This book had a very interesting premise and a very cool setting. A medieval castle with magic lurking in the corners. I thought the overall story was very interesting and gorey. It was definitely what I pictured when reading this synopsis initially. Unfortunately for me, I think the beginning was a little slow. I kept waiting for the saints to arrive and be all creepy and mysterious, but instead it seemed to take about 20-25 percent of the book to set up the scene which I thought was pretty well known after the first few chapters. Despite this, I still found the story to be quite interesting with a lot of things to unravel. I feel like some plot points went unanswered but I think the story overall delivered of the creepiness of the saints.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and HarperCollins for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review!

There's a few keywords to describe this book, and your reaction to them will absolutely determine if you will enjoy it.

- Women's wrongs
- Medieval horror
- Very bacchanalian
- Fever dream
- Bees?

That's it, that's the book.

Thank you to the publisher, Harper Voyager, and to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling is a medieval horror that revolves around three different women living in a castle under siege. On the brink of starvation, the inhabitants of the castle are running out of options when suddenly, four saints appear, ostensibly to save the day. The only problem is, no one saw them arrive... and no one knows what they truly want.

This book was fantastic! I really enjoyed Voyne, Treila, and Phosyne as characters. They were each confronted with impossible choices throughout the narrative and it was incredibly interesting to see them interact with one another and make decisions. Their dynamics were intense, intriguing, and kept me turning the page!

I also really enjoyed the horror aspect of The Starving Saints! There was an intangible, eerie quality to the setting of Aymar and it really added to the feverish, anxiety-inducing atmosphere. There were a few moments where my jaw dropped completely, and I feel that Starling really did a great job of utilizing the horror elements of this story well.

Overall, this was a great read!

The country and world may be falling apart, but my upcoming book tbr is looking long and fruitful.

Dark, unsettling, and kinda erotic. I loved the medieval fantasy horror setting, the bees, the Sapphic knight aesthetic...honestly everything about The Starving Saints is perfect. The writing is vivid and gory, and I was entirely immersed in the happenings of Aymar castle.

Oftentimes with multiple pov chapters, the plot becomes repetitive or muddled and believable character development is stretched thin amongst the narration. This isn't the case here. Even with three perspectives and under 400 pages, Caitlin Starling displays their writing abilities by breathing life into the people within their pages, which includes the stellar unreliable narration. Not all is as it seems inside Aymar, and you can just feel terror and confusion each of the main characters endure.

I will definitely be buying physically once this officially releases.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers Avon and Harper Voyager, and the author for this arc inbexchange for an honest review.

A rich and dense gothic medieval horror that was written beautifully. Told in an intriguing fashion describing horror and gore with the same delicacy and tenderness as the ethereal otherworldly beauty of the titular saints. A slow burn and build done incredibly right

A dark and brutal gothic story of desperation and destruction in a starving medieval castle

The story follows three women who have been barely surviving in a castle under siege from an invading army. Prospects look bleak and food is dwindling until the answers to their prayers shows up as literal saints appear, offering with them hope and much needed sustenance. But all is not how it seems...

Parts of this book took on an ethereal quality and felt delightfully fever dream-ish. The descriptions of gore and violence being described with the same tenderness and delicacy as the haunting visage of the heavenly saints. A slow burn paced out with beats of ultraviolence and the bizarre

For fans of medieval horror with strong constitutions who delight in the weird, I would definitely recommend checking this one out when it's released in May.

(4.5 ★ actually)
Dark, unsettling, and utterly mesmerizing.
This is the kind of book that sinks its teeth into you and refuses to let go because once the story picks up, you cannot put it down. Starling’s writing is so vivid and immersive that I could see everything happening, I could feel the dread and anxiety like I was there. Every single chapter kept me hooked like I was spiraling deeper into the madness, and I didn’t want to pull myself out.

The horror in this book, psychological, body-focused, or religious, is written so well that it had me on edge the entire time. It played out like a movie in my mind, which is always a great sign. And the characters? With only 352 pages and three main protagonists, Starling still managed to make each of them so fully fleshed out that I genuinely can’t pick a favorite. They’re all flawed, brilliantly written, and impossible not to be invested in.

This book explores faith and fanaticism, hunger and sacrifice, power and suffering etc. It’s literally a medieval fever dream. Plus, it’s sapphic, which is just an added bonus.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! I will be buying a copy when it releases, and I want everyone to read this book. You won’t be disappointed.

Having read The Luminous Dead, this is exactly what I was hoping it would be. This was an absolutely perfect blend of horror and dark fantasy, with three main characters who are absolutely compelling. The book opens with everyone already in dire straits, under a siege from an enemy army and running out of food. Just when it seems everyone within the walls will starve, their saints arrive.
I was initially a little worried when I realized that the book is split into three perspectives, but I think that the three perspectives were actually integral to telling this story the way it deserves to be told. I can't imagine whose perspective I would choose to cut to reduce it to two perspectives, or whose perspective I would choose if it was to be told by just one character. The different perspectives really enhanced the horror aspects as the book progressed, particularly as each character might be unreliable when it comes to narrating some of the events.
Overall, this book was everything I hoped it would be and more, and I cannot wait for it to come out so that I can buy it and read it multiple more times. If you're looking for medieval fantasy-horror with bees, saints, knights, and cannibalism, look no further than The Starving Saints.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy!

I did not like this as much as I *wanted* to like this, it felt like there was a lot of ideas that weren't expressed as clearly as they could have been! Which was really disappointing - great ideas, not the best execution, it also felt overly long and a bit convoluted.
It also felt like there were a few pretty big unresolved plot points. This books is right up my alley bit just didn't HIT.
The author has a great writing style and I just wish the idea was better executed.

This book was so good.

The three main characters were all so complex - well-developed, flawed yet likable, growing and changing, all different and yet fit together so well. I enjoyed the somewhat vague magic system, as I think it made the world more mysterious and gave less clues as to where the plot could go. The atmosphere and description of the setting in context with the lack of time and severance from reality was great.

My only complaint is that I think there was not as much of a balance of ecstasy and horror the way I had expected when I saw the word Bacchanalian in the description of the book - the people who are suffering seem at best blank, confused or placated, not ecstatic. Not seduced. But that didn't impact the storytelling of the novel at all, and I still thought this book was amazing. Great writing, great characterization, compelling atmosphere.

The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling is a queer medieval body-horror novel that dives deep into themes of religion and loyalty—with a generous serving of cannibalism. WARNING: Do not eat while reading.

It is engaging, refreshing, and a little graphic. For those who are gore-curious, the descriptions aren’t drastically bloody, but the context of the gore? Yeah....eww. The book builds a haunting, mysterious atmosphere that lingers, and the characters—especially the Saints—are compelling in the most unsettling way. I wasn’t expecting the level of body horror, and since I don’t usually read it, I struggled with some moments. That said, I know there’s an audience that thrives on queer cannibal narratives (Yellowjackets Hive, this one’s for you), so I have no doubt this book will find its people.

Try a spoonful of honey before reading, I hear it does wonders for your psyche!

4 Stars – “Come for the Siege, Stay for the Sinister Feast”

Look, six months trapped in a castle with no food sounds horrific… until salvation arrives in the form of mysterious divine figures who waltz in past the barricades and start handing out miracles like party favors. Sick? Healed. Starving? Here, have a feast. Skeptical? Well, don’t be rude—just drink the wine and enjoy the vibes.

Except maybe don’t, because something is deeply wrong.

This book is dark, twisted, and absolutely intoxicating—kind of like whatever’s in those banquet chalices. You’ve got a paranoid nun-turned-sorceress trying to science her way out of disaster, a war hero falling under the spell of some very suspect saints, and a serving girl with a vendetta, all trapped in a castle slipping into hedonistic, flesh-eating madness. It’s gothic horror at its finest—rich, unsettling, and impossible to look away from.

If you like your horror with a side of theological terror, unhinged feasts, and deeply questionable divine intervention, The Starving Saints is your next obsession. Just… maybe don’t read it on an empty stomach. Or right after a big meal. Trust me.

DNF at 63%

I gave it a shot but I should have trusted my gut that this book would not be for me. It's not really a problem with the book, and I hope this review still leads it to someone who will love it.

A lady-knight, a girl seeking vengeance, and a former nun turn mad sorceress walk into a b- oop wait, my bad. They're trapped in a castle under siege along with the king and many others, food is scarce, and hope is burning out. That is, until the saints arrive and bring with them bounty and salvation, but all is not as it seems. I know I'm too easy when one mention of Harrowhark Nonagesimus in another review gets me to read the book. Unfortunately, the characters fell kind of flat for me and it was difficult to get a sense of them outside the bounds of the story if you know what I mean. I also just deeply dislike dream/hallucinogenic sequences in books because it feels like the author can just get away with anything and brush it off as surreality. Also, maybe I just liked more extreme horror but there wasn't a whole lot of horror in the two thirds of the book that I read. Maybe it gets really crazy at the end, I don't know.

I think if you're a fantasy reader looking for more entry-level horror or you really like gothic and want to try out medieval, this is a solid starting point. It just didn't have anything for me.

Thank you to Caitlin Starling and Harper Voyager for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!

Happy reading!

Disgustingly delicious, depraved in all the right ways. I loved the descriptions of debauchery, the saints themselves in all their transcendent beauty juxtaposed against the horrors they invite, but what stuck with me most after reading were the three main characters and the wonderfully twisted relationship between them.
Much has been said about Ser Voyne and her choking kink, and well, I absolutely concur, but I will always be a sucker for love between women that’s messy and gritty and yet still underset by a deep love the characters themselves endlessly agonize over. If you like your sapphic relationships toxic yet still full of begrudging admiration, and your descriptions of cannibalism florid and dripping of honey, this is the novel for you! It made me really hungry, and for a book about cannibalism I think that’s great.
My only small caveat is that I would have wished it to be maybe even a bit more extreme and graphic, but I am also a horror lover, and I feel like for people who aren’t as big on gore this might be a bonus.
Next time I go to the store, I’ll pick up some honey in honor of my new favorite medieval disaster sapphics <3
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

A medieval horror-dark fantasy mashup, The Starving Saints follows three women trapped in a castle filled with people starving to death as they are under siege: Phosyne, a madwoman who can seemingly make strange things occur, Trelia, once noble and now fighting for scraps, and Voyne, the right-hand knight to the king with fierce loyalty. When mysterious figures come to the castle who appear as saints ready to feed the starving people, the three women begin to realize the heinous cost of the saints’ gifts.

This book is filled with debauchery and is an exemplary use of a medieval horror setting. The story is filled with madness— characters losing their minds, the setting so strange and unusual it shakes your brain, and the reality of their situation (if reality is the word for it) so gruesome you want to look away but can’t. The mystery of the strange magic in the story is gripping and eerie, albeit also maddeningly vague at times, but it fits the narration style.

If you like watching a descent into madness, this definitely encompasses that entirely, though be prepared to read this on an empty stomach. This is a story that doesn’t answer all the strangeness inside it, instead, it just takes you on a journey of desperate survival. The little details haunt you, and honey is an element of horror now.

Also the buff knight who is desperate to be led lowkey was attractive idk buff women begging to have purpose like let’s go.

This was so creepy, weird, and claustrophobic. Most of Caitlin Starling's books that I have read previously have missed the mark for me, but this one was great! I really enjoyed the three different perspectives and the sense of slowly creeping dread that permeated every page of this book. You could really feel the emotions of all of the characters trapped in the castle. I particularly loved every scene with the saints.

This was my most anticipated horror of 2025, and it did not disappoint.

Other reviews have described this as a nightmarish fever dream. Those words are accurate, but I offer some of my own:

- beautifully macabre
- delightfully twisted
- slyly feminist (I support women's wrongs!)
- satisfyingly plotted

I will definitely be reading it again. And I truly hope Caitlin Starling writes a book on horror-craft or gives a masterclass at some point. This reverberated in my bones in ways I didn't even know I could crave horror.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc!
This was a fantastic read!! The writing was decedent and alluring, the world was fantastically well thought out and imaginative. Each of the three fmc’s were delightful in the way they interacted with each other and the world around them. I had never read a story quite as unique as this one before… from the opening page I felt drawn into this magnificently creepy world.

It got a little confusing towards the end, but otherwise fantastic

Such a unique premise! If you're into dark reads, The Starving Saints is a total trip. It’s got everything from a badass lady knight, mind-control food, creepy bees, cannibalism, and sooo much more. The characters are messy, compelling, and seriously flawed, and their twisted relationships kept me hooked. The book's a sensory overload—grotesque, visceral, and brilliant in its execution. It’s definitely a must-read for anyone into medieval horror or messy sapphic drama.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC

This was a slog. I REALLY wanted to like it but nothing happened for the first 50% of the book and then the second half was just them sort of running around?

I think maybe I am not the right audience for this author - this is the second book by her I’ve tried

The Starving Saints is dark, decadent, and completely deranged—and I loved every second of it. Caitlin Starling has crafted a medieval horror fever dream that drags you in by the throat and doesn’t let go. The tension here is suffocating, the twists are genuinely sick, and the unraveling of morality and sanity is so visceral, you feel it in your gut. If you love stories that are too much in the best possible way—bloody, bizarre, and brilliantly unhinged—then The Starving Saints is your next obsession. Just… maybe don’t read it on an empty stomach. Or a full one.