#model home

👁️ Model Home by Rivers Solomon

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

When their parents are found dead in their childhood haunted house, three estranged siblings must come together to deal with the terms and grief of the deaths.

This book blew me out of the water. I didn’t know what to expect as I picked this up for a book club meeting, but I was gripping the pages so hard near the end of the book where I’m sure I ruffled them. The story is tense as we learn the mysterious history of this house and the characters who lived in it, told from the perspective of Ezri, a genderfluid sibling.

Books of 2026: June Wrap-Up.

'Twas the month of homes and hearts and murder islands, apparently?? Happy Pride?!?

I did try to read exclusively queer authors (plus Poetry Quest material), and I was successful on that front! I'm also still chugging along on my revision project (and feeling the deadline squeeze)(we won't talk about that)(much).

Reviews linked!:

BEING ARO ★★★ Enjoyed some of these a lot! Unimpressed with some, too, though. BEING ACE is the stronger collection, but I'm glad they both exist!

COME HOME TO MY HEART ★★★★★ This fucked me up so bad I had to set it down for a week. Achingly and heartbreakingly well done

MODEL HOME ★★★★ I will follow Rivers Solomon anywhere, up to and including a horrible HOA in Dallas suburbs. More literary bent than haunted house, still extraordinarily well done.

THE ODYSSEY ★★★★ Phenomenal and fascinating translation, hugely approachable and thoroughly modernized language (with good pedagogical reasons for why!), I will be checking out Wilson's ILIAD also because of this.

MAKE ME BETTER ★★★ I will also follow Gailey anywhere, up to and including coral cult island :)

SEASONS OF GLASS AND IRON ★★★★ Amal El-Mohtar once again knocking it out of the park!! Loved this prickly collection.

THE ENDING WRITES ITSELF ★★★½ Indulgent fun! Check it out if you're a writer and want someone coming for your jugular, maybe skip it if you're a mystery/thriller aficionado.

ANNA AKHMATOVA - 169/942 pages read. Made it through "Rosary"! I'm still scribbling a LOT of fragments in my notebook, I dig her stuff a lot, I think.

Next month, I will be swinging back around to read more Driscoll-adjacent fiction (writing project reasons). I've got seven (7) scenes I'm trying to finalize by the end of July to stay on my Oft-Revised Target--I need to have this manuscript wrapped up by early September, so we're approaching the Final Sprint. Send more caffeine, I'm gonna need it!!

Under the Cut: How I Conceptualize ~*★Stars★*~

Model Home, Rivers Solomon