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becca_in_a_book's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
5.0
I LOVED THIS SO MUCH. Coming off the back of a few underwhelming reads, this was a breath of fresh air. The witchy vibes were there, girls were on a mission, Jude was being unapologetically Jude. I did not anticipate the comedic value of a possessed corpse, but I was very pleasantly surprised. This book had me in a total chokehold and I will be recommending it to anyone who breathes. Count me in as a Krystal Sutherland fan for life.
msmalicious's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-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? No
4.0
marissacaputo's review against another edition
4.0
Krystal Sutherland does it again!! After House of Hollow got me back into reading I was SO excited for her next book. This did not disappoint.
All three characters were so fun and had some fantastic personalities. This book included so many recent pop culture references that I was genuinely surprised each time I came across one. As a 22-year-old girl, I think Sutherland did a great job making the characters genuinely feel their age. All three characters were immensely different, but each one was so loveable.
This book had a solid plotline that combined murder mystery and supernatural elements well. One thing I love about her writing is that she does an amazing job creating an atmosphere. Nothing too creepy for an average reader, but it gives you an unsettling feeling.
Even though this book contains witches & demons & magic, it did a fantastic job addressing topics like family relationships, loss, and the power dynamics between men and women in society.
Thank you SO MUCH to Penguin Random House and Edelweiss for providing me with an ARC for my honest review! :)
All three characters were so fun and had some fantastic personalities. This book included so many recent pop culture references that I was genuinely surprised each time I came across one. As a 22-year-old girl, I think Sutherland did a great job making the characters genuinely feel their age. All three characters were immensely different, but each one was so loveable.
This book had a solid plotline that combined murder mystery and supernatural elements well. One thing I love about her writing is that she does an amazing job creating an atmosphere. Nothing too creepy for an average reader, but it gives you an unsettling feeling.
Even though this book contains witches & demons & magic, it did a fantastic job addressing topics like family relationships, loss, and the power dynamics between men and women in society.
Thank you SO MUCH to Penguin Random House and Edelweiss for providing me with an ARC for my honest review! :)
lucidmachine's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.25
thedgafclub's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.75
charlotteabrams's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
4.5
chanelchapters's review against another edition
DNF @3.5hours
Demons, dark magic, rotting bodies and lady loving ladies and yet I was bored and didn’t care about any of the characters. Couldn’t get into it.
Demons, dark magic, rotting bodies and lady loving ladies and yet I was bored and didn’t care about any of the characters. Couldn’t get into it.
tesssreads's review against another edition
This book isn’t bad by any means and I’ll definitely be reading House of Hollow but I’m just not enjoying the story, I’m not intrigued and I think the writing is too young for me. And I’m not wasting time reading books that I know I’m not gonna be 100% invested in this year 😤
danimae1981's review against another edition
4.0
*3.5 stars*
The Invocations is a young adult fantasy story that dives into the occult, witchcraft and demons in the modern world while also trying to solve a murder mystery. It follows three 17-year-old girls, Zara (who is looking for a witch to help her resurrect her sister), Jude (who is suffering from a bad invocation) and Emer (an invocation writer). I was a bit unsure if I would like these characters in the beginning, but I liked them more as I learned more about them and their situations. I found Zara to be the hardest to relate to since I didn't understand her obsession with raising the raising the dead. Jude turned out to be my favorite character.
I enjoyed the writing style of this author, with great descriptions and a lot of complexity to the characters and occult practices. I don't typically read horror books, so this one was a bit more gruesome than I'm used it, but I wouldn't call it scary. At times the story felt a bit slow and drawn out, but I felt like the second half of the book had a better pace and definitely had a lot more action. About halfway through the book, I started to have a hunch about who was behind the murders, and I mostly turned out to be right. I was a little disappointed that I was able to figure it out so early on, though there were still some surprises along the way.
I think that my biggest dislike about the book is that it has a very anti-male feel to it. Men are considered aggressive, abusive, etc, which is why women need the invocations to protect themselves. Given, many of the women in the story faced abusive or terrible situations, but I think the story was a bit too extreme in portraying men as evil and something women had to fear. I'm all for strong female characters, but this book took it farther than I would have preferred.
Thank you to BookishFirst and Penguin Teen for the free copy of The Invocations in return for my honest review.
The Invocations is a young adult fantasy story that dives into the occult, witchcraft and demons in the modern world while also trying to solve a murder mystery. It follows three 17-year-old girls, Zara (who is looking for a witch to help her resurrect her sister), Jude (who is suffering from a bad invocation) and Emer (an invocation writer). I was a bit unsure if I would like these characters in the beginning, but I liked them more as I learned more about them and their situations. I found Zara to be the hardest to relate to since I didn't understand her obsession with raising the raising the dead. Jude turned out to be my favorite character.
I enjoyed the writing style of this author, with great descriptions and a lot of complexity to the characters and occult practices. I don't typically read horror books, so this one was a bit more gruesome than I'm used it, but I wouldn't call it scary. At times the story felt a bit slow and drawn out, but I felt like the second half of the book had a better pace and definitely had a lot more action. About halfway through the book, I started to have a hunch about who was behind the murders, and I mostly turned out to be right. I was a little disappointed that I was able to figure it out so early on, though there were still some surprises along the way.
I think that my biggest dislike about the book is that it has a very anti-male feel to it. Men are considered aggressive, abusive, etc, which is why women need the invocations to protect themselves. Given, many of the women in the story faced abusive or terrible situations, but I think the story was a bit too extreme in portraying men as evil and something women had to fear. I'm all for strong female characters, but this book took it farther than I would have preferred.
Thank you to BookishFirst and Penguin Teen for the free copy of The Invocations in return for my honest review.
beeanka_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0