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jaedia's reviews
74 reviews
- 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
Graphic: Misogyny, War, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Physical abuse, Medical content, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Self harm, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Racism
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Graphic: Animal death, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Classism, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, and Murder
Moderate: Sexism, Medical content, Bullying, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Gore, Child abuse, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Deadnaming, Abandonment, Violence, Torture, Fatphobia, and Deportation
Minor: Alcohol, Ableism, and War
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
So to be frank, I had completely forgotten the premise of Kagen the Damned over the months and ended up going into the read blind. I can recommend against doing this for most readers. You see, this is grimdark, with a smattering of horror. Cosmic horror.
In the first 200 pages we see so much sexual assault and brutal violence that poor old Kagen becomes traumatised and falls into the loving embrace of a wine-enduced stupor. While personally I feel all of this serves the story, showcasing how devastatingly nasty the Hakkian forces are, and how dark the world becomes in the time since the fall of the Silver Empire, and how utterly destroyed Kagen is over what he has been through, it could prove too much for you and that's okay. Know your lines, check the content warnings. Seriously.
That said, watching Kagen's rise from rock bottom feels SO good. He has so much fuel for what's to come and we do really root for him.
Kagen isn't the only character we get to know, however. He's not even in my top 3, truth be told!
We also follow Ryssa, a 15-year old nun-to-be from the destroyed and outlawed faith of the Garden, as she is led from the ruins of Argentium on the fateful night of the Empire's fall and across the lands to mysterious ends by Miri, a nun who pretty quickly leaves her faith behind her. I didn't care too much for these characters but their story plays a vital part and it is fascinating to watch the mystery unfold.
Then we have the new emperor, the Witch-king of Hakkia, an evil sorcerous leader wiped out around 1500 years ago by the Silver Empire, and his chamberlain, Lord Nespar, and the necromancer Lady Kestral. You see, magic was outlawed by the Silver Empire, once a force that came from evil gods and serving no good. Or so they said, at least. And now we begin to see magic returning to the world. Particularly through Lady Kestral and the Witch-king, although their use of magic is certainly for evil, particularly as they prepare for the coronation that will make the Witch-king's reign as emperor legal. And oh it's so fun to read about. I love Lady Kestral so much.
By far my three favourite characters, however, have to be Filia alden-Bok, a friend and sometimes lover of Kagen's who is just an utter badass woman. She isn't especially "attractive", and yet.. she still gets laid and gets to kick some arse. What a concept! Then Tuke of Theria, a large dark-skinned man who Kagen becomes familiar with. I don't want to go too much into his character as he's a little way into the book but he's such a fun character to have around, and also a badass. And last but not least, Mother Frey. An old lady and nun, revered for her work, and head of an order within the faith of the Garden that seeks out magic in the world. She is a very interesting woman.
The only thing I perhaps didn't care for was the fact that I pretty much worked out all of the twists ahead of time. I'm not sure if that's because they were really obvious or if I'm just getting better at working these things out, but I do love an "oh my god, I didn't see that coming!" moment, and I just didn't have that here. Still though, it's a damn good story and a world that I just want to devour. It's dark and gritty, it's got that mythic quality to it I always long for in my epic fantasy, with lost civilisations thousands of years in the past and strange forces the people have forgotten about, and of course, a hearty lick of cosmic horror. Incredible.
Graphic: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Murder, Sexual violence, Grief, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Rape, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Violence, and War
Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Incest, Medical content, Animal death, Suicide, Violence, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Gaslighting, Death, Blood, Self harm, and Gun violence
Moderate: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Murder, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Abandonment, and Incest
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I enjoyed The Invocations a lot. At first I worried the purple prose was going to fall on the wrong side for me but quickly fell in love with the way Sutherland describes everything and paints pictures with words. And the three girls: Jude, Emer, and Zara, felt pretty 3-dimensional to me, to the point that Jude in my mind looked quite different to the Jude on the cover art, the other 2 as well, actually - I struggle to visualise characters at all, usually. I also just adore dark witchy stories. This one has gore, and demons, and dark power, and women who are angry. It really really hit the spot.
There were a few points that bothered me, however, though they were small niggles rather than outright problems. For one... quite a few typos. I maybe noticed 7 or 8 throughout the book? Which isn't great for a traditionally published book. Not the end of the world though, they don't make it unreadable. Also without spoilers, one character has a magical injury, you learn about it right away when they are introduced, and the extent of the injury and the pain it causes... it really bothered me that they could walk around and do things. Like, yes there were times if they were running or doing manual labour they'd be visibly struggled or just bow out completely, but it's never made into much. I experience some minor pain at times and can't walk when it gets really bad, and there are others who need to constantly use crutches or a wheelchair. Pain like that isn't something that you grin and bear, get used to, magical or not. It wipes you out. I would have at least liked for them to have a walking stick, you know? Would have felt more real. Also: disabled representation, we could always use more.
Aside from that, the rest really are just small things here and there. Perhaps a person feels too much like a walking cliché, something feels a little too convenient, that kind of thing. These are generally things I notice when I read young adult fiction, however, and I tend to just brush them off. The instances in this book where they came up just didn't affect what I was reading. The overall writing and excitement of the story and what was happening to these characters was solid enough that it more than made up for any issues I had.
If you don't mind a little gore and enjoy dark stories about witches and the occult, with queer leading ladies, nonetheless, you might really get a kick out of The Invocations. And if you do, I definitely recommend checking the trigger warnings, as it is horror.
Graphic: Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Stalking, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Sexism, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Medical content, Alcohol, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Lesbophobia, and Vomit
Minor: Mental illness, Bullying, Eating disorder, Car accident, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Excrement, Infidelity, and Pregnancy
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Sexual content, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, and Alcoholism
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Child death, and Gore
Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Confinement, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Excrement, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Medical content
- 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
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Graphic: Classism, Xenophobia, Racism, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Death, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts