3.48 AVERAGE


Book: Listen to Your Sister
Author: Neena Viel
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publication Date: 4 February, 2025
Capone’s Rating: 4⭐ of 5⭐

First off: Wow. Neena Viel is a tremendous writer. Her strength in Listen to Your Sister, her debut novel, is in the characters she’s created. Calla (at center stage), Dre (her younger brother), and Jamie (Calla’s youngest brother) are as real as anyone I’ve met, and they are believable at every page—something that isn’t true of many if not most story characters. And I mean it: These are fully fleshed out humans who curse, make stupid choices, hold grudges, make sudden choices with huge consequences; they do all of this just as a real, and really imperfect, person would do. They’re also characters it’s easy to root for.

These characters are the core of this story, though the conflict is a compelling one: Calla has been looking out for her brothers their whole lives, and a lot goes down in a lifetime. She’s taken it on the chin for them time after time. And all the while, she’s had these dreams—dreams where she’s doing everything in and beyond her power to save them from their own choices and those of ill-intentioned others. And then, amid some protests, things get heated enough in the city that they’ve gotta split. Shit gets really real when they get to their spooky-ass cabin rental in the woods.

Saying more about this book’s plot is tough to do without giving spoilers, and I’ve tried not to reveal anything specifically about the plot you couldn’t glean from the book description posted everywhere books are sold. If you want to be on the safe side, stop reading this and go grab Viel’s debut novel. Supernatural elements meet real-life family sacrifices in this compelling must-read 2025 release.
dark emotional tense fast-paced
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

This book is HEAVY. Plan for processing breaks as you read. 
challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This wasn't as horrific or gory as I had thought it would be, but the story and the underlying message behind it were good, and the writing was amazing. 

cucurbita_pepo's review

1.0
slow-paced
dark reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I'm just glad Calla got to work through her trauma and freed herself. But, damn, it was hard.
This isn't horror in the normal sense of the word. It has more to do with: to what length are you able to go to protect those you love? And what are you willing to lose in the process?
It was a hard read, mostly because I'm an older sister. I felt some of the pain and frustration that Calla went through. Is isn't easy, but I'm honestly glad she got to have a "happy" ending.

dark reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
tense medium-paced
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

i was confusing towards the middle-end but the audiobook was entertaining!

I dont know WTF was going on