Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel
Published: February 4th, 2025
Genres: Speculative, Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Pages: 352
My Rating:★★★★½ (4 and a half stars)
“The world is trauma waiting, and he’s too brave for his own good. So, you’ll wait at home, keep the light on so he knows he can come back.”
About the Book
Listen to Your Sister is a wild, speculative horror novel that explores the bonds of family and shared trauma. Calla Williams is used to being the glue that holds her family together. At twenty-five, she’s taken guardianship of her youngest brother, Jamie. Calla is overwhelmed by the hand life has dealt her. Her best-laid plans and personal goals have been sidelined. It felt like she was only starting to get the hang of her adult life when Jamie needed her. She doesn’t know how to be a parent. She certainly doesn’t know how to be a parent to a reckless teenager.
Dre is the middle child, doing his own thing. He promised to help Calla with Jamie, but he has not lived up to that promise. Calla wants someone to rely on, but time and time again, Dre pulls away. He proves to her that she cannot fully count on him. Calla is bending and breaking under the weight of responsibility. Her nights are haunted by an inescapable nightmare. Images of her brothers dying plague her dreams. Calla would do anything, give anything, to save them.
When Jamie attends a protest, he finds himself in hot water as things go awry. The fallout sends the siblings on the run. Calla and her brothers are holed up in a cabin straight out of a horror movie. They think they’ve left their problems behind, but now there is a new threat. Calla always told her brothers to take her nightmares seriously. They should have listened to their sister.
My Thoughts
What a stellar debut novel from Neena Viel. Listen to Your Sister blew me away. This book packs such a punch, with lots of heart and humor to boot. I was laughing just much as I was white knuckling my way through this story. Each of the siblings has the most hilarious commentary despite their bleak situation. It’s not often that you laugh out loud while the characters are literally running for their lives.
I love how deeply emotional the horror of this story is. Calla has ripped herself to pieces to protect her brothers. Each brutal sacrifice comes back to haunt them all so viscerally. I have two brothers of my own and Calla’s desperation and frustration was so real to me. The examination of sibling bonds was so strong. Calla, Dre, and Jamie have only had each other all their lives. They have to confront the things that lie between them to save themselves and each other.
Neena Viel gives a raw, unfiltered look at the racial dynamics afflicting young black people. Listen to Your Sister forces the reader to confront how deeply trauma affects all of us but especially the disenfranchised among us. With over-the-top horror and tongue-in-cheek humor, this story is nothing short of a wild ride. What a great new diverse voice in the horror/speculative genre. I can’t wait for more!