The title caught my eye and intrigued me, however, when I started the book, I was not the intended audience. I did not finish it. I am sure it is a good book for the right audience.

2.5 stars rounded up

I just don't think this was for me. I was so confused and lost through the first half, I was unsure what was going on, which is probably part of the point but it took too long to kind of come together. I will say that this is better read in bigger chunks. I did have a better time and enjoyed it more when I could read a bunch in one sitting but it still didn't hit as hard as I wanted and expected it too. Still a really strong debut and I look forward to seeing what else Neena will do.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for access to an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the few books I read where I think it would be a million times better as a movie. The ick is described in great detail, which I let my eyes skate over would probably delight horror watchers (and I could close my eyes if I needed to), and the story that seemed a little sluggish for the first two thirds of the book could be tightened up in a horror movie. However, that last third of the book is a riveting story of family trauma, and the sacrifices a black woman makes even at the cost of her own sanity.

None of the characters in this book are great people, but as you read more about them you can understand the reasons why they are all kind of terrible. They grew up really only with each other, and couldn't depend on any adults, and this makes for some interesting personalities as they get older. Eventually this becomes an issue as they are forced to face the defining moment in their lives that none of them have been able to face.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a readers copy of this book. My reviews never contain spoilers and are freely given.

A story of the dynamics between Calla and her two brothers. After the death of her father and with a distant, uninvolved mother, Calla became the primary caregiver for her two brothers. She consistently steps in to save the day for them, while silently resenting having to do so. The result of years of this behavior takes a toll, which I won’t reveal. You need to read this for yourself to understand. Don’t miss it.

A young lady is the guardian of her younger brothers, one of whom is a troubled child in high school. Racism.

Neena Viel's debut novel, Listen to Your Sister, offers a compelling blend of horror and dark comedy, delivering a narrative that is both unsettling and entertaining. The story centers on 25-year-old Calla Williams, who unexpectedly becomes the guardian of her teenage brother, Jamie. Navigating the challenges of this new responsibility, Calla finds herself overwhelmed as Jamie's rebellious nature leads him into various troubles.

Viel skillfully portrays the complexities of sibling relationships, capturing the tension and affection that coexist within family dynamics. The author's use of dark humor provides a refreshing contrast to the novel's more intense moments, offering readers a multifaceted experience that balances terror with wit.

The speculative elements of the plot are well-crafted, drawing readers into a world where the familiar becomes eerily distorted. Viel's ability to intertwine the supernatural with everyday struggles adds depth to the narrative, making the horror elements resonate on a personal level.

While the novel excels in character development and atmosphere, some readers may find certain plot developments predictable. Additionally, the pacing occasionally fluctuates, with moments where the narrative momentum slows.

Real Rating: 4.25* of five

"Listen to your sister" is the most oddly edged weapon in the arsenal of control. Listen to her wisdom. Listen to her express while she experiences despair. Listen to her, learn how the wisdom comes out of the same swamp as the despair.

Being tasked with responsibilities beyond your capabilities is a common feature in many child-as-custodian tales. Rising to meet the challenge, failing at it, muddling through...well, that's adulthood as parent or guardian or, to be completely honest, any old thing as a legal adult.

What sets this story above most I've read like it, from <i>The Outsiders</i> as a kid on, is The Nightmare. It's a really big part of Calla's quotidian awareness. It's a looming, energy-sapping Presence...éminence grise writ literal...that defines Calla's every waking thought about her ward/little brother. In The Nightmare Jamie dies, and dies, and dies; the <i>most</i> horrific death. Here's Calla, responsible for the life of someone she honestly should never have been if her parents had...well, what? not died? not run away? where are they and why aren't they there?...not, in any event, left her responsible unhelpfully unbackstopped by her other brother, useless Dre.

Now my full attention is engaged. Starting just before the halfway point I began to listen to my own niggling awareness. Permaybehaps this is Calla finding a coping mechanism to make sense of this utter reorientation of her world...permaybehaps she's tuned in to something like a psychic K-Cthulhu...she might simply be going quietly insane...and in the US a young Black woman whose self-image is of being too hefty who's also now responsible for shepherding a teenaged Black man into adulthood alive and unencarcerated when he has a big mouth and a powerful eye for hypocrisy....

I was deeply interested in the way I wasn't answered as I got these musings phrased into questions. I was instead led to ideas about the answers supported in the story. That we see the narrative through all three siblings' eyes lent the book the air of fairness, until you thought a minute about it when Calla's centrality swims into focus ever more clearly. She is the only one who acts for the clearly conceptualized good of the Family, where her brothers (one too young, one too narcissistic) think only of how The Nightmare and its embodiment in their sister affects them. It is through those young men's eyes that The Nightmare feeds into horror. They mock and disbelieve, thinking she's nuts and/or trying to control them.

Sound familiar, Cassandra fanciers? Calla's awful stresses are external, internal, self-inflicted, inevitable for a young woman of color in a deeply racist white world. They're real. They're just fearful imaginings. They can't be taken seriously. Laugh them off.

That goes as well as it usually does when men ignore sound advice from women. As a subject for social horror, I'm hard-pressed to think of a better, more trenchant way to build a story.

What I ended up enjoying the most in this read was less the plot...first novels are almost always a bit baggy at the knees...than Calla's mellifluous voice and her sense of humor. BE AWARE THAT THE N-SLUR IS USED A LOT. I don't like it, this is something I have trouble with from my 1960s childhood where it was used *very*differently* so I want you to know that fact. Mostly, Calla's a smart, funny woman doing a thankless job she wouldn't have had to do had death and abandonment not landed her where she is.

I can't go a fifth star because of the N-slur stuff. It made me think hard about many things, and might should get that five; but not with the (appropriate, well-thought-out) use of N-words.

YMMV, but in any event I encourage you to find out soon.

This was a weird literally unputdownable horror family drama that I could not recommend more
Absolutely an author to keep your eye on

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book

DNFing this one. I'm not interested - the beginning story about the main character's boobs did not set me up for success with this one. I've also seen multiple bad reviews/DNFs so I'm not interested in continuing.

What a fantastic debut novel!

While, for me, things became a bit muddles and confusing towards the final third of the book, the insane amount of heart on display and need to see how things turned out for the characters more than made up for that.

The relationships between Calla, Dre, and Jamie felt truly genuine and their verbal sparring felt natural and provided nice touches of humor in the midst of some darkness.

Although a bit uneven, this is a moving story of family, loss, trauma, and what we'll do to protect those we love. I will absolutely be coming back for Viel's next one.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Holy cow that was a wild ride. Part horror and family drama this book had me hooked until the very last page.
I would highly recommend this to other horror fan that want a unique story, I don't think that I have ever read anything quite like this one. I think this author is a great writer and I will be watching for their next book.

This had such a strong premise, but the execution didn’t fully work for me. The first half dragged, and by the time things started to pick up, I had already lost interest. That said, there were some solid moments, and I appreciated the blend of family dynamics, horror, and social commentary. Ultimately, it was a decent read, just not as gripping as I’d hoped.

This book was very slow until the last 20-30 percent. It took me 3 times starting it to actual read to the end.
A sister has custody of her brothers, who like you would suspect cause trouble.
They get caught up in a nightmare that makes them question what is really and what isn't.
It is like a slasher film in book form.
I did enjoy the family dynamic and how their relationship changed through the book.

This book was very involved but had me invested from almost the beginning . It definitely wasn't anything that I was expecting, but somehow better. It was dark and keep me trying to figure out what was going on through out the book.. It was dark, and had a bit of gore. I would recommend to horror/weird book fans

(Would give it 3.5 stars, but since we can't use half stars, I am rounding down to 3.) Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel is a solid debut; at the line-level, Viel's writing is sharp and distinct. Calla's voice started so strong, especially with her first line "Calla was wearing the wrong bra." What a brilliant way to meet a character. The relationship between the three siblings also felt very real. We need more books that center Black siblings. However, in the bigger view of the book, the line between nightmare and reality was too blurred to keep up with what was actually happening. Of course, "blurry" can be good in a horror story, but only when it's done deliberately with a specific desired outcome. This seemed more like the writing of the story became muddled. The switching POVs between the siblings also added to some of the confusion. I still want to see what Neena Viel writes next, but this one didn't quite work for me.

I was in the mood for a weird girl book, and Listen to Your Sister delivered.

Calla Williams is barely keeping it together—raising her teenage brother, haunted by relentless nightmares of his death, and now suddenly on the run after his latest act of rebellion. Hiding out in a creepy cabin straight out of a horror flick, the siblings find themselves trapped in something far more terrifying than Calla’s dreams.

This book is equal parts unsettling, funny, and deeply emotional, like if Stranger Things had a sibling dynamic at its core with Get Out levels of creeping dread. Viel’s writing is sharp, her characters flawed but fiercely lovable, and the tension did NOT come here to play.

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

Thank you to NetGalley, Neena Viel and St Martin‘s Press for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I started this because I had heard such great things and maybe I didn’t read far enough BUT 26% in and I still didn’t care about anything happening. Seems like it could get good but I just can’t keep reading through more.

In "Listen to Your Sister," twenty-five-year-old Calla Williams becomes guardian to her sixteen-year-old brother Jamie after promising to keep their family together. With their other brother Dre largely absent, Calla shoulders the entire responsibility of raising a teenager more interested in causing trouble than listening. As an eldest sibling, I found the scenario gut-wrenching. Imagining sacrificing your entire life to keep a family together feels like an absolute nightmare. Jamie's attitude was so frustrating that I couldn't make it past the first few chapters. The constant push and pull felt viscerally real, even though I've never experienced anything like it. I didn't read far enough to judge the full story, but those initial chapters were enough to make me put the book down. Sometimes a book just isn't the right fit.

1.75 stars

Listen to Your Sister was one of my biggest disappointments this year. After finding it on NetGalley, and hearing so much hype, I was thrilled to get started. But I could tell within the first few pages that it wasn't going to be the story for me.

What should have been a family drama horror ended up being a convoluted mess where I couldn't understand what was happening the majority of the time and I'm not convinced that the author even understood what she was writing. I unfortunately ended up skimming the last 25% of the book because I couldn't force myself to read the entirety of the rest of it.

I truly wanted to care about these characters and the story but the concept was much better than the execution.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed feelings on this one. The writing is beautiful and unique with the descriptions. The plot was intriguing and I was so excited to read this. Unfortunately, I felt the execution fell flat.

The mix between real life and a nightmare wasn’t all that clear. The plot twists were…well also confusing. I ended this book with more questions than I had answered.

I think this definitely had potential and I still look forward to reading more from this author.