Reviews

I Hope You're Listening by Tom Ryan

jennrocca's review

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4.0

I could have given this 3 stars. The plot was compelling but the character actions sometimes felt inauthentic. Also, the audiobook reader was just ok. She was fine most of the time but her children’s voices were grating.

The plot felt original and interesting so I did want to listen the whole way through.

mehsi's review

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5.0

I received this book from the Tour Host in exchange of an honest review.

I was already looking forward to this book and so I was excited that I had the chance to read it early. In the end I managed to wait at least until October 1st as I wanted this one for Hallowtober. But boy this was a ride, I just couldn’t stop reading. Thankfully, between all the exciting parts there were also some moments to breathe.

Meet Dee, or Delia. A girl who had a very traumatic experience. When she was a kid her best friend got kidnapped while she was there. We see how that still affects her to the day and also that this is why she started the podcast. To at least help out others because she couldn’t help Sibby. She is a strong character, or at least tries to be. I loved her from the first page and she only got better with each new piece of information we get about her.

At times we go back in time, 10 years, to the moment when the kidnapping happened. My heart broke when we got the last piece of the puzzle. Poor Dee.

thepetitepunk's review

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4.0

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

WOW. This needs to be turned into a movie immediately!

Ten years ago, Dee Skinner witnessed the kidnapping of her childhood friend, Sibby Carmichael. Throughout the years, there has been no signs of Sibby, and all Dee has been left with are the haunting memories of being in the forest when her friend was taken. Now, in order to deal with pain, Dee runs an anonymous podcast called Radio Silent, where she discusses missing person cases and encourages her listeners to help her solve these cases. Shockingly, another girl goes missing--from the family who moved into Dee's childhood house. With potential links to Sibby's case, Dee gets a chance to finally find some answers after all these years.

I Hope You're Listening was fantastic. It's a mystery/thriller that will keep you on your toes, especially as the book advances. Dee's pain and trauma are written respectfully and while this isn't the first book I've read about a secret podcast, it was still entertaining. I also appreciated the lovely queer representation. There were no conversations about gay suffering and woes about coming out--it was just two girls who liked each other and decided to be girlfriends. I thought this was quite refreshing and the subtleness worked well with the story since the main focus was on Dee finding out more about Sibby. The ending was far from disappointing; I was pleasantly surprised with how nicely things wrapped up.

I did think that the beginning was a bit slow (it definitely took me a few tries to get into this book) and there were some elements of the plot that were jumped into too quickly, but overall, I thought Tom Ryan's approach to a thriller was excellent. Again, the beginning took some time to get into, but after pushing passed that, I read the last 60% of the book in one sitting. Would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in YA thriller/mystery, especially one with LGBTQ representation!

readwithkiekie's review

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4.0

I picked up 'I Hope You're Listening' because Karen. M McManus recommended it and said it was one of her favorite books of the year. I'm a Karen fan, so anything she recommends I'm going to read and I honestly wasn't disappointed.

schmetterly's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

naomistrange's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

izzys_internet_bookshelf's review

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3.0

3.5/5

I don’t read a lot of mystery books. But when do I intend on having a fun time reading it. I loved the mystery behind it and the podcast. I just didn’t like the characters as much as I thought I would. The ending was so satisfying as they should be. I loved how they explained how it happened.

mukoya's review

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5.0

Found it a bit slow at the beginning but once it caught up it was a definite page turner.

tnh1313's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

reiding's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5