Did not finish.
Did not have a trigger warning for self harm. The book is impossible to read due to the formatting. Letters are missing from multiple words. I have no idea what it says. I thought I would like this book after House of Hollow, I did not.
There was no trigger warnings for animal death or abuse either.

To start, thank you to Netgalley for early access to this title! Moving along, The Invocations is Krystal Sutherland’s new novel that deals with all things occult. If you’re like me, you probably loved Sutherland’s previous title House of Hollow, which touches on similar topics. As someone who loved said book, I had high hopes for this book and I will say they weren’t entirely met. Sutherland’s book is more character driven than plot driven, which wouldn’t be an issue if the characters were slightly more developed. She gives us exciting and relatable characters, but their relationships and stories seem to lack a bit of depth. Emer, Jude, and Zara are interesting characters and I wish would’ve gotten a little more of them somehow. The witchcraft and sapphic parts of this book are the meat and potatoes, and I do think they keep the story afloat. Jude, her sexuality, and the way she presents herself to the word is reminiscent of Cassandra Clare’s Anna Lightwood. In simpler terms, Jude is a lot of fun. Emer and Zara each bring their own flavor to the story which is appreciated. Sutherland’s best work in this book is her descriptions of grief through the eyes of each character. The way she describes the all over heaviness of dealing with loss is very real and human. It is some of her best writing here. All in all, this book was entertaining and did satisfy its promised plot. However, I wish Sutherland gave us a bit more of from the characters and their relationships with themselves and each other.

“The Invocations” by New York Times bestselling author Krystal Sutherland is a dark, witchy thriller about the women who refused to be afraid of the men and demons who lurk in the night.

The book follows three girls from very different backgrounds: Zara Jones, Jude Wolf, and Emmer Bryne:

Zara doggedly believes in magic because it’s the solution she needs to bring her sister back after she was murdered by a serial killer. If dabbling in the occult will bring her sister back, then that’s what Zara will do. But she needs a guide to show her how to do real magic.

In sharp opposition to Zara, Jed Wolf, is an heiress who has had life served to her on a silver platter. That is, until a deal with a demon went awry and her soul began decaying. Flowers wither, insects drop dead, and monstrous things haunt her nights. If Jude can’t find someone with the skill to undo her mistake, she knows her time is limited.

Emer Bryne is the person both Zara and Jude are looking for. The self-trained daughter of a witch, Emer crafts spells for women in desperate situations that sacrifice part of their soul for enough magic to change their circumstances. Emer has her own dark past, which she fears has caught up with her as her former clients are being found murdered.

Once the three girls’ paths cross, they team up to catch the London Ripper before they end up his next victims.

I’ve seen “The Invocations” everywhere since I attended YALLFest in 2023 and was so excited to read it. I was expecting a clever, spooky tale with witches trying to solve a murder. While “The Invocations” technically delivered, I personally think it’s been overhyped. The style came across as disjointed and it was very difficult to keep track of which POV the chapters changed to.

The three main characters were all distinct in their personalities and had compelling backgrounds. They stayed true to their motivations the whole time and had compelling personal arcs. The plot was interesting and the stakes were high…but it was mostly lackluster. It seemed like it was trying too hard to be dark and edgy, and the characters slid into completely trusting each other a little too fast.

While I didn’t dislike “The Invocations,” I was definitely disappointed. It had all the right parts, but the execution was just slightly off, in my opinion.

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.

I was so excited to be accepted for a reading of this ARC and let me tell you, it did not disappoint!! I fell in love with Sutherland when I read House of Hollow and The Invactions has confirmed that fact.

This story follows 3 young women in their paths in search of answers and a witch-killer. Which isn't the best to be on the loose, considering all three ladies aren't quite "normal" themselves.

This story sucked me in immediately, and I completely devoured it! The twists! The ending! It was all just... *chef's kiss*

4.5 stars! I love Krystal Sutherland’s writing style and how she creates such an atmospheric story. Witches and witch hunters but done in a creative and new way. The beginning was a bit slow but definitely made up for by the explosive ending. Female rage reads for life.

Thanks to NetGalley and penguin teen for this advanced copy.

I typically don't love a story that is heavy handed with it's depiction of feminine rage. I am happy to report that The Invocations is the exception! The concept is so cleverly bound to the story and drives the characters down such an addictive and gritty path that is impossible to put this book down!

If you were taken with Sutherland's dark and whimsical style in House of Hollow, I think The Invocations is a must read! Just like in HOH, the author uses the clever juxtaposition of beauty and horror in a masterful way. Highlighting each makes the other feel so sharp and evocative.

Sutherland has easily become an auto-buy author for me with this offering, I simply can not wait to see what she gives us next!

A dark witchy thriller about three young women working together to stop a serial killer and fix some of their own problems along the way.
Emer is a witch who helps other women make invocations, or deals with demons in exchange for magic, but the women she's helped are now being killed off one by one by a killer who seems to be targeting witches.
Jude is a billionaire's daughter who was recently exiled from her family after making some shoddy invocations which ended up causing more harm than good, and she needs Emer's help to fix them before they drain her completely.
Zara desperately wants magic so she can resurrect her sister who was killed, no matter how much she knows that bringing people back from the dead is never a good idea.

This book was such a satisfying journey about women claiming power in a world that tries to keep it from them at every turn. There is an undercurrent of rage and desperation, and the events of the story are appropriately dark and brutal.
The three main characters illustrate how even women with wildly different backgrounds experience so much of the same hardship in the world.
I also appreciated that in a story with such a gendered concept (demons will only give magic to and make deals with women), the author made it clear that "women" means ALL women (demons only care about the soul, not the body).
The plot started out a bit slow, and the first half of the book felt a bit meandering, but the last half was a huge payoff in terms of action, reveals, and resolutions. I really enjoyed my time reading.

Thank you Penguin Teen for the ARC!

I loved House of Hollow and I was ready for something similar so I was excited to see this author had another one coming out. This book was nothing like that, but it was wonderfully dark in its own way. I did think this one took longer to catch my interest but once it did I was swept away in this world of demons. I loved the idea that only women can bargain with demons to gain the power inherently denied them. The characters were all a bit flatter than I was hoping and I didn’t get as invested in them as I wanted to be, but by the end I felt they were fleshed out. Zara and Jude are both searching for a witch for very different reasons. Zara wants to bring her sister back to life so she can apologize for some stupid things she said. Jude accidentally tied a demon to herself poorly and it’s killing her so she wants the invocation removed. When they meet Emer they a re thrilled as they are sure she can help them, but the three of them are soon distracted by a serial killer who is hunting demon bound witches for their power.

"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.

Three girls, one supernatural killer on the loose...

Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to consider - that her murdered sister is gone forever and there is nothing she can do about it. Rather than grieving and moving on, Zara decides she will do whatever it takes to claw her sister back from the grave - even trading in the occult.

Jude Wolf may be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, her soul has been slowly turning necrotic. It's a miserable existence marred by pain, sickness, and monstrous things that taunt her in the night. Now that she's glimpsed what's beyond the veil, Jude's desperate to find someone to undo the damage she's done to herself.

Enter Emer Byrne, an orphaned witch with a dark past and a deadly power, a.k.a. the solution to both Zara's and Jude's problems. Though Emer lives a hardscrabble life, she gives away her most valuable asset - her invocations - to women in desperate situations who are willing to sacrifice a piece of their soul in exchange for a scrap of power. Zara and Jude are willing, but they first have to find Emer.

When Emer's clients start turning up dead all over London, a vital clue leads Zara and Jude right to her. If a serial killer is targeting her clients, Emer wants to know why - and to stop them. She strikes a tenuous alliance with Zara and Jude to hunt a killer before they are next on his list, even if she can't give them in return what Zara and Jude want most: a sister and a soul."

That cover is haunting.

As someone who loved House of Hollow, I was very interested in getting my hands on The Invocations. I will say off the bat, this is not HOH. It is not as immersive, but I still genuinely enjoyed it.

With girl power leading the charge, it cleverly mixes brains and strategy in a world of witch hunters. The story's got heart, wraps up nicely, has believable characters and banter, and keeps you interested. Sure, the twists are a bit predictable, but the whole storyline is fantastic. You might need to let go of reality here and there, but it's a fun read. "Invocations" serves up modern witchy vibes with a feminist tone.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, Nancy Paulsen Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book!
First off, I would like to say the only reason why I will not be recommending it to my students is because I think it has too much gore for the age range I am teaching. I still, however, will recommend it to friends and others.

A friend described it as "baby's first female rage book" and I thought the description seemed pretty apt. All three protags are cis white women, and trans people are briefly mentioned in two lines and then never again, as if they were a last-minute edit. The only Black character in the book is a former client we never hear speak (but was in an abusive marriage), and while the South Asian character has an arc... it's as a cop who gets flirted with as she protests. She is, I guess, a helpful detective in that she works with our protags? And has a story of her own.

It felt. . . . it felt as if it should have been a New Adult book with some of the depth it was trying to go for, and the shallowness it ended up with. The writing was smooth, polished, and slick. I did like the demons.

𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒔, 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 . . . .🔪🪄🧙‍♀️

Special thanks to @penguinteen @km_sutherland , and @netgalley for the #gifted e-ARC.

MY REVIEW:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

So... this book was something else! But in a good way. It's not the typical book I'd read, but it's said to be a thriller, more paranormal/fantasy than anything, but I did very much enjoy it.
[Side note: I love reading on my Kindle. It makes me feel like I read quicker on it than a physical book.] This book, even though interesting, seemed to take me forever to get through.

The whole story follows 3 girls who are following the occult in very different ways. Yet those ways cross and bring them together for better and worse.

Although this book is wildly different from the normal thrillers I usually read, I highly recommend this YA book to anyone who interested in fantasy/supernatural.

QOTD ❓️⁉️❓️ What's the last book you read slightly out of your normal genre that surprised you?

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This is a wonderful fast paced YA fantasy with major girl boss-witch vibes. I couldn’t help but root for the trio of main characters and was quickly pulled in to the mystery they were trying to solve. The magic system could have been developed in more detail, but overall I really enjoyed this!

Try as I may, I kept revisiting this book over the span of a few months and could never get hooked into the story line. The premise sounded so appealing to me, but unfortunately I had to DNF this book.

I’m a huge fan of Krstal Sutherland and this book did not disappoint. I’ve read all of her books and this one has a very similar vibe to House of Hollow while still feeling like a very different book. The book follows three main character Jude, Zara, and Emer. All three have been affected by demon possession and they come together to try to stop a mysterious serial killer who is killing women. This book was great and kept me on the edge of my seat and read through it very quickly. My only gripe with this copy was that it should have had one more round of editing before it was given as a review copy. For some reason the book had no f’s so it made it difficult to read until you realized that was what the problem was. All in all I loved it and if you’re a fan of Krystal Sutherland you won’t be disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for an e-ARC of this book!

The Invocations is a story of witches, demons, and palpable feminine rage. This is not my typical go-to genre, but I loved it so much! It is gross, there's a serial killer, it manages to be heartwarming, and every page simmers with the power of women. I grew to love each of the three main characters--one is cursed, one writes curses, and one is so consumed with grief that raising the dead seems like a good idea. This book will appeal to teen readers who enjoy horror, mystery, LGBTQ+ representation, and the supernatural. I will definitely be adding a copy to my classroom library!

This was one of the most grotesque books I've read in my life. While I enjoyed the plot, damn does it get graphic with pus and gangrene. The Invocations is going to stick with me for a while. I loved the feminine rage, and put next to young women who aren't flowery or cutesy, it was quite powerful. But also I don't know that I'll need a reread anytime soon.

* Thank you Netgalley & Penguin Group for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. *

"The gift of fear was given to her by the women she grew up around."

House of Hollow was the first book by Krystal Sutherland that I read - and I loved it. The Invocations has been on my TBR since the day it was announced, and I've been eagerly awaiting another dark, drippy-with-horror book from Sutherland. The Invocations delivered on that promise.

The Invocations is about 3 girls, a curse writer, a cursed girl, and a girl who misses her sister more than anything. Together, the 3 will band together to stop a killer before it's their souls on the line.

I loved the characters in House of Hollow for how viscerally real they were, and I love Zara, Emer, and Jude for the same reasons. They are annoyingly, grossly real, and despite everything they are up against, despite everyone out to get them, they are, ultimately, just girls. The world around them is out to get them - girls, witches, women, all of them, all the time, and Zara, Emer, and Jude are just girls who want to survive, and more than that, live without fear. That's the message in The Invocations, and there's some other ones, too, but you'll have to read to find those out.

Please do yourself a favor and read The Invocatons. Beyond being a great book, it is a creepy crawly thriller that will keep you glued to the pages til the very end.

I absolutely loved House of Hollow, so I was really eager to read this one. Unfortunately, that dissipated pretty much once I started reading. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the gore and horror aspect of this novel, but the pacing was completely wrong. There were multiple perspectives, but I found it hard to distinguish one from another. I generally don't enjoy pop culture references in novels, unless it adds to the atmosphere, but this felt extremely formulaic, and every time it happened on the page, I ended up getting distracted. This made finishing the novel a chore and honestly, I just couldn't wait for it to be finished.