Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland

14 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

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

bzliz's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I recently read House of Hollow and enjoyed it a lot, so when I saw this at the library I scooped it up knowing that I’d get another dose of Krystal Sutherland’s hauntingly beautiful imagery and she did not disappoint. The Invocations is just as bloody and gruesome while still being somewhat charming. 

Emer, a cursewriter whose coven was slaughtered years ago and was essentially raised by demons, is only seeking survival and revenge on the men who killed her family. She provides curses to gift magic to women in bad or desperate situations. Zara’s sister was murdered nearly a year ago and she’s not looking for revenge; she just wants to raise her sister from the dead. Jude made a stupid mistake is writing her own curse which bound an unwilling demon to her and it is hell bent to destroy her. Zara and Jude’s journeys join them together then link them to Emer as they investigate who is killing Emer’s clients and stealing their invocations. 

In my opinion, the least enjoyable part was the “romance” between Jude and Emer. It would have been just as well by these three girls- Jude, Emer & Zara- seeking connection, community & friendship because that’s really what they want. I hesitate to say there’s much growth for the trio as such a vast majority of their quest is externally driven but I don’t think the story suffers for it. The ending is a little waffley too. The cops here must be pretty inept and that’s all I’ll say on that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Blood, Violence, Murder, Body horror, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Excrement, Self harm, Death of parent, Vomit, Abandonment, and Grief

Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Misogyny, and Lesbophobia

bellebeaumont95's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Self harm, and Mental illness

Moderate: Vomit, Excrement, and Chronic illness

Minor: Death of parent

theycallmenana's review against another edition

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

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

Minor: Stalking, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

zenzi2read's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Minor: Vomit, Excrement, and Domestic abuse

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

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

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

rhhapsodos's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Stalking, and Violence

Minor: Cursing, Vomit, and Excrement