Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland

7 reviews

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Blood, Gore, and Body horror

Moderate: Violence, Cursing, and Death

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

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

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

devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Murder, Misogyny, Alcohol, Cursing, Gore, Grief, Sexual violence, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, and Child abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Medical content, Abortion, Miscarriage, Addiction, Cannibalism, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Rape, and Stalking

hobbithopeful's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Thank you Penguin for this ARC!
Krystal Sutherland truly never misses. The Invocations is haunting, magical, and full of rage, and Sutherland's writing style makes it impossible to put down!
Demons, magic, and so much blood, I don't even know where to start with what I love the most. The characters are all so fleshed out and well explored. Over the course of the story we see each one open up more as they begin to trust each other, and share their stories. There is so much female rage in this, and so much wonderful queer representation. Everyone who has been scared to walk home alone, or has pepper spray on their keychain will easily relate and see themselves in this story. I will say this isn't a book to eat and read at the same time, the imagery in this book had me gagging from how horrific and disgusting Sutherland described it.
Each one of the characters has lost something, and they are on a quest to achieve their goal, no matter the cost. (Also guys, lots of daddy issues in this, you know I love to see that!)
I love every second of this book, I have yet to read a book of hers I didn't thoroughly enjoy. There is something about her writing style that manages to tread the line between grotesque imagery, and mystery. I never know where her books are going to take me, but I always know I am going to have a fantastic time on the journey.
This is definitely one to check your triggers for! There is a lot of blood, injuries, and heavy topics that will make this difficult to read for many people, so please make sure you check that before you read this.
This is easily my favorite book of hers so far. I HIGHLY recommend this one! Perfect for fans of dark witchy reads with badass sapphic rep at the forefront.
One final note, I learned way more then I ever wanted to about body decomposition.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Blood, Violence, and Self harm

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

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

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

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

jules_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

i loved this! full review to come 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Child death, Murder, Cannibalism, and Self harm

Moderate: Sexual violence and Death of parent