The Invocations Quotes

“Even the devil does not trust men to honor a bargain, so it does not deal with them. It offers power only to women.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“I did not come this far to only come this far.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“What about trans women?" Zara asks, writing the question in her document. "How does that work?"
"Of course I have written invocations for trans women," Emer says. "Demons do not care about bodies. They only care about souls.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“In a fair world, Zara would be able to harness the power of her grief. She would use it to shatter every glass and plate in this restaurant. She would use it to scream so loud that everyone in the city could hear her. She would use it to tear open the world and reach back through time and pull Savannah from the jaws of the universe.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“Men think she looks like prey.
They do not know she is bait.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“Men do not know what it feels like to be hunted. Men do not walk alone on dark streets and think about fingers closing around their throats or their skulls thudding dully against the pavement. They do not think about strangers coming to their house and slaughtering their entire family. Emer likes to find them where they sit or stand or walk, comfortable, unafraid. Because there is no need to fear if you are a man. You own the darkness.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“The gift of fear was given to her by the women she grew up around: nannies, teachers, friends, lovers. From them all, she learned to carry her keys between her fingers like knuckle-dusters. She learned to pour her own drinks at parties and keep them close to her, always in sight, never unguarded. She learned to walk in busy, well-lit areas at night and to wear bright, memorable clothing so that if- when- she disappeared, she would stick in the minds of those who'd witnessed her final hours.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“They understand what they are looking at. They understand that it could have been them. A wrong turn on the wrong night, and it could have been them. There is no sense to that. That you can be going about your life, minding your own goddamn business, and suddenly become prey.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“A girl walks home alone, but not alone.
She feels him before she sees him. There's no sound, or movement, or smell. Just some primordial response left over in the blood from a time before humans were humans. A sudden prickle of fright in her gut. A displacement of energy that makes her gaze snap back over her shoulder and brings her footsteps to a stop.
Her eyes find the figure immediately, standing stationary on the path. He's a slip of shadow, nothing more. No face, no weapon, nothing to indicate that he might do her harm. Just a man.
But she is a girl. And she is alone. And it is night. And that is enough.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“Don't you have enough power now?"
"When you have been powerless your whole life- how do you know when it is enough?”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“Emer's eyes flash with fire. "Women hunters. Calling them witch hunters is far too lenient. My family were much more than witches. They were women. They were human. They were whole and complex and dynamic. They did not deserve to die for a sliver of their identity.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“They are linked by the immensity of their losses.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“Retribution felt feeble, nowhere near enough to cover the cost of what had been lost. They were one soul split into two bodies. Often, Zara didn’t know where she ended and Savannah began.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“Becoming a hero of your own story does not always mean you get a happy ending.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“Occide.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“The mourning coats her insides quickly. It is viscous and dark as it fills her lungs, makes it hard to breathe. She grips the edge of the table with such force she thinks the wood might crack. In a fair world, it would crack. In a fair world, Zara would be able to harness the power of her grief. She would use it to shatter every glass and plate in this restaurant. She would use it to scream so loud that everyone in the city could hear her. She would use it to tear open the world and reach back through time and pull Savannah from the jaws of the universe. Her grief-power would make her stronger, make her more capable of doing what needs to be done.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“I sacrificed everything for you. I quit school and got that dead-end job to keep a roof over your head so that you can go to school. So that you can go to Oxford one day. So that you can follow your dreams. I don't have dreams, Zara, and that doesn't bother me at all- because I gave them all to you.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“She is the embodiment of autumn with a touch of hell thrown in for a bit of excitement.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“These were the things that had to be considered when writing a curse. Translation is an art.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“Even the devil does not trust men to honor a bargain, so it does not deal with them. It offers power only to women.” “What about trans women?” Zara asks, writing the question in her document. “How does that work?” “Of course I have written invocations for trans women,” Emer says. “Demons do not care about bodies. They only care about souls.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“She feels him before she sees him. There’s no sound, or movement, or smell. Just some primordial response left over in the blood from a time before humans were humans. A sudden prickle of fright in her gut. A displacement of energy that makes her gaze snap back over her shoulder and brings her footsteps to a stop.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“PHOE&’( HO)SE.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“On the table in front of her, Jude has already ordered olives and grilled sardines and stuffed vine leaves.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“Pastel orange?
What a twat! Indeed. Money really can’t buy taste.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“She has never written anything so beautiful before.
She has never written anything so gruesome before.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“Zara doesn't want to see. She doesn't want to look. She can't look. She can't not look.
She feels she owes it to Savanah to witness the horror of what happened to her, again and again and again. You do not get to look away because it is unbearable. You do not get to shield your eyes or nose from the grim reality of the violence that is wreaked upon women every day.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“Emer thinks of all the other women he has killed. How afraid they must have been, hiding and running just as she is now. Emer had touched each one of them when they were alive. She had pressed her fingertips to their wrists and necks to look for the point where their pulse tripped beneath their skin. All that life. All that power.
All snuffed out by this man.
This boy.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“A part of Zara has always blamed Savanah for not fighting harder. How do you let yourself die? If you really wanted to live, wouldn't you go rabid and let your limbs fill with adrenaline and fight and fight and fight until the last moment?
Zara realizes now that Savanah fought as hard as she could.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“There's a crackle of something electric and acrid in the room as all three of them stare at the dead woman.
They understand what they are looking at. They understand that it could have been them. A wrong turn onto the wrong street on the wrong night, and it could have been them. There is no sense to it. That you can be going about your life, minding your own goddamn business, and suddenly become prey.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations

“Men do not know what it's like to be hunted. Men do not walk alone on dark streets and think about fingers closing around their throats or their skulls thudding dully against the pavement.
They do not think about strangers coming to their house and slaughtering their entire family.
Emer likes to find them where they sit or stand or walk, comfortable, unafraid. Because there is no need to fear if you are a man.
You own the darkness. It is your space.”
― Krystal Sutherland, The Invocations