Potential spoilers please be aware!!


I read Model Home as a digital book and gave it 4 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review. This is my first book by the author, Rivers Solomon, but it will not be the last! Model home had me hooked from beginning to end, wanting to know more about the three siblings backstory and wanting to know what happened next. There was a part in the book that I read that made me have to check my room before I fell asleep as the atmosphere of Model Home felt so real and eerie. I honestly did not see that plot twist coming and was left speechless after. The book also spoke of some very important issues of race and living in a predominantly white community/neighbourhood and asks the question of who decides who is the right kind of family to live in this community and neighbourhood? I definitely recommend for other people to check out Model Home by Rivers Solomon, but please also check out the TWs and CWs before you read them though!

Thanks to Rivers Solomon and NetGalley for this ARC!

I’m really enjoying the sudden uptake in stream of consciousness books at the moment. The way that tension and unease is woven into this book is so well done and I really enjoyed it.

Ezri grew up in a gated community in Dallas, in which their family was the only Black one. Their memories of the house they lived in then are plagued with horrors and though they managed to get away from it, it seems they can never truly escape its haunting.

One day, they receive a strange message and their sisters ask them to come home, figure out what's going on. When they find their parents' bodies on the grounds, Ezri is convinced that the house is just as evil as ever. But can a house truly have such power or are the people inhabiting it the root of the horrors?

I was really looking forward to reading this book and I'm immensely grateful to have had the opportunity to read its ARC.

Rivers Solomon has become one of my favorite authors and I was so happy to reunite with all the elements that I love from faer works: the poetic writing and the exploration of memories, trauma and family. I think their skill in building the psychology of the characters shone even more in this contemporary setting. There was this emphasis on the social influences affecting the characters' ways of life and beliefs that I found really interesting and very reflective of modern society.

This book also did so well in capturing the intricacies of parenting throughout the years and the struggle of seeking justice in a system that often puts huge burdens onto victims.

The characters' relationships to each other and to their world also felt so real in all their complexity. The relationship from Ezri to their parents and then to their daughter, Elijah, resonated most with me as it represented a cycle that felt extremely familiar: that of wanting to break a cycle of trauma and in doing so, finding out that sometimes we still fail to prevent the things we wish we could, but also trying our best to fix it despite all.

Overall, I found this book to be really interesting and it had my whole attention until the end. I was really surprised when it went from horror to a more thriller-like direction but then, I think the events in and of themselves are a form of horror so I wasn't disappointed.

The ending felt a little rushed for my liking but it's still satisfying and to be honest, I really didn't dive into this book looking for something plot-driven, so it's fine. As I said before, the writing is just gorgeous, it's stream-of-consciousness-y which is a style I absolutely love.

I would highly recommend this book for those looking for a book with a complex exploration of trauma — especially that related to growing up in a hostile environment as a Black, queer and disabled person — paired with strikingly poetic writing.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC!

Chock full of commentary on gender and race, this is such a dark book that didn’t even need a monster to be considered a horror. I’m a fan of Rivers Solomon’s writing style and this absolutely hit the spot for me.

Model Home is a beautifully written tale of ghosts, race, trauma, family, and the feeling of never fitting in.

Ezri and their sisters must piece together past trauma in the wake of their parents' unexpected and suspicious deaths.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing was hauntingly poetic in places, and the characters were well fleshed out, which I expect is not only down to the authors incredible talents but to the own voices aspect.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book via Netgalley.

Model Home by Rivers Solomon
⭐⭐⭐ 3.5 stars
Publication date: 20 February 2025

Thank you to Random House UK and Netgalley for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The three Maxwell siblings keep their distance from the lily-white gated enclave outside Dallas where they grew up. When their family moved there, they were the only Black family in the neighborhood. The neighbors acted nice enough, but right away bad things, scary things—the strange and the unexplainable—began to happen in their house.

This is a difficult one to rate and review. I knew from other reviews what this book was, and more importantly, what it wasn't, especially when described as “a new kind of haunted house novel,” therefore my expectations were correctly set. There are hauntings, and there are horrors, but they might not be what you thought they were. It feels wrong to say I liked this book, considering how disturbing and deeply unpleasant it is.
But I appreciated Solomon's writing and their lyrical prose, and for me, the strength of this book rested on the sibling relationships, as fraught and complicated as they may be. This is an ambitious and unflinching look at mental health, deep, complex trauma and self-destructive behaviour. There is also broader societal commentary on gender identity, racism, classism and generational expectations and trauma.
The themes are heavy, it is not an easy read, so please seek content warnings if needed, and be mindful. It was exhausting to be in the minds of some of these characters, intentionally so, and the POVs were often confusing. Unfortunately, this book didn't quite land the ending for me. There was one particularly incomprehensible decision at the end, and no amount of mental gymnastics could make it make sense, especially considering the harmful consequences of that decision.

I’m afraid this one isn’t for me, or at least not right now. I’ve tried twice and given up after the second chapter.

So many of my friends love this that it must be me, and not the book. 😞

Solomon’s début novel, An Unkindness of Ghosts (2017), was much lauded but didn’t work particularly well for me; I found it clumsy both in its laying-out of theme and in its sentence-by-sentence execution. Model Home, however, is Solomon’s fourth novel, and they’ve grown. The book follows Ezri as they return to their childhood home—a palatial residence in a gated Dallas suburb, which they and their siblings are convinced is haunted—to find their parents dead in an apparent murder-suicide. In the aftermath, which attracts press attention and forces the siblings to reckon with their traumatic childhoods, the real secrets of 677 Acacia Drive are uncovered. The particularity of this family's trauma includes the racism experienced as the only Black people in a very affluent area, and their mother’s relentless driving of her children towards excellence in the same “Talented Tenth”/"representative of the race” mindset that Margo Jefferson’s memoir Negroland (2015) outlined so well. The horror of the house—the giant clumps of hair in the sink, the acid that pours out of taps instead of bathwater, the way the children would fall asleep in bed and wake up on the lawn or inside the oven—is perfectly pitched and really creepy. Yet when the truth about the house is revealed at last, it’s so much worse and more horrifying than the solution that we’ve been expecting. Model Home isn’t flawless—there’s still some over-explication of characters, and some over-determined villainy (the gun-toting, homophobic white neighbour with whom Ezri has self-loathing sex in a car, for example)—but I’m a lot more interested in Solomon’s future work now. (Also, a total aside here, but both Ezri and their daughter are Type I diabetics, and I so deeply appreciate the way Solomon writes about living with the condition: it’s both mundane and a serious irritant. I suspect they write from experience.)

Okay, so, when I met Rivers Solomon back in April 2024, they told us they were working on a horror novel, and since I loved every book they wrote, I knew I had to get this one, so when I saw it on NetGalley, I immediately asked for it because I couldn't wait. And oh my god, see, this is why they are an auto-buy author to me.
This book is everything, disturbing, sad, tense, horrible, and most importantly, with a great sibling relationship. This is the kind of book you can't seem to put down, an automatic all-nighter to finish it, even if you are in your exam period... Maybe this is why I didn't get the grade I wanted... (just kidding haha).

This is pure horror, human horror, of a black family who gets to live in an all-white and rich neighborhood and all the trauma they have once they move out. I didn't (t see the plot twist at the end and it made me feel sick, not in a "gosh this is such bad writing" way but in a "gosh humans are monsters" way.
Also, the way Solomon writes the characters? Perfect. They are so realistic and human. The way they go through their traumas, their different ways to cope, their relations with one another,... Wow.

Yes, a great book, from one of the best authors of this generation. Bonus: I'm going to London after the release of the book, can't wait to have my physical copy.

This is a wonderfully written novel, with a beautiful prose.
The characters were well thought through, well defined and flawed. The author has a an excellent grasp for providing the descriptiveness needed to allow the reader to fully immerse themselves in the book.
It was creepy and eerie at times and an absolute pleasure to read.
I haven’t read any of this authors works before, in fact I’m sorry to say I didn’t recognise the name at all. However the upshot of reading THIS book, means I now have a whole back catalogue of books to go through.
5/5 would highly recommend!

The idea behind this story is good. It intrigued me. But I found the writing style, while beautiful, just didn't work for me. I found myself confused what was going on the whole time.

4.5 ⭐️

Haunted houses are at the top of my wheelhouse, so I was very eager to get started on this book. I have never read the authors previous works, and I was delighted with my experience with this one.

While the majority of the novel seems to be less about the house and more about Ezri's childhood within the house, I was still hooked and very much drawn into the story with anticipation on the outcome.

Ezri is a black, queer, neurodivergent character that I found myself deeply concerned and caring for. Their time within the house was clearly traumatizing for them and their siblings, and when they have to face the house again after years of being disconnected from it they are plunged right back into the horrors they have been trying to forget. This story took an unexpected turn for me that left me in tears; tears of both sadness and anger.

Such a smart piece that is scattered with thoughts and ideas on the dynamics of family, friendships, and the complexities of being free-thinking human within societies of other free-thinking humans. Solomon does not shy away from ideas or situations that may make readers feel uncomfortable, which is so admirable in a world that can feel so censored. That being said, note that this is a book designed for mature audiences.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the advanced digital copy of this book. I fully intend to purchase a physical copy in order to showcase it better on my socials.

Exquisite. No notes. Incredible take on the haunted house, horror as it should be, and prose excellent as always is with Solomon

After a family emergency, Ezri and their sisters return to their childhood home. It’s a McMansion in an affluent, mainly white community in Dallas, and it’s also apparently haunted. As with the best ghost stories, the real horror is something more tangible than the supernatural. This is a dark book, so do mind the trigger warnings — in particular for child sexual abuse and animal death.

I really loved the way this book explored family relationships and the connections to memory and trauma. Ezri’s relationship with their daughter Elijah echoes their own difficult childhood and relationship to the rest of their family. Ezri is such an interesting character to me.

I’ve read all of Rivers Solomon’s books and I swear they just get better and better!

Thank you to NetGalley and Merky Books for this ARC!

Rating: 4.5 Stars rounded up.

Model Home tells the story of Ezri and their family as Ezri is forced to return to her childhood home in Dallas, Texas after they received some concerning texts from their mother. This childhood home just so happens to be haunted, terrorising the family but especially Ezri throughout their childhood. What will happen when they step foot into this nightmarish place once again? But keep in mind – this is not your typical "haunted house" story!

I've read several books by Solomon by now and they always manage to surprise me. Model Home was a truly fantastic read, equally heartbreaking and hopeful. It does a fantastic job of showing the struggles of a black family growing up in a white neighbourhood, the struggles us autistic people face in our day-to-day lives and interpersonal relationships, and how a traumatic childhood will differently affect different people.

As someone who has a complicated relationship with his mother and also absolutely zero paternal instincts I found the way motherhood generally but specifically in Ezri's case (parenthood would be more accurate I guess) extremely interesting and refreshing, especially with its look at the intersections between queer, black and disabled identity. As someone who is also queer and disabled I found many parts very true to my experience and painfully relatable, and in my opinion it is always nice to see a character who has similar characteristics to you who also heavily struggles because of those characteristics, as well as the trauma that unfortunately often befalls those with them. Ezri is in many ways what could be considered a flawed character, but their "flaws" are treated with compassion and empathy.

I do not have siblings or a particularly close bond with anyone in my family, but I really liked the way Solomon showed both the ups and downs of these relationships, and the affection that all of their characters have for each other truly shines in this book.

I could say so many more wonderful things about this wonderful book, but I really don't enjoy giving spoilers in ARC reviews, so maybe I will add onto this once this has been published in the UK.

Overall I can only say that I heavily recommend this book to essentially anyone who enjoys stories of family, queer/black/disabled identity and of course horror. A truly fantastic read from start to finish, you will not want to put this down.

With thanks to Cornerstone and NetGalley for the ARC!

This book is creepy, eerie, and haunting. This book tells the story of three siblings who grew up in the only Black family in a white suburb in Dallas. This book was thought-provoking and tense and I couldn’t stop reading as I wanted to find out more about the siblings and what actually happened.

The dynamics between the siblings felt real and raw, and the pain they had went through jumped off the page. They are a dysfunctional group, but they had a lot of real love for each other.

This is a dark bleak book, and I don’t think I breathed once during the final few chapters when everything was revealed.

I also loved the author’s choice of the house. So often we have “creepy” houses be described as dilapidated or falling apart with boarded up windows. But the choice to have the creepy house be a beautifully decorated, spotless McMansion was excellent and really added to the scary factor.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to those that love thrillers.

Please check the content warnings for this book.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my free digital ARC of this one!

I read An Unkindness of Ghosts last year and LOVED it, and while Model Home didn't quiiiite live up, it still had immaculately unsettling vibes, excellent characters, and had me on the edge of my seat. I loved that Solomon managed to make a new-build million-dollar mansion terrifying. Dilapidated haunted house? Overdone. 6-bedroom mcmansions with brand new appliances and shiny floors? Plus Dark Mother? Glorious.

I was initially a bit disappointed that the story took a different direction that I was anticipating, but after ruminating on it for a while, I decided actually I love it. Solomon explores a new brand of predatory characters not often seen in fiction. They meld real life horrors like racism with your classic haunted house vibe, making this an almost perfect scary season read.

Dark and unique, take care while reading!

Model Home tells the story of three siblings, haunted by the horrors they were subject to in their childhood home. In the wake of their parents' death, the siblings are forced to confront the memories that plague them.

Rivers Solomon weaves a bleak and devastating tale of trauma and grief, and how such grief causes not only the trauma to resurface but also all that you wished could be. Each sibling is continually affected by the events that transpired, haunted in difference ways: Ezri, a non binary parent with a host of mental health diagnoses, whose teenage daughter has to fend for herself when they dissociate; Eve, a wise and bossy perfectionist yearning for control; Emmanuel, masquerading as functioning, even successful, despite being a neurotic clusterfuck of emotion. No one believed them when they said their house was haunted. No one helped. No one came to save them. The siblings splintered due to their childhood experiences, suffering with mental and physical scars. In the wake of grief, a family can fracture and re-form. As I'm discovering in my own grief, you discover things you wish you knew earlier, and things you wish you could forget. Model Home tells a story of generational trauma, history repeating itself, and what can be learnt from examining our ghosts. Though the torment can be familiar, especially with a mother for whom you were never good enough, we realise that anyone has the capacity to hurt us and it's important to reckon with the intersection of torment this young, black family was subject to. It's devastating and cruel and destructive. It's pervasive, even if you didn't know what it was. It haunts. It leeches away life. Does it feed on what it takes? In the end, what's left of us? I deeply understand the doubt of not knowing what's real, the fear of being unable to remember, and the hurt when people blame you. Things may go bump in the night, if only they stayed there.

"Instead, I’m a vessel of ghosts, the me’s that died, the me’s that never could be, unbound by time, by social graces."

It's important to note the serious issues tackled here: abuse, grief, and racism, among others. Rivers Solomon handles these topics with care, which is something I have now come to expect. From the two books of theirs I have now read, they write LGBT+ characters (and characters in general) extremely well. They depict trauma, mental illness, and grief expertly, weaving a story with poetically relatable prose (yet another book full of highlights). I have only given 4 stars as I found it was largely interpersonal dynamics, relationships, and conversations, with a slower pace than I prefer. I did also note many speech marks missing which made it harder to read. As is typical for me, I wanted more overt horror, but I enjoyed the story overall. As you progress, the dread mounts because you know what's going on, you know the trauma and the abuse that's occurred but has been pushed down to cope. Pushed down so deep you can barely reach it. It doesn’t matter that you can see it coming. It will still hit you like a train.

"The realization that validation of the pain will never come from those who inflicted the pain has the power to obliterate. Did it happen? If they’re not apologizing, if they’re not admitting they’ve done it, did they do it? What is real? What is true? Is my life a fantasy? Then let me wake up by dying."

Sometimes people are what haunts the house. Sometimes people are the monsters under the bed.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Model Home was my second attempt at reading a Rivers Solomon novel, but unfortunately, it fell flat for me again. I was initially drawn in by the unique premise—a haunted house story centered on the hidden horrors families leave behind, exploring trauma and generational pain as the real ghosts lurking in the home. It sounded like a fresh and intriguing approach to the haunted house genre, one that would examine the weight of family secrets and unresolved issues as lingering presences.

However, the writing style made it challenging for me to stay immersed. At times, I couldn’t tell if events were actually unfolding or if they were metaphors, blurring the line between reality and symbolism in a way that felt disorienting rather than engaging. While I appreciate the ambition and artistry, the style just wasn’t for me. Still, thank you to the publishers for the early copy!

This is my second book by Solomon now and feel the same about this one as I did about Sorrowland. They're both beautifully written and haunting, albeit a little tricky to first get into (and took me longer to read than usual), they're hard to start, but so worth it when you stick it out, and I'm so glad I did.

Model Home is a dark, atmospheric trip into family trauma that hits really hard. This one is extra eerie and unsettling, the kind of story that sinks under your skin and comes back to you occasionally out of nowhere. Solomon again masterfully tackles themes of identity and generational trauma, all wrapped up in a spooky haunted house vibe that feels way too real at times. The characters, especially Ezri, are so deeply layered that you can't help but feel for them, even as you're trying figure out what's going on. It's heavy, it’s haunting, and it doesn't let up—perfect if you love your horror with a side of existential dread.

A big thank you to the author, Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.