Written by contributor Kajree Gautom
[Trigger Warnings: murder, graphic descriptions, child death]
We Hear Voices is terrifying and creepy, and even saying that would be just an understatement. With some heavy resemblance to the pandemic happening right now, the novel is set amidst an ongoing pandemic that affects only kids and the patients either die or those who come back alive, come back with an imaginary friend. What comes off as harmless involvement with an imaginary friend as a means of coping soon turns hostile and strange, turning into vessels of inappropriacy and blood-thirsty murderer of elders.
Rachel, mother of Billy, is a divorcee living with her uber supportive boyfriend and three kids, who was shattered to lose 6-year-old Billy to the deadly virus. But when he comes back alive, she calls it a miracle. More so when her third child, Beth, miraculously gets better after suddenly getting sick one night, she truly believes that luck was full on her side. Her older daughter, Nina, is a 16-year-old ambitious space fanatic who aims to build a better future for the next generations. Rachel, although slowly drowning in poverty, is happy and lucky with a loving family. That is until Billy’s behaviour gets way out of character and hostile, violent and dangerous, which leads her to put in him a special and mysterious asylum with other similar survivor kids.
Billy was really a creepy character to read about. The way the author described his actions and thought process really brought out the weirdness in the story, adding to the strange mystery of the imaginary friend. The progression from healing to violence was so smooth and well done, you really cannot see where it changes. Billy really steals the show in the first half, terrifying with every turn of page. There was a constant question in my mind while I read – “what would Billy do next?” – and I think it really accounts for the unreliability of his character. His bond with his sister was really sweet.
Rachel’s character was a mixed bag of emotions for me, to be honest. She seemed fragile at moments and then totally in control in other moments, and I think that really made her more real. Her worry and care for her children was one moving aspect of the story – how she was so tired and exhausted and yet, how she wasn’t ready to give up. I think with Rachel, the author created a vulnerable yet powerful women who knew how to stand on her feet and would fight. Her motherly instincts were portrayed fabulously, although at times I did yell for her to make more sound decisions. But ultimately, she was a lot women trying to find her own feet. At the same time, however, I also found her voice and actions to be annoying at times.
Nina, the older daughter, was my favourite character. Young she may be, but she was very practical and mature in her thinking and actions. Her meticulous nature led her to create an anonymous blog with her brother’s story, in order to connect with others who might have felt the same. Although this sounded selfish and dangerous, I also enjoyed seeing how it took over her life at one point. While she despised Delfy, the love for her brother was so wholesome and beautiful, and it traced out so perfectly in the story. She would do anything for family, and it showed, and I loved her for that. Her relationship with Louis was adorable too! However much I liked the two of them together for portrayal of a positive relationship, I was so happy that Nina didn’t go in the cliché lines of ‘I’ll do anything for love’ and made sound decisions at the end. Her devotion to her family and the welfare of the society as a whole was a commendable trait that I absolutely adored.
These characters really made reading more enjoyable due to their distinct voices. I enjoyed Graham and his love for Imogen, but at times I really felt detached with that aspect of the story. The asylum, run by Graham, is utterly creepy and even creepier are the kids and there were certain scenes in there really troubled me a lot. The author tried to add more of a supernatural element to the story, but I guess I couldn’t grasp it enough. While I loved Graham’s mysterious character right from the beginning, I do think we didn’t get much depth on his character as we did for the others. I wish there were more scenes with him, giving us a glimpse of his life before and during so we could’ve connected with him more.
The second half of the book leans more toward Nina trying to figure out the truth and outing Ben Alford (the vicious mastermind who is profiting off poor people) to the world. It soon turns into a deadly race to freedom and truth, and the stakes get higher, and boy did I love the chase! As I had already said, Nina was my absolute favourite character and the author truly outdid with her characterisation.
However, there were moments when the plot tended to shift away from the ongoing pandemic and focused too much on the chase to figure the truth. It leaned more towards uncovering dirty politics rather than focusing on the violent imaginary friends who loved spiders. I would have loved to see more of Billy and the kids cooking up absolute chaos but towards the second part, we hardly saw much of Billy. And whatever little we read about him, he was being his creepy self, sad and manipulative. I also felt like the end got a bit rushed and mixed up in its explanation, as everything was put forward way too much all at once.
Towards the end of the novel, I really was left gaping at my screen. It was not something that one would be expected out of such a story, and in that way, I think it was clever and marvellous. But at the same time, it was also abrupt and weird. Things started to heal and get better so easily, which of course made me doubt the whole situation. The author, I felt, also forgot to mention about the virus and the pandemic towards the end. But the epilogue is what went totally crazy and ended with a direct cliffhanger that was – yes – crazy. I literally have no other word to describe it other than crazy. And more so, it was highly bizarre and unsettling, totally creepy.
There were multiple storylines running together but they all connected well and took the story forward. The setting of an almost dystopian landscape was eerie and totally added more depth to the storytelling. While I enjoyed this setting, and there were so many relatable aspects in the story, I couldn’t help but skim through the science bits – maybe because it wasn’t given much importance for most part of the story. I really wasn’t a big fan to the ending, to be honest. There was a lot happening, but slowly. And then at the end it simply went crazy.
However, Evie Green has crafted a marvellous story that is equal parts creepy and atmospheric and scary. The parallels to our current situation, I think, made the reading experience far more terrific! I believe We Hear Voices is one of a kind dystopian thriller that is bound to make you uncomfortable with its spectacular and detailed writing and descriptions.
We Hear Voices is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of December 1st 2020.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
An eerie debut about a little boy who recovers from a sickness and inherits an imaginary friend who makes him do violent things…
Kids have imaginary friends. Rachel knows this. So when her young son, Billy, miraculously recovers from a horrible flu that has proven fatal for many, she thinks nothing of Delfy, his new invisible friend. After all, her family is healthy and that’s all that matters.
But soon Delfy is telling Billy what to do, and the boy is acting up and lashing out in ways he never has before. As Delfy’s influence is growing stranger and more sinister by the day, and rising tensions threaten to tear Rachel’s family apart, she clings to one purpose: to protect her children at any cost–even from themselves.
We Hear Voices is a mischievously gripping near-future horror novel that tests the fragility of family and the terrifying gray area between fear and love.
