Review by inmyfeelings_reading - Model Home

inmyfeelings_reading 's review for:

Model Home by Rivers Solomon

3.75

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

When Ezri’s family moves to the white suburbs as a child, they know immediately something is not right. Is it the neighbors? Their parents trying to fit into new and ill fitting roles? Or could it be the house itself?

We follow the three siblings as we jump timelines from past to present, all while trying to pinpoint what happened in their childhood and who is responsible with the sudden death of their parents.

This book was intense to say the least. Solomon’s poignant and guttural prose really cut the reader into pieces. The story is horror through and through. Tackling topics like grief, body dysmorphia, abuse, family trauma, the battle of the trans/nonbinary experience in a small town in Texas. All while wrapped around a stepford-esque racist suburban neighborhood, plopped inside of a haunted house.

To say that I enjoyed this book is not enough. It’s more layered and nuanced than that. I would recommend this book to folks who, after checking the trigger warnings, are fans of the weirdness of Mona Awad (Rouge), the racial commentary of Jordan Peel (Get Out), the crudeness of Stephen King (It), and the themes of childhood trauma and abuse of Neil Gaiman (Coraline).

Content Warnings