Okay, I tried really hard to like this book. So many have given this book a positive review.

That being said and me being totally honest, I found it hard to keep up with the pace. I felt I was bouncing back and forth between the characters and reality. And I'm not a fan of some of the language used. I really struggled to finish this one..

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Neena Viel's debut horror novel intrigued me when I first heard about it from Macmillan's upcoming books webinar. I really liked the concept behind "Listen to Your Sister", in which the mounting resentment and stress of emotional labor placed on Black women to keep their families together monstrously manifests. I also liked how Viel played with the well worn haunted house trope too. The book's biggest strength is focusing on the relationships between the three siblings: Calla who has been recently dubbed as the guardian to her younger brother Jamie and the middle brother Dre who promises to help Calla out in raising Jamie but conveniently finds ways to do his own thing. I definitely had a hard time in the first half of the book to get my bearings on the plot which I would describe as chaotic. Things begin to solidify in the second half of the book once we learn about the history of the family and the various examples of Calla's emotional labor. I would personally have preferred if we got a slow progression to the horrors instead of them popping up in random places without any context. Viel succeeds in creating some truly creepy imagery. The insertion of dark laugh out loud humor helps undercut the gore and tension.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan/St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book.

On a positive note, I really liked the narrators in the audiobook. They had a way of making each POV their own, so you feel as if you're really reading about three siblings with different personalities vying for each other's love and respect.

But other than that, this felt more lit fic with a focus on character studies, and sadly, that isn't really my thing.

If I had known that this was more about the characters' interpersonal relationships as siblings, I probably wouldn't have picked this up. Sure, there was horror, and a glimpse into racism, but a lot of this book hinged on knowing and familiarizing with all three siblings and their family dynamics.

The horror aspect was heavily based on Calla's role and responsibilities as the eldest sister and motherly figure to her brothers. Jamie was the odd one out, having been "saved" from the foster care system by his older siblings. Dre is the classic middle child.

I felt like this novel really dragged, especially since the set-up is based on getting the reader to really know and understand the characters. After that, it became a house of horrors situation where each character had to reconcile with the whole gamut of their feelings and emotions towards each other, especially Calla.

If you're into horror based on sibling ties, then this might be for you. While this didn't work out for me, I know others might like this book.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for this arc.

A horrifying tale about a family ravaged by dysfunction, and the steps they will take to come together. This haunting book takes you into the minds of Calla, Dre, and Jamie, a group of siblings that have had to build their lives after their father passing away, and leaving their angry mother. Jamie comes under the guardianship of Calla, and the siblings are forced to reckon with their past as odd dream like situations and people come into their lives. This was a fast-paced, funny book that read like a movie! I loved it!

3.5 stars

This one is for Jordan Peele fans. It's part family-drama, part horror, and part dark humour, the author blends it all perfectly in one novel. It's tense from beginning to end, and it's a great debut noel.

Hell of a horror novel that focuses on three siblings in the aftermath of the youngest sibling making a truly stupid fucking mistake, their past together, and all their perceptions and worst fears coming true on one night as they try to navigate hiding from the cops and staying alive, and the nightmare that ends up unfolding around them. Pre order this now.

This one is almost indescribable. Not at all what I expected, but a wild journey through the heart of a family. Calla would do anything for her brothers, this is that story. How family can destroy you and save you, simultaneously. Just don't expect a linear, conventional story, this is a fever dream told with blood, soaked with pain.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillian for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

It is so, so good. Read it! You will never be the same.

Enjoyed every chapter. It kept getting better and better.

Highly recommend.

After gaining custody of her youngest brother, Jamie, Calla's life has been nothing but stressful. The sixteen-year-old's drug use, fighting, and philandering have gotten him into legal hot water more times than she can count, hurting her career and personal life. To make matters worse, their middle sibling, the fastidious and stylish Dre, is conveniently busy or tired whenever she asks for his help. When an incident at a protest makes Jamie look like a cop killer, the family is forced into hiding in a dilapidated cabin in the woods. Secrets are painfully revealed, nightmares become real, mysterious women begin attacking them, and the siblings' feelings towards one another are put to the test.

'Listen to Your Sister' is a lot of things--it's a heartwarming story about siblings learning how important they are to one another. It's a horror story about repressing your emotions and trying to overextend your reach. It's funny as hell, especially when Jamie is speaking or is the point-of-view character. Most importantly, 'Listen to Your Sister' is unapologetically black. From the constant worry from the Williams siblings about becoming statistics to the absence of characters existing for white comfort (y'know, the supportive white friend or authority figure who exists so sensitive white readers can see them and say 'not all of us are like that!'. Self-reflection doesn't hurt!), Neena Viel punctuates her characters with weave colors, sneaker choices, and rap lyrics. And the characters are the heart of 'Listen to Your Sister', with each Williams sibling feeling like a real person. I work with so many teens who remind me of Jamie; getting involved with drug use that I can't even imagine at that age, feeling the need to prove themselves to adults who see them as children, and having ambitious ideas without the means to execute them. Dre is a relatable middle child--frequently feeling ignored and that he needs to claw out his own individuality, since he's had to share everything with his siblings growing up. That said, and an eldest daughter, I couldn't help but relate to Calla--a neurotic mess who wants to be a gentle role-model to the point of being a pushover. Calla was the most relatable older sister I've read since Lenny in Beth Henley's 'Crimes of the Heart', and I equally enjoyed and cringed at her.

I don't want to say too much about the plot because I don't want to spoil it, especially the true nature of Calla's reoccurring Nightmare.. The cabin doesn't come into play until about one-third into the story, but the book moves at a great pace and everything that happens before the AirBnB from Hell helps to establish the characters. This book might not be for you if you're looking for a nonstop thriller, but if you like character-driven family dramas with a paranormal twist, I cannot recommend this enough.

So often I'll read books on NetGalley that I'll give a four or five star review because it's a thorough, well-written book, even if it's not something I'd enjoy enough to recommend. 'Listen to Your Sister' is not one of these situations--it's a wildly enjoyable book and I had so much fun with it. It's not even 2025 yet, but this has already earned a space on my 'best of the year' list.

Damn! This description delivers: “ The old woman's neck was a shade too long to be natural. A black net extended from a wide-brimmed hat and shielded her face. The hat was more unsettling than Freddy Krueger's fedora or the Babadook's top hat, the grandmother equivalent of a nineteen-inch dick: no one would dare join this woman's pew at church, even if they could fit.”

I would like to say that my nightmares protect people from disasters but unfortunately not. They simply terrorize me like they terrorized the siblings in the second half of the book. the creativity of the sister’s nightmare is giving mine money for their run.

Neena Viel created a world where you would be scared to go to sleep or be a sibling of a very protective sibling. The language of this book was a I expected to be: raw, worthy of three siblings love and hate each other, and incredibly new generation. I would be on the look out for more of Neena’s books.

Neena Viel, in Listen to Your Sister, demonstrates remarkable talent with her literary writing in this book, weaving poetic prose and vivid descriptions that captivate readers from the very beginning in how descriptive she is with the unfortunate lives of Calla and her brothers. Moreover, she also excelled at capturing electrifying moments of horror, which often left me breathless with anxiety-inducing moments. These pivotal scenes are gripping and immersive, making the reader feel the dread and suspense at the heart of the story.

However, the novel stumbles with its reliance on excessive retrospective moments. While some backstory is necessary, there were too many instances where the narrative veered off course to delve into the lives of every character, often in ways that felt irrelevant to the central plot. This overabundance of detail disrupts the pacing, climax in the plot, making the book feel unnecessarily long and, at times, arduous to read. At times, I was wondering, “Why is this here?” “What am I reading?” “How is this relevant?”

The blending of horror and fantasy elements adds intrigue, but it also creates confusion about the story’s identity. Is it primarily horror? Is it a dark fantasy tale? This ambiguity becomes especially pronounced after Chapter 21, where the narrative seems to lose its direction. For example, Calla’s brothers became afraid of her as it appeared she was being possessed by some dark force. Then, they were being chased by the “women” that had been following them. Subsequently, the next morning, Jamie was sitting with his sister as she made French toast! Wait! What just happened here…. So, did the sister possess witch-like abilities? The lack of clarity left me needing immediate answers to ensure I could continue reading.

By the time I reached Chapter 23, I found myself struggling to understand the story’s trajectory. The plot became muddled, and the motivations of the characters grew increasingly opaque. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t push past the lack of cohesion in the latter part of the book.

Overall, Listen to Your Sister shines in its moments of literary brilliance and chilling horror, but the uneven pacing, extraneous details, and unclear genre focus detract from its potential. Readers who enjoy atmospheric prose and layered storytelling might still find value here, but patience is required to navigate its more perplexing sections.

I can’t believe this is a debut—Neena Viel’s (Nightmare) world-building and complex characters are incredibly vivid, and I felt completely immersed in this story and the lives of the siblings.

I loved Calla as a protagonist, and I related to her eldest daughter rage (and protectiveness) on several levels. This was a really unique read, and I loved it in so many ways. I’m struggling to review this without getting spoilery. The marketing for this book so far hasn’t really touched on what’s at the heart of the story, so while yes, there’s a creepy cabin, the creepy cabin isn’t really central to the story/its themes. Just be prepared to expect the unexpected and enjoy the ride!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s for the ARC!

DNF for me, due to the writing. While the premise of this one did sound really interesting to me, I couldn’t get past the overly descriptive, overly flowery writing. I know that some people really do appreciate that, the beautiful and lyrical descriptions, but I don’t. I want a story not a poem. I hope that other readers who appreciate literary writing really like this one, because it does sound good, it just didn’t work for me.

I was excited to read this book because it sounded interesting. However, this was not the book for me. I was not a fan of the writing style and the story just felt too chaotic. I hate giving negative reviews but I have to be honest.

This is very different than I thought it was going to be. I thought it would be more of a horror story. It had gory parts but it wasn’t scary. It was more of a sci-fi fantasy. I was going to DNF it, and I probably should’ve, but I pushed on through.

A main theme of the book was the bond between siblings. I thought Calla and her brothers were interesting characters, but the story was too convoluted. I thought it started off strong, but it eventually became too crazy and my brain started to hurt.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an eARC via NetGalley for review.

Holly heck!! This one right here is one to hold onto. Hold onto for wherever you are sitting at. It’s a WILD WILD ride! Family drama, etc, it’s all in here!!! A good thriller read!

Oh my goodness this was so good! This book immediately sucked me in and I could not put it down. Nothing was predictable and it was a perfect combination of suspense and the supernatural. The characters were well developed and the story line was well fleshed out. All around this was a great read and I'm sad to be finished with it.

This is one of those books, that leaves you wondering what you just read. Tons of heavy subjects discussed throughout as well so if family and child trauma trigger you, please be warned. If you like books that seem like a fever dream, this is up your alley. Overall, I enjoyed it but not one I would want to read again. Thanks, NetGalley for the aRC>

Listen To Your Sister is one of those rare books that manages to be equal parts terrifying and laugh-out-loud funny while still packing a big emotional punch. Calla, already totally overwhelmed by the responsibility of raising her teenage brother Jamie, is basically done with feeling abandoned by their middle sibling Dre—especially since her nightmares about losing them never stop.

When Jamie stirs up chaos at a protest, the three siblings find themselves fleeing to a creepy, middle-of-nowhere cabin straight out of a bad slasher movie. Naturally, that’s when the terror really ramps up. The nightmare visions Calla’s been trying to ignore? They start bleeding into reality in ways that’ll keep you flipping pages way past your bedtime.

It’s scary, it’s hilarious, and at its core, it’s a sweet ode to the messy, fierce bonds of family. If you’re looking for a book that’ll make you gasp, laugh, and maybe even tear up, this one definitely delivers.

This was so well done as a horror novel, it had that feel that I was looking for and enjoyed the concept of this. The plot was everything that I was looking for and enjoyed the suspenseful atmosphere that I was looking for and enjoyed getting to read this. Neena Viel has a strong writing style and enjoyed the way this was written.

This book started out with a strong premise and strong complex characters. And while I did enjoy the start of the twist at the midpoint, it all started to be a bit confusing to me as they entered the cabin. Perhaps I should caveat and mention that while I love horror stories with nightmare elements, I’m not a huge fan of narratives that take place within dreams/nightmares. and where large parts of the story are essentially dream like sequences with little grounding to reality. I think this is mostly personal preference though, so I would still recommend this book if you enjoy an odd and complicated horror novel about family and sibling ties.