I did find some weird stuff in the writing, I don't know if these are typos, or I just did not understand the sentences,

In chapter 4 Rhys talks about Mediation but I think it's supposed to be Meditation

In chapter 7, Moira had already met the men gathered on HIS doorstep, I think Moira is cis

Also in chapter 7, I did not understand whatsoever the sentence: "Ultimately, it was miscalculated, as Rhys didn't think the thought of HER husband putting himself so far out of his comfort zone to make David happy would make Moira feel any better"

And in chapter 9, Moira pauses HIS work long enough to stare at Rhys.

Other than those maybe mistakes ? I enjoyed the story a lot, it's really interesting to see the story of how Rhys and David came to hate each other. I would recommend it to people.

➛ thank you to netgalley and the author for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

THIS WAS REALLY SWEET!! i really enjoyed reading 'evocation' so i was pumped to have the opportunity to learn more about rhys & moira's life / background and i was not disappointed. this was just very cute, a palate cleanser in a sea of angsty, heart-wrenching books! it was also such a delight to see them working through their insecurities / marital issues, because i think it added a nice tone of realism to a world that is otherwise filled with magic, but without it being too much of a 'problem' (as in, you know those books that abuse angstiness in order to stand out). the author's writing, too, is such a bonus for me!! it's as if every sentence was laced with a dash of magic!! it was a treat to read this novella!! the illustrations were also so pretty!

I very much enjoyed Rhys and Moira’s relationship! ST Gibson wrote beautifully as always. I really liked how Rhys and Moiras relationship was written to be very genuine and realistic even with the magic haha.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me the ARC for Odd Spirits! Potential spoilers ahead

Odd Spirits provides a nice and quick look into Rhys and Moira’s marital life prior to Evocation. Gibson’s prose here is still her strong suit, allowing time to flow quickly while reading and keep you intrigued towards what will happen next. Where I believe the book falls flat resides in our main characters, who spend the entirety of the book locked in miscommunication over an incredibly obvious issue. It can feel at times that even though these characters love each other, I’m not always lead to believe they like each other. It’s similar to an issue I had when reading Evocation, that the time they spend most united is when they’re angry with David who was absolutely right in his theory. It was a bit unsatisfying to see them become so angry with his insinuation that they had unknowingly caused a problem when we find out mere pages later that he was exactly right. Ultimately, Odd Spirits is still an enjoyable read for lovers of Evocation and fans of Gibson’s writing style and characterization as a whole.

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC for early review.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

3.5* rounded up to 4*. This will be a review of Odd Spirits, published October 8th, 2024, from the perspective of someone who has also read Odd Spirits, published August 7th, 2018. There is a distinct difference between the two editions, though both share this singular Goodreads listing.

Odd Spirits 2.0 is a novella predating the events of Evocation, the first book in the Summoner's Circle series. It follows the young marriage of Rhys and Moira, two of our three characters from Evocation, as they deal with emotional and supernatural difficulties in their relationship, with David, the third character of Evocation, popping up to both help and hinder them simultaneously.

This novella is very character driven, despite being centered around a mystery plot, and features much more of Rhys and Moira than David. Moira and Rhys are having marital issues--- something is slinking around the house, rotting food and messing with the plumbing and giving Moira a great deal of anxiety, but neither of them are willing to admit that something might be wrong, trying their best to ignore both the emotional cracks in their relationship and the cracks in the foundation of their home.

We also get flashbacks to the first couple of times Moira met Rhys, where they fell in love and their first kiss, a headstrong, no-nonsense kind of country witch crossing paths with a strict, stringent pencil pusher magician. Though originally rocky, both Moira and Rhys fall quickly in love with each other and we see the result being their spur-of-the-moment marriage.

Though it is clear that both of these people love each other, I found myself consistently annoyed by the fact that they wouldn't talk to each other and actually didn't seem to *like* each other all that much. Rhys is a workaholic who ignores his wife until she literally barges into his office after being supernaturally attacked. Moira is confrontational in the extreme with Rhys's ex, but refuses to actually confront and speak to Rhys himself and gives the silent treatment and finds ways to avoid him. Both of them refuse to acknowledge that there is literally SO OBVIOUSLY some sort of malicious entity causing chaos in their lives, and it drove me nuts. I almost wish something bad had happened to one or both of them, to make them realize just how horribly they were handling the situation.

When David is invited to come and figure out what is haunting their home, Moira is combative and rude in the extreme, and David is just as cruel and egotistical as he is in Evocation. Rhys is, as usual, a mess and does the wrong thing several times, from fumbling all over his words when a photograph of him and David appears in their bedroom, to snapping at both of his paramores in front of the members of the magical society.

In the end, David is kicked out, after risking his life to try to help get to the bottom of things, and Moira and Rhys have their emotional explosion at each other. Their long-awaited overflow of communication shows just how little the two are really in tune with each other and how much they are blind to the realities of how the other feels. And this conversation leads to Rhys finally solving their supernatural entity mystery, and saving the day with Moira, saving their marriage and relationship in the process.

So, overall, not as good as Evocation. I think David has the kind of leading character energy that Rhys lacks in every way, and having too little of him in the book really hinders it when you know how closely entwined these three individuals are going to be. The frankly stupid communication issues between Rhys and Moira drove me up a wall and I disliked Rhys more than I already did by the ending.

To touch on the subject of the biphobia present in Odd Spirits 1.0--- where Moira is presented as a heteronormative-upholding country gal--- it is not present overtly in Odd Spirits 2.0. Here is the line from 1.0:

“God, fine! I don’t like that you’re bisexual. I never have.” She continues; “Go ahead, crucify me.” "But I can’t change the way I feel. I’m just so terrified you’re going to wake up one day and decide you don’t want me anymore, because there are certain things I just can’t give you…”

And further; "Where I grew up you were either one or the other, and I know you’ve tried to explain this to me, but I just don’t understand. And then you go off and spend all this time with these men and I’m not allowed to come, and then I realize that you’ve known David forever and that you two to go out…”

And finally; “...I just don’t like the way he treats you and I don’t like how much you let him get away with, and yeah, if I had my way you would never see him again and maybe that makes me a controlling hellbitch but...Rhys, are you listening to me?”

(After which point Rhys offers HER an apology). This is very clearly a character expressing common biphobic sentiments. Below I will share the dialogue that Odd Spirits 2.0 has for that same scene.

“I don’t know if we can do this, Rhys. We’re just different people, and no matter how hard we try, we can never seem to build real trust with each other. Maybe we should take a step back and reevaluate. I just… I don’t know. That’s it."

“Sometimes, I wonder what my life would be like if we hadn’t gotten married so young,” “I know that makes me wicked, and I wish I could just be a better wife. But there’s something wrong, inside me. I’m sorry it took me this long to tell you.”

“When I met you, I thought, there he is, that’s the person I’ve been waiting for. But I see you with David and the other guys from the Society and it’s like looking at a stranger. It’s like I don’t know you at all, and I wonder how well you know me, at the end of the day. There are parts of your inner world I just can’t access, and there are things about me you’ll never understand. I don’t know if love is enough to make up for that. I really hope it is, Rhys. I pray for that every day. But I just don’t know.”

So, Odd Spirits 2.0 clearly axed the plot line of Moira being biphobic in exchange for her being insecure and thinking she's wicked for having insecurities. I really just don't know if this is the way to change what was already problematic? My thoughts on this are muddled. But there are the exact quotations, laid out, since 2.0 has to share a review pool with 1.0.

Also, to speak on the quality of the book, I can see why it was re-edited beyond the removal of the biphobia. 1.0 was a mess of clunky descriptions, awkward dialogue, and careless references. It was definitely and clearly a labor of love by the author, but 2.0 shows just how much they have grown and improved as a writer. The prose is very pretty, the descriptions have much more Creepy Cozy Vibe™, and the dialogue has been worked over to sound more natural for the two protagonists. I would like to end off by sharing this final comparison;

From 1.0; "Rhys had shoved the book into a shoebox under his bed where he kept a pack of menthol Camels and a copy of Brokeback Mountain."

From 2.0; "Rhys had shoved the book into a shoebox on the top shelf of his closet where he kept a pack of menthol Camels and his beat-up Hellblazer comics."

If you know me you'll know that John Constantine is one of my favourite characters of all time and I clocked Evocation as having a Hellblazer vibe before I even got my claws on the ARC of it, and being proven right by the text itself is so nice. And the cherry on top is that the Hellblazer comics replace a copy of *BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN,* of all things. Thanks, Gibson. That made me laugh.

Overall, Odd Spirits 2.0 is a vast improvement in quality to the original, but still features some problems with the protagonists and characterization. While it is a good novella to pick up for the fall vibes, I would only recommend reading it if you read AND enjoyed Evocation.

"Odd spirit" is nice little snippet into Rhys and Moira's life before the events shown in "Evocation". I quite enjoyed it, despite being a bit annoyed by the characters. They show some realistic reactions and trouble in their married life, which is a nice thing to see, since its rare. Both Moira and Rhys are flawed, trying to do their best but failing as they keep too much to themselves or communicate.
The prose is good, easily flowing, with enough characterisation, with hints of past events. I didn't read the previous version so I can't tell about the improvements.
Overall, a nice quick read !

This novella offered a lovely little insight into Moira and Rhy’s life and their background together. I love these characters and I enjoyed being in their world for a brief period once more.

Thank you NetGalley and Angry Robot Books for my review copy.

Odd Spirits was a poignant look into the world of Evocation, and at what a marriage between two people with wildly different practices of the same art could look like. However, what set the rating of this book for me was the way the characters interacted. Although this book was about miscommunication, the extent to which this happened and the way it was more wilful than I expected threw me off, as well as the ways in which characters would disrespect each other with no explanation and that would not be resolved properly even though the story ended on a lighter note than it began. Personally, this book was okay and if you enjoy gothic fantasy with miscommunication tropes in romance, you might love this.

Thank you netgalley for this arc!!

I haven’t read evocation so I thought itd be perfect to start with the prequel novella! And I enjoyed it!! The miscommunication was a bit annoying but I still enjoyed. Full review will be on my bookstagram!

3.75⭐️

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this arc!

I loved Evocation, so getting to see a glimpse of the beginning of Rhys and Moiras relationship was everything I needed.

S.T Gibsons prose is magic - there is no other explanation for how a 92 page novella can make you cry.

One of my biggest dislikes in books is the miscommunication trope, however the way this is written feels so human - hiding little parts of yourself that you may feel ashamed of from loved ones so much so that they build up into every day life and affect your mood. It felt like a relief when Moira and Rhys finally broke down and discussed their feelings, just like it does in real life when you finally talk things out.

I am very much looking forward to the continuation of this series, and honestly anything else S.T Gibson writes.

Thank you to the publisher for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

After I finished Evocation, I wasn't sure if I was going to continue the series. Then the novella was announced, which is a prequel. This put me off initially because that meant David was his old self, the one I didn't like. But the focus of this story was on Rhys and Moira. I finally got what I wanted from Evocation, more tarot, magic, and supernatural elements. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Evocation.

I just love this series and its characters! I recommend this series a lot, and I know it will be an instant buy for me. I'd like to quickly point out that this is super unusual for me as it isn't a genre I would usually pick up, but after having S.T. Gibson speak beautifully at the bookshop I work at I was intrigued. I'm super glad it happened, because I know this will end up being a favourite series of mine. I am very impatiently waiting for Rhys's book!

S.T. Gibson has such a wonderful way with words, her writing is so readable and flows well, meaning I stay up until 2am finishing this novella in one go. The characters are fleshed out and relatable (I am Rhys, Rhys is me) and I was rooting for them the whole way through. I missed David, and it was interesting to read about him with no jumping into his head to remind me of his inner dialogue/why he behaves how he behaves like we get in Evocation. I think this really developed the readers idea of why him, Rhys and Moira are in the position they are in at the start of Evocation, which I think is helpful information regardless of the order you read these in. The artwork inside is beautiful and perfectly fits the tone of the world, I can't wait to see it in person.

3,75 ✨


“The love is real, even if we haven’t been tending it well for some time. And I hope every day it’s enough too.”

“If this is entrapment, I’ll happily let you put the manacles on my wrists and the collar around my neck.”



• This was a fun little novella to get to meet our main characters, Moira & Rhys and kind of get into their dynamic of a newly-wed couple whom are still trying to find balance in their marriage. There was a lot of miscommunication which was frustrating to read about but when they finally solved it in the end, it was very sweet and you sense that they evolved as a couple. I feel like this was a great introduction to the next book in the series, Evocation.

Odd Spirits gives us the lil snippet into Rhys and Moira's relationship. One of the issues I had with Evocation was that we were dropped into a story with all the relationships established and I needed something extra to feel more connected to the characters and care about their plights.

This definitely delivered on that for Rhys and Moira and I enjoyed reading about how they met! It was a cute little story about relationships and communication. It is a short novella, but had lots of magic, drama, and seances.

Not to mention the book has beautiful illustrations and the cover is just ugh *chef's kiss*!

2.5 stars
I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.
I loved the writing in this novella and that's about where the love stops for me. 
I will do my best to write this without spoilers.

I read Evocation before this as an ARC and absolutely fell in love with the three main characters in the storyline, so to say the way they were written in Odd Spirits completely broke my heart is an understatement. The only one that felt true to Evocation was Rhys. Odd Spirits goes into Rhys's way of thinking, why he is the way he is and that he is obviously neurodivergent. Rhys was possibly the only character that was saved in this book on a personality plane. Because he does a lot of awful things in this book as well. David, who is more cold and has a wall up in Evocation was ruthless in his over the top discourteous ambitions this time around and Moira who is a firecracker in a good way was absolutely rude, quick to anger and uncalled-for in this book. 

As you proceed through the story of two young adults who fell in love too fast and ran with it, you start to see that they truly don't understand one another let alone want to until it becomes unpleasant for the both of them. Then it becomes a 'need to know them' and not them wanting to know who they actually married in the first place. Their whole relationship was based on love at first sight, jumping quickly into marriage when one had just broken up with their ex and the other doesn't quite know if they want to settle down just yet. It leads to constant fighting and no communication because they both unfortunately don't know how to handle each other, fear it will make the situation worse and don't want to open up to one another. It ends up leading to a circumstance that is completely ruining what little they have of the marriage left, which is basically nothing to start with anyways. You basically get no back story on Rhys and David's broken apart relationship other than them both yelling at one another that this is why they broke up, or Moira getting upset that Rhys is in a group with his ex, as well as letting the ex into their home. So with the absence of backstory, it leaves Rhys seeming like he hates this man (Which if you've read Evocation that is clearly not the case) and it would have been nice to see at least a little wanting from the two of them, over whatever the hell that Odd Spirits had exposed between the two of them. 

Also three things I hated the most other than Rhys and Moira just NOT communicating is for some odd reason is one, Moira was upset that Rhys hangs out with his group of friends and constantly hates on them when they have (other than David) been civil with her. Two, Rhys went out of his way to 'hopefully' hurt David. Which could have ended far worse then what had actually happened to David. Three, Moira continuously blames Rhys for everything. She blames him for the presence in the home simply because he asks her if she's possibly allowed something into the house and from there it's her always pointing the blame at him. Moira asking him to figure it out and then when he tries she gets after him for it, that he's never around and locks himself up, that he wants to invite his magic society into their home to help because he can't figure it out and lastly that he just won't ask her to help him like she hasn't been getting aggravated and judgmental with him this whole time.

The whole story is a mess. If one of them just would have communicated from the start, as you do in a marriage, everything would have been fine but the both of them are just too worried that the other finds their magic practice laughable.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-Arc of Odd Spirits!

This was short and sweet. I do think it’s too bad we didn’t get to see more of Moira and Rhys (I’m obsessed with them!). Glad to have gotten a David appearance.

I do wish we got to see more of the marriage and also what happened before, how they met, how they got engaged, their wedding etc. Unfortunately this did feel like there was nothing mentioned that I didn’t know already.

However, I love S.T. Gibson and will read whatever she writes. The way she writes magic and atmosphere is absolutely unmatched. She could write a ten page grocery list and I will happily eat it up.

I’m just happy to be here!

I ADORE S.T Gibson and absolutely loved evocation, so the excitement to read Odd Spirits was RIFE! I did enjoy this! I feel like I could read anything from S.T Gibson / about Rhys and Moira and would undoubtedly love it... but with Odd Spirits, I was expecting more tension, first encounters and them falling in love. This was definitely different than what I expected but with that being said, I will still be reading absolutely everything else in this series!

Loved, loved, loved this book!! Short and sweet, with the perfect spooky witchy vibes to get me ready for Autumn! I fell in love with Evocation when I read it, and it made me so happy to get to see the beginnings of Rhys and Moira’s marriage!

S.T. Gibson masterfully weaves an atmosphere of suspense and tension of a haunted home and a relationship that's struggling past the honeymoon phase.

In Odd Spirits we meet Moira and Rhys, a recently married couple who have an entity in their house causing more issues than things going bump in the night. As the witch and sorcerer try to figure out just what is in their home, their relationship is put through the ringer.

I have to admit, I have yet to read Evocation but this is a wonderful introduction into the relationships between the characters, their thoughts and feelings and how Rhys and Moira met and got together. S.T. Gibson has conjured a vivid world of secret societies, witches and spirits and expertly combined with complex characters to make it the perfect starting point for The Summoner's Circle series.

Thank you to AngryRobot and NetGalley for the ARC

After reading Evocation, I was excited to see that Angry Robot was also publishing Odd Spirits. Rhys and Moira are both very interesting characters and I couldn't say no to reading more about these two. I have to say I'd recommend this edition just based on the stunning illustrations incorporated throughout the story.

In Evocation Rhys and Moira are already a married couple who have been together for a few years, but in Odd Spirits we also learn how they met and ended up together. I actually really enjoyed this aspect of the story. They had me smiling quite often while reading that part of this novella. In Odd Spirits they seem to have an entity in their house that's causing problems. As they're trying to figure it out, their marriage is put to the test.

I honestly don't think I would've stayed in my house with all of the creeping things that were happening in this story. I'm definitely too much of a scaredy cat. Rhys and Moira can't always agree about what the best solution is and when David comes with the society Rhys is in to help, things get complicated. Part of me still wishes we got a bit more of the world and even their history with David, but I consider this a great spooky time read.

Moira and Rhys are also an example of a realistic relationship. Even when you're married things can get complicated and it just shows us how communication, support, and love are two things that are very important. Odd Spirits has me even more excited for the release of Ascension next year.

My review will also be posted on https://thebookdutchesses.com on October 26th.