I understand that Elijah was most likely included in order to demonstrate the cyclical nature of trauma. However, her POV arrived late enough in the story to leave me feeling like it didn't quite fit the rest of the narrative.

Thank you so much @netgalley, @fsgbooks, & @mcdbooks for the advanced reader copy of Model Home in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own. Model Home is out now, so go get a copy from wherever you source your books!

Note: Please check trigger warnings before reading this book. 

Rivers Solomon does it again! 
Model Home is a deeply unsettling and twisted tale about generational trauma, violence, racism, gentrification, and the way it shapes an individual.

Ezri's mother Eudora has dreams of building the perfect home with the perfect family and will stop at nothing to get it. Finally, it seems she has reached the top when their family moves into 677, a large model home in a gated white community in Dallas. Soon after, strange things begin to happen. 

Years later, now grown, Ezri is called back to 677 when tragedy strikes again. They, along with their sisters, are finally forced to confront the traumas they've endured, and the secrets that lie within the walls of their family home. 

Rivers is a master at crafting gory, horrific, tales with one of a kind characters that are as interesting as they are flawed. I deeply love the characters Rivers creates and the representation they take on. This author does not shy away from the uncomfortable realities that is the human experience.

Model Home is creepy, dark, and unforgiving , with passages that will turn your stomach and leave you wondering what you've just read.
The ending was one I did not see coming and truly left me haunted. 

4.25 stars

Thank you to Farrar, Straus, & Giroux + NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“Mother forgot her own advice. She’d told me that white supremacy operates under a logic in which everything whiteness does can be rationalized as good, and everything Blackness does can be rationalized as preternaturally evil.”

“Against the house, I am nothing. I drag the flat palm of my hand along the doorframe. The rigid bumps of texture give the impression of bone. The glassy silk—slightly sticky with age—of the finish reminds me of veneer. I put my hand on the knob. Cool. A tiny skull.”

“The only easy intimacy I’ve ever had in this life is with my sisters. Only when I’m touching them can I convince myself my hands are not blades.”

The Maxwell Washingtons, a Black family from Brooklyn, move into a large home in Texas, surrounded on all sides by white, rich neighbors in their HOA neighborhood. They are an unwelcome addition and the neighbors make it known continuously. All 3 siblings, Ezri, Eve, and Emanuelle, have been estranged for sometime from their parents due to being traumatized from their home and their childhoods before finding their parents dead in the backyard.

Ezri is nonbinary, autistic Black person with diabetes and there are moments of inner dialogue where Ezri discusses all of these aspects about themselves. Elijah is also autistic + diabetic, and both of them actively check and monitor their insulin throughout the book. I really appreciated seeing this amount of representation in a book. There are also plenty of moments where Ezri’s sisters correct others of Ezri’s pronouns and calling them a siblings instead of sister/brother. I also loved moments where other family members where aware of insulin levels dropping and helping to take care of Ezri in those moments. 

This story was so brilliantly haunting, strange, and engrossing. Through the prose and plot, I was trying to figure out how the story would end up until they entered the house for the last time. 

There is such a blunt obviousness to what occurred at 677, but Solomon continues to keep the reader guessing due to Ezri being somewhat of an unreliable narrator—not trusting their own mind and thoughts to be true. Solomon does an incredible job of using every single word on every single page to consume you into feeling just as suffocated, terrified, and confused as Ezri feels. There are constant themes of racism, white supremacy, and intergenerational trauma at play and their affects on the entire family. 

Finding out the truth was like slowly unraveling everything Ezri knew to be true, to keep them sane enough to stay alive and take care of themselves and Elijah, their daughter. I am now appreciating the ending a bit more as I am reflecting on it. I won’t say spoilers. But the way that it ends, in a way, is full circle moment from how their parents handled the realization of their past and how Ezri is choosing to continue on in a very similar situation.

This book deals with some heavy topics, and it should be read with care. 

CW: racism, homophobia, transphobia, pedophilia, sexual content, death/death of a parent, mental illness, grooming, sexual abuse, violence