Thriller – Made of Stardust and Stubbornness

“Model Home” Review

Posted on February 8, 2025February 14, 2025 by Jen

“Model Home” by Rivers Solomon

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. Maybe it was some cosmic trial, a demonic rite of passage into the upper-middle class. Whatever it was, the Maxwells, steered by their formidable mother, stayed put, unwilling to abandon their home, terrors and trauma be damned.

As adults, the siblings could finally get away from the horrors of home, leaving their parents all alone in the house. But when news of their parents’ death arrives, Ezri is forced to return to Texas with their sisters, Eve and Emanuelle, to reckon with their family’s past and present, and to find out what happened while they were away. It was not a “natural” death for their parents . . . but was it supernatural?

Rivers Solomon turns the haunted-house story on its head, unearthing the dark legacies of segregation and racism in the suburban American South. Unbridled, raw, and daring, Model Home is the story of secret histories uncovered, and of a queer family battling for their right to live, grieve, and heal amid the terrors of contemporary American life.

Review

I can always count on Rivers Solomon to write something deeply disturbing and powerful while exploring various themes and this book, with the central themes of trauma, memory, racism/segregation, and parenting, was no different. There are a lot of different layers to what was actually going on due to Ezri’s (along with their siblings’) memories not being completely reliable. It’s clear their ongoing trauma has caused all of their memories are muddled and mixed up with what they believe happened and what actually happened. The truth does come out in the end and it’s even worse than you might expect.

The writing style might take some getting used to as it’s somewhat stream of conscious deeply in Ezri’s head but I think it works once you get used to it. The ending is a bit abrupt and there are unanswered questions but it makes sense for the story. That said there is also the sense that the unresolved issues that still need to be worked out, between the siblings, will be more than they were before.

I will be re-reading Rivers Solomon’s other books to add reviews to my blog. I’ve enjoyed all of them!

Warnings and additional reviews can be found on the StoryGraph page for “Model Home” by Rivers Solomon

Book Details

Author’s Website
: Rivers Solomon
Publisher / Date: MCD, October 2024
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Page Count: 286
Completion Date: February 7, 2025

“We Came to Welcome You” Review

Posted on September 16, 2024October 8, 2024 by Jen

“We Came to Welcome You” by Vincent Tirado

Sol Reyes has had a rough year. After a series of workplace incidents at her university lab culminates in a plagiarism accusation, Sol is put on probation. Dutiful visits to her homophobic father aren’t helping her mental health, and she finds her nightly glass of wine becoming more of an all-day—and all-bottle—event. Her wife, Alice Song, is far more optimistic. After all, the two finally managed to buy a house in the beautiful, gated community of Maneless Grove.

However, the neighbors are a little too friendly in Sol’s opinion. She has no interest in the pushy Homeowners Association, their bizarrely detailed contract, or their never-ending microaggressions. But Alice simply attributes their pursuit to the community motto: “Invest in a neighborly spirit” …which only serves to irritate Sol more.

Suddenly, a number of strange occurrences—doors and stairs disappearing, roots growing inside the house—cause Sol to wonder if her social paranoia isn’t built on something more sinister. Yet Sol’s fears are dismissed as Alice embraces their new home and becomes increasingly worried instead about Sol’s drinking and manic behavior. When Sol finds a journal in the property from a resident that went missing a few years ago, she realizes why they were able to buy the house so easily…

Review

I enjoyed this for the most part – though I think I do prefer the author’s first two books. It’s a complicated read because on the one hand something sinister is in fact going on but on the other hand Sol is dealing with depression and other mental health issues that are exaggerating some of her responses to the various situations she’s dealing with. There is a very slow buildup of everything as things begin to develop in the community. Sometimes it’s a little tedious but never enough that I wanted to stop reading.

I ended up spending a lot of time wondering how Sol and Alice ended up married – they don’t seem like a good couple who actually understand each other. Beyond the fact that Alice was there for Sol when Sol’s family kicked her out. Though I suspect it’s a similar issue to Sol still visiting her father – she doesn’t know how to do anything else and feels like she has no choices. Some other reviewers are very harsh about Sol but honestly I had more problems with Alice and how she talked to Sol or handled Sol’s issues. That said we are really only getting Sol’s perspective on everything.

While we do find out what is going on with the community the ending is actually rather abrupt. It’s never really made clear how much of it was resolved. I’m also not certain of Sol’s actions near the end and what exactly she ended up doing about the community. Though ultimately it feels like she did what she felt like she had to do to survive with Alice.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “We Came to Welcome You”.

Book Details

Author’s Website: Vincent Tirado
Publisher / Date: William Morrow, September 2024
Genre: Thriller
Page Count: 347
Completion Date: September 16, 2024

“Ring Shout” Review

Posted on February 24, 2024October 11, 2024 by Jen

“Ring Shout” by P. Djèlí Clark

In 1915, The Birth of a Nation cast a spell across America, swelling the Klan’s ranks and drinking deep from the darkest thoughts of white folk. All across the nation they ride, spreading fear and violence among the vulnerable. They plan to bring Hell to Earth. But even Ku Kluxes can die.

Standing in their way is Maryse Boudreaux and her fellow resistance fighters, a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter. Armed with blade, bullet, and bomb, they hunt their hunters and send the Klan’s demons straight to Hell. But something awful’s brewing in Macon, and the war on Hell is about to heat up.

Can Maryse stop the Klan before it ends the world?

Review

This was a very cool short story. I really enjoyed the characters and the way everything played out. Maryse is a great character and I liked the development of her character as she learned more about what was going on and the resolution of everything. I liked that the story has a good resolution while still living things open for more. The fight isn’t over – because things never really end that way but this story has an ending that serves the purpose of the story.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “Ring Shout”.

Book Details

The cover of the book is read with a hooded KKK member in in the center the eye holes are ruined with teeth at the top and bottom. Black hands are held up in front of the figure. The authors name is near the top of the hood while the title is under the eye holes.

Author’s Website: P. Djèlí Clark
Publisher / Date: Tordotcom, October 2020
Genre: Alternate History, Fantasy
Page Count: 185
Completion Date: February 20, 2024

“Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything” Review

Posted on September 16, 2023October 12, 2024 by Jen

“Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything” by Justine Pucella Winans

Sixteen-year-old Bianca Torre is an avid birder undergoing a gender identity crisis and grappling with an ever-growing list of fears. Some, like Fear #6: Initiating Conversation, keep them constrained, forcing them to watch birds from the telescope in their bedroom. And, occasionally, their neighbors. When their gaze wanders from the birds to one particular window across the street, Bianca witnesses a creepy plague-masked murderer take their neighbor’s life. Worse, the death is ruled a suicide, forcing Bianca to make a choice—succumb to their long list of fears (including #3: Murder and #55: Breaking into a Dead Guy’s Apartment) or investigate what happened.

Bianca enlists the help of their friend Anderson Coleman, but the two have more knowledge of anime than true crime. As Bianca and Anderson dig deeper into the murder with a little help from Bianca’s crush and fellow birding aficionado, Elaine Yee (#13: Beautiful People, #11: Parents Discovering They’re A Raging Lesbian), the trio uncovers a conspiracy much larger—and weirder—than imagined. But when the killer catches wind of the investigation, Bianca’s #1 fear of public speaking doesn’t sound so bad compared to the threat of being silenced for good.

In this absurdist, bizarrely comical YA thriller that is at turns a deceptively deep exploration of anxiety and identity, perhaps the real murder investigation is the friends we make along the way.

Review

This was a fun read. The murder mystery was interesting but the way it was handled was a bit over ridiculous. However it being ridiculous was intentional given the description. Serious things would happen with only a brief mention from the adults and then the plot moved on… so the teenagers could solve the mystery. Which was fine but I ended up enjoying reading about Bianca’s character development more as they both figured out their gender identity (realizing they are non-binary) and also dealing with all their anxieties and fears. That was the more interesting part of the book for me. The characters are all great though I wish Bianca had been able to talk to their parents more, but that was realistic. At least they have their friend’s parents to rely on for that.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything”.

Book Details

a person's head is on the top of the cover looking towards the left. Over the back of their head are three birds in flight going in various directions. below them as the title and authors name and a skyline of a city in the background. THe cover is purple and pink in the center with black on the edges.

Author’s Website: Justine Pucella Winans
Publisher / Date: Clarion Books, April 2023
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult
Page Count: 384
Completion Date: September 12, 2023

“We Don’t Swim Here” Review

Posted on May 21, 2023October 14, 2024 by Jen

“We Don’t Swim Here” by Vincent Tirado

Bronwyn is only supposed to be in rural Hillwoods for a year. Her grandmother is in hospice, and her father needs to get her affairs in order. And they’re all meant to make some final memories together.

Except Bronwyn is miserable. Her grandmother is dying, everyone is standoffish, and she can’t even go swimming. All she hears are warnings about going in the water, despite a gorgeous lake. And a pool at the abandoned rec center. And another in the high school basement.

Anais tries her hardest to protect Bronwyn from the shadows of Hillwoods. She follows her own rituals to avoid any unnecessary attention—and if she can just get Bronwyn to stop asking questions, she can protect her too. The less Bronwyn pays attention to Hillwoods, the less Hillwoods will pay attention to Bronwyn. She doesn’t get that the lore is, well, truth. History. Pain. The living aren’t the only ones who seek retribution when they’re wronged. But when Bronwyn does more exploring than she should, they are both in for danger they couldn’t expect.

Review

This was a really fun read. I was one of those books where once I started I just kept going and finished it all in one go. I loved all of the characters and the central mystery was great. The town was suck in a trap of its own making from the past act and couldn’t see a way out of it because so much had gone into covering up what that act actually had been that only a few left knew the full story. I really enjoyed the resolution of everything though there was on plot point I wish had been explained. I believe I know the answer given what is said throughout the book but it’s never explicitly said nor does anyone in the town seem to realize the truth of that plot point of everything that’s gone on. Though to be fair the main characters are teens and it’s the kind of story where adults don’t entirely know what they should know. It works either way.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “We Don’t Swim Here”.

Book Details

The heads of two young people, both Black, are on the cover facing away from each other. One is clearly visible while the other is almost entirely blurred out. The background of the cover is dark greenish blue water at the top and solid black from the middle down.

Author’s Website: Vincent Tirado
Publisher / Date: Sourcebooks Fire, May 2023
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Page Count: 320
Completion Date: May 20, 2023