The Invocations

By Krystal Sutherland

Book Overview

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.

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0593532260
• ISBN13: 9780593532263
• Release Date: January 2024
• Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Dark and Powerful

First off, I absolutely love this creepy cool cover! It shows the power and lethalness of these girls, and they most certainly are! Each one of them will do anything to figure out who is killing the other women that have the invocations that Emer wrote and why they are taking the invocations (which ends up being so creepy!). Emer is an awesome and strong cursewriter/witch and I like the connection she has with Bael. It made me really want to know more about the history of demons as they are portrayed in this book. Jude is strong despite the misplaced invocation that causes so much pain (and kind of grossness!) and Zara with her dead sister. All three are connected in this case of finding the killer and you could see the power of their working together being stronger than even that murderer of witches and the other hunters that killed Emer's family. A good, strong book!

Dark, addictive, powerful YA horror

I absolutely loved Krystal's Sutherlands creepy, unsettling House of Hollow and was highly anticipating The Invocations. It did not disappoint. The Invocations brings together three different young women. Zara Jones is grieving and desperate to resurrect her murdered sister. Jude Wolf, daughter of a billionaire, has made foolish bargains with demons and is cursed with a necrotic soul and gangrenous leg. They both seek out occult help and find Emer, a witch, orphaned by violence, who creates invocations for desperate women who need power. The three realize that Emer's clients are being murdered and together they strive to find and stop the killer. This dark, creepy, addictive, superbly written book has amazing characters, necromancy, demons, body horror, witches, sapphic romance, mystery, plot twists, and a powerful theme of female rage in the face of male violence and the patriarchy. I loved Emer's bond with Bael, her demon companion. Krystal Sutherland has become one of my go-to authors when it comes to YA horror. I hope that The Invocations has a sequel.