You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Model Home by Rivers Solomon

34 reviews

shauneebroadley's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

materiality's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial 

WOOF, this was hard to read. I can't really articulate my feelings on it quite yet, but here are some quotations that stood out to me:
BPD (borderline personality disorder), OSDD (other specific dissociative disorder), NPD (narcissistic personality disorder), C(omplex)-PTSD, and GAD (generalized anxiety disorder). All those letters, but they spell only one thing: hole. (23)

Mother is God. You're the uninformed void. (101)

I could never know how Mama was going to react to anything, though. I hated tossing the coin. I preferred to keep secrets. If I didn't show her who I was, she couldn't be disappointed. (72)

History repeats and repeats because history is people, and we reproduce only what we know, and we get what we know from our elders. The same mechanisms that facilitate language facilitate the passing of pain. (146) 

Look up what a haint is. Many of you say you believe in God, so I am asking you to believe in the devil, too. Please. (209) 

Since we moved into 677, I've been hiding. I'm still not ready to be found. (248)

We will all save each other. Or maybe we won't. Maybe there is no saving, only salvaging. Maybe every breath is the triumph, and we must learn to take the win. (280)
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mabanero's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.75

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

rachaelwho's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nadiarausa's review against another edition

Go to review page

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. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bessadams's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.75

I am deeply unsettled, and can never think about kids having imaginary friends in the same way again... but the last chapter was kind of sweet? The last sentence is literally "How sweet it is to be alive." 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

babayulia's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

5.0

Model Home by Rivers Solomon is difficult to write about because I am still processing it, but I don’t know that I’ll ever be done processing it, so I’m writing a review now in hopes that my friends read it and we can process it together. 

This is a novel about terror and trauma. The Maxwell siblings are mourning their parents, who died in an apparent murder/suicide pact in their childhood home. But questions keep emerging: what happened to them? Were they killed by the house, long rumored to be haunted? And if the house isn’t haunted, then what could explain the frequent and inexplicable horrors they experienced growing up? 

The beating heart of the book is the main character, Ezri, a queer & trans Black human navigating identity, parenthood, family, and trauma. Just as important are Ezri’s family, especially their daughter, Elijah, and younger sisters, Eve and Emanuelle. I love these characters. They are complex, messy, sweet people, fully fleshed out in all their glorious imperfections. They are easy to root for. 

Solomon’s writing is also a major highlight of the book. The prose is lyrical and challenging, a pleasure to read and dissect. I highlighted multiple passages to return to. This is a book I would like to read again, knowing what I know now, so I can try to pick up on more of Solomon’s nuanced storytelling, including faer expert use of foreshadowing.

I recommend this book to fans of the horror genre, especially haunted houses because of how it turns this one on its head. I also recommend it as a critical text that depicts the horrors of white supremacist violence in ways that are somehow both shocking and predictable. This book is upsetting and unsettling at its core, and that’s exactly why you should read it. Text me if you do.

Please check the content warnings! Some are included below, with details that could be considered spoilers.

Child sexual abuse and symptoms of CPTSD are common themes throughout the book. Though CSA does not occur on the page (to my memory), it is a core component of the novel. Grooming does happen on the page, focusing on interactions between an adult white woman and a queer Black child. There is also a sex scene between a white adult male and a queer & trans Black adult that is consensual but involves humiliation play and transphobic language and is preceded by racist remarks and a threat of gun violence (proposal of murder/suicide).
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

me_rose's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

casparquarius's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

this book burrowed into my bones and is going to live there for a long time. solomon's writing is incredible, the characterization full, and the characters themselves compelling and real. I saw more of myself in Ezri than is maybe comfortable while also being deeply, positively resonant. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings