This book started great - it has an engaging plot, and the writing itself is just fantastic. The author doesn't just tell a story, but paints the story in front of the reader for a richer experience. Unfortunately, this book had so many twists and turns, not just in the storyline, but in the way it was presented. It started as cultural fiction, which I loved. The author weaves subtle comedy into a tale of everyday life for a young Black woman who is raising her younger brother while trying to keep tabs on yet another brother. The stress of this falls on Calla and we see her world unravel. The plot then moves towards the horror genre and while interesting at first, it was hard to comprehend in some spots and this ended up being a harder read for me. I kept reading because I wanted to like it and wanted to get back to enjoying it as I did in the beginning. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

DNF @ 50% 😕

I really wanted to love Listen to Your Sister, the premise pulled me in immediately, and the opening chapters had me hopeful. But as I got deeper into the book, the constant timeline jumps started to wear me down. Every time I took even a short break from reading, I’d come back completely disoriented and had to flip back just to figure out what was happening and when.

I would recommend this book to someone who reads books in one sitting or loves layered timelines, but it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for providing a digital copy for review!

I wanted to love this book, but it was a challenge to get through some of it. WHen I finally finished it - I would say itt was a fun ride and for fans of horror it will be a solid read

This is not an easy book to read. I mean that in the best way possible. The author did such an incredible job capturing real world horrors that I could feel it in my bones. Calla felt so real and I was with her every step of the way. I wanted to beat the shit out of both her brothers for taking her granted. Neither Jamie or Dre seemed to care enough to acknowledge her suffering or show appreciation for her sacrifices. The way the supernatural elements are like physical representations of her trauma, making it all hit so much harder. The added creepiness kept me glued to the page. As tough as it was to read I am so glad I stuck with it. Definitely worth pushing past the discomfort to a satisfying ending.

I struggled with the voice in this one -- reading it I felt a bit disconnected, like I couldn't figure out quite what was going on. I really had a hard time connecting with the characters and the humour didn't land for me. It's unfortunate because I typically love social horror and books dealing with racism, and I think Listen to Your Sister will have readers that really connect and love it. I wound up deciding not to finish it at about 30%.

⭐️⭐️💫

i really wanted to like this book, but it was unfortunately not a hit for me. i really didn't care for any of the characters and absolutely despised each of them. i did not care about any of them if i'm being honest, except for maybe calla a bit. i related to her oldest sister trauma, but she still irritated me.

in terms of horror, it was an interesting concept. i thought the twist was okay, but i didn't understand the ending to it. it felt kind of rushed & didn't quite make sense to me, but at least it had a happy ending.

I just couldn’t get into this book whatsoever. I will pick it up and start reading a few pages and I would lose interest and then I would find another book to read instead I tried for a solid week before I just gave up altogether. Just not a Book for me.

DNF @ 25%

I’m sorry, but I felt misled on this book, thus it wasn’t for me. The description states it is a laugh out loud horror book, but I read a quarter of the book and that is not the case at all. This book was a racial political piece and nothing happened during the first quarter of the book. The first so many pages said racism about 20 times. When I read a fictional mystery thriller, I am reading to escape the world. So I was bummed this didn’t work out since the premise sounded perfect.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Very interesting story. I enjoyed it, and would recommend it to a friend. It was hyped up, and it met with the hype!

This one has been described as Jordan Peele meets Stranger Things and I would say that I agree with that. Calla had to take care of her younger brother after their father dies. Dre, another brother, said he would help, but is he really? Overwhelmed by this responsibility, Calla has nightmares. The three siblings have to flee the city for a bit after Jamie attends a protest that gets out of control. They stay in a cabin in the woods and are they in the woods or Calla’s nightmares?

There is some really great moments of dark humor in this one. And overall I liked it. The pacing is rough though, having to trudge through the first half and then racing through the second. And in the same vein, there’s A LOT of description, enough that it makes the action clunky. But it was still a decent read and one I enjoyed more or less.

An intriguing blend of horror and family drama. I liked the eerie atmosphere and unsettling imagery, however the pacing felt a little off at times. I didn’t get all of my questions answered. Still a good read.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Did not read. Have way too many books on my shelf - need to cut back. Hoping to get to it in the future though.

Fresh, fierce, and full of heart! Listen to Your Sister is a bold and empowering read that explores sisterhood, identity, and finding your voice. With wit and warmth, Viel delivers a powerful message wrapped in sharp storytelling that sticks with you long after the final chapter. Way to go!

This story was so well done and I really enjoyed it. I enjoy reading from this author and I'm looking forward to the next book. The plot was really well explored and I enjoyed the overall story. The characters were great and I was able to dive myself into this book. It was well done and I highly recommend.

Thankyou to NetGalley and the publisher access to this eARC. All opinions are my own.

Listen to Your Sister is a wild horror ride about what it means to be the oldest sister and the parts of us we lose, gain, and make, in order to keep our siblings safe. Call is 25 and thrust into the position of mother when her youngest brother is forced into her care. Her other brother, Dre, is 20 and he’s not helping much when it comes to taking care of their little brother.

Calla has these nightmarish dreams that completely ignore the rules of wake and sleep and reality. Whenever Calla has one of them, she knows her brothers are in danger and prays for them to be kept safe. Little does she know, those prayers really are being answered.

There was a level of cosmic horror to this for me that I adored.

Calla’s youngest brother is, to put it lightly, an entire asshole. Jaime uses drugs, ignores his sister’s rules and is hurting to much that he only knows how to do one thing: lash out. He’s also an activist in his own way.

The sibling relationship is the book was great. I absolutely understood Call’s drive to fix everything while also wanting her life to go back to normal. Love can take a lot of forms and it can also do a lot of harm when everyone is forced into a position they aren’t ready for.

Honestly, this book was a thrill ride that had me feeling all kinds of emotions as an older sister. The way I was nodding along and screaming as I read lol y’all I was a mess. This book is fantastic piece of work and I highly, highly recommend everyone read it.

Also, if you can get ahold of it on audiobook, do so. It is a fantastic experience to listen to, it’s almost like a theater piece.

I give this a 5 star rating, would be higher if I could.

Wow! This one was really well written and had a really ominous and creepy undertone throughout the entire book. Not many books give me that feeling and this was one of them! I wish I could read it again all over again.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for a copy of this book. This was a DNF for me. I was bummed because it sounded exactly like something I would like.

Listen to Your Sister was unexpected. It’s a thriller/supernatural/ family drama all in one. It kept my attention the entire read and was surprisingly deep and heartbreaking at the same time. People are multi faceted and this book showed just that.

The story jumps right into the family drama. Jamie is a bit of troublemaker and has been acting especially reckless since his mother handed guardianship over to his sister, Calla. Jamie is full of personality - equally likable and frustrating. You can easily see how his acting out is tied to trauma and his feelings of abandonment. Calla has been doing everything in her power to protect Jamie from himself and his bad decisions. She has shifted her entire life to care for her brother, but Jamie's acting out has been making it harder and harder for Calla to handle him and keep her life together. On the brink of losing her job and constantly worrying about Jamie, Calla feels overwhelmed and alone. Their middle brother, Dre, was supposed to help Calla care for Jamie, but Dre has rarely been around to help. More focused on his own life and his career as a chef, Dre finds Calla too overbearing and overreactive. When he does show up, he generally sides with Jamie and basically tells Calla to chill out. Calla, however, is plagued by constant nightmares of her brothers dying and is on the brink of losing control.

I loved the family dynamic of this book. I found each character unique and felt like I got a good understanding of each one. I could feel Calla's frustration and isolation wafting off the pages. I just wanted to scream at Jamie and Dre to get their acts together and treat their sister better. But in equal measures, I could understand their own feelings as well. While they took Calla for granted, they had their own resentments and trauma that they were dealing with. The family bond between them was incredibly strong and the author really made her characters come to life.

Now, in all honesty, I struggled initially with this book. I was really interested at first, but as the story progressed it became confusing and hard to tell reality from dreams. I spent at least half of this book having no idea what was going on to the point where I considered DNFing it. But I decided to push through and I'm glad I did. Once we finally get to the cabin, things started to make more sense, and the story really took off from there. At that point, I was really invested and had to know how it ended.

I can definitely see how this book could draw comparisons to Jordan Peele. There is definitely a social and political commentary aspect to this book mixed with spots of humor that works well in this speculative horror. I also got some old school Nightmare on Elm Street vibes from it, which I enjoyed. Overall, I think this was a unique story with characters that steal your heart.

Couldn’t get into this book. Not sure if the writing style or characters. Not sure if I will read more by this author.