Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland

21 reviews

ellie_debney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Physical abuse, Vomit, and Medical content

gabburrit0's review against another edition

dark

3.75

this ended v sweetly. i think that the metaphor of having a villain who quite literally uses the successes of women to feel more powerful himself is a bit on the nose but i think it worked really well for this story. 

i really liked all of the girls! i think that their specific dynamic (the face, the brain, and the brawn) can definitely fall into the trap of cliche but it also really worked for this specific story and the narrative that they were trying to convey of like "girl power but make it supernatural" i also really appreciated that sutherland included the gore of doing these rituals into the story. lots of ppl are into witchcraft and their own interpretations of it but it has a lot to do with imbuing crystals with intentions or lighting sage to cleanse but this was like "let's get back to our roots and show the blood and how you have to give up a lot of yourself in order to achieve your specific wants in witchcraft" which i thoroughly enjoyed

the only thing keeping this book from a 4 star (5 star was a bit too high for me since i take re-readability into account) is that i just enjoyed sutherland's other book (house of hollow) so much more. it's unfair for me to pit 2 books against each other but in my defense they're both written by the same author and have similar vibes of supernatural occurrences happening to young women. where this book fell flat when it came to atmosphere, house of hollow absolutely knocked it out of the park. i wish that there had been more moodiness and overall gothic tones throughout this story because we're quite literally talking about hunting witch-hunters because they're killing women rapidly and the tone of the book just felt very vampire academy (movie version) and i just know that sutherland knows how to write a fucking good atmospheric book. tldr, house of hollow actually made me feel anxious and a little scared to turn off my light at night and i listened to this book on audiobook to help me go to sleep (affectionately)

that all being said, this book has made me a fan of sutherland's work. i'm definitely going to be picking up whatever she releases next and i'll be there for the vibes of a spooky story 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Blood, Grief, and Murder

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!

---

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!

kaz_brekkerrr's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Vomit

Moderate: Cursing, Death, and Violence

Minor: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Alcohol

on_my_bookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

Amy McCaw's YA book club pick for March 2024.

I'm really glad this was the choice for this month's book club as I had an Evernight addition I've been excited to pour over! 

Don't let my slow progress fool you on this title! Every time I picked it back up, I was lapping this up. I think subconsciously I was taking forever because I wanted to savour it. It was very apparent from the start that I would adore the characters and I was already hooked on the direction of the story!

Invocations felt so dark, rich, yet funny (especially with Jude's comments) all at the same time. The mystery and magic is exhilarating and especially when we got to the end, both the two major plot twists did not have me guessing until the big reveal.

I wasn't expecting to have the mysterious sounding Emer Byrne as our first main POV, but I really enjoyed seeing her life straight away. It served to add even more to the illusive mystery surrounding her and I found that I was eager to discover more about her back story.

On page 19, I liked the connection of this in-the-process-of-healing lesion whispering the demonic language humans have aversion to... Much like the evil whisperings of legion itself! I don't know if it was intentional, but they sound similar and I liked the play on words.

There's also a scene where Jude observes her estranged family and the way the older siblings act around the patriarch of the father with their umbrellas, which greatly reminded me out of something from The Umbrella Academy.

As you can tell, I had a great time with the imagery and (imagined or not) metaphors speckled throughout. The writing was just so vivid and saturated in the telling.

Zara was probably the character I least bonded with. Don't get me wrong, I still loved reading from her perspective and the motive she had behind everything was a mixture of driven and heartbreaking. I just felt that she was too closed off and felt a touch like a filler character at times. Especially during moments that you could really tell there was some sort of chemistry with Jude and Emer.

The epilogue had me holding back tears.... After everything that happened it was just so beautiful, and honestly a fitting and perfect ending to the story. I felt kind of giddy and melancholy all at once when it was over. I took so long savouring over this book, it became my essence and now I don't know what to do with my life... Maybe I'll go hunt me some witch hunters.

: Eli's rationale for murdering women and stealing invocations was completely heartless and disgusting. How privileged he lived, yet he would go to the extremes of torture and murder to redeem himself in his family's eyes and for an ounce more power? I was stunned. My sympathy and empathy can only go so far. I thought he was a fantastic character and I loved the dynamic with Jude as the two black sheep siblings of the Wolf family, so this had me distraught.

Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

clairelikesbooks95's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I feel like with every book I read by Krystal Sutherland (all two), my main reaction while reading is “Ewww. Really??” And I dig it! Lots of rage, lots of girl power, lots of gore, lots of queer vibes. Definitely not for folks who don’t like bleak, gory stories.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Vomit, and Cannibalism

katielouisef's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

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

---

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 

---

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