3.5 Stars rounded up!

This debut novel has a lot to offer, even if the pacing didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The story of Calla Williams and her brothers is packed with real-life horror—issues like racism and family sacrifice—that feels both impactful and heartfelt. Calla’s exhaustion and sense of duty are deeply relatable, and Jamie’s recklessness adds plenty of tension to their dynamic.

While much of the book leans on real-world struggles, the supernatural element introduced later in the story was a welcome addition! The pacing felt slower than I prefer, and the ending seemed a tad rushed.

That said, the book is undeniably a solid debut. I’m excited to see what this author does next, as their skill is clear! If you enjoy horror that blends societal issues with supernatural thrills, this is worth a read.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this book! I enjoyed being able to move between the e-book and audiobook, which I don’t often get the opportunity to do with advanced copies!

The entire first page was a description of the main character’s boobs in her poorly fitting bra and it didn’t get any better after that.

I’m a big dialogue person when it comes to books. If it’s not flowing in a realistic way, I just can’t do it and this book suffered from major robot dialogue syndrome.

Also the way Calle described how hot her brothers were really weirded me out.

What I Liked:

Flawed but relatable characters.
Funny.
I enjoyed the supernatural horror aspect of the story.
The twist caught me way off guard and I have to the cliche I didn’t see it coming line.


Issues:

I felt the pacing was off at times.
Ending felt a little rushed as well.

Overall this was a solid debut by Neena Viel and I’m excited to read more books by her in the future. I alternated between the book and audio and to my audio loving readers this book was so good. There are three narrators Eric Lockley, Kristolyn Lloyd and Zeno Robinson and they did a great job with the characters!

Calla Williams is twenty five and most definitely not living the dream. She is guardian of her brother Jamie who is constantly in trouble at school and soon gets in real trouble with the police. Her brother, Dre, promised to help take care of Jamie and he is conveniently nowhere to be found when Calla needs help. Calla is trying her best to hold what remains of her family together and try to live her own life. Calla is also plagued by vivid nightmares that seem all too real. Those same nightmares come horribly to life when she and her brothers are forced on the run.

The first half of the book is an introduction to Calla and her brothers. All are sympathetic in their own way. They are also well written and realistically evolve as the book progresses. The harsh domestic/political climate for people of color, which is the horror in the first part of the book. The horror in the second part of the book comes in the form of family secrets and long held sibling resentment. Calla’s nightmares come alive in horrific ways and physically threaten to wipeout what family she has left.

A well crafted story about families and the generational trauma that can follow them.

Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel is an ambitious blend of family drama and suspense, with supernatural undertones that add an intriguing twist. The sibling dynamics are the story's heart, and Viel captures the complexities of familial love and sacrifice with authenticity. Calla’s struggle as a young guardian, Jamie’s spirited rebellion, and Dre’s frustrating absence make for compelling, occasionally frustrating, characters.

The premise of nightmares becoming reality is fascinating, and the tension ramps up effectively as the siblings fight for survival. The setting of the eerie, isolated cabin adds an atmospheric touch that keeps you turning the pages.

However, the book suffers from pacing issues, particularly in the first half, where the build-up feels slow compared to the rushed, chaotic resolution. While Calla’s inner conflict is well-explored, the supernatural elements sometimes feel underdeveloped, leaving more questions than answers. Similarly, Dre’s character could have been more fleshed out to balance the sibling dynamic.

Despite its flaws, Listen to Your Sister is a decent read for fans of thrillers with a touch of the paranormal. It has moments of brilliance but leaves you wishing for a tighter narrative and deeper exploration of its themes.

Calla, caretaker of her younger brothers, is forced to escape with those brothers. Without spoiling too much, things get weird. Recommend for readers looking for a family drama with a great sense of humor.

Listen to Your Sister wasn't quite the horror novel I expected, but it's definitely worth checking out!

I’m not going to lie, this book was hard to get into. You follow three siblings who had a rough upbringing and continue to struggle from day to day. Calla is the oldest, and is the sole caregiver for Jamie, her 16 year old brother, and Dre is the middle child who kind of backs off and doesn’t give much help to his sister.

Things went from weird to crazy real damn quick. By 50% I was unable to put the book down. The way this author wrote the story was so bizarre but in the best way. This book is heavy on BLM and growing up as a black family. The struggles with the police and their way of life. It really gave me a lesson in understanding and I appreciated that while reading.

I can’t explain the weirdness without giving things away. Let’s just say that the sister has nightmares and has had them since she was younger. These nightmares become a reality and they need to figure out what to do. It also brings to light what actually happened all those years ago when their father passed away.

I was captivated by the darkness that this book took a turn towards. There’s violence, graphic descriptions and death throughout the book. Keep that in mind before reading this one.

I wish I was able to connect with the characters, but I just couldn’t. I think I would have enjoyed the story more if I had.

“Listen to Your Sister” is a bold debut for Neena Viel, whose writing is blurbed as “Jordan Peele meets Stephen King.” If there is a sub-genre for African American horror novels written by women (think Oyinkan Braithwaite’s “My Sister is a Serial Killer,” Nicola Yoon’s “One of Our Kind,” Rachel Howzell Hall’s “These Toxic Things,” and Zakiya Dalila Harris’ “The Other Black Girl”), then author Viel fits right in. The notable difference in these Black horror stories is the big part that social horror plays, along with the supernatural.

Calla is the 25 year old main character, trying to do right with her 16 year old trouble-making rebellious brother Jamie. Jamie is in chronic pain since his father died and can’t think far enough ahead to visualize consequences of the stupid things he’s doing as an adrenaline junkie. Calla supposedly has shared-custody of Jamie with her 23 year old brother Dre, but Dre shucked most of that responsibility, to live a comfortable separate life. Calla has also long been suffering “The Nightmare,” a repeating night terror of seeing one of her brothers horribly murdered.

“The Nightmare” is becoming a lucid daytime dream now and with good reason: both of her brothers are in deep trouble — not only from the police but from avenging female wraiths (grandma with a stabbing yellow umbrella for Jamie and a hot pink strapless dress girl with a skewering spike heel for Dre). Jamie was caught up in a Black Lives protest when he drove the van that contained weapons; Dre was mistaken for his cheating roommate Roberto. Both were about to be unalived by bad people when their unbelievable avengers stepped in to slaughter their adversaries. Both brothers end up running to their overwhelmed common sense sister, whose secret superstition that “The Nightmare” only happened “when sh*t was about to go down with her brothers.” This time, Calla hears an eerie inner voice: “Don’t let this happen. Whoever did this to them—can f*****g die. Keep them safe”. So when they flee Seattle, where do they go? To a little cabin in the woods, decorated with taxidermy and crucifixes. Even they know they’re walking into a cliché horror story.

The supernatural action is interrupted with sly humor, but the family drama and sibling rivalry is the top concern tearing the trio apart . In the second half of the book things get, well, weird. Calla’s Nightmare is becoming real and there are times when the plot gets muddied. But, overall, a great debut for Neena Viel. 4 stars.

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO No green eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Just the scary woods (although not populated with murderous beavers as Dre insists).

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Neena Viel’s “Listen to Your Sister” is a genre-bending debut that masterfully blends horror and family drama while also establishing some dark humor throughout into a deeply unsettling yet heartfelt tale. By focusing on the ties that bind siblings together, Viel delivers a story that is as emotionally impactful as it is eerie.

The book follows 25-year-old Calla Williams, who has taken on the weighty responsibility of raising her two younger brothers, Jamie and Dre, after their mother abandoned them. As their reluctant guardian, Calla grapples with overwhelming guilt, recurring nightmares of her brothers dying, and the strained dynamics of their family. When Jamie’s involvement in a protest takes a disastrous turn, the siblings flee to a remote cabin in the woods. But their supposed refuge quickly morphs into a nightmare, as Calla’s vivid dreams begin to bleed into reality, and the line between the supernatural and psychological becomes terrifyingly thin. The trio must confront not only the mysterious force haunting them but also their fractured relationships and unresolved traumas.

Viel excels at creating a richly atmospheric and deeply personal horror story. The cabin-in-the-woods setting lends itself to classic horror tropes, but Viel subverts expectations by grounding the terror in family dynamics and internal struggles. The siblings’ banter and complicated relationship are brought to life with sharp wit and emotional authenticity. Calla’s sardonic humor cuts through the tension, offering moments of levity amidst the escalating dread.

The omniscient third-person narration provides insight into all three siblings’ perspectives, creating a layered portrayal of their individual struggles and shared history. Calla’s relentless protectiveness, Jamie’s rebellious nature, and Dre’s aloofness are all explored with nuance, making their bond both relatable and compelling.

Viel’s writing style is clever, blending poetic eloquence with cheeky humor. The book often feels dreamlike, oscillating between moments of surreal horror and raw emotional realism, which can sometimes make it a little difficult to figure out what is exactly going on in the story. However, this deliberate disorientation mirrors Calla’s mental state, pulling you deeper into the story’s fever-dream quality. While the book’s dreamlike quality is one of its strengths, it can also make the plot feel disjointed at times. The pacing is a bit uneven, with a slow build in the first half and a frenetic rush in the second.

At its core, “Listen to Your Sister” is a story about trauma and its ripple effects on family. It explores the weight of parentification, the sacrifices siblings make for one another, and the lingering scars of childhood neglect. Viel’s ability to balance these heavy themes with moments of humor and hope makes the book resonate on a deeper level.

The horror is both external and internal, with the mysterious force threatening the siblings’ lives serving as a metaphor for the unresolved pain and guilt they carry. Viel challenges you to consider how trauma can distort reality and relationships, and how healing often requires facing the monsters within.

Overall, “Listen to Your Sister” is a bold, imaginative debut that refuses to conform to traditional horror conventions. Viel’s knack for blending supernatural terror with sharp family drama and dark humor makes this book a standout. It’s unsettling, heartwarming, and undeniably original—a story that will leave you both haunted and hopeful.

Calla the oldest sibling has custody of her youngest brother Jamie, who is 16. He is, shall we say, a handful. Dre, the middle child promised to help, but his idea of help leaves Calla basically alone to figure out how to pay the bills and stop Jamie from making horrible choices.
What starts out as a gripping family saga turns into something…… Horrific.
Jamie gets involved in a situation that is much bigger than he imagined. While Dre is just home at the wrong time. Could the nightmares Calla is suffering from mean more than just bad dreams? When they sneak out of town to stay at an isolated cabin, things get very weird, very quickly.
I don’t have siblings, but if I did, I would hope that we were like the Williams family. Well, maybe without the horror and wondering constantly if someone was going to die. It was scary, funny, weird, and I raced to the end to find out how this story would come together.

Parenting is a trip and this book captures it, in all its horrifying, heart-felt, gut-wrenching glory. Calla was such a relatable character. I loved the many sides of her. The story was very intense and real until about 100 pages in where things so strange and oh-so good! I really enjoyed this one.

**Features:**
- Close but complicated sibling relationships
- Explores themes of growing up too fast, abandonment, trauma, guilt, and family ties
- Twisted and strange horror story that unfolds at an isolated location

**Synopsis:**

Calla had finally broken free to start her new life when she was asked to become the guardian of her younger brother, Jamie. Calla agreed, but she never quite expected the chaos Jamie would bring to the life she had started alongside her other brother, Dre. Despite offering to help, Dre quickly removed himself from Jamie’s path of destruction and the wedge between him and Calla only seemed to grow with each passing day. When Jamie gets in trouble at a protest, all three siblings must flee and find themselves in a remote cabin far from prying eyes. But leaving their world behind has opened the door for the nightmares Calla has long suffered from to come through. In order to survive, the siblings will have to overcome nightmares both real and within.

**Thoughts:**

This book is a wild ride that is part horror and part emotional family story. It is told from three different perspectives and starts a little slow as we get to know the group of siblings at the center of this story. Viel quickly establishes the unique voices of her characters and each makes you want to root for them despite acting in problematic ways. This same complexity is brought into the relationship the siblings have with each other and they have a natural group chemistry as a result. You can feel the love they have for each other even in the moments they are not getting along and their witty banter brings humor to an otherwise dark story.

Once the siblings leave for the cabin, things start becoming very creepy and strange. There are some hints of things to come in the earlier parts of the story, so it feels like a natural evolution when things start getting worse. It is the type of horror that taps into the characters’ inner demons in disturbing and occasionally enigmatic ways. I love it when the horror elements of a story are so meaningfully connected to the characters and help tell a much deeper story. Despite its slower start, I was at the edge of my seat by the end and found this impossible to put down. I would definitely recommend this book if you like more ‘surreal’ horror and/or are looking for something that will spark some great discussion.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I DNF’d this at about 30% 😓 I requested this arc based on the synopsis because it sounds really interesting but where I stopped at in the book, I was just so lost at what was going on and because of how slow the pace was I just realized I was reaching less for this book.

Unfortunately I struggled with this book and had a hard time finishing it. I loved the idea of siblings fighting against the paranormal horror for each other but I just could not wrap my head around all the things that happened, is it a dream or is it a nightmare - or is it both and how do I tell the difference. I think I am probably just not the right reader for this book. 2.5 stars.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for a chance to read an ARC version of this book.

This one is an absolute doozy. Neena Viel wrote one heck of a debut novel that is centered around family dynamics and all the complications that come with it but then you sprinkle in some horror, slight humor, twisted psychological events and bam, you got gripping plot that I could not get enough of.

At the center is Calla Williams, a 25-year-old guardian trying to juggle way too much. She’s the breadwinner, parent figure, mentor, counselor, and friend to Jamie, a defiant high schooler. On top of that, she’s also the big sister to Dre, only two years younger. This trio is a chaotic mix of love and conflict, constantly at odds with each other and themselves. And just when you think things couldn’t get worse, Calla’s recurring nightmares intensify, Jamie has a life-altering moment after a protest, and the siblings end up fleeing to a remote cabin. I truly felt for Calla—her overwhelming sense of responsibility weighed so heavily on her, and I couldn’t help but wish she could just find some peace. This story felt deeply personal, as if it came straight from the heart.

Viel’s writing is vivid and immersive, pulling you into every twist and turn while making the psychological elements feel incredibly intimate. The book explores the Black perspective, sibling relationships, survival, and loyalty in a way that’s heavy yet balanced by moments of humor. Chapter 39 had me laughing out loud—it was such a curveball and not what I expected at all.

I’ll admit, there were a few parts where I got a little lost in the plot, but I’m already planning a reread when the audiobook drops. This book does deal with the Black POV, has harsh language and a raw reality, so if you are sensitive to these topics, then this book is not for you.

Neena Viel is an author to keep an eye on. Honestly, I’d love to see Listen to Your Sister on the big screen.

Big thanks to NetGalley for this one! Listen to Your Sister is set to be published on February 4, 2025.

Excellent! First read of 2025 and it was everything I needed.

Immediately drawn into the story of Calla and her brothers Dre and Jamie. Calla is now legal guardian of 16 year old Jamie. He was her baby when he was young, but now he’s into all kind of trouble. Dre, the middle brother, is conspicuously absent when she needs him. Calla is full of resentment and anxiety. All of the Callas are.

Favorite character is Jamie. He’s absolutely hilarious and the humor was probably my favorite part of this book, I laughed out loud many times. Serious topics of drug abuse, child neglect and abuse. But told with so much heart I cried at the end.

Read it please! Best to go in cold.

The description drew me to this book, but in all honesty I got something wildly different than I expected, in a good way.

The are so many important topics packed into this book; sibling dynamics, generational trauma, racism and sexism. The horror is visceral and disturbing, but the real story is much deeper.

Viels writing is beautiful and poetic, and the way she constructed the story, dropping breadcrumbs along the way is incredible. Seriously. the attention to detail is unbelievable. The concept itself is wonderfully unique and blew me away.

The only reason I can't give this a full five stars is because of the pacing. The story is definitely a slow burn. The last quarter left me breathless, but around the middle I did struggle to keep going. The ending is totally worth it, but the slower sections did affect my overall enjoyment.

This book is a surreal, fever-dream experience that blurs the line between reality and imagination, creating a uniquely complex and compelling narrative. The fact that this is a debut is astonishing—Veil’s writing is sharp, evocative, and deeply impactful.

The story masterfully weaves themes of dread, familial trauma, and love, brought to life through three distinct and dynamic points of view. The siblings’ journey from dysfunction to beautifully crafted growth arcs is heartbreaking and uplifting.

While the middle section lags slightly in pacing, the overall impact of this layered story is undeniable.

I’m thrilled that my first book of the year was so provocative!

Starting off slow, Neena Viel soon drags you into an eerie ride that leaves you questioning what you know about horror. A very Jordan Peele-esque feel to it, you dont have many typical horror tropes to pull this book into "oh thats been done before" territory. The bond of family and what lengths a person will go to to protect their own are woven throughout the heartpounding confusion of nightmares merging with reality. I feel like this is the first time I dont want to say too much in a review because i dont want to give anything away. A very well done debut, I cannot wait to see what comes out of Neena Viel's brain next!

Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin's Griffin for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.


Listen to Your Sister is an insane rollercoaster of a book. I spent half of it going wtf??? and the other half thinking "whoa, no way it can get any crazier." And let me tell you, it always got crazier.

Listen to Your Sister follows big sister Calla, middle sibling Dre, and baby brother Jamie. Calla is exhausted from keeping everyone and thing together, Jamie is exhausted from being the family fuck up, and Dre is exhausted listening to them both complain about each other. Enter The Nightmare.

It would make a super cool movie, IMO. I don't want to say too much else, because I think this is a good book to go in mostly blind, but it is perfect for fans of campy horror. It's scary, it's heartfelt, it's insanity.