"Listen to Your Sister" by Neena Viel is a sibling bonding book nestled in a horror mystery. It is certainly a different read. You'll want to go into it blind - so stop reading reviews and go read the book!

This was challenging. It's hard to watch people lose their grip on reality, especially when there's a chance that they will be endangering themselves.

Unfortunately, I think I have to DNF this book at 50%. I am sad because I really wanted to like this. I liked the premise and enjoyed the political element the author added in with Jamie’s character development, but overall I just couldn’t get into the story. I made it 50% into the book and still feel like I have no investment in the story or interest in finding out how it ends. I think the horror element was hard to follow and there was so much going on that it became very confusing at times. It was also hard to connect with the characters with everything going on at once. I think for some people this book will be great but it just was not one that I was able to appreciate as the author intended.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

2.75 stars

This is one of those books that is a bit weird to review because I don't think it was for me. Like, at all. I was interested because of the comparisons to Jordan Peele movies and Stranger Things, and I do think this would make a great horror movie. But it didn't work for me as a book. I ended up switching back and forth between the e-ARC and the audiobook to finish it, but several times had to stop and go back because something was unclear or confusing. A visual element would have really helped this story's message hit harder, I think. 

We're following Calla, who's 25 and struggling to take care of her two brothers, Jamie, 16, who she's guardian of, and Dre, early 20s, who is super unhelpful. Calla is haunted by nightmares of her brothers dying, and when they're forced to go on the run to escape from Jamie's teenage recklessness gone illegally far, it seems her nightmares may be coming to life. At a remote Airbnb, strange things start haunting the siblings, and the tensions between them all that have been there since their parents died come to a head. 

Once again, as a white adult woman with a good childhood, I know I was not the target audience for this, so keep that in mind and take my rating with a grain of salt. I would watch it if this got turned into a movie, though, I can imagine it being surreal and fun in that format. And I'd hope that they'd fix the one thing I could not get over, aka referring to what they were smoking as both a joint and a blunt in the same scene. 
Thanks to St. Martin's Press and the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I slept on this one for far too long. I really enjoyed it. I guess I’m honestly questioning the negative reviews on here because I thought this book was great. The author’s use of different POVs worked so well in this story and the characters were fantastic (even when I thought they were acting stupid lol). I loved the horror aspects mixed in with heavy topics—it allows us readers to feel like the horror is more real while also being more over the top, if that makes sense. I enjoyed it. Solid read.

3 stars overall, but certain elements of the story really stood out beyond a 3 star rating. In sum, it's a powerful story about the effects of generational trauma, systemic racism, and family trauma. Viel masterfully weaves together a narrative that is parts funny, chilling, and downright trippy. I had a hard time following the story after the siblings arrived at the cabin. I think I just may need my hand held during such moments of dark imagery especially in relation to the result of systems of oppression. I am fully aware that my human experience is not in any part similar to the siblings in the story, so it was hard to relate and completely understand the more symbolic moments of the story. If you enjoy dark, psychological stories where you literally can't tell which end is up--this one's for you.

I have a mixed opinion on Listen to Your Sister. The positives for me were the different POV writing style. I enjoy reading a story that develops with every chapter coming from the perspective of different characters. I also enjoyed the character development within this book. I really felt that we get to know the struggles of Calla being the oldest sibling with all the expectations put on her. What I struggles with was getting into the book at first. There just wasn’t a “grab my attention” moment right off the bat. It took a little bit of a build. I also struggled a bit following certain parts of the story. Maybe it was a “reader problem” in that it didn’t have my full attention at times which was why some parts were confusing. Overall, I thought it was well written and a nice change from “typical gore-horror” and threw other aspects of societal pressures/expectations into it.

I really wish I liked this more, I really really do.

It is an important book, set during the Seattle riots of 2020, that uses horror as a conduit to speak about important issues such as racial equality, economic hardship, and the ever-growing rifts that exist in society. This debut novel has been compared to the likes of what Jordan Peele did with his emergence of "Intellectual Horror" consisting of his films Get Out, Us and Nope. I will note that I have seen and loved all three films.

It started off strong, with great characterization and the setting up of some hot button issues of racial equality and stereotypes. The novel follows Calla, a Generation Z-er in her mid-twenties who is juggling her first tastes of financial independence and freedom away from her past and toxic mother. Calla has worked her ass off to secure that freedom and feels as though she has regained her life. Her younger brother Dre took a page from her book, moving out to Seattle with her and working hard to make a life for himself also. That all changes when Calla becomes the guardian for her youngest brother, teenaged Jamie, angry, hurt, full of fury and angst, and abandonment issues. Jamie crashes into Calla's life with a sledgehammer, threatening her job, her friends, her financial independence, and her newfound freedom with his antics, his problems at school, his dour moods. She also finds next to no help from Dre, despite his promises that he will help her out. When both Jamie and Dre find themselves on the other side of the law, Calla panics and takes them to a secluded cabin in the woods so she can clear her mind and figure out their next steps.

Next comes the horror part, which is awkwardly juxtaposed against the themes of racial and familial identity, shared trauma, and self-sacrifice. Calla has had a recurring nightmare her entire life. A nightmare revolving around her brothers and their well-being and protection, Calla always has the nightmare when she senses one or both of them is in trouble. It causes brings with it a lot of emotional baggage, a tendency to drink probably too much wine, and some serious deterioration to her mental health. I don't want to get too spoilery, but the middle of this novel shows a rift between the siblings, which causes Calla to kind of disown them, which throws them both headfirst into her nightmare.

First off, I really loved the characters in this novel. I thought each was really well written, dynamic, and their sibling bond was both intimate and realistically portrayed. The novel itself is well-written, although I did have a lot of problems with its execution, particularly the horror parts. The middle, which held the most action, was actually in parts really really boring, and it was during this part I struggled to get through. I breezed through the first 30% and the last 30%, but the middle 40% I would have given probably two stars. I understand where the author was trying to go with it, but I found it disjointed and the action was clunky. There were parts I actually had to reread because I found the descriptions overly weird and hard to envision. In parts I found the author ran around in circles trying to get to the point, and that was problematic for this reader.

The last 30% when realizations were made and things came to light and brought everything together. The ending was the most well-written part of the book and elevated my rating to a 3 from a 2-2.5. It had the largest focus on shared generational trauma, and corrupt systems, and owning one's own power and it was the part that had the most impact for me.

So I liked this novel more as a literary commentary on the above-mentioned issues rather than as a horror story. Although the writing was good, it needed more polish, especially around the middle. The characterization was top-notch, but the plot needed some editing and focus.

This is a solid debut, but i think I was just not really the right audience. I didn’t really feel a connection to the characters and sometimes the story felt a bit forced and didn't flow right.

Umm – this book is definitely the definition of a fever dream! It was wild, it pulled me in, it made me question what the character's motives were and why, and where the author was going with everything!

I feel this is a very solid 4 STAR read! I'm confused by the lower ratings - I'm not sure if people went into this without seeing it was characterized as horror? Maybe I have a much different idea of what constitutes horror; I expect things to be more extreme than the typical thrillers and mysteries I read. I expect it to be gory, to go into details, to be overly dramatic, to have questionable characters and to watch them make decisions that I would not make in the same situation. It mean, it IS fiction. I'm not going to relate to every character, setting, plot, or decision but that's what I expect in books that are not real or based on true facts.
Okay, moving on after fully giving myself over to my "Meddings_Musings.'

In Listen to Your Sister, Calla’s barely keeping it together while trying to raise her teenage brother, Jamie, after their parents’ deaths—meanwhile, their middle sibling Dre is MIA and emotionally checked out. When a protest goes wrong and tensions explode, the siblings escape to a remote cabin where Calla’s nightmares start crossing into reality… and they're violent. The line between grief, guilt, and something sinister blurs fast, especially as secrets surface and the siblings start to unravel. This one is raw, haunting, and weird in all the right ways—I couldn’t put it down.

Huge thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Neena Viel, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for a review.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel.

I started this book a few times and unfortunately could not connect with the characters. I was unable to finish.

Thank you again for the chance to read.

This book was such a unique reading experience and I highly recommend it! I can honestly say I’ve never read another book like this before. I don’t even fully know/understand what happened, but I know I couldn’t stop reading. It’s funny, dark, ridiculous and real somehow all at the same time. Plus the depictions of sibling relationships were so honest that I forgot it was a horror/thriller book at times. I was very impressed that this was a debut novel as well! I look forward to reading more from this author hopefully soon

Honestly I’m still not entirely sure what was going on. The book definitely leaned into the litfic aspect of getting to know the siblings vs the horror

Thank you, St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley, for my eARC of Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

I struggled with this one. There were elements I liked, but ultimately I feel like this one was not for me.

I had a hard time getting into this one. I enjoyed the multiple POVs--one of my favorite writing tools--but they felt disjointed. Calla's struggles were recognizable and I liked that it was written so that readers could relate to that. However, in parts of the story I didn't really understand where the story was going because there was so much going on and it was confusing.

I know there is an audience for this book, unfortunately I just am not part of it.

Thank you, St. Martin's Griffin!

I tried to read it. I came back to it a couple times and I just couldn't get into it. I was going to try again and then it expired. It might have just been my mood bc I feel like it would normally be a good book and others will probably like it. It may not be the authors fault I just thought the beginning was boring.

After taking on the responsibility of raising her teenage little brother, Jaime, Calla is feeling overwhelmed and overworked. With little help from the middle brother, Dre, she’s at the end of her rope. Never mind the terrifying nightmares that plague her every night, where she must fight to keep her brothers from dying at the expense of herself. But when the nightmares start to bleed into reality, the family must come together to fight their demons and stay alive. This is a debut novel, and is marketed as speculative horror, which it definitely is. I love the central idea of this book, that the pressures and stressors of trying to keep your family safe can create physical manifestations of your resentments and traumas that can turn monstrous if not properly attended to. I kind of loved this. All the problems that I had with it were mostly centered on the plotting of the last third. It just got a little confusing as past secrets were revealed and I was a little confused as to what actually happened on the night in question that Calla relives constantly in her nightmares. I liked the dynamic within their family, even when it’s messy and even when it’s mean. It feels real. I felt so bad for Calla, the amount of pressure and responsibility on her at 25 is crazy. Anyone would have a breakdown. I thought for a debut, this was really impressive. Not perfect, but an interesting and complicated look at family and grief.

This review will be posted on my instagram @boozehoundbookclub

Thank you to the publishers for the audio and ebook advanced copy!

Pacing felt off with so much happening in certain POVs and not much in others. Didn’t understand any back k stories of some major plot points. Writing is super descriptive but doesn’t allow the reader to learn to much about the characters before flipping to a different POV. 40% in and it felt like we were still at an introductory level of the story

While I enjoyed the political and familial commentary of this one, I'm just not vibing with the writing style.

Calla is easy to identify with because I feel like a lot of us girls from middle class and lower who grew up with younger siblings/cousins were put into parental roles way too early in life. Seeing her struggle between the sister and motherly roles for Jamie is totally relatable. And I liked the beginnings of the social and political commentaries as well.

Honestly it was just the crassness of the vocabulary of some of the characters the finalized my decision that this book was just not for me. It was very slow moving and everything felt like it was just dragging on.

I'm not sure if I'll pick up from this author again since the writing was what didn't work for me.

Special thanks to the author, @stmartinpress for my gifted copy, & @macmillan.audio #MacAudio2024 for my gifted ALC‼️

This book had so much potential but fell short for me because I honestly was lost on what was happening. In the beginning everything was clear we had siblings raising siblings after the loss of a parent and the abandonment of another. You could tell it was a lot of pressure on Calla trying to hold things together being Jamie’s guardian and him being so defiant. Then Dre was really nonchalant about things which provided no help.

The night Jamie got into trouble and the cop was murdered that’s when all of the confusion started. The entire book he was acting out and I’m 100% sure his behavior created whatever it was they were experiencing lol. Calla was also withholding so many emotions, seemed to have some relationship issues with her father, on top of dealing with some suppressed trauma maybe it was all a manifestation of what she was going through. Idk it was never really stated in the book so I’m still at a loss behind it all.

Overall, the book was okay. Before all of the chaos begins it does start off well building up the suspense with some eeriness, the character development was good, and the vivid descriptions made it easy for me to envision a lot of it. This was like a mix between a Jordan Peele movie and Nightmare on Elm Street because it makes you question what’s real and what isn’t. Although I didn’t love it doesn’t mean you won’t‼️

I have read a fair number of horror novels over many years. Neena Viel's debut novel is deemed speculative horror. That seems to fit since more and more of books I read for an indie bookstore book club are categorized by the store as speculative fiction rather the previous title of Sci-Fi/Fantasy.
This book's female protagonist is Calla Willams. She is struggling to earn a living for herself and her teenage brother Jamie. She has become guardian to this wild and reckless boy who has a good heart. She is called to his school once again after more trouble. The staff there really insulted her by thinking she was Jamie's single, unmarried mother when it was obvious she didn't look any older than her age of 25. This sort of racism and bigotry makes me see red.
Dre, Calla's other brother, who is out on his own, is supposed to help with Jamie. Dre seems to only care about his own wants and needs. Calla's keeps having a dream that she calls The Nightmare where both of her brothers die and she can't save them. As the oldest in my family I tried to get my siblings to listen with mixed results so I know where Calla is coming from.
Things go south for them all after Jamie causes serious problems at a protest. They have to get out of town literally. Callie finds a remote AirBNB cabin where they can lay low for a while. This cabin is not your usual AirBNB and is super creepy. Will Calla's Nightmare finally come true in this isolated area?
This book is being promoted for fans of Jordan Peele's movies and I totally agree. There is so much under the surface that will scare you as turn the pages. I look forward to new adventures with this new author. Next time I hope a serious injury and surgery won't put me behind.
Thanks to the author and St. Martin's Press (my favorite) for giving the opportunity to read and review this novel.