Book Reviews

Review: I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan

I Hope You’re Listening devoured my afternoon. I was buddy reading it with the wonderful Mike and it went from, “Oops I read another chapter more than our buddy read” to “Um…so I finished…” Mike has the screenshots, so he can prove it! If that’s not a good sign, what is? Keep reading this book review of I Hope You’re Listening to discover your next gripping thriller.

Summary

In her small town, seventeen year-old Delia “Dee” Skinner is known as the girl who wasn’t taken. Ten years ago, she witnessed the abduction of her best friend, Sibby. And though she told the police everything she remembered, it wasn’t enough. Sibby was never seen again.At night, Dee deals with her guilt by becoming someone else: the Seeker, the voice behind the popular true crime podcast Radio Silent, which features missing persons cases and works with online sleuths to solve them.

Nobody knows Dee’s the Seeker, and she plans to keep it that way.When another little girl goes missing, and the case is linked to Sibby’s disappearance, Dee has a chance to get answers, with the help of her virtual detectives and the intriguing new girl at school. But how much is she willing to reveal about herself in order to uncover the truth? Dee’s about to find out what’s really at stake in unraveling the mystery of the little girls who vanished.

Review

(Disclaimer: I received this book from Edelweiss. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)

TW: child abduction

I Hope You’re Listening is a book that will captivate you. All of a sudden you won’t want to stop reading and you probably won’t. This queer mystery thriller links Dee’s childhood trauma of witnessing her best friend be abducted, while starting her own missing persons podcast, and a new case of child abduction. There are serious Sadie and I Killed Zoe Spanos vibes with Podcasts – I want more podcast YAs please. Suffice it to say, if you are a mystery thriller fan AND love podcasts, then you have to add this to your TBR!

I Hope You’re Listening is more than a riveting mystery/thriller. It examines the childhood trauma of the friends and family of these missing children. The guilt, anger, fear, and the ways this loss shapes them. Haunted by these memories, Dee is such a fabulous and complex character. Not only is she dealing with her guilt regarding Sibby, but keeping her podcast secret, while also balancing her new crush. The emergence of a new child abduction case will challenge her in her role as a witness and a digital sleuth.

We all knew I would love that there’s a w|w relationship on page, but what I also adored was the way I Hope You’re Listening looks at our own agency and power. There are moments we are robbed of power, when we feel helpless. But I Hope You’re Listening gives voice to the silent. Power to telling our story. To realizing our agency and abilities and using our voice. Sure it’s full of mystery and secrets, PLENTY of twists and turns, but it’s also about standing up and sending a call out to the universe.

Find I Hope You’re Listening to Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.

Discussion

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