Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland

53 reviews

lexihworth's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Excrement, Sexism, Torture, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Gore, Murder, Confinement, Stalking, Violence, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Misogyny

gen_wolfhailstorm's review

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!

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Content Warnings

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

bmf223's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

alfarmer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-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? Yes

4.75

This book was an incredible story that also had great social commentary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Grief, Hate crime, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent

saisrei's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Grief and Cursing

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

Dark, witchy, and all about female empowerment. I would stay away from this one if blood/gore isn't your thing because there is quite a bit of blood in this one. Sometimes just being used for spells, but still. There is a lot. 

I enjoyed how the overall story unfolded, with the twists and turns that I wasn't quite expecting until they were happening. Towards the end of the book, you'll definitely be kept on the edge of your seat, wondering how it's all going to wrap up.

If you like witchy, female empowerment kind of stories and don't mind a little bit of horror, this is definitely the book for you!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Death, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Pregnancy

queergoth_reads's review

dark emotional 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

4.75

I hadn't heard a lot about this book and I think it deserves more praise. It is the story of three young women trying to find who is killing witches and it's one of my favourite horror books I've read in a long time. I've enjoyed very few horror stories that are this creepy. I thought it is very well crafted occult tale and would absolutely recommend to horror fans. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Self harm and Death of parent

Minor: Cannibalism

alearon's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Death

utilitywhiskers's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Body horror, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit, Excrement, and Pregnancy

mars_loves_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Vomit, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Excrement, and Violence