Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland

60 reviews

pale_faced_fear's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

 I loved these characters. How much I enjoyed this book was surprising to me as I did not like House of Hollow. 

I think Zara was my favorite, but I also loved the other two. I was about to be so mad if the ship didn’t go canon by the end. 

This book is for the grotesque girlies that love reckless teenage girls fucking with demons and necromancy. The aesthetic of the girlies + the atmosphere *chefs kiss*. 

I wish this wasn’t the end, but it seems to be😪. I have Krystal’s writing a second chance and I will be giving it a third, this time to try to exceed what this book did. 

I’m gonna miss these characters I fear ☹️

P.S. we all need a Bael in our lives..

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Content Warnings

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

ashylibrarian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

5.0

A bewitching horror novel with a supernatural killer on the loose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Death

styxx's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Hate crime, Misogyny, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Blood, Torture, and Toxic relationship

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

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

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Content Warnings

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

themis_biblos's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Not my thing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Body horror, Sexism, Misogyny, Blood, Death of parent, and Gore

dosxhime's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Death of parent and Misogyny

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

lisashelves's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

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!

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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