Odd Spirits

I was kindly gifted an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. This book was a delight to read! I already loved Evocation and absolutely needed to read the prequel novella, Odd Spirits. And S. T. Gibson delivered again. I love the setting, I love the characters, I love all the different kinds of magic that are incorporated in the book. I really liked the flow and the pacing of the story and the back-and-forth between present and past events. I know, basically no reader likes the miscommunication trope but in this case I didn't mind because I knew that it was necessary for the story to make sense and because it was just for the duration of a novella and not a 300+ page book. The only thing I had trouble connecting to was the degree to which Moira (and to a degree Rhys) were angry at David for pointing out that the supernatural occurence in their house had been created by the (communication) problems in their marriage. Yes, I get that this is a senstivie and shameful topic and their dynamic was an important factor as well as the situation and tone but none of that was explicitly explained on-page. It's just what I gathered from the subtext of the rest of the book. I would have liked those aspects to be fleshed out a little more. Because in the end, David was absolutely correct and I somehow would have wanted Rhys and Moira to acknowledge that in a conversation with David but that neither happened in Odd Spirits nor in Evocation. Overall though, I really enjoyed the novella and in no way do I think that it's a fault of the book that it got me thinking and reflecting on the story. Anybody who liked Evocation absolutely has to read Odd Spirits. I will definitely get myself a physical of the book