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A review by bobthebookerer
The Listeners by Jordan Tannahill
5.0
I was not sure what to expect before I started reading this novel- on the surface, a novel about characters who can hear a constant, low humming noise feels like it could potentially feel like a tense and taut horror film, or could be something mundane.
For me, the book definitely felt like the former, but done so well that I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and read it in just over a day.
Claire Devon, the narrator of the book and one of its main characters, starts with almost an apology, recognising that what she is about to say will sound bizarre or may not paint her in the best light, and there is something so immediately charming and unnerving about this confession- we start feeling from the beginning that she is simultaneously the best person to tell this story (as she was there and it all happened to her), but that she may be unreliable, having a reason behind wanting to clear her name and tell her story.
Throughout the book, we watch as Claire, along with a growing number of others, are driven to despair by the sound, in a way that felt very Kafka-esque in its suffocating tightness. She loses sleep, damages relationships, and makes a series of poor decisions that drive her further into the arms of a support group- the titular 'Listeners'.
But this is where the book strikes gold for me. Tannahill could have very easily stopped the story here, or rounded the tale off with a nice happy ending where she no longer hears the sound, or where she learns to live with it. Instead, we get a tense tale of conspiracy theorists, troubled relationships, and a real breakdown in both Claire's sanity, but also her relationships with others and the world around her.
Some of the group feel steadfastly that they want to find an explanation for the sound, others are convinced they have all the answers, and another set of people want to channel this sound as a 'power.' We then get very interesting commentaries on the real world- on conspiracies in the US such as QAnon or anti-vaxxer movements. Tannahill balances this very delicately so it never feels like she is endorsing these viewpoints, but also makes it categorically clear that these are not the same thing as Claire hearing the sound.
As a result, the book deftly sidesteps what could have felt preachy or moralising, and instead feels like a very raw and entertaining examination of a woman who is increasingly isolated from her community, and the new communities she clings to like life-rafts as a result. The book also pulls a clever trick here where we start to distrust Claire as a narrator, but also know that we have no other window into her life- she might feel at one moment as if she is being gaslit, which makes us as readers wonder if we are guilty of doing that to her.
This novel as a result feels very current and of-the-moment, but also is heartwarming and heart-breaking in equal measure, as we watch Claire and her family, try, and fail, to contend with something we can never fully do- know what is going on inside someone else's head.
I received an advanced review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For me, the book definitely felt like the former, but done so well that I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and read it in just over a day.
Claire Devon, the narrator of the book and one of its main characters, starts with almost an apology, recognising that what she is about to say will sound bizarre or may not paint her in the best light, and there is something so immediately charming and unnerving about this confession- we start feeling from the beginning that she is simultaneously the best person to tell this story (as she was there and it all happened to her), but that she may be unreliable, having a reason behind wanting to clear her name and tell her story.
Throughout the book, we watch as Claire, along with a growing number of others, are driven to despair by the sound, in a way that felt very Kafka-esque in its suffocating tightness. She loses sleep, damages relationships, and makes a series of poor decisions that drive her further into the arms of a support group- the titular 'Listeners'.
But this is where the book strikes gold for me. Tannahill could have very easily stopped the story here, or rounded the tale off with a nice happy ending where she no longer hears the sound, or where she learns to live with it. Instead, we get a tense tale of conspiracy theorists, troubled relationships, and a real breakdown in both Claire's sanity, but also her relationships with others and the world around her.
Some of the group feel steadfastly that they want to find an explanation for the sound, others are convinced they have all the answers, and another set of people want to channel this sound as a 'power.' We then get very interesting commentaries on the real world- on conspiracies in the US such as QAnon or anti-vaxxer movements. Tannahill balances this very delicately so it never feels like she is endorsing these viewpoints, but also makes it categorically clear that these are not the same thing as Claire hearing the sound.
As a result, the book deftly sidesteps what could have felt preachy or moralising, and instead feels like a very raw and entertaining examination of a woman who is increasingly isolated from her community, and the new communities she clings to like life-rafts as a result. The book also pulls a clever trick here where we start to distrust Claire as a narrator, but also know that we have no other window into her life- she might feel at one moment as if she is being gaslit, which makes us as readers wonder if we are guilty of doing that to her.
This novel as a result feels very current and of-the-moment, but also is heartwarming and heart-breaking in equal measure, as we watch Claire and her family, try, and fail, to contend with something we can never fully do- know what is going on inside someone else's head.
I received an advanced review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.