This was the gruesome sapphic witch book of my heart. Deeply unsettling, overtly feminist, and laugh-out-loud funny between the splatter, each page was more captivating than the last. None of the three protagonists felt like a weak link, and each of their stories complimented the others’. Cursewriter Emer’s jaded experience with witchcraft following the massacre of her coven—and the sudden murders of her clients—highlighted the ignorance of newcomer Zara. Zara’s studious personality and sheer determination to do the impossible by bringing her sister back from the dead was offset by the quickfire wit and constant flirtation from Jude. Jude’s desperation to find a place within her vicious, upper class family was a stark contrast to Emer’s sheer solitude. At their heart, three girls alone to face a world that would persecute them. The romantic subplot that emerged never distracted from this and only served to highlight the notion of found family. This book definitely brought the same brand of horror as House of Hollow, with all of its greatest features turned up to eleven, so it’s no surprise that I enjoyed it even more.

I am sorry to say I dnf this book at 60% I just couldn't carry on anymore. I had no connection with the story or characters. I loved House of Hollow was a 5 star read for me and looking at other reviews I think this is down to me that I don't like this one.

I will not leave a review anywhere else as I didn't finish book so don't like to review books I haven't finished

The author has crafted a gripping and intense storyline with complex characters and a suspenseful plot. The combination of supernatural abilities, murder mystery, and themes of vengeance adds layers of intrigue and tension to the narrative. Balancing dark and distressing themes with engaging storytelling can create a powerful reading experience, drawing readers in while keeping them on edge. If you're looking to manage the intensity, consider incorporating moments of lightness or hope to provide relief for the readers amidst the darkness.

Recommended for all those women looking for a good ‘female rage’ book for sure! This feels like such an autumnal read, with girls from different covens joining to form their own, and foggy nights and wooded scenes and just so deliciously atmospheric. I think teenage girls would absolutely eat this up, it’s sapphic, its vibey, its eat-the-rich, its mysterious. Teenage me would have devoured this so much. Yes as an adult i guessed the plot, but that was still fun an i still felt the rage!! The multiple POVs really added something to this, and it felt like a gang I’d really want to be a part of.
Loved this fun witchy read!

I actually finished reading this book a while back and forgot to update with a review. I really enjoyed this book, in the usual style of dark femine rage of Sutherland which I am very much for. However, I had foreseen some of the plot points and ruined my enjoyment of the book. The writing is beautiful and kept me hooked unto the page, the characters vivid and realistic + an awesome magic system.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4

I absolutely loved this book, I had already read and loved House of hollow so I was really looking forward to another book by this author.

It really didn’t disappoint, the magic and the characters are done so well. Highly recommend this one!

The Invocations was my favourite read of 2024 so far. I loved the premise of the magic and the three main female characters were brilliant. I loved how different they were and how they were each dealing with their own problems, but determined to work together to solve the mystery of the murders.

It is a beautifully written, atmospheric, dark and twisty read and I could not put it down.

Five women are dead. The police are stumped. The killer leaves no dna and no fingerprints. Living in a world where women can do magic and the men who know about it want to erase them all three young women team up to take down the supernatural serial killer.
Jude Wolf is extremely wealthy but also extremely cursed as her soul is tethered to a demon and she's looking for a cursewriter to fix her. Her hopes is that the dead women will lead her to one.
Zara Jones has been tracking the murders since the began as her sister was the killers first victim but she's not looking for revenge she's looking for a way to bring her sister back to life and she too needs a cursewriter. At the crime scene of the fifth victim Jude and Zara meet by chance and there they find a clue that brings their paths together. A business card bearing the words Emer Byrne Cursewriter.

This was so good I found this so hard to put down it had me gripped from the first page. I loved reading about the trio of strong women and their growing friendship. I enjoyed every twist and turn. The writing is atmospheric and chilling and what you want to read on a dark wintery night. I loved the trios resilience and how they never let anything get them down and they never gave up without a massive fight. I highly recommend.

I found the first half of this book difficult to get into, I’m not sure if it was me getting used to each girls personality or if it’s because it felt too YA.

However the later half of this book really brought it back for me. I loved Jude and the whole concept behind Emer’s coven, the Latin writing invocations and the demons. Bael was my fave character, I love that he had better things for Emer.

The ending was lovely, cute romantic vibe after a whole lot of hell.

Three girls with different supernatural abilities are brought together to try and find out who is murdering witches to steal their powers. One has bound her body to several vengeful demons, another is a curse writer and the third needs their assistance to avenge her dead sister who she believes is one of the serial killer's victims. The characters and writing are both superb but at times the descriptions and themes are so dark, visceral and distressing they make for a truly uncomfortable if still engrossing read.

I adored House of Hollow, and so was very keen to read this book. It started well, as the female protagonist walks paths that I know well from my younger days in London! And the characters seemed interesting.

But something kept me from coming back. The plot seemed muddled and unclear, the magic inconsistent; it was by no means as smooth and engaging as the author's previous book.

I will absolutely be trying again at a later date, as I love the writing and am interested in where this goes. But for now, it was a regretful DNF for me.

I will admit I had ;low expectations due to the cover art - which had very YA vibes. Honestly this is one of the most enjoyable reads I've experienced in a while. It's just great fun and I was rooting for the protagonists from the word go.

It's a curious mix of who-dunnit (in the usual thriller style actually) mixed with witches, magic lore, female protagonists, and a bit of body horror. If you like slasher flicks - you'll LOVE this. Serial Killers and Magic, what's not to love.

It's also really well written and not trashy AT ALL. Will definitely be checking out more of this author's work. Also did not read like YA. I completey forgot about the age of the characters. Great entertainment - I was shirking off work to read it!

I can't recall a lot of details, except for the abundance of pop culture references, and unfortunately, the book led me into a reading slump. It had its entertaining, gory, and critical moments, but this particular book failed to resonate with me.

I doubt that there is any young woman that could read the prologue of The Invocations, and not marvel at how Krystal Sutherland prints the fear and wariness of walking alone at night onto a page. I was hooked from that opening, without even understanding how the story would continue to play out. Opening the book with a woman hunted by a serial killer, seeing her final moments, plunged us immediately into a hair-raising plot.

Sutherland's writing is atmospheric and chilling. By the time I reached the mid -point, I was freaked out and unable to sleep, as a grown adult. This might be marketed as a YA read, but it is creepy enough to leave anyone jumping at shadows.
A slightly new take on witchcraft, a clear feminist stance and a compelling mix of thriller and horror, I won't hesitate to recommend The Invocations to readers of any age.

A dark and engaging tale of what people will do to gain power when they feel powerless.

Following three girls whose lives have all been irrevocably been changed by magic, The Invocations weaves together mystery, thriller, and fantasy into an enthralling plot which will keep you guessing.

Each of the main POV characters has their own story to tell, and while their motives are sometimes aligned… they sometimes aren’t. Seeing not only how they come together but also how they break apart made this an intriguing story, and I was completely hooked for the second half of the book.

Check the content warnings on this one because it’s fairly dark - there’s some body horror, necromancy, and descriptions of abuse which may be deal breakers for some readers.

Overall, I absolutely loved The Invocations and will absolutely read more by this author in the future!

House of Hollow is one of those books that I wouldn't have chosen to read myself, but that I loved from the first page. I read it only because my teenage students, knowing my adoration for good YA fiction, insisted that I would love it and that it was 'the best book ever'. Whilst some of the more gruesome scenes stopped me from making it my new favourite, I had to admit that they were all correct and the book was genius. Now, it's my turn to nag at them and to tell them that The Invocations, Krystal Sutherland's newest masterpiece, is every bit as thrilling, well-written, original and female-centred as her last.

The first line of the prologue - 'A girl walks home alone at night' - perfectly sets up the rest of the book. The tone that is immediately introduced, an eerie yet horribly realistic one that sets all women on edge, continues throughout the text and makes for a tense, incredibly gripping read. The fantasy elements are also brought in almost immediately afterwards, and are written in a gothic yet whimsically fabulous way.

Character-wise, Krystal Sutherland has once again created unforgettable people who feel as real as the reader. Our main characters, Jude, Emer and Zara are each unique, with powerful voices and their own distinct perspectives on the unfurling events, and they're fascinating to read about. I was happy with every POV change (when, in most books, normally there would be at least one character I don't care to hear from) and equally invested in all of their journeys.

Similar to The Power, but written in a more accessible (and queer) way for young adults, The Invocations is sure to appeal to lovers of feminist fiction and strong character development. Every bit as spine-chilling as it is engaging (and at times humorous), the novel is brilliant and will truly stick with me for a while.

A dark, thrilling, female-rage driven book, perfect for fans of NINTH HOUSE and THE WHISPERING DARK. Definitely more of the horror genre, lots of gore and grief but such a satisfying blockbuster-style ending that had me feeling like I'd been through the wringer with the characters. I loved the sisterhood that formed between these three unlikely girls, I loved how distinctive their characters were. There was never a moment I got the three of them or their dialogue confused, I loved Jude's humour and snark, loved Zara's bookish determination and Emer's single-minded mission. I couldn't have asked for a better outcome for their characters.
Highly recommend this to readers who love darker stories but do check any trigger warnings!
5*s!

iconic. women with rage? i love. this book was exactly what i needed and i will forever be raving about it !!!

a beautifully chaotic and atmospheric read that slots perfectly into the witchy YA renaissance we are currently seeing. The multiple POVs were equally engaging and I was at the edge of my seat constantly while I read ! Superb!

disclaimer: the below opinions are entirely subjective and you should not let my negative review of this novel dissuade you from giving it a shot.

having really liked one of Sutherland's previous novels, <I>House of Hollow</i>, my expectations for <i>The Invocations</i> were quite high. but, from its very prologue, i could see that <i>The Invocations</i> wouldn't be as unique and tantalizing a read as <I>House of Hollow</i>. the prologue depicts the kind of scenario that is de rigueur in the horror genre, (a girl walks home alone at night) but gives it such a bland CW-esque spin that it took me awhile to actually get through it. but i told myself it was just one of those weak-prologue cases, and that the rest of the novel would deliver...turns out the first chapter was even harder to get through than the prologue. it was trying so hard to be gritty and edgy, but in a way that made it and its focal character seem like <i>Ninth House</i> ripe-offs. we have these clumsily inserted flashbacks and every other sentence is stressing how 'different' this girl is from other people. there were too many scenes showing her stealing things that were particularly eye-roll worthy because they came off as being included more for edginess sake than for realism. the other two girls are also edgy, one, formerly a goodie-two-shoes, is the brains, the other one is the messy flirt (while i can get behind this type of character, for instance
Rachel Sennott's PJ in Bottoms, here the character's incessant flirting seemed out-of-place). there were so many plot points that really did not make sense and seemed to have been included merely to push the plot forward. plot-points that require readers to switch off or temporarily mute their critical thinking. for one, we have a member of the police force allowing girls to visit murder sites in exchange for cash (as if there would only be one officer left to their own devices on a 'fresh' crime scene). then we have one of the girls distracting the quintessential 'grunt-grunt' man by talking about sports (which would work if this was an absurdist comedy, like <i>Bottoms</i> or<i> Barbie</i>). there is a scene when these three are meeting in a public space and one of them gets physically thrown around like a rag doll but no one notices (yet they get shushed later for raising their voices?). the list goes on. make it make sense. the book's portrayal of violence against women, femicide, and misogyny are insultingly simplistic and it can be basically boiled down to all/most men are trash. i just kept noticing a lot of similarities between this novel and <i>Ninth House</i>, but whereas i completely bought into the dark paranormal storyline of the latter, Sutherland's take on this type of story never managed to convince me. whereas her writing in <i>House of Hollow</i> was lush, and delivered on being effortlessly creepy and deliciously fairy-talesque, here Sutherland's prose felt dry and repetitive. the three main characters lacked chemistry, their banter seemed rehearsed, their edgy quips predictable, their supposed comradeship sudden, and i could predict where the story was going from the get go (a quick peak at the end confirmed my suspicions). Sutherland's UK setting just doesn't ring true to me, it comes across as a cheap filmset, that relies on 'props' (like name-dropping places like Boots). sure maybe young British people's frame of reference might include Hallmark movies and they might opt for bougie instead of posh as a descriptor, but if you combine these things with a consistent lack of vernaculars/accents (one of the character suppodsly spent time in ireland..? sure), results in a vague setting that seems aimed at an american readership.
the lore another disappointing aspect of the story. characters who aren't acquainted with the supernatural are far too ready to believe in it or to seek supernatural solutions to their problems. all in all, this was a messy book starring cringey dialogues and characters, too much edgy posturing, and a storyline that has the mere trappings of a dark supernatural mystery.