This book gripped me like a vice, and each page twisted the jaws just a little tighter, until I began to crack apart and my insides were painfully displayed. It is not an easy read, doubly so if you are queer or nonwhite or an abuse survivor or just generally an empathetic person. It is unforgiving in its truths; never egregious, but never pretending to exist in a world any less harsh than our own. But as with Ezri's affinity for true crime (one I decidedly do not share), there is comfort to be found in the inevitable coming apart of people, and in the truths of how and why they do.

I worked my way through Model Home uncharacteristically steadily, digesting a couple of chapters a few times a week, like a course of medication. Each dose carried some bitter aspect, yet also gave a part of me exactly what it needed.

I'd advise readers to look at content warnings, if (but only if) the book's summary gives them reason for concern. I did not. Solomon does well to telegraph most of the more difficult topics in the text, so I had time to mentally prepare for them, and I think my reading experience was better for it.