This was an unexpected but interesting read! This debut novel is character driven, and hits on some very heavy topics including childhood trauma, abandonment, racism, protests, murder, guns, drugs and alcohol with a side of supernatural activity.

Calla, the FMC, is a 25 year old guardian of her rebellious 16 year old brother and is frustrated with the lack of help from her adult brother. She does everything she can to keep her brothers safe and out of trouble, but they don’t make it easy for her. Calla has very vivid, terrifying, recurring nightmares watching her brothers die…like a premonition. Calla fears that her nightmares are coming to life and decides to take her brothers and hide out in an isolated creepy rundown cabin to keep them all safe. From there, buckle up because the plot takes a crazy turn and becomes a wild ride. I found the unexpected humor to be a great addition to this horrific family drama. I thought this was going to be more ‘scary cabin in the woods’ type of story but it definitely wasn’t that. I am still not 100% sure what I read, but not necessarily bad, just crazy! However, the pacing and execution of the story were a little off…I found myself rereading thinking I had missed something but I hadn't, which was a little confusing. I also didn’t think that the synopsis matched the story but it turned out to be quite an eye opening experience. You may think you can run from the monsters of the world, but sometimes those monsters may live inside of you and those are the most terrifying.

The audiobook narration was incredible! The narrators were energetic, with great inflection and dialect. They gave each character their own voice voice really helped me envision each character and the setting, bringing the story to life…at times, maybe too much to life. I honestly think I would have DNFed this book if it hadn’t been for the audiobook.

I wanted to love this book, and I think I could have. I loved the setting and plot and the theme of sibling love abandonment, racism, trauma and I think this is a very important book to read. I loved how odd it was, it takes place in a cabin in the woods but the whole story feels like you're trapped in a nightmare with Calla and her brothers. It's dreamy, but a very gory, bloody dream, where you wanna wake up but you can't.

I would have devoured it if I was reading it rather than listening to it, even though the the cast was excellent, there was just something stopping me from paying attention and there were scenes I where I found myself thinking about other things and missing a huge chunks of the story. I wish I had been able to read it instead because I could tell I would've really liked the authors writing style.

Thank you to NetGally for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was not the book for me. Very hard to follow, jumping back and forth between dream and reality, and timelines and characters. Tried really hard to get into it, and I could not. :(

A questionable, somewhat disjointed start turned into a redemptive romp through childhood trauma and a discovery of self.

This book opens with a lighthearted and humorous tone. Our main protagonist is forced to deal school administrators due to her 15 year old brother’s shenanigans… and she is NOT happy. Her situation seems mostly funny, but with a slight undercurrent of tragedy. It doesn’t take long for the story to take a turn towards the bizarre. Once our protagonist’s two younger brothers enter the story, things go from bizarre to downright gruesome, but with no understanding as to why. The reader is led down this hideous yet murky path for almost half of the book. This is body horror, extreme fear, dismemberment and death, but with no clear cause or purpose.

Keep reading and second half of the book offers answers and expands to explore the effects of childhood trauma, the dangers of saving everyone at the expense one’s own wellbeing, the futility of living with and nursing resentment. It highlights the freedom that can come from facing your past and reconnecting with your truest self. Please do not be mistaken, the second half of this book offers just as must mayhem and gore as the first half.

If you are a fan of shows like Prime’s THEM, or movies like Jordan Peele’s US; I encourage you to give this book a chance.

"Listen to Your Sister" enters the minds and explores the fears of the three Williams siblings: Calla, Dre, and Jamie. After becoming the guardian of teenage Jamie, Calla finds herself playing mom in her mid-twenties and struggling to keep her head above water. Dre is just a couple of years younger than Calla, and instead of participating in raising their little brother, he's off in his own world, living a carefree life she should also be living. On top of that, Jamie is a mouthy, angsty teen refusing to make any of it easier.

Calla pendulates between struggling and bitter-struggling to take on this role she never asked for, and bitter that she is the only one upending her life for the family. Regardless of where she's at on the pendulum, she's terrified every second for the lives of her two young black brothers. She suffers from constant nightmares of them being killed, recurring images of their deaths, knowing she's unable to stop it.

The novel is a slow start, wading through the mundane waters of being a guardian, and quickly escalates when a situation at a protest goes all wrong for Jamie. The trio escapes to a dilapidated AirBnB cabin, and that's where the real nightmare begins.

The story hops into a space shuttle and launches into another galaxy, exploring their innermost fears and traumas. It's a tortuous dream at the gates of hell.

This nightmare cracked the book wide open taking the reader on a dizzying adventure and I won't lie, I wanted to wake up. For me, the read was an avant-garde schizophrenic experience that gave me car sickness, and I needed to pull over and throw up.

With the exception of my personal take on the nightmare sequencing, the core message is crucial and gives a sneak peek into the minds of humans dealing with racism and prejudice every single day. Life is the real nightmare, especially for black and brown people, where safety and freedom are not guaranteed and danger is present and common.

Although I wasn't ready for the frenetic experience, the story is a cool concept and is executed in a unique way. With that being said, the back half of the book lost me, unfortunately.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Griffin, & Neena Viel for the ARC in exchange for my authentic review.

OK…. So I just finished this one. I’m honestly not sure what I just read!?!

Yes, it’s off the wall crazy gangster stuff.
BUT….it’s also family drama…. Stepping up…. Straightening your kids (or siblings, out, when needed)…. Trying to get your head on straight. Trying to turn into a grown up adult…IN A MINUTE! …. Fighting with every fiber of your being to keep your loved ones safe… and having continuous nightmares about failing! 😮

This. Was. A. Lot!

I will warn you right now,if you’re NOT in a good mental space right now… you may want to press PAUSE on this one for now…and revisit it later… It’s a lot!

Now, that being said….THIS is a DEBUT novel for this author! And yes, I am looking forward to seeing what she’s got up her sleeve next!!

As you can guess from my description,this one revolves around a sister who’s TRYING to raise her two brothers to be good men…. But seems to find obstacles (and flat out ROADBLOCKS!)…. along every step of the way!

And then her dreams start turning into nightmares….

#ListenToYourSister by #NeenaViel and narrated nicely by #ErinLockley, #KristolynLloyd and #ZenoRobinson.

3 1/2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 for me, rounded up to 4!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Macmillan Audio for an ARC of the audiobook.

This*** is****due **to ** be** released****TOMORROW!! 2/4/25, so look 👀 for it then!

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Thanks so much for reading! And if you ‘liked’ my review, please share with your friends, & click ‘LIKE’ below… And, let me know YOUR thoughts if you read it!! 📚⭐️

This is tough. The premise (especially once you figure out what’s going on) is wildly interesting. The execution needed a stronger editor... especially with regard to pacing. I am VERY good with slow... some of my favorite books of all time are slow. But that’s when the characterization work is good or the writing itself is special. This was just slow. I kept watching my progress bar and waiting to be enthralled. The pace finally picked up around the 50% mark, but at 65%, I knew more of what to expect, but didn’t care and was just waiting for the end. The concept is really good, but this needed better plotting/pacing. I think it would be better on film. I will say the audio helped me through.

Some “If you liked” style comparisons: Jordan Peele inspo for sure

Warning: Lots of content warnings here. Look them up if that’s something you need.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for this ARC.

Concept was okay. I just wasn’t really into the book- here’s why.
Characters seemed very one note to me which was too bad. Jamie and Dre were essentially just selfish the whole time that it actually became a bit irritating.
I found it became hard for me to want to finish this book. The writing style was just a bit disconnected for my liking. The imagery however, was really well done- if you are good with gore and bloodshed, it was written very graphically/well.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this ARC.

I’m pretty sure this is a case of it’s not you, it’s me, but I couldn’t develop a connection with Listen to Your Sister. It’s entirely possible that it’s my current mindset, but I gave up at the BLM protest. The violence involving a child was just more than I can do right now.

This book was not really for me, I didn't realize it was fantasy....I'm a realist so I couldn't handle figuring out what was dream vs reality in this book.

What a wild ride!! This debut novel was an intense, humor-filled horror with supernatural elements that kept me on the edge of my seat!

I'm not typically a fan of horror but when I read the description of this one, I was too intrigued to pass it up. It did not disappoint! The narrators really brought this story to life and held me captivated throughout!

This would definitely appeal to fans of Jordan Peele or Stephen King or any fans of horror!

It had so much potential: siblings trying to heal a fractured bond. Calla, 25, suddenly has custody of her younger brother, Jamie, with little support from her other brother, Dre.

Calla is overwhelmed, constantly sacrificing, and her recurring nightmares of her brothers dying only add to the stress. The family goes on the run after Jamie gets involved in a protest and ends up at a creepy cabin. This is where the nightmares reveal themselves as warnings, and the harsh reality of their situation hits hard.

Unfortunately, the story fell apart and felt disjointed. I think the focus ended up too heavily on pushing a political agenda.

The audiobook wasn’t as fluid as I would have liked.

This debut literary horror novel was definitely different and got a little crazy at times. The comparisons to Stranger things and The other Black girl are very apt too! I feel like this one won't be for everyone but would make a great book club pick, sure to spark lots of discussion around family, the burden of being a guardian, the sacrifices women make for the ones they love and so much more.

At the core it is a story about three African American siblings trying to survive together. Throw in some horror elements and a creepy cabin and multiple realities and it becomes one creeptastic read steeped in the stark realities of life in America for the Black working class with limited means.

The audio production was also excellent with a full cast of narrators and I highly recommend listening to this one if you want to try something different! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

This novel was both terrifying and laugh-inducing. Jordan Peele would approve!
25 year-old Calla Williams is the reluctant legal guardian to her teenaged brother, Jamie. Their middle sibling, Dre, is off handling his own issues, and Calla realizes she is losing control over her life. Maybe that's why the Nightmare has gotten so much worse. The labyrinthine dreams always end fatally for her brothers - until Calla wakes up in a cold sweat, screaming.
We get all 3 POVs in each chapter, and the author really digs deep and gets under their skins. Along the way, you will probably laugh out loud, even with all the terror the family goes through.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this digital audio e-arc.*

Twenty-four year old Calla Williams is the legal guardian for her younger brother Jamie because their mother does charming things like send him text messages that say "You're dead to me." But Jamie has not been an easy teen to raise, and Calla has long felt that she has been sacrificing parts of her life for him. She moved to a crappier apartment so that he'd have his own room. She keeps working at her job where she's overlooked. Her dating life is certainly suffering. Her middle brother Dre is supposed to be helping her with Jamie -- said he'd help with Jamie -- but the burden of the eldest sister is to continually sacrifice without recompense.

However, when things following a Black Lives Matter go sideways and it looks like violent acts might get traced to her brothers, Calla abandons her job to hide in a scary Airbnb cabin in the woods to protect her boys. But Calla has long suffered from a recurring nightmare in which she must save one or the other of her brothers. Dre and Jamie dismissed her as overreacting, but as Calla's Nightmare suddenly comes to life, they realize that they should have been listening to their sister.

I really enjoyed this horror thriller. I've seen some reviewers note that it takes a while for the action to ramp up, but I felt like the early chapters were all completely necessary to establishing the relationships between the siblings and some of the later payoffs once the Nightmare does set in. The action in the final two sections can get a bit confusing, but I think that it felt in line with the dreamlike quality that the author was intending.

As a mom and an older sister, I definitely connected with Calla's sense of frustration with her younger brothers. Caregivers can very easily fall into a cycle of self-sacrifice and resentment. I thought that this novel was an interesting examination of the complex relationship a caregiver has with their charges -- especially when they have a shared history of trauma.

I did find that the choice of narrator for Jamie was not quite the right fit. The narrator's voice had a very mature aspect that did not seem appropriate for a sixteen year-old. I often found myself assuming I was listening to a Dre chapter because of the maturity of the voice.

I'm glad I picked this one up and I'm excited to see what else Neena Viel has in store after this amazing debut.

Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel is an excellent debut novel. The story follows Calla who is thrown into motherhood a bit too soon for her liking when she becomes the legal guardian or her 16 years old brother, Jamie. Dre is the next eldest sibling, however he makes it clear that Calla is on her own when it comes to raising Jamie, unless it’s a convenient time for him to pop in. In addition to an already complicated situation, there’s a horror/supernatural element that is surrounding each of the 3 siblings. They are all handling this in their own secret and unhealthy way, as they are afraid to confide in each other, worried that they will sound crazy. Follow these siblings on their journey through real life experiences and supernatural forces that follows them everywhere they go!

Some readers will possibly find it hard to follow during the “read between the lines” moments as it alternates between reality and the nightmare-land.

Overall, a great read and I am interested in more from this author. The full cast narration was amazing!

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I liked how the book started off with calla as the big sister looking after her little brother jamie who's parents became addicts, calla can't sleep knowing Jamie isn't home. Jamie wants to run the streets while calla is trying to keep her job. Her middle brother Dre barley would help with Jamie. I got lost in the middle of this book confused on if it was a dream or if something was real going on with the story line or if it was past or present in the timeline of the story. This book wasn't really for me but I would recommend it to someone who can relate to it. Loved the full cast while listening to the audiobook! Thanks netgalley for the ARC of the audiobook and the publisher

A tale of vindication for the eldest daughter! (Kind of.) The genre-bending plot descriptions really interested me in this book and I fully expected to love it. But I didn’t get my bearings and start feeling like I actually knew kind of what was going on until Chapter 22. And even then, I stalled around 60% understanding for most of the rest of the book. I was actually unsure whether I’d be able to write a review because I had no idea what I’d say. I still don’t really know how to rate it fairly or accurately. From chapter to chapter, we abruptly switch narrators, timelines, locations… everything, really. The reading experience feels like the disorienting moment you wake up while on vacation and don’t remember where you are at first. But for an entire book. (To be clear, I'm sure this is the intention. And Viel does it well.)

One thing I did recognize and enjoy throughout the book was the very real and funny sibling relationship among the three main characters. Jamie’s dialogue is always peak weird little brother energy (“it’s not coke, I just sniffed the bar soap in the bathroom because it looked weird”). Also, the story — whether I was able to follow it or not — was really artfully written. I listened to the audiobook and Calla’s narrator does an especially good job bringing the prose to life. I would definitely put future books from this author on my TBR, especially if they’re narrated by the same team.

So without addressing the plot too much, my other impressions from this experience were:
- The theme of relationships. The main message I took from LTYS is that actions and words have a great effect on the people who care about you who you may take for granted.
- It could be an allegory for mental illness? I found some of it relatable, but then wondered what that says about me.
- Where did Noah go without his car?

Finally, I encourage potential readers to ignore reviews that refer to a “political agenda” or virtue signal their offense to the N words spoken between siblings. A realistic portrayal of a Black family in America isn't inherently political. The book addresses social issues as part of the context of the plot, and there’s a protest scene, but the protest itself is like the least shocking thing about that part. It’s only an “agenda” if your preferred genre is rom-coms with cartoon white people on the cover.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

Wow very powerful! What is happening in this book? I think I finally get what's going on about 60% of the way through. Such good writing but not what I was looking for at this moment in time. Trauma and drama, sibling dynamics, and really rough family situations. The surreal nature of the story makes me question what is happening.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, the author, and the narrator for the opportunity to listen to this engaging, spooky read.

Comparisons to GET OUT and STRANGER THINGS are fairly accurate with this novel. I will say, fans of BURN DOWN RISE UP will also find this book entertaining as it has a similar own voices vibe. The story follows three siblings--Calla, Dre, and Jamie--as they deal with their various traumas, and navigating the world. Calla has taken custody of Jamie, who is 16, and has his own agenda. Dre tries to help out, but ultimately, struggles with his role. All three siblings struggle with a toxic mom, parentifying, and the death of an absent father.

During a protest, everything hits the fan. An old woman steals Jamie's pipe bomb, a little girl eviscerates a cop in front of him, and a girl in a ballgown kills two bookie goons. It is up to Calla to fix everything--as always. The siblings flee to a cabin, but the problems don't stay in the city. I don't want to say too much, because the twist was excellent, but let's just say if you're haunted, you can't outrun it.

I loved the fact this book dealt with not only general spookiness, but grief, racism, trauma, and the responsibility of caring for family. It was laugh-out-loud funny at times, and really put you into the minds of all three characters. The narrators were excellent, and I look forward to the eventual adaptation of this book into a movie.