The Invocations (Krystal Sutherland, Penguin)

Emer Byrne, Zara Jones and Jude Wolf are young women who have led completely different lives until one thread of commonality brings them together—magic. Zara believes in magic because she’s desperate for an opportunity to bring her murdered sister back to life. Jude is cursed after a deal with a demon went horribly wrong and turned her soul necrotic. Emer has known magic her whole life and has seen firsthand the horrors that those who would hunt a witch can bring. But she is a curse-writer who can offer her invocations to women willing to sacrifice a piece of their soul in exchange for power, and she may just be the solution Jude and Zara need. Krystal Sutherland’s The Invocations is a wild ride of the best kind: strong women, queer representation, a crime that the reader is as equally invested in solving as the characters are, and more. It is intricate, with a twist only readers with a sharp eye may catch before all the signs fall into place. The Invocations pulls you in from the beginning and doesn’t let you go until the end. It’s a perfect addition to a growing niche of stories about queer magic users. It is a brilliant choice for readers 14 and over, particularly fans of Isabel Sterling, Sarah Gailey, and Victoria Lee.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Anneliese Gates is a writer and works in a primary school library. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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Category: Reviews