Listen to Your Sister

Earlier this month, Neena Viel released her debut novel, Listen to Your Sister. This comedic yet horrifying story follows three siblings, the eldest of whom is now the official guardian of the youngest brother, a troubled teenager. Calla has been having a repeated nightmare for years, and it centers on her two younger brothers. But the horrors are starting to feel too real lately, sending the three siblings from their Seattle home to a remote Oregon cabin.

Why I Chose This Book:

The intriguing cover and title first caught my attention. I’ve been getting more into horror novels lately (in addition to my lifelong love of horror movies) and this looked like exactly the kind of story I’d enjoy. Especially with comparisons to Jordan Peele’s films, I was sold.

What I Liked:

• Memories becoming waking nightmares
• This story gets pretty surreal!
• Some stream-of-consciousness moments and distorted thoughts add to that feeling of a loosening grip on reality.
• How many ways has Calla has helped her brothers over the years? How much has it affected her?
• Siblings fighting and unraveling… and creating their own horrors
• From sweet memories to their current bitter feelings
• Reminds me of Us by Jordan Peele (hey, the Jordan Peele comparison in the official summary was right!)
• The cabin they go to is “unabashedly haunted” haha
• Fighting back against racism (Black Lives Matter) and misogyny

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• Sometimes it was a bit too repetitive with the frequent returns to the original event that started the nightmares.

Audiobook

Kristolyn Lloyd, Eric Lockley, and Zeno Robinson all do a phenomenal job bringing the characters to life. They have distinct voices, making it easy to tell the siblings (including the two brothers!) apart. The narrators also infuse the characters with such personality, conveying their anger, confusion, and fear with true skill.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Listen to Your Sister is a great debut. I love how it draws on memories, traumas, and nightmares to create people who feel fragmented and isolated. It’s a cerebral and surreal type of horror that ultimately dissects societal issues and the value of family connections. I look forward to reading more from Neena Viel in the future.

Special thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy Listen to Your Sister here – it’s available as a hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel
Audiobook Narrators	Kristolyn Lloyd, Eric Lockley, and Zeno Robinson
Audience	Adult
Genre	Horror
Setting	Seattle; Oregon
Number of Pages	352
Format I Read	Audiobook & Ebook (NetGalley ARCs)
Original Publication Date	February 4, 2025
Publisher	St. Martin’s Griffin; Macmillan Audio

Official Summary

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