I Hope You're Listening

2.5 - 3

I really wanted to love this one. From what I read about it beforehand it sounded like I Hope You???re Listening would be a novel in the same vein - a thriller/mystery story interspersed with podcast transcriptions weaving together into a cohesive, multi-layered story.

When she was seven, Dee Skinner and her best friend, Sibby, got captured while they were playing out in the woods. Sibby was taken. Dee was left behind. At 17, she carries the survivor???s guilt with her constantly. As a way of manifesting that energy into something useful, she???s started a podcast through which she anonymously highlights missing person cases and, sometimes, with the help of her listeners, helps solve them. She looks into all sorts of cases, but not Sibby???s. Until another young girl gets taken from the house Dee used to live in, and suddenly Dee can???t ignore her past anymore.

There was a lot of potential in this story and this novel, especially in terms of the thriller/mystery aspects. As the story picked up pace in the last third of the book, I did feel myself inching closer to the edge of my seat, curious and anxious for Dee. She???s a good protagonist, coping with complicated feelings about her trauma, with a conviction and perseverance I???m in awe of. And yet, I also felt this novel falls into a lot of ???YA traps???, not only in terms of the writing, which is especially juvenile at the start, but in the characterisation especially, and the narrative doesn???t really do the work of earning that. There???s the ex-friend turned mean girl (who actually turns out to not be mean at all in the end, but the shift from the start of the book to a sudden understanding between the girls is startling), the supportive best friend (who turns out to Actually Also Be Going Through His Own Things), the protective parents (who we basically don???t hear from), etc. A lot of it remains very flat, only alluding to a depth we???re never actually shown.

And this is a problem I had with more parts of the novel, also in terms of storytelling. There are a number of allusions to police screwing up Sibby???s case when she went missing, but never any more info than that. The side plot that Dee explores through her podcast felt like a very separate thing from the rest of the novel, and didn???t really integrate well. When you do choose to use this dual narrative, I think both narratives need to enhance each other, and I don???t think this did. It felt more like I was being told the same thing twice but in a slightly different form. I don???t want to compare this book to Sadie too much, because obviously they???re separate, but I think that???s a book that did this very well. Also - Dee???s podcast. It was really unclear to me why it got so popular so suddenly, and it didn???t become clear to me from what we were reading. As an avid podcast listener myself, it lacked a degree of realism and research that really took me out of the story.

Same goes with Dee???s relationship with Sarah. I loved that there was at no point an ???explanation??? for Dee being queer. It sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud, but in so many books you???ll find a ???I???d never really been interested in boys???-esque explanation that is completely unnecessary and often very cringy. Dee simply likes Sarah, and her friend can tease her, and her parents can be happy for her, without it ever being a big deal or a point of discussion. Breath of fresh air! And still??? I really wish we could???ve seen a bit more of their relationship develop.

I think that???s maybe my main problem with this book in the end - it???s trying to be too many things, all of which would???ve been so interesting and cool on their own, or a couple combined, but all of them together it???s too much, and nothing really gets enough space to breathe. Resolutions are too easy, supposedly logical even though they???re just really not. Character arcs are non-existent. Themes are rushed. Really bummed that this one wasn???t what I was hoping it could be :/

I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.