ARC Review--The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland

 

From the author of New York Times bestseller House of Hollow comes a darkly seductive witchy thriller where, though both men and demons lurk in shadows, girls refuse to go quietly into the night.

Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to bear—that her sister was murdered by a serial killer and there is precisely nothing she can do to change it. If there’s anything Zara cannot stand it's feeling powerless, so she decides she will do whatever it takes—even if that means partaking in the occult—to bring her sister back from the dead.

Jude Wolf might be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, her soul is now slowly turning necrotic. Flowers and insects die in her wake and monstrous things come to taunt her at night. If Jude can’t find the right someone to fix her mistake, she fears she’ll die very soon.

Enter Emer Bryne: the solution to both Zara's and Jude's predicaments. The daughter of a witch, Emer sells spells to women in desperate situations willing to sacrifice a part of their soul in exchange for a bit of power, a bit of magic to change their lives. But Emer has a dark past all her own—and as her former clients are murdered one-by-one, she knows it’s followed her all the way to London.

As Zara and Jude enter Emer's orbit, they'll have to team up to stop the killer—before they each end up next on his list.

 

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

 

I was ecstatic for Krystal Sutherland's latest supernatural thriller, The Invocations! Her previous book, House of Hollow blew me away and I was hoping for that same eerie, mysterious supernatural vibe with this one! It does contain a good bit of supernatural weirdness, but I guess I was hoping for a little more on the scary factor...or perhaps I'm just getting harder to scare...with books! Lol.

We follow three teenage girls in this one all with different stories, somewhat different backgrounds but are drawn together by the same horrors that are haunting their city. Emer is a dangerous kind of girl who's always on the move, helping women with their demons by working with actual demons. Then there's Jude who has a one too many demons attached to herself when she placed too much of a curse on herself years ago and if she doesn't get rid of one particular one, it's likely to eat away at her soul until she's dead. Finally, we have Zara who's desperate to resurrect her sister from the dead to solve her murder almost a year ago. She's on a tight deadline for if she can't successfully raise her before she's been dead a year, there's no hope of raising her with her mind somewhat intact at all.

If that wasn't enough, there seems to be a serial killer on the prowl who's targeting women. But more specifically women who have magic coming from them. Emer learns that some of her more recent "customers" are being targeted by this maniac and is determined to avenge these women, no matter the cost. We will learn there's more to Emer's motivation through a series of memories that shine a different light on her past and how it shaped her into the young woman she is today.

This definitely made for an interesting read as we jump into each girl's perspective. While there were no chapter headers, you were able to easily pick up on who's "mind" we were in. When dealing with third person points of view, I do generally like this method. Especially if there's multiple points of view too.

The mystery element to this one was very well done! It was quite surprising too as there were aspects of the story that I did not see coming. Yet they didn't really seem too out of the blue once they were revealed either. It was done in a way that just flowed right and made sense as you read along, though I did read with too many intervals in between which I am known to do!

There were a few tiny hints of romance in this one too. There was a lot of tension between Emer and Jude! You pretty much knew that these two would become entangled with one another. Zara wasn't a love triangle which I thought was nice. I feel like it wasn't clear if Zara was into either of them romantically, but it really didn't seem to matter as Zara wasn't really looking for romance or distractions from her goal. She was still grieving her sister's death and needing the closure that resurrection would bring.

The ending was quite shocking as I said before! I really wasn't expecting all these revelations! I like that Sutherland was able to keep me on my toes and surprise me as well! I enjoyed the bit of resolutions we got at the end after the story came to its conclusion. I feel like all the characters were where they were meant to be by the end. It leaves you with just enough to hope for a happy future for them all, yet knowing that this is likely the last time we will see them. It's a grand feeling to have with standalones! I really ought to read more of them as I love this kind of feeling! Lol.

All in all, I felt like The Invocations was an enjoyable read! I had hoped for a little more spookiness with the mystery, but what we had was still enjoyable enough! It doesn't get too deep in the dark magic realms with demons, but I do want to warn you there are demons in this one, if that's not your kind of thing. It's not heavy on religious factors either. All good points in my book, but just a little extra forewarning for some readers. If you're wanting a delightfully mystery witchy read that centers around sisterhood and found family, then this will be the read for you!

 

Overall Rating 4/5 stars

 

The Invocations releases January 30, 2024