Review: Model Home

3/5 stars

Model Home, by Rivers Solomon (2024)

TW: Racism, homophobia & transphobia, child sexual abuse, emotional abuse, parent death, suicide, violence, disordered eating, sexual promiscuity.

As you can probably guess from the trigger warnings, Solomon does not shy away from difficult subject matter. I have read two other books by Solomon - The Deep, which spoke of generational trauma, Black identity, and the importance of memory and shared history, and Sorrowland, which tackles issues of race, mental health, and the brutality with which we treat marginalized citizens. In Model Home, Solomon again discusses race and mental illness, along with queerness - specifically, gender fluidity - and neurodivergence.

Ezri lives in England with their daughter, Elijah, having fled the States (Texas, specifically), where their parents, sisters, and traumatic childhood remain. When Ezri's sisters, Eve and Emmanuelle, reach out to say that Ezri needs to return home, the siblings must come together to confront the realities of their upbringing. Their parents' have died at their home under suspicious circumstances, and now the siblings must parse out what potentially supernatural forces were at work - in their parents' deaths, and in the disturbing events of their childhoods.

Model Home is a fresh take on the haunted house, but I can't say much else without spoiling things. Suffice it to say that it is some excellent literary horror that touches on family relationships - in particular, the bond between siblings, segregation and racism, mental illness, and abuse. It's creepy and dark and gritty, while also being heartfelt and respectful of human emotions.

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UP NEXT: My Best Friend's Exorcism, by Grady Hendrix