Review: Odd Spirits by S.T. Gibson

Posted February 20, 2025 by Stephanie in 4 Stars, Fantasy, Review / 5 Comments

Learn more about the characters from The Sunday Times bestselling author S.T. Gibson’s Evocation in this gorgeously illustrated prequel novella to The Summoner’s Circle series.

It takes a lot of commitment to make a marriage between a modern ceremonial magician and a tarot witch work, but when a malevolent entity takes up residence in Rhys and Moira’s home, their love will be pushed to the limits.

Brewing up a solution is easier said than done when your magical styles are polar opposites; throw a psychic ex and a secret society in the mix, and things are bound to get messy.

Last year, in 2024, I fell in love with the characters and world of The Summoner’s Circle when I read the first book, Evocation. Now that I finally had the chance to read Odd Spirits, which is a prequel, I can confidently say that I loved the characters just as much. It was a fairly short read that I finished in less than a day but its shortness didn’t take away any of S.T. Gibson’s amazing writing and strong themes that she always seems to notably deliver on.

Odd Spirits is a novella set during Rhys and Moira’s early marriage, a year or so in. When they notice that a dark entity has been messing with their house and messing with them as well, they need to try and figure out what it is and what it wants. It doesn’t help that they have been bickering a lot lately and questioning if they have gotten married too young. Not knowing what to do anymore, Rhys invites the help of his friends at The Society, a secret society that he’s a part of, including his psychic ex, David.

Just like in in the first book, Odd Spirits has big themes of communication, especially in a marriage, the occult and how keeping things inside can quite literally summon entities you don’t want to encounter (at least in Rhys and Moira’s case). There wasn’t much David in this story which I understand because it had more of a focus on Moira and Rhys’ early days as a married couple. I really liked that we got a little more backstory on the enmity shared between David and Moira that we saw in Evocation. Things make a lot more sense now. I also enjoyed the few flashback scenes where we got to see how Moira and Rhys met. It was sweet, adorable and I could read those scenes forever.

Another thing I just have to mention is how beautiful the Angry Robot hardcover is. The cover is, obviously beautiful but what I really and truly adored were the colored illustrations inside. I can literally not stop looking at them, I love these illustrations so so so much! It’s an amazing addition to my growing S.T. Gibson collection.

About the author:

S.T. Gibson is a literary agent, author, and village wise woman in training. A graduate of the creative writing program at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and the theological studies program at Princeton Seminary, she currently lives in Boston with her partner, spoiled Persian cat, and vintage blazer collection. She is represented by Tara Gilbert of the Jennifer De Chiara literary agency.

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Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy

I’m so glad you read this! I agree, this book filled in some of the blanks from Evocation, especially about the relationships. And the hardcover is so amazing! It makes me excited for the next book in the series😁

Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy recently posted: THE THIRD RULE OF TIME TRAVEL by Philip Fracassi – Review

February 20, 2025, 2:19 pm

Stephanie

I quickly read it in between my other current reads since it was such a short one. I just love these characters so much!
February 20, 2025, 4:06 pm