Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland

38 reviews

black_cat_iiix's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexism, Sexual violence, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

ymirfreckles's review against another edition

dark funny reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

Good concept but lukewarm execution. Doesn't really go in-depth about any of its themes and I'm not sure whether that's because it's a YA book but regardless, sometimes it just felt silly.

I did honestly enjoy the depiction of demons though! Except the part where they don't do deals with men, I just generally thought that the overwhelmingly rigid focus on the division of gender in the book was a bit weird. But yeah the author's description of how the demons look and move and interact with the main cast was interesting. Also, I found the author's description of gore/body horror quite good although surprisingly explicit compared to how surface-level everything else felt.

All that being said, I did tear through this book in only a few days and it was overall an enjoyable and easy read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, and Violence

apoppyinthewind's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I love a witchy book that takes a different approach to magic and The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland is one of the darker, more unique versions of magic I've read. In this world, magic is tied to making a pact with a demon, stamped on the witch's skin, which comes with a cost, and there is no room for mistakes. 

The three main POV characters are Jude, Emer, and Zara. The first, Jude, is a novice witch who's made quite a life-changing mistake with her pact and is seeking help to fix it. Zara, grieving her murdered sister, is determined to find answers and a way to bring her sister back. Jude and Zara are brought together while researching the murders of other witches, all of whom were former clients of Emer, the curse writer.

It's a dark, bloody tale, with a significant amount of body horror about three characters trying to track down a murderer targeting witches. I would recommend checking it out if you enjoy witchy books and horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

sage_alexandra's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Would probably have rated higher if not for the first few chapters. Maybe 4 or 5 chapters in was when the story finally picked up, but I'm glad I pushed through! The beginning was too much untethered exposition and vague character explanations, but it all came together quite quickly, and then I finished the rest of the (audio)book in under 24 hours.

Pretty extraordinary book, and the narrator, Kit Griffiths, is phenomenal!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Confinement, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

a lot of graphic knife/blade injuries,

flaying of skin

, descriptions of pain revolving around the cutting. none of it in a suicide-selfharm sort of way, just girlies doing casual blood sacrifices to demons!

reading_bear22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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? No

4.25

This book does a great job talking about power dynamics, and how some people cannot view life beyond their experiences.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry

tbrhannah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

witches, demons, magic, mystery, lesbians, heartbreak AND man hating. what is not to like? 10/10 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, and Blood

taylah13's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Sutherland’s writing is exceptional, it’s gruesome and visceral - the type of writing the crawls inside of your chest and sits in your throat. Such an original take on a modern witch story, it was dark and gothic and featured some loveable unhinged lesbians. But most importantly it’s a story of rage and agency. My only issue is that this could easily categorised as adult horror - this book deals with some heavy themes and I recommend for ages 16+ 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: Death and Hate crime

Minor: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Grief

jess_noack's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The book took a little bit to get going but once it did it didn't stop. I adored the dynamic between Emer (a witch/cursewriter), Jude ( cursed and a billionaire's daughter) and Zara (wants to bring her sister back from dead). Three women thrown together in pretty shitty circumstances who ultimately band together when Emer's clients start turning up dead. The book is quite dark and has a focus on male entitlement and misogyny and the impact on the women in the story. The three women are fierce, well-rounded characters and really carry the narrative with their determination to catch the killer and meet their own goals.

There was more gore and violence than I was expecting, paricularly violence (including death) against women. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

eviethebookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexism, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Self harm, Slavery, Stalking, and Pregnancy

fanni_ambr_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Misogyny

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Abandonment

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