Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland

17 reviews

theycallmenana's review

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Vomit, and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual assault, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

   I enjoyed the book, but I figured out who the witch hunter was pretty easily, so that plot "twist" was pretty dull. I did love the ending and I hope there's a sequel, which there seemed to be a setup for.
   While dark there were enough moments of levity to keep it from being a thoroughly depressing book.

Narrator Rating: 5 stars
   The narrator did an excellent job with tonal shifts and giving each character a unique voice.

Elemental Levels:  Fluff-0/5  Heartfelt-2/5   Helpful-NA     Horror-3/5   Inspiration-NA  
Love aka Romance-3/5   Mystery-2/5    Predictability-4/5   Spice-0/5    Suspense-2/5    Tear- 2.5/5  
Thrill-3/5 Humor-2/5 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Excrement, Medical content, Cannibalism, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lawwenlouis's review

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Murder

thereadedit's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

When I first saw the cover of this book, I couldn't get it out of my mind. 3 young women against the world? Yes please. 

I love that Krystal gives the power to women in her books. This book embodied every dream of women being the ultimate badasses. They refused to let someone else take their lives away. They wanted to make a life for themselves and refused to allow no to be the answer. 

I loved these three characters. They each brought so much to the story and showed how 3 very different women can come together to make dreams comes true. No matter what their dreams were. 

I loved exploring London through the eyes of these women and how their perception involved their surroundings. Seeing something through someone else's eyes is always so much an interesting experience and I love being in their shoes. 

Emotions run high throughout this book because of the war that is raging within their world. It's not a typical war, but a war nonetheless. Amidst fighting their hardest they find the most unlikely allies in people they never expected. Not just each other but also people in their lives that they would have never expected. 

I loved this so much and I was beyond sad when it ended. I got so invested in this world and these characters and I can't help but want more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

jaedia's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I read a hefty chunk of this during a three-day migraine. Day one I could barely read at all, day two I was just so desperate for something to do that wasn't a screen. 😅 So that was a new experience for me (I've only been having migraines for a couple years, if that). 

I enjoyed The Invocations a lot. At first I worried the purple prose was going to fall on the wrong side for me but quickly fell in love with the way Sutherland describes everything and paints pictures with words. And the three girls: Jude, Emer, and Zara, felt pretty 3-dimensional to me, to the point that Jude in my mind looked quite different to the Jude on the cover art, the other 2 as well, actually - I struggle to visualise characters at all, usually. I also just adore dark witchy stories. This one has gore, and demons, and dark power, and women who are angry. It really really hit the spot. 

There were a few points that bothered me, however, though they were small niggles rather than outright problems. For one... quite a few typos. I maybe noticed 7 or 8 throughout the book? Which isn't great for a traditionally published book. Not the end of the world though, they don't make it unreadable. Also without spoilers, one character has a magical injury, you learn about it right away when they are introduced, and the extent of the injury and the pain it causes... it really bothered me that they could walk around and do things. Like, yes there were times if they were running or doing manual labour they'd be visibly struggled or just bow out completely, but it's never made into much. I experience some minor pain at times and can't walk when it gets really bad, and there are others who need to constantly use crutches or a wheelchair. Pain like that isn't something that you grin and bear, get used to, magical or not. It wipes you out. I would have at least liked for them to have a walking stick, you know? Would have felt more real. Also: disabled representation, we could always use more.

Aside from that, the rest really are just small things here and there. Perhaps a person feels too much like a walking cliché, something feels a little too convenient, that kind of thing. These are generally things I notice when I read young adult fiction, however, and I tend to just brush them off. The instances in this book where they came up just didn't affect what I was reading. The overall writing and excitement of the story and what was happening to these characters was solid enough that it more than made up for any issues I had. 

If you don't mind a little gore and enjoy dark stories about witches and the occult, with queer leading ladies, nonetheless, you might really get a kick out of The Invocations. And if you do, I definitely recommend checking the trigger warnings, as it is horror. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Infidelity, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Excrement, Car accident, and Pregnancy

camiandkitread's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

“The Invocations” by New York Times bestselling author Krystal Sutherland is a dark, witchy thriller about the women who refused to be afraid of the men and demons who lurk in the night. 

The book follows three girls from very different backgrounds: Zara Jones, Jude Wolf, and Emmer Bryne:

Zara doggedly believes in magic because it’s the solution she needs to bring her sister back after she was murdered by a serial killer. If dabbling in the occult will bring her sister back, then that’s what Zara will do. But she needs a guide to show her how to do real magic. 

In sharp opposition to Zara, Jed Wolf, is an heiress who has had life served to her on a silver platter. That is, until a deal with a demon went awry and her soul began decaying. Flowers wither, insects drop dead, and monstrous things haunt her nights. If Jude can’t find someone with the skill to undo her mistake, she knows her time is limited.

Emer Bryne is the person both Zara and Jude are looking for. The self-trained daughter of a witch, Emer crafts spells for women in desperate situations that sacrifice part of their soul for enough magic to change their circumstances. Emer has her own dark past, which she fears has caught up with her as her former clients are being found murdered. 

Once the three girls’ paths cross, they team up to catch the London Ripper before they end up his next victims. 

I’ve seen “The Invocations” everywhere since I attended YALLFest in 2023 and was so excited to read it. I was expecting a clever, spooky tale with witches trying to solve a murder. While “The Invocations” technically delivered, I personally think it’s been overhyped. The style came across as disjointed and it was very difficult to keep track of which POV the chapters changed to. 

The three main characters were all distinct in their personalities and had compelling backgrounds. They stayed true to their motivations the whole time and had compelling personal arcs. The plot was interesting and the stakes were high…but it was mostly lackluster. It seemed like it was trying too hard to be dark and edgy, and the characters slid into completely trusting each other a little too fast. 

While I didn’t dislike “The Invocations,” I was definitely disappointed. It had all the right parts, but the execution was just slightly off, in my opinion. 

I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

marywahlmeierbracciano's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Invocations is set in a world where only women can use magic, but it comes at a price.  Butch heiress Jude learns this the hard way when a misguided curse leaves her with a necrotic wound.  Zara’s racing against time to learn how to raise her sister from the dead before it’s too late.  And Emer, a gifted polylinguist and curse-writer and the sole survivor from her coven, knows that being a witch is a dangerous thing.  The three young women are brought together when it’s discovered that a serial murderer is targeting Emer’s past clients—women who were willing to sell part of their soul for magic.  Grief leads the way in this whirlwind story, gruesome and truly scary as it confronts generational wealth, misogynistic violence, demons, and empowerment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Sexual violence, Torture, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic