Hello! I am here to review an ARC I read on NetGalley that I didn’t realize was being released so soon because I apparently have no concept of time in the year 2020. **And as always, the work to support the Black community is not done, whether there is media coverage for it or not, so here is the link to click in order to support the Black Lives Matter movement in any way you can, and thank you to StarlahReads for compiling these resources.**
A while ago, I heard everyone talking about the book I Hope You’re Listening, a mystery thriller by author Tom Ryan. Since the main character, Dee, hosts her own podcast, a lot of people were comparing it to Sadie, a young adult mystery thriller released in 2018 that is extremely well-known for its inclusion of a podcast element. I have not yet read Sadie (though I’ve been told I might enjoy it), but I was still intrigued to see what was so enticing about Tom Ryan’s novel. We do get transcripts from Dee’s show, narrated by her persona The Seeker (used to hide her identity), and I’m sure the audiobook will do an incredible job with those sections. Let’s get into what I thought about the book itself.
Ten years ago, an adventure to a tree-house in the woods left Delia “Dee” Skinner alone after witnessing the abduction of her best friend, Sibby. Now seventeen, Dee, still haunted by her past, has vowed to help other victims by starting an anonymous true crime podcast, Radio Silent. Cloaked by her identity as The Seeker, she features missing persons cases and works with an online community of sleuths to solve them. Dee carefully curates her cases and is able to keep her distance, but when a little girl goes missing from her old hometown, it opens doors previously thought closed and just might answer the questions she’s had since Sibby’s disappearance. But how far must Dee go to find out the truth?
I don’t read any thrillers very often, especially YA ones, but I found this to be interesting and fast-paced once the action got started – when things really went south I was in it for the long haul. It took me a while to get into this book, if I’m being honest, but I’ll chalk that up to only reading it while physically at my work office (which is only two days a week). After I finishing, I really appreciated all the little bits of information sprinkled throughout the first half that came together in the end, which is usually a sign that the author is leavng clues for the reader to be able to solve the mystery themselves if they’re looking hard enough. Dee’s survivor’s guilt affects her almost every day since the incident, and I loved how the book explores how this guilt can sometimes skew your perception of other’s people’s reactions to the same situation – you’re ostracized because you believe no one else can truly understand how you feel, and they spend all their time avoiding certain conversations because they’re afraid of saying something wrong. Eventually, that guilt eats away and makes you act irrationally – say things you don’t mean and lash out at people who may not deserve it. I wish Dee and Sarah could have spent more time together, so we could see more development in their relationship. It was nice to see a saphic relationship that went mostly un-questioned, but personally I felt Sarah was just included so the protagonist could have a romance. I’m not saying it was unnecessary, I was just hoping for more time for their feelings to develop. And I sometimes found Burke to be a bit of a filler character, which was a shame because he was such an important part of the book’s beginning. I understand why he distanced himself from Dee when the action started heating up, again I just wanted more.
Overall, I found I Hope You’re Listening to be a fairly intriguing mystery thriller. I did not predict the ending, though I found the chain of events to be plausible given what was revealed throughout the book so it didn’t feel inorganic. I am interested to see what other readers think of the book, and if those who have also read Sadie find the comparison to be accurate. I Hope You’re Listening will be released on October 6th, 2020 (which is the day this post goes live, if everything works out), so join me in wishing it a happy book birthday, and if you’re in need of some intrigue this month (or any), I recommend picking up a copy for yourself. **Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Albert Whitman & Company, for the e-copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Places to find I Hope You’re Listening:
Amazon
Goodreads
Tom Ryan’s site
Albert Whitman & Co.
Thoughts About Things 