⭐️⭐️⭐️.7/5

Evocation was another highly anticipated read of mine for this year, and when I saw the audiobook ALC pop up on Netgalley I jumped at the opportunity to review it. The premise had me intrigued, unfortunately, the execution left me wanting.

First off, Evocation is almost entirely character driven, so if you enjoy books that focus on plot, this might not be the book for you. The little plot we do get, however, was done well. I appreciate how the author added real world occult practices and organizations, even if just brief mentions, to add a more realistic feel to the story. Santeria, Freemasons, summonings, Lesser Key of Solomon-subjects I have been fascinated with for the longest time. These are all relatively dark themes, but the story just didn't deliver like I wanted it to in that context. This takes place in the underground occult community, and I'm certain reality is much more eerie than what we got from Evocation.

I also struggled with the male characters at certain times. Overall they lacked debth and the plot was solely there to advance and justify their relationship. Moira felt as if she was only written for the sake of taking the relationship from gay to polyamorous. And that is sad, because she was my favourite character. I love her spirit, positivity and caring nature.

This being an audio, I have to commend the narrator, Oscar Reyes, on an excellent job. His pronunciation is clear and the different voices are distinguishable enough that this can easily be listened to at a faster speed.

🌹Thank you to Netgalley and Tantor Audio for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

I love a queer found family; throw in some magic and I'll game. This book was super cute. I loved all three of the main characters and really enjoyed how much they love each other, despite there being a little love triangle drama. The story felt a little choppy, but the interpersonal relationships was worth the read.

Another beautiful and dark story from S.T. Gibson! After reading and loving A Dowry in Blood and An Education in Malice I knew I had to give Evocation a try. I was enthralled from the very first page. S.T. Gibson has a way of writing that just sucks you in and never lets you go. I loved the complex relationships that David, Rhys, and Moira formed together. The book explored deep themes such as child abuse, addiction, fidelity, and so much more. I enjoyed the unique magic and urban setting. This is definitely a must read for fans of dark and complex romance with demons, possession, and other dark themes.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book was 50% gothic paranormal fantasy about generational curses, secret societies, and magic. The other 50% of this book was a romance/fondness surrounding the relationships of David, Rhys, and Moira. I was here for 100% of it! Cannot wait for book 2!

Thank you to NetGalley, S.T. Gibson, and Tantor Audio for the opportunity to rate and review this Advanced Listener's Copy (ALC) in exchange for my honest opinion.

It was very slow for me to get into, very very slow. It was not written in the same way as a dowry of blood which was a bummer since I thought that was written so beautifully! However I liked the story and the characters, I am excited to see what happens in the rest of the series. Hopefully it will be faster since it’s the second one !

The journey of a magicial throupling navigating heartache, history, addiction, and a curse.

David is a repo baby sorceror who has a history of being a charming jerk who gets his way through being rich, quick witted, and a bit cursed. Soon he finds his family inheritance isn't just cash and a mansion. With no one to turn to, after shutting out everyone pretty much all the time, he crawls back to his ex, Rhys, who is happily married to Moira. The two resist his charms but soon find themselves unable to say no to helping David through his new predicament.

This story had a lot of potential. I missed the fact that there was not a lot of "magic" to be seen and the potential for some real relationship development through the throuple trope. I'd be interested in reading a second novel in this series. Especially if it includes more about his chaos witch sister and Moira's story. It could have been spookier, it had that vibe but didn't really follow through with it. I give it a solid 3.5 stars.

thank you so much to the publishers and Netgalley for this audiobook!

firstly, the narration itself was absolutely perfect and i think the narrator did a wonderful job with the storytelling and the accents. i really enjoyed the narrator's voice and it was actually quite soothing so i had a great time.

now onto the book itself: i thoroughly enjoyed the gothic atmosphere of this book. it was definitely there with the descriptions, the secret societies, magic, and generational curses. it was a really captivating read from beginning to end and i loved all of their povs, though David is my favourite (:
i think all three of them have a great dynamic, both between all three and in pairs. my favourite part was the character development and especially the friendship that bloomed between David and Moira like they made me so happy!!

i think my issue, which is not S.T. Gibson's fault AT ALL, was how character-focused it was. i was really into the plot and how the devil was bothering David, but it was quite slow paced in that aspect as the book was more centred around the characters and their development, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing bc (as i mentioned above) i loved seeing the development between David and Moira, but as a personal preference, i prefer more plot-driven books!

overall, this was a great book and would definitely recommend!

4.75

S. T. Gibson does it again! This is more than just an absolutely fantastic paranormal romance. This is about both the beauty and the mess of relationships, breaking generational curses and overcoming trauma, and standing by those you love in spite of everything.

Oscar Reyes does a great job bringing the characters to life. His voice especially works for Rhys. I'm personally a fan of different narrators for different POVs, but I still enjoyed the audio.

David has an unfortunate encounter with a demon and has to enlist the help of his ex-boyfriend, Rhys, who is now married to Moira, who seems to hate his guts. Things are further complicated when David and Rhys are both in the running for leadership of a secret magical society. Can they get along long enough for David to face and overcome his past?

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the audiobook arc! S.T Gibson's writing always flows so well and brings the characters to life. Interesting character driven story. I liked this one a lot more than An Education in Malice. One thing is that I think this book would have benefitted from more background on Rhys. Overall great read/listen and would recommend.

This is hard to rate between a 3 and a 4 because it's fun and well written but also just missing a lot? Like I read this book in 24 hours and I was so excited and giddy about the romance but also the plot was kinda hand wave-y and the was a lot of show not tell. For being a book about people with magic/psychic abilities we saw very little actual magic!!! But also I was enamored? This, to me, felt like a good romantic fantasy for a quick enjoyable read but with not a lot of plot but a lot of occult-adjacent symbolism.

Thank you to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Evocation started a little slow but as the story moved along I found myself sucked into the world Gibson created. The world building is well thought out and interesting and I look forward to seeing how it develops in the next book. The characters are dynamic and interesting and they each feel distinct. Sometimes multiple narrators can be hard to keep track of these all felt like separate people telling their individual perspectives of events. I really enjoyed both the occult aspects of Evocation and the romance through line. The narration was also well done with great inflection and emphasis. Overall a solid start to series that I will definitely continue reading.

Thank you Netgalley and Tantor audio for giving me the chance to receive an advance copy of the audiobook for Evocation By S.T. Gibson
Tantor Audio & Oscar Reyes did an amazing job with this story. Each character voice was easily identifiable and well done each and every time. The story was incredibly easy to follow, and get into with the narrations. I always listen to audiobooks on at least 2.5 speed and there were no issues in the audio at my preferred speed like I have experienced in audiobooks previously.

S.T Gibson again writes a beautiful story and I was drawn in from the description the dynamic behind all the characters weaves into such an interesting story about a blood curse deal with a devil.

Evocation follows David's encounter with a family curse which leads him to seek help from his ex-boyfriend Rhys and Rhys' wife Moira. The three of them are at odds but only through using their own unique talents will they be able to battle the demonic forces that threaten David. There is mysticism, astrology, and secrets galore!

The story was engaging, and I loved the lore of this world. I enjoyed the characters of this work but there was something missing which prevented me from loving them fully. I enjoyed the slow build to the polyamory and found the characterization to be like S.T. Gibson's last work so fans of A Dowry of Blood will likely enjoy this one as well.

Overall, this was a fun listen to and I liked the audiobook narrator. I would broadly recommend to anyone who is interested by this story's premise.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Another banger from Gibson! Set in the midst of modern-day Boston’s secret occult societies, Evocation follows the tumultuous relationships between David, his ex Rhys, and Rhys’s wife Moira as they come together to combat a centuries-old family curse.

I always love when a book feels like an author’s passion project, and it’s clear as day that Gibson loves talking occult and modern witchcraft. The world is lovingly fleshed out, drawing inspiration from various magic systems. Evocation is also a character study for the three main characters, all of them with their flaws and nuances that make their dynamics so engaging. Hats off to our narrator for portraying our characters perfectly.

Moira is my favorite though, vintage fashion icon and queen of my heart!

I would love to see other stories set in this world, and I eagerly await Odd Spirits so we can see more of this power trio!

This was exactly what I expected: a beautifully written fantasy novel that explores the perks and downs of being human.
Characters were lovely and I'll miss them, it has a little of an open ending but I don't know if it'll be a series, I hope so, however it stands perfectly on its own.
Having already read A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson, I can't wait to catch up with the last title I miss from her.
It's a four and not a five only because I would have loved more insight in the magical rituals and powers.

I enjoyed this book a lot. The 3 main characters were super unique and interesting. David was so interesting and his story was unique. I loved Rhys and David together and their history and future. Moira was awesome. So strong and there for both men. This book felt unique and was told in a beautiful way. The characters were able to build strong relationships all while fighting a demon inhabiting David.

I really enjoyed this on audio. The narration was really well done and I liked the voices for all three characters. They were unique and I could tell who was talking every time.

*Thank you so much netgalley and Tantor audio for an advanced listeners copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for the audio arc. My opinion is my own.

Evocation is about a world where the occult is a part of daily life. David is a psychic prodigy, raised by his abusive, and influential, father in a mansion in Boston. He is known in this world as someone important, and works his day job as an attorney. After having more and more events, he contacts his ex Rhys, also in the occult world, for help on what is going on. Moira, Rhys's wife, is there to help.

I liked the story overall, but I did find the beginning fairly boring. The relationship between David and Rhys was a lot of pent up frustration and anger, and Moira was just kind of there? After some time they decide to have an open marriage, but it seems this is only for David's benefit. I did like the narrator for the men's voices, but he did not do a great job for the women's and I especially disliked Moira's accent. I didn't catch if she was supposed to have a southern accent but it seemed out of place.

DNF'ed on the 5th chapter. It's my fault, as I did a little research before I added this to my Goodreads shelf. Evocation had a prequel (I can't remember the name) and apparently it tackled the past relationship of the duo main characters in Evocation. One of them is married, and the wife allegedly Biphobic.

As a bi-person, this triggered negative emotions in me. I didn't read further reviews in fear I might hate this book even more, and I'm aware the Biphobia might have been addressed, but I'm not sitting and reading that book. I couldn't read about Moira without feeling sick about her in the previous book.

1.5 stars- Urban fantasy that focused on the formation of a boring throuple at the expense of developing the only interesting aspects of the story- the haunted house and demon. I love fantasy romance and I read a lot of it but this is one of those books where I was so bored by the romance that I would prefer it to be removed entirely.

This book wound up being very slow and character-driven rather than plot-driven and there’s a lot of fanfic-style extraneous detail which made it feel like the book was spinning its wheels. I did like the character of David, characters who are intense, manipulative, and prickly are often my favorites. On the other hand Rhys was a controlling and judgemental bore and Moira was a self-care cottagecore girly who felt out of place given the dark academia vibes.

CWs: off-page child abuse, alcoholic relapse, classism, sexism, toxic relationship

I was excited to get an audio arc via NetGalley after reading the synopsis of this one. My first ST Gibson novel, but definitely not my last, the writing here was absolutely beautiful. Each of the three MC's had distinct feels to them and were both likable and flawed. I loved the bits of magic we got throughout but would definitely have enjoyed delving into that more. My favorite part of the story is how the author handled the poly relationship here. It felt authentic and not like it was done to be taboo or as a shock value. The way David and Moira's bond slowly developed over the course of the story felt genuine and of course, I adored David and Rhys and their bickering. Rhys and Moira's love for each other shined through as well. The audiobook is narrated by Oscar Reyes, who is a new narrator for me, and I really enjoyed his voices and cadence. Definitely check this one out!