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Book: “Listen To Your Sister” by Neena Viel
Publishing Info: St Martin’s Griffin, February 2025
Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley.
Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound
Book Description: 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.
Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!
I’m the oldest daughter in my family, though given it was just me and my younger sister and that I’ve always had various mental health and learning disabilities I’ve contended with I’ve never felt like I’ve been ‘the one who holds it all together’, as many Oldest Daughters do. But my late Aunt Jan was absolutely the prototypical Oldest Daughter, having basically raised my mother (who was the youngest of five) due to a twelve year age gap and the burden of parentification thrust upon her over, and whenever I think about Oldest Daughter stories I always think of her. So when I heard about the general plot of “Listen To Your Sister” by Neena Viel I was very interested in the Oldest Daughter/Sister theme, and then even more so when it was being compared to Jordan Peele movies. What a combination! And I was pretty pleased with what I found.
In terms of the themes and the horror elements of this book, I really enjoyed the way that Viel portrays Calla, one of of three protagonists and eldest sister to her brothers Dre and Jamie, who is a teenager to whom she has been made legal guardian. Calla is clearly overworked, spread too thin, and deeply anxious about having to be a guardian to Jamie, who has been getting into various dust-ups that come back to her (as wholly justifiable as they may be in many cases). I don’t want to give too much away about this book and the horror beats that it possesses, as I think that these things are being held close to the vest for a reason, but I thought that the metaphors for an overburdened eldest child really worked in this book. The horror beats really do harken to the likes of a Jordan Peele movie, and I kept thinking about “Us” as I was reading, though that’s about all I am willing to say in regards to that, fearing I’ve already given too much away. Just know it’s uncanny and a bit freaky at times, but it all fits perfectly into the social commentary that Viel is putting forth.
I also loved the way that Calla, Dre, and Jaime clearly love each other, but are all still SO young and reeling from their traumatic childhoods and the racism that they face every day, and how that makes for difficult processing and damaged relationships in spite of their love for each other. The sibling relationships and the ups and downs that come with them felt very real, and this book has a HUGE heart that I enjoyed but isn’t afraid to put the dysfunction and messiness on display. Viel gives a lot of solid characterization to Calla, Dre, and Jamie, and by seeing the story through all of their eyes I could sympathize with all of them as well as get frustrated with all of them depending on the choices they were making.
I will say that there was a bit of a pacing issue in this book, at least for me, as it lagged a bit in the first half and then REALLY sped up in the second. As someone who tends to have attention issues when it comes to reading, especially when feeling high anxiety (and I mean LATELY that’s been ramping up again), the pacing disparities were noticeable. This may not be the case for all readers, but it was a hiccup for me.
Overall, I enjoyed “Listen To Your Sister”! It’s always great to see new horror voices and I’m going to keep an eye on Neena Viel in the future.
Rating 7: An entertaining horror story about family, generational trauma, and trying to hold it all together that has a lot of good symbolism and metaphors.
Reader’s Advisory:
“Listen To Your Sister” is included on the Goodreads list “Horror Books 2025”.
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