“There were only two of us in the woods that day. One of us is missing, and one of us is left behind.”

Delia Skinner’s childhood ended the day her best friend was kidnapped right in front of her. She was seven and has lived in heartache every day since, for the past ten years. To cope with her feelings, Dee creates a podcast known as Radio Silence, which helps to highlight, and even solve some missing cases. I loved Dee and I really enjoyed reading about Radio Silence. Every few chapters in the book we would have a transcript of the podcast and it was so interesting to read. Dee’s character was very developed and her growth throughout the novel was remarkable. Dee has this quite strength about her and I love female characters like that.

My favourite aspect of the book was the plot. I LOVE MYSTERY novels and SAPPHIC MYSTERY? Even better. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see how the book would end and it was worth it. The book is slower than some mysteries I’ve read, but for this book – it works. I also enjoyed the romantic subplot. Sarah was adorable and Dee deserved some happiness.

“-the music slows, we end up swaying around in circles, breathing each other in, and everything is perfect.”

If I had one criticism it would be that I wasn’t a big fan of Dee’s best friend, Burke. He needed to be smacked with some growth …. or smacked in general. He was horrible to her at times, though his character was nicely developed as the jerky best friend. Though bear in mind – This could just be me as I have reached my last tether with men in books.

If you’re looking for a nice YA mystery to read this Halloween, or maybe you just want to read about sapphics solving some crimes, or one girl who will do anything to find out the truth. If so, I totally recommend I Hope You’re Listening.

Ten years ago, Dee saw her best friend, Sibby, abducted, but any information she could give the police wasn't enough to find her missing friend. Now Dee is "The Seeker", anonymously hosting one of the most popular true crime podcasts. Radio Silent tackles cases of missing people, and Dee's listeners become investigators working to find those who are lost.

Now, another neighborhood girl has gone missing, but Dee is torn about covering her case for the podcast. People are starting to link this new case with Sibby's, and Dee has to decide how much she wants answers and how much she wants anonymity.

Of course, I was immediately hooked by the main character being a true crime podcast host, and transcripts of the fictional podcasts being included in the book. The podcast was almost a character in itself, and is absolutely crucial to the plot. The romantic relationship between Dee and Sarah feels realistic and grounded, and I like that it is not a source of drama, but a source of strength. The twists and turns are really great, and the ending solutions really pack a punch.

I would definitely recommend this book. I got completely caught up in it and could not put it down.

I Hope You're Listening by Tom Rya is a wonderful and unique young adult mystery, that I really enjoy. Ten years ago Delia “Dee” Skinner went into the woods with her best friend Sibby, and she is the only one who came out. Sibby's disappearance has bother Dee since, of course she was very traumatized. Although Dee was only 7 at the time, she always blamed her self. I love the podcast, and the mystery around it. This book kept me reading until I was finished. Dee also has a lesbian romance but it is a very small part of the book. I can't wait to read more books by this author. I highly recommend this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved I Hope You're Listening just as much as I adored Tom Ryan's first book, Keep This to Yourself, maybe even more! Tom has such a unique voice in YA, and it truly shines. I recommend Keep This to Yourself to my teen patrons often, and this one will be no different!

This YA mystery book. Dee has witnessed the kidnapping of her best friend and has given her life to helping to bring home other kidnapping victims. She lives with the guilt that despite what she told the police her best friend was never found. When another young girl in town goes missing and the police think it is connected to her best friends kidnapping, Dee decides that she is going to find out what happened to her best friend.

Throughly enjoyed this one! It gave me Sadie vibes another podcast-y book that had me hooked. 10/10 recommend this one.

I found this book incredibly engrossing and easy to read. I practically flew through it.
I've read quite a few teen thrillers and enjoyed this one more than most. I liked the main character quite a bit and always found her interesting. I wish I like the side characters as much but they were a little under developed.
I didn't see the ending coming and while I mostly enjoyed it, I think many people will feel a bit annoyed with it.
The exploration of trauma was handled pretty well and was the most interesting part of the novel for me.

After weeks of trying and failing to read dense fantasy books, I finally picked this one up and devoured it in a day! It was an engrossing. fun read that kept me interested the whole way through, and although the ending didn't *quite* satisfy me - I felt there were things that still required more explanation, and I had the impression it was building to a darker conclusion - I still enjoyed it a lot!

Other than the ending, my only minor complaint was the romance - I adored the queer f/f dynamic, but they came together so easily I was almost certain there was going to be some kind of betrayal to shake things up (ie. Sarah revealing Dee's secret). In the end there was nothing of the sort, which was nice I suppose, but for me it added to the feeling that everything worked out a little TOO easily.

That said, this is the second book of Tom's that's kept me glued to the page (KEEP THIS TO YOURSELF was also good!), and I loved the podcast element of this one. I would certainly recommend it to others, especially teens.

Another fantastically thrilling mystery from Tom Ryan! The mix of podcast, childhood mystery, and current situation is well done, and reminiscent of Courtney Summers's "Sadie". The teen characters and relationships feel real, and the acceleration of the mystery towards the end makes the book impossible to put down.

I’m not the biggest fan of thrillers and mystery stories, because it triggers my anxiety like no other. However, when I saw this book on NetGalley, I was very intrigued, mostly because I adore listening to podcasts and it was a cool concept for a book to me.

As I haven’t read many suspenseful, mystery books, I can’t judge on whether this story was cliché or well thought out as it’s not my speciality. I did truly enjoy it though. It was very well written, that’s something I can say, plus it has some wonderful LGBTQ+ representation by the main characters.

As I’m sure you can tell, I can’t really talk about this book a whole lot. It’s mostly because it’s a new genre to me and I don’t know how to review it correctly, honestly. I also don’t know if I would want to read a lot more thrillers and mysteries, but this one sure was fun for a change!

An intriguing read from start to finish. I enjoyed watching the characters work together to solve the mystery.

I Hope You’re Listening is an emotional, socially-aware, and complex thriller that focuses on how trauma impacts people in different degrees. It doesn’t sensationalize the mystery, but rather shows how sensationalizing mysteries can be harmful. It's socially aware, and also implements technology and modern online detective work, and how people online can use their skills for good, in contrast with common depictions of online groups. The book has decent lgbtq+ representation, pacing, (main) character and plot development, but leaves some of its secondary and side characters wanting. For all its good pacing, however, I Hope You’re Listening ends with a rushed arc that arose from decisions that felt contrary to the main character’s behavior.
Full review here: https://fictionfixerreads.wordpress.com/2020/10/20/arc-review-i-hope-youre-listening/

Slow Building But Definitely Delivers

I have always loved reading books with different methods of narration, like using podcast formats. This is why when an invite to join the tour for I Hope You're Listening, I hopped on the chance to join.

The YA thriller subgenre keeps on calling out to me and I admit that it's quite hard to resist! They (almost) always impress me, or at least, satisfy me. Well, this one definitely did!

I Hope You're Listening brought me to the life of Delia "Dee" Skinner. Ten years ago, she witnessed her bestfriend Sibby get abducted. She was left behind and she feels guilty about it. So, she created the podcast Radio silent to help bring light to missing person's cases and have them solved. It blows up, but here's the thing, people don't know she's the one behind it.

In their small town, 10 years after the traumatic event changed her life, another girl goes missing. Dee is compelled to help, but what if this entails bringing her past back to the spotlight?

Ahhh, sounds good, right?

I loved how intriguing the premise of the book was and that it had mysteries within the mystery through the podcast. It made my mind more alert in diving into the story.. and it made me like the book more.

On a side note, I also loved how Dee's sexuality was handled in the story. Her parents' and friends' behavior towards. The romance is very little.. but it was very cute.

Now, towards the end, I have to admit that the resolutions made me go "Hmmm?". The plot twist is not what I was expecting, but I was in need of a little more shock factor than was provided.

All in all, this book is the perfect October read. There were many spooky parts and the mystery was good. It was a thrill to read, I promise!

I've honestly never listened to podcasts, but after reading I Hope You're Listening. After reading this book that may just need to change. I loved how our main character's podcast was intertwined with this story and how something created to make a character feel she was doing something turned out to become something so big.

The main character Dee has experienced something traumatic. Her best friend was kidnapped when they were younger. She was there that day and it's something that still haunts her. This is something she always carries with her, but even more so now when a little girl is taken from her old house. I really liked Dee as a character. After experiencing something like that she still tries to live her life and even help through a true crime podcast to help find missing people. I can't imagine how it feels to know you're still here when your best friend isn't. I loved how determined she was and strong. Yeah, she may have been a bit reckless at times, but I can completely understand that.

I loved the mystery in I Hope You're Listening. I tried solving the puzzle along with our main characters, but I wouldn't have guessed how this was going to end. It fit the story really well though and I love when an author takes a story to a place I didn't see coming. The author created an atmospheric book that kept me reading. As always with mysteries, you really need to experience it yourself. I do know that I'll be looking into the author's other books after loving this one.

I really wanted to like this book. Not that I didn't, but I wanted it to be a 5-star read. It wasn't. I love reading the occasional mystery thriller, they always surprise me. However, I was a little disappointed with this one.

My main gripe is with the characters. I felt no connection to any of them, and Dee didn't have much in the way of a personality. Several side characters are completely irrelevant to this story and the romance just came out of nowhere. This was quite a quick read, but there's definitely more space to explore the characters.

The setting is pretty creepy. The snow-covered town and the surrounding woods give off a perfectly mysterious atmosphere and I loved it. I also enjoyed the podcast episodes and how Dee uses the podcast to help people. It makes the story really heartwarming and I'm really glad everything worked out well.

Sometimes you just need something to go right, especially in 2020.

I love listening to podcasts! And especially true crime ones. Mystery novels are some of my favorite stories to read and I was just super excited for this blog tour and this book. I hadn't heard of the author before but I can tell you I really liked his writing style and will definitely pick up more books by him in the future.

We get a really compelling mystery. Ten years ago a girl was kidnapped and our main character was left behind. And now another girl has gone missing. Are the cases linked? Or do we have two separate cases? I really liked following this mystery and of course I tried to solve it before our characters do. About 75% into the story we got a tiny clue that helped me solve about half of the mystery. I was so proud of myself haha. And I really liked the way that part played out. The other half I didn't guess at all! And I'll admit I think that part went a bit fast. I would've liked to see that developed a little bit more.

Delia 'Dee' Skinner is our main character and I really liked her. She experienced something incredibly traumatic and I can't even imagine going trough that. Her parents are very supportive and I enjoyed their dynamic. She started her podcast to try and help in a way she couldn't when her best friend got kidnapped. I loved the little snippets we got of the podcast. Burke is Dee's other best friend and he was quite interesting. I would've liked to see a bit more of him and think he was a bit under-utilised. He was also super supportive and deals with the trauma in his own way. And lastly we have Sarah, Dee's new neighbour. She was an okay character, we don't really learn that much about her and I didn't particularly care about her. She was only important to me because she was important to Dee.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and the characters. The mystery was good and loved trying to solve it before Dee did. I will for sure pick up another book by Tom Ryan!

Wow! It was such a fun book!

The story follows Dee, an inconspicuous teenager from a small town. There are two unusual things about her: as a child she'd witnessed her best friend's kidnapping, and now, she's the host of a very popular crime podcast.

Now she's investigating disappearances on the other side of the county, while a little girl disappears from the home she used to live in as a child. Here to help, is a friend, Burke, and a new friend, Sarah, who may become something more soon enough *wiggles eyebrows*

The characters were lovable and the story just flew seamlessly, making me think of old-fashioned crime dramas (Veronika Mars, anyone?). The crime mystery and its conclusion came in as a surprise. It was really difficult to predict what would happen. But worry not, all ends well. It's not Sharp Objects. It's more like Fluffy Objects. And the romance sub-plot is as non-invasive as possible, yet quite cute.

I was really excited to grab this one. It seemed the perfect timing with it. If you are like me you reach for more atmospheric books or more thriller/mysteries at this time of year. I Hope You’re Listening did not disappoint.

When Dee, was 7 years old she witness her best friend Sibby get kidnapped while they were playing out in the woods. From then on Dee was never the same. Who would be really? Learning to live with the guilt of being the gilr left behind while trying to move on with her life, Dee helps solve missing person cases by by being the anonymous voice behind a famous podcast. When another girl goes missing 10 years after Sibby’s disappearance, Dee is forced to look into her past to find answers.

I really enjoyed the format of I Hope You’re Listening. Though most parts are in Dee’s POV, we do get a couple chapters that are transcripts from the podcast and its current investigation. I do wish there was an audiobook for it, I would’ve loved to listen at the same time and have a full on cast for these.

I really enjoyed Dee’s character. I thought she was very personable and precisely what I envision a person with her life story would be like. She was a bit of a loner, always questioning what she could’ve done to help her childhood friend while trying to move one from her past.

Also, can we just take a moment to acknowledge that thoughq Dee is queer there is no coming out tag line here. It’s just so natural and organic. She doesn’t explain it or tell people, it’s just already a known fact. I appreciated this a lot. I find that in a lot of books there’s always a coming out moment and though I understand why sometimes this just felt super natural and refreshing to just have it there already, if you understand what I mean.

Without spoiling aything, I have to say that the book took a twist that I was not expecting at all. I thought I had it figured out right from the start but turns out I was way off, lol. I really liked that it surprised me in that way. Sometimes these type of books are very predictable but I thought Tom Ryan brought something inexpected to this one.

If you are looking for a good mystery thriller with a feel of true crime, I highly suggest grabbing I Hope You’re Listening.

I read this book as part of the blog tour hosted by TBR & Beyond Tours. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 3.5 stars (rounded up)

Ever since listening to and absolutely loving Sadie last year, I've been on the hunt for more mysteries/thrillers that utilise the podcast format and I'm glad that I found that in I Hope You're Listening. Even better, the use of the podcast here shed light on an interesting aspect of true crime-solving that I've never seen mentioned explicitly before in either YA or adult mysteries. There were some unexplained deductions that confused me but I still really enjoyed this book and sped through it in a matter of hours!

I thought this was a well-written mystery and Ryan really managed to pique my interest and suck me in from the beginning. There were actually a few mysteries to solve in the story, but the main mystery was quite intricately woven. It ended up being a lot bigger than I expected and took a direction that I didn't foresee, which kept me eager to know what happened. But I do feel Ryan relied on a lot of coincidences to solve it.

Our protagonist, Dee, was an interesting character and there's a somewhat despondent aura that hangs over her. She feels responsible for her best friend's kidnapping when they were just children, and has let that feeling consume her life. But it also resulted in her starting the podcast: Radio Silent--my favourite aspect of this story. Although I'm guilty of never having listened to true crime podcasts IRL, I imagine Radio Silent would stand out for what it sets out to do, which is to mobilise Laptop Detectives to help solve disappearances. It's such a cool concept to think of all these people listening in and working together to solve mysteries and then actually solving them too! I really liked that this book recognised the work they do to help. It was fantastic!

Dee lives with her family in a different house in the same town but she never got past the "survivor's guilt". She has a wonderful support system from her parents who were lovely and I wished we saw more of them! Dee's secretive, smart, and determined, but I have to admit that I struggled with her at times. For such a smart person, she made some fairly non-sensical decisions, but she was also quite selfish. I suppose that could be her "teenage attitude", but it frustrated me when it came to her friendship with Burke. They've been BFFs since they were kids (including with Sibby), and my heart really broke for him in this book, especially with some of the things he says. I felt that he DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER than Dee's friendship. He was always there to support her and did a lot to help her, but I felt she always discounted his opinions and friendship, plus where was she when he needed her most?

There was an f/f romance that I thought happened very abruptly--one minute it was tiptoeing around feelings and the next it was full-on and I wish it had been better developed. It didn't play that big a role though so I wasn't too bothered, and it did eventually help Dee shrug off her reluctant shell. What did frustrate me though was how certain things were left unexplained. For starters, someone solved the mystery of who The Seeker was and we never learn how. Dee kept herself anonymous on the podcast and being found out was one of her main worries, yet when this person figured it out, Dee never asked how? It didn't fit. My other frustration had to do with how the final mystery was solved. I *still* don't know how the person came to this conclusion and it confused me since it was a light-bulb moment that seemed to come out of nowhere, and then it was solved.

TL;DR: If you love the podcast format in mysteries/thrillers, you should definitely check this out. It takes a format that's been used a few times now but introduces a new and unique aspect by focusing on the Laptop Detectives that help solve cases. This was a well-written book with several mysteries woven into the story, and while that might seem overwhelming, they were all so compelling and intriguing! If this gets an audiobook, I think it will be even more amazing :)

Relies too much on coincidence, though its characters were compelling enough to pull me through the plot problems. A decent enough mystery, but I expected better from this author after his terrific debut. Alas!