Book Review - Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel

This is one of the most assured, original, and captivating debuts I’ve read in years.

Neena Viel has written one of the must read debuts of the year and a book that I know I will go back and reread. I loved it that much. It is ultimately a story of the love siblings have for one another and the lengths they will go to keep each other safe, this novel starts off steeped in gritty realism and ends with some of the wildest, scariest, and entertaining horrors imaginable.

At the beginning of the novel, our fearless protagonist, Calla, is called into her little brother’s school because he was found with marijuana. Immediately, right off the bat, everything about this scene goes differently than the reader is expecting. Calla and her 16 year old brother Jamie, are not pushovers. They are smart and wickedly funny, and this scene is absolutely hilarious while at the same time giving you a great idea of these characters that I promise you will know and love by the end of this novel. Their brother Dre, in between Calla and Jamie lives in the same city, Seattle, but mostly pops in when it’s convenient for him.

The first part of the book involves Jamie and Dre having, very, very bad days while Calla tries to keep them alive and out of trouble. Calla is haunted by a recurring dream where she tries to save her brothers from a vague, but horrible threat that is getting worse and worse, and visiting her not just at night but at extremely inopportune times in broad daylight. After the events of that horrendous day, the siblings have to seek refuge in a suitably creepy cabin in the woods and the horror really gets started. But it’s not what you think it’s going to be in the slightest.

What might be the most impressive about this book is how damn funny it is. Viel captures the insults and one liners that siblings crack so effortlessly you feel like you are plopped right in the middle of an established family. The comedy always comes from the relationships and characters and never takes away from fear or brutal realities that Viel tackles with this book.

This book does not shy away from the important things, either. The way society sees black teenagers as problems and dangerous, even when they are still children is explored in such an honest and heartbreaking fashion. The realities of a single woman trying to raise her brother while constantly being worried he is going to be taken away. Viel explores all of these things with extreme complexity and empathy.

I feel like I don’t want to get too much into plot specifics past the point that they get to the cabin because there is quite a turn at this point in the book when you realize what is actually happening that I laughed in disbelief at the audaciousness and absolutely original imagination on display in this book. There is no doubt this will be one of my favorite books this year and Neena Viel is an absolute star. I will read any and everything she writes from hear out.