"The Devil knows your name, David Aristarkhov.
As a teen, David Aristarkhov was a psychic prodigy, operating under the shadow of his oppressive occultist father. Now, years after his father’s death and rapidly approaching his thirtieth birthday, he is content with the high-powered life he’s curated as a Boston attorney, moonlighting as a powerful medium for his secret society.
But with power comes a price, and the Devil has come to collect on an ancestral deal. David’s days are numbered, and death looms at his door.
Reluctantly, he reaches out to the only person he’s ever trusted, his ex-boyfriend and secret Society rival Rhys, for help. However, the only way to get to Rhys is through his wife, Moira. Thrust into each other’s care, emotions once buried deep resurface, and the trio race to figure out their feelings for one another before the Devil steals David away for good…"
Evocation is the first novel in The Summoner's Circle, a fantasy novel by S.T. Gibson.
I admit that I was hesitant to pick up this book. When it first popped up on my radar I was immediately pulled in by the queer romance tag. When I read some reviews before I started reading though I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy myself since a lot of people seemed to not like the characters and their dynamic. But I wouldn't know for myself unless I gave it a shot, and I found that I didn't mind this book.
It did take a bit for me to get into it though since the characters did kind of suck at first. Not in the sense that they were badly written but that David and Rhys didn't seem like good people and Moira was too much of a southern belle and that bothered me for some reason. It also took a while for their history with each other to be explained. We know that David and Rhys are exes, but the story drags out the explanation as to what happened between them. In fact, it took half of the book for an explanation.
Another aspect of the book that I wish was different was the lack of magic. If the book is fantasy, I want magic and a lot of it, plain and simple. While this had some, the author chose to focus more on relationship drama and societal issues which wasn't the most titillating thing to read about. I also wish that the author delved more into their jobs as well, seeing as David is a medium and Rhys is a librarian which could have made for some really interesting plot points.
This book also lost some points from me for the pettiest reason though, and that is because Rhys McGowan sounded way too close to Rose McGowan and I kept calling him Rose. Also, I feel like the name Rhys is exclusive to one character and one character only.
Despite its lack of depth and complexity, this was still a somewhat enjoyable read. I didn't mind the characters and the story even if it needed more room to breath and develop. However, I don't think I enjoyed it nearly enough to pick up the rest of the series. On the plus side, at least I liked this book better than A Dowry of Blood.
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