This was a wildly dark, yet moving exploration of the burden that comes with being the the eldest female sibling. Cee is a fierce, flawed sister with two younger brothers who rely on and take her for granted. Through a horror lens, she and the boys grapple with complex emotions, family trauma and drama, and the nature of sacrifice.

Calla is 25 and the newly appointed guardian of her youngest brother, Jamie. Suffering from recurring nightmares of both her brothers in danger, she is barely keeping them all afloat. When an accident happens, Calla flees with her bothers to a deserted cabin only to discover her are nightmares becoming real. I liked the characters however, I found the story very confusing to follow and many times did not know if we were in a dream, present time, or the past. Looking forward to future books by this author. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read, and review Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel. Available to purchase on February 4, 2025.

Our main character Calla is 25, and at this young age she is watching over her two brothers, especially Jamie the youngest. She overwhelmed trying to provide for her family as well as keeping them out of trouble. Calla has nightmares that seem to predict what might happen to her family if she doesn't act fast. Jamie goes to a rally with his friends and chaos ensues. Ramifications happen immediately and all three siblings need to get out of town fast. They choose a cabin that looks like something out of a horror movie. Here they face a new threat .....

For me this one is a no. I don't do well with novels that read like a fever dream or do not have a definitive easy to follow plot. Unfortunately, I had to DNF this one around the 40 % mark. There are lots of readers that dig this vibe up, but I'm not one of them. I was ready for a horror trope but got more social horror. Listen to Your Sister is available now at all major retailers. Happy Reading!!

Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel is an eerie blend of family drama and psychological horror, centering on the complex bond between siblings. Calla, overwhelmed by the responsibility of raising her younger brother Jamie, struggles with relentless nightmares of her brothers’ deaths. When Jamie’s involvement in a protest turns dangerous, the siblings flee to an isolated cabin—only to find themselves trapped in a chilling, reality-bending nightmare where Calla’s visions may not just be dreams.

Viel crafts a gripping atmosphere with strong character dynamics, especially in Calla’s deep-rooted fear and frustration. However, the pacing wavers, and the horror elements, while unsettling, sometimes feel underdeveloped. The novel shines in its exploration of sibling loyalty and trauma but doesn’t fully deliver on its thriller potential. A solid read for those who enjoy slow-burning psychological suspense with a touch of the supernatural.

Well this was a wild fever dream of a novel. There was a lot I liked about it-- the three siblings' point-of-view shifts were engaging and different, and the visuals are definitely scary. The last third lost steam for me-- I found it difficult to wrap my brain around what was happening, which drops this to a 3-star for me.

DNF at ~30% - I had a hard time getting into the story, I felt for Calla trying to keep her family together but struggled with Jamie and his motivations and why he just kept making the absolutely wrong decisions at each point in the story. Thank you to NetGalley and to St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy.

Good horror is unsettling more than terrifying, at least in my opinion. And that’s precisely what LISTEN TO YOUR SISTER is. This book is about a trio of siblings who have been held together by the oldest sister for far too long - and the burden is beginning to take its toll. Calla has sacrificed her career, her prospects, and her safety for her two younger brothers for their entire lives. She is plagued by nightmares that leave her screaming all hours of the night, constantly in protective mode for her brothers, two young Black men in a world full of violent threats against them. It all comes to a tumultuous head after Jamie, the youngest, is involved in a protest that ends up with a dead police officer in an alley. To escape, the siblings go to a cabin in the woods - but it turns out, the cause of those relentless nightmares follows them.

This book asks how far we will go to protect our loved ones and leaves the reader with an astonishing conclusion. It is chilling at times but still has levity - the banter between the siblings is always perfectly timed. That being said, I struggled conceptually with many of the scenes, and was left with more than a few questions about the events that unfolded. Not every writing style is for everyone, and just because this wasn’t right for me doesn’t mean it won’t resonate for other readers. If you are a fan of Jordan Peele, especially “Us”, this should definitely find its way onto your list.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy. All opinions are entirely my own.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

I really loved this one! I am not the best at writing reviews sometimes, but sometimes books take you by surprise and this one did just that. I got invested a few chapters in and couldn't put it done. It was so good! I highly recommend this one.

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of Listen to Your Sister, by Neena Viel, from St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

Loved the way this started out. Smart, funny, anxious-making, some believable magical realism. It in fact was so anxious-making that I thought it would be a good thing to calm down a little before reading the second third of it.

Next day, second third: What the wha? What in the convoluted-y? OK, yeah, picking up on the general idea, but having a hard time following…..

Next day, final third: Only reading this to see how it ends. At some point there is magical realism and at some point there is just a big ol’ buncha mess that I can’t make my way through.

Summation: Core of this was a great story; girlfriend needed a harsher editor.

Note To Future Kristi: Give Neena Viel another chance, this was her first novel.

Note To Certain People Who Have Already Read & Reviewed This Book: Oh my holy fucking cow, why in the world would you think it would _not_ deal with racial politics? Did you take a special course in stupid? This book did a fine job addressing such (until the convoluted-y….). How did you not know going in that that was gonna be an underlying theme (if not overarching?).

Wait, wait….are we Of The Left allowed to say “racial politics” now without inviting the Hitler Youth 2.0 to our doorstep?

Sigh.

DESCRIPTION
Most Anticipated by Goodreads, BookRiot, Polygon, Screenrant and more!

For fans of Jordan Peele’s films, Stranger Things, and The Other Black Girl, Listen To Your Sister is a laugh-out-loud, deeply terrifying, and big-hearted speculative horror novel from electrifying debut talent Neena Viel.

Twenty-five year old Calla Williams is struggling since becoming guardian to her brother, Jamie. Calla is overwhelmed and tired of being the one who makes sacrifices to keep the family together. Jamie, full of good-natured sixteen-year-old recklessness, is usually off fighting for what matters to him or getting into mischief, often at the same time. Dre, their brother, promised he would help raise Jamie–but now the ink is dry on the paperwork and in classic middle-child fashion, he’s off doing his own thing. And through it all, The Nightmare never stops haunting Calla: recurring images of her brothers dying that she is powerless to stop.

When Jamie’s actions at a protest spiral out of control, the siblings must go on the run. Taking refuge in a remote cabin that looks like it belongs on a slasher movie poster rather than an AirBNB, the siblings now face a new threat where their lives–and reality–hang in the balance. Their sister always warned them about her nightmares. They really should have listened.

“A knockout debut." -Ashley Winstead

“Incredibly original and seriously scary.” – Nick Medina

“A brilliant fever-dream of a novel that effortlessly dances between horror, literary, and family saga—sure to appeal to fans of Grady Hendrix, Tananarive Due, Mona Awad, and Stephen King. – Maria Dong

I really wanted to love this, but I just found it incredibly difficult to connect with either the plot or the characters. There's a quality to the writing that makes it difficult for me to grasp, and while I think that this *could* be really effective in the genre, it didn't work for me personally. Given the important themes, I look forward to seeing what Viel writes next.

I am not sure how to write this review, as I am still trying to figure out the dynamics of this story!

Calla is 25 and has taken care of her two younger brothers (Jaime and Dre) for years. There are a lot of issues- and Calla is trying her best to handle it and keep the family together, while also having strange and creepy nightmares every night. It is a bit dysfunctional, but they do have each others back.

I will say that the book blurb does not give any hint of what happens!
The story seemed to start as a family drama, with social issues addressed. It is through Jaime protesting at an event, that the family finds they must go on the run. They end up in a cabin in the woods. And this is where I don't even know how to explain the story!!!

So while they are at the cabin, the nightmares seem to come out. It was hard for me to differentiate which Calla was speaking, where the characters were at the time, and what was the projection of this whole thing! But I could not stop reading! There is some humor between the family members, and they fight for each other, and even have hope!

I enjoyed the relationship between the siblings, and even though I was confused at times- I was rooting for them to overcome whatever this was that was happening.

I guess if I had to describe the genre, I would say family drama that segways into a creepy, horrorish dream sequency thing that had me questioning my reality! Not my usual read- and yet I stuck with it because of the characters!

I am so intrigued that I may try another by this author when she releases her next one!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC. This is my honest and voluntary review.

It’s messy and chaotic and it made me cry, but that’s family for you.

Listen to Your Sister isn’t a book I’d normally go out of my way to read, because I tend to like reading about topics I’ve been traumatized by and my relationship with my little brother is one of the most positive things in my life. I read to escape 90% of the time. So a book about an eldest sister’s fraught relationship with her two younger brothers isn’t usually my vibe but the buzz around it was so loud I decided to give it a try.

I’m not saying it’s perfect. Some of it went over my head and the third act did get a little messy here and there, but this is an utterly fantastic family drama cast through a sharp horror lens with lovely literary prose in the narrative that gives the whole story an epic, hypnagogic feel.

Calla, Dre, and Jamie are characters I found myself loving to hate and hating to love in equal measure throughout the book. That’s another way of saying they came across as…human. I have never and will never review a book with a POC cast by a POC author and assess the family, culture or dynamics within because I’m as white as white can be, but I can say every negative emotion at play in this book seems more than equal to the trauma both inflicted and feared.

Trauma lives on in the DNA, and these siblings share a whole pool of it. If you’re a fan of debut authors, supernatural horror, psychological fiction, family drama, and horror written with literary prose I highly recommend it.

I was provided a copy of this title by the author and the SMP Early Readers Program via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Stars Review/Body Horror/Horror/OwnVoices/Psychological Thriller/Supernatural Thriller

Gosh, so much to wade through as I try to wrap my head around what I just read. They say not to judge a book by its cover, and I admit it was the gorgeously sinister cover of a cabin in the woods that drew me in. Yes, the story does eventually and briefly arrive at a cabin int he woods, but I am left asking why. The cabin piece felt out of place with the story... but perhaps I missed something. It is also billed as laugh-out-loud funny., but I don't recall a single chuckle escaping my lips. Dark and sad, yes, but funny to me it was not.

Calla as the female lead captured my heart. At 25, she is the guardian of her youngest brother, trying to provide him a good home and maintain a career. But she is struggling. Struggling to keep her brother on the right path (and frankly just keeping him alive due to his poor teen choices). Struggling to keep her job through the trials of her home life. Struggling to deal with her past... but it is a past that she has tried to bury instead of addressing head-on, and it is about to catch up to her and her siblings.

As a speculative horror novel, Listen to Your Sister achieves the main goal of challenging the reader to break with reality. How much is real and how much is in one's head or shared consciousness is left in doubt. I'm still not 100% sure.

The true horror is in the childhood trauma this family experienced in different ways, in the urban horror that economically disadvantaged Black youth face every day, and in the horror of systemic racism and how much harder it is for many people to dig themselves out of the situation they were born into. The ultimate horror is in the unfairness of it all.

But ultimately, love conquers all.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I think the blurbs really threw me off in the description because I was expecting something very different. I couldn't get into this book and I'm so disappointed. Thanks to Netgalley and St Martins Press for the chance to read this book early in exchange of an honest review.

There has been a steady stream of fantastic female POC horror and every time I get one in my hand my heart soars. I love horror, and I love to see to more strong black girls (and boys) join the ranks of our white girls (and boys). Listen to Your Sister centers on a complex family and how their trauma haunts their life.
Twenty-five-year-old Calla Williams has been struggling ever since she became the guardian of her 16-year-old brother, Jamie. She is trying to work full time, keep a house, and try to keep the troublemaker in line. Jamie is often high fighting for his place in the world that wants to hold him down. Dre, the middle brother, is supposed to be helping but is more focused on his life working as a chef. Through all of this, the three are keenly aware of Calle’s Nightmare which always occurs when something bad happens to one of the boys. When a protest spirals out of control, Jamie makes the siblings go on the run. Taking refuge in a remote cabin they hope they are safe, but they aren’t. Because the Nightmare has followed them.
I can’t speak about the black experience but it’s important here. I suggest reading reviews by black reviewers so they can truly explain this. I can feel it’s there but it’s not my place to speak on it. What I can speak about is the demands of being a big sister, being the oldest. What is it like when your mom checks out and you are left to be the adult. And this is where I became Calla, where I felt her frustration and her anger and understood the choices she made. I understood her guilt and her shame. In this way, Neena Viel crossed differences and connected her character with me. The book discusses the important differences in human experience while also looking at the similarities we experience which is truly powerful.
The horror is visceral. The physical is blended with psychological hurried gut-punching the reader hitting them regardless of which type of horror they respond to. There are typical horror tropes (scary doll anyone) for your classic horror fans, there is gore for the slasher fan, plenty of chases, but also specters for the supernatural horror fans as well as mental distress that haunts them all for the psychological fans. In any other hands, this mishmash could be a hot mess of incoherentness. Viel blends everything beautifully and powerfully. I am surprised this is her debut book; it’s so well written.
Trauma and how it affects our lives is finger-on-the-pulse horror. Viel’s take is one of the most terrifying I have seen with its final twist, and I can’t wait to see what she writes next. Listen to Your Sister is a great horror book; just be aware you may be afraid to look at your inner demons afterward

Calla has terrible nightmares that she must save her younger brothers from a bloody end. Dre is two years younger but seems to have his ducks in a row. Jamie, who is only sixteen, is busy trying to fight, or charm, his way out of every self imposed bad situation. One night, Jamie gets talked into going to a Black Lives Matter protest where everything that could go wrong does. He should have followed the simple and sound advice of Listen to Your Sister and stay safe at home—not join his hormone-fueled friends on their reckless adventure.

The blurb above does adequately summarize the plot of this horror book. However, it doesn’t explain the feeling of dread that suffices the entire book. Everything feels like a bad drug trip from which your future lifelong PTSD will emerge. I have never read a book that caused me such anxiety just from its prose—not really its plot. In fact the plot is pretty simplistic and not what made me stay up all night reading. This first-time author knocks it out of the park with the dreamy, nightmarish writing style. Just as the characters do not know what twist is coming in their life journey, neither will you, as the reader, see the plot until it passes you by.

Listen to Your Sister is in the horror genre but written like old school literary fiction. You are really thrown into three strangers lives and heads. Could you survive with their history? With their past choices? With their future hindrances? This book reminds me of college English Literature authors like James Joyce, where it may take more than one read through to understand what this book is really about. However, I enjoyed letting the unusual style just wash over me without attempting to explain how it works or where it was leading.

If you are uncomfortable with uncertainty, this may not be a good choice for you. Please, read a golden age Christie mystery instead. But for those readers with adventurous souls, Listen to Your Sister is a 4 star read!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for providing me with an advanced review copy.

This book follows the Wiliams siblings: Call, Dre, and Jaime. Calla is the legal guardian for Jaime, who is a strong-willed 16-year-old who has become very difficult for Call to try to parent - the book starts with a meeting at Jaime's school to discuss his behavior and how Jaime is going to be suspended. The dynamics of the family are interesting as Dre, the middle child, is supposed to help Calla out, but usually ends up shirking his duties. As the story moves on, Jaime and Dre both begin to see very weird things such as a bleeding drawing and a girl that is digging into Jaime's flesh. Jaime, unknown to his siblings, has been planning to assist in a riot with his friends by handing out supplies to protestors - of course, this plan goes off-kilter and the police station ends up getting half blown up, and Jaime has to run from a cop where he is almost killed, but ends up being saved by a mysterious little girl. After this chaos, Calla takes her siblings to a secluded cabin in Oregon to protect her brothers. Throughout all of this drama (even at the beginning of the book), we learn Calla has nightmares that always show her brothers dying, which causes her a lot of stress and she can't sleep peacefully if Jaime is not at home. Once they get to the cabin, the nightmares take on a whole new meaning.

This book was excellent. It was very reminiscent of Us by Jordan Peele. I don't want to ruin the surprises in the plot by going too deep into that comparison, but if you are a fan of that movie then I think you will enjoy this book. The book deals with a lot of different issues such as abandonment, childhood trauma, guilt, and strained family ties. The author does such a good job showing how all the strain can cause a person to become fractured, and even at times resent those that they love. The character development was excellent - it showed how familial relationships aren't sunshine and rainbows despite love and dedication to one another. The book starts a little slow and you may get confused at times, but push through for a wild ride.

What a delightfully twisted and weird horror story that presents horrors from both the real world and the supernatural in a way that may make you afraid of yourself. I would love to see Jordan Peele adapt this and put it on the big screen because it has that cinematic potential. I love how reality blends with the nightmare world/realm and leads to Calla questioning what is happening. I also love how through the horror, the three siblings come together in the best way possible for them at the time. There were a few small parts that did not work for me, personally, but overall this was very enjoyable!

I found the concept of this book very intriguing, but the execution was not for me. I do think that while many readers will truly enjoy "Listen to Your Sister," I struggled with it. I had a very hard time getting into it and even once I felt like things were picking up, It never fully pulled me in. There were many times during the "Nightmares" that I was having a hard time following the chain of events. All of the main characters were also very annoying and childish to me. (I am also an only child so I did not connect well with their relationship as siblings). While this book was not for me, there are probably many readers out there that will appreciate the story and love the writing!

I really liked the creepy and horror aspect of this novel, but unfortunately, this one fell a bit short for me. I thought the plot started getting a bit confusing and I kept questioning why certain things were happening. The racial politics was a bit cringy at times as well. I really wanted to love this one, but it just wasn’t for me.