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A review by stonkermumi
Evocation by S.T. Gibson
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Move over David, move over Rhys, I wanna kiss Moira INSTEAD.
I both really enjoyed this and really disliked this haha. So we're gonna just get straight into it.
The world building of the book is minor at best. There's a bit of set up for the society, the magic systems, and the world at large. The primary focus is definitely the characters and their relationships though.
So we have Rhys, David, and Moira as the main characters of the book. Personally, I felt like the focus shifting between all three was a bit much at times. Rhys out of all three was the least compelling to me. He was just kind of boring to be frank.
Not to mention, the book itself suffers a bit from tell don't show. A couple times it mentions how Rhys is the most dominant of the three of them. I don't know if they specifically mean sexually but frankly, I never felt that. He just felt kind of milquetoast in the grand scheme of things.
David was both great and awful. I loved to hate him at the beginning. Then when more is revealed about him, my heart really hurt for him. However, he's never truly held accountable for his actions still. There are more than a few times he does really awful things and he's just forgiven or forgotten. Like oh, it's just how David is haha!
The way they handled his alcoholism wasn't great either for me. Both Rhys and Moira take it seriously and not seriously at the same time. There's a moment in this book someone close to David offers him a drink after he's had a relapse. Rhys and Moira know that he had that relapse but neither of them support him.
Moira was great but also confusing. She's really dealt a bad hand in this due to the lingering feelings of Rhys and David.
Like I enjoyed the friendship between David and Moira, but that made it all the more dirty when she's essentially cheated on. She doesn't even seem to get all that angry at it despite getting upset later in the book when she's ignored. I'm all for polyamory but I felt like how they discussed the polyamory in this book was too vague.
She was constantly being the emotional support, the kind and gentle one, and keeping the two train wrecks in line. Frankly, she's too good for whatever was going on between Rhys and David.
Overall though, I enjoyed this well enough. It evoked feeling in me, even if that feeling was anger. That's what a story is meant to do. It was messy, dramatic, and magical. I'll be definitely reading the next entry in the series to see how this trio continues because their problems are definitely not over.
I both really enjoyed this and really disliked this haha. So we're gonna just get straight into it.
The world building of the book is minor at best. There's a bit of set up for the society, the magic systems, and the world at large. The primary focus is definitely the characters and their relationships though.
So we have Rhys, David, and Moira as the main characters of the book. Personally, I felt like the focus shifting between all three was a bit much at times. Rhys out of all three was the least compelling to me. He was just kind of boring to be frank.
Not to mention, the book itself suffers a bit from tell don't show. A couple times it mentions how Rhys is the most dominant of the three of them. I don't know if they specifically mean sexually but frankly, I never felt that. He just felt kind of milquetoast in the grand scheme of things.
David was both great and awful. I loved to hate him at the beginning. Then when more is revealed about him, my heart really hurt for him. However, he's never truly held accountable for his actions still. There are more than a few times he does really awful things and he's just forgiven or forgotten. Like oh, it's just how David is haha!
The way they handled his alcoholism wasn't great either for me. Both Rhys and Moira take it seriously and not seriously at the same time. There's a moment in this book someone close to David offers him a drink after he's had a relapse. Rhys and Moira know that he had that relapse but neither of them support him.
Moira was great but also confusing. She's really dealt a bad hand in this due to the lingering feelings of Rhys and David.
Like I enjoyed the friendship between David and Moira, but that made it all the more dirty when she's essentially cheated on. She doesn't even seem to get all that angry at it despite getting upset later in the book when she's ignored. I'm all for polyamory but I felt like how they discussed the polyamory in this book was too vague.
She was constantly being the emotional support, the kind and gentle one, and keeping the two train wrecks in line. Frankly, she's too good for whatever was going on between Rhys and David.
Overall though, I enjoyed this well enough. It evoked feeling in me, even if that feeling was anger. That's what a story is meant to do. It was messy, dramatic, and magical. I'll be definitely reading the next entry in the series to see how this trio continues because their problems are definitely not over.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Racism