The Starving Saints
By Caitlin Starling

“A king is not so different from a madwoman.”

This was book was a wild ride. I have never read anything even close to it. I actually find the whole thing hard to review to do it justice and explain. It starts a bit of a slowish burn and then boom. (I mean that in the best way possible!)

- Medieval horror with some dark fantasy.
- Super atmospheric and gives fever dream vibes.
- Cannibalism done on point.
- A sapphic romance integrated.
- Bees. So many bees.
- Mind bending and incredible from cover to cover.

Will absolutely make a 2025 list for me. Whether in the top novel or most uniquely done story from the plot to the tropes mixed together. I feel like it might be a hit or miss with people but really hoping it’s a hit and I see this cover swarmed on my feed. 🐝

Book releases on May 20th but is available for preorder now.

*arc provided by NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: When I added this to my TBR I did so because I thought it would be something different and a book to challenge me. It was both. I think if you are a fan of Gideon in the Ninth you must pick this book up.

Sadly, I did not enjoy this. If you are going to read it, I would highly recommend the audio as there's a lot of names and places that are difficult to connect and for me, the audio helped with that. The synopsis alludes to this, but this is a very harsh book. There are so very difficult scenes to read and experience. The author did an excellent job of telling the story she set out to, it was just very difficult to stomach. If you are looking for something light and straight forward this book is not for you. I found it difficult to really understand what was going on, outside of large plot points and some disturbing scenes.

All in all this just simply was not a book for me but I do think there are people who will enjoy it. Other than being confusing (for me), it is written well, descriptive, atmospheric and most importantly, you get exactly what you expect. I was not shocked that I had a difficult time with this one. It's kind of a me problem but I hope I've described it well enough for those of you who may want to pick it up. Proceed with caution.

Caitlin Starling's "The Starving Saints" is a detailed exploration into a hyper-realized fever dream, and honestly, it was an exhilarating and thoroughly enjoyable experience from start to finish. This work of both fantasy and horror stands out as a dark, twisted, and at times, erotic exploration of encroaching insanity and paranoia, set against a stark medieval fantasy backdrop. Starling’s prose is intentionally non-lucid, a masterful choice that amplifies the building tension and purposeful disorientation as the narrative spirals deeper into madness.

The story throws the reader into the desperate confines of a besieged castle, where its inhabitants, including a core group of three central characters, are being systematically starved out by an enemy kingdom. While there are many characters in this story, the narrative focuses on these three key individuals as their world unravels. The true allure for the reader lies in experiencing the escalating mystery and horror as it unfolds for the characters themselves. The arrival of unexpected visitors amidst the siege acts as a terrifying catalyst, pushing the characters and the foundations of their reality towards unexpected ends.

One of the key strengths of "The Starving Saints" is its immersive and hallucinatory quality, which, while demanding, is incredibly effective. The purposefully disjointed narrative, which mirrors the character’s fracturing perceptions, meant it took me a bit longer to read than some other books. However, this is not a flaw but a testament to Starling's skill; it forces the reader to inhabit the characters' deteriorating mental states, making the experience profoundly visceral. We are not merely observers but participants in their descent, feeling their confusion and dread firsthand. The challenging nature of the prose, while a strength, also requires a degree of reader commitment to navigate its complexities.

The book delves into graphic territory, with descriptively detailed depictions of horror and body horror that can be quite intense. If this type of content is not something you are normally comfortable reading, this is a fair warning before picking this one up.

In conclusion, "The Starving Saints" was a uniquely compelling and deeply memorable read, and unlike anything I have read before. Its bold narrative choices and exploration of psychological horror, seamlessly blended with dark fantasy elements, make it a standout. I will definitely be looking into Caitlin Starling's previous works, based on how much I enjoyed this one. I highly recommend this book to readers who appreciate a challenging, atmospheric, and genuinely terrifying journey into darkness.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for providing me with this advanced reader copy to read and give my honest opinion on.

I honestly have a hard time rating this!! It has a LOT of potential and some parts are really brilliant, but it falls through at so many points, especially the end, it feels very rushed.

This book is running on vibes, and what vibes they are. Bacchanals, cannibalism, hubris, blasphemy, nuns, knights, the slow pressing heat of summer. This book really leans into both psychological and body horror, and it kept managing to raise stakes once I thought they couldn’t get any higher.

This also really shines in its three delightfully messy narrators, none of whom really qualify as a “protagonist” per se so mush as the three most sane people in the depths of a truly wretched situation trying desperately to keep each other afloat more out of self-preservation than any real affection for the others. All of the pairs and the trio as a whole have fantastic and unique dynamics, and they all reflect three very different kinds of disaster women. Four, if we could our non-narrating antagonist!

However. As much as I love the vibes of this book, I do personally want more than just vibes to fuel an entire novel. I really think this story would’ve shone as a novella, where the aesthetic and broad strokes can do more of the heavy lifting. But 320 pages of that energy struggles to hold itself up. I found myself frequently checking how much of the book was left because I constantly felt like “oh this must be the final act” only to have another 50 pages or so. I also feel like novellas have a bit more wiggle room with running on vibes rather than digging in and explaining how the world works, and I felt like this book was trying to get away with novella-depth explanations when it probably needed more concrete world building to earn that length.

I did find myself more interested in watching the chaos rather than worried about if any characters would make it through the experience. So make of that what you will I suppose.

All in all, 3.5/5 stars from me. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

2.5* stars

this book just couldn't hold my attention, it took me so long to read. I was only interested in the last 20% of the book. otherwise I forgot that I was even reading it. I kept confusing the characters since none of them felt like they had their own separate personalities. and I know this type of story is meant to feel like a fever dream, but I really understood nothing. it was a cool concept though, so it could be good to other people who enjoy this type of horror, but I just couldn't keep track or care about anything going on.

I loved this book! It read more like fantasy mixed with horror, and I was fully immersed in the setting. The eerie castle, the mysterious visitors, and the constant sense of unease gave this such a strong atmosphere. I was especially into the yearning and complicated sapphic relationships. Also, the novel explored hunger in its different forms as motivation for multiple characters, which was super interesting. The narrative doesn’t follow a straight line and the book doesn’t explain everything, but that actually worked for me in this book. It also helped that it wrapped up in a satisfying way.

A horrific, gory, nightmarish phantasmagoria of a story. Expect body horror, forbidden yearning (in pretty much every way you could imagine), some truly messed up saints, the temptation of forbidden knowledge, and so much more. I was constantly surprised by the depths the narrative took me to, equally delighted and repulsed by what was going on in the pages, and am now eagerly awaiting the publication date so that I can watch in real time the entire social media ecosystem rightfully lose its mind over this book.

A must have for any collection. Great horror, interesting worldbuilding, and a very distinctive style makes this stand out.

So… 3.75 rounded up lol. I’m not quite sure how to rate this. It’s weird in a way that I sometimes loved and sometimes got a little tired of. I liked the vibes. Sapphic medieval canibalistc fever dream! Almost felt like for me this would have been better as a novella since I did get fever dream fatigued!

Thanks to net galley for a e-arc of this book for an honest review.

I am truly in my weird girl horror era! The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling filled the void that The Unworthy left in my soul when I finished it!

This story is gross (and I mean that in the BEST of ways!!!). It's got toxic co-dependent women in dire circumstances that begs the question: Would they have the same type of relationship if they weren't thrust into such a cloistered environment with life and death situations happening all around? I am also a big fan of the recent surge in Lady Knights in Fiction! This book truly has it all!

Do you like cannibalism in fiction? You'd love this book. Do you like weird and culty type of religions? This is the book for you! Are you a fan of books that start with a bang and just throw you into the fray without holding your hand? Look no further than The Staving Saints!

Definitely check your trigger warnings and make sure you're a reader who can handle weird and kind of gross content.

In conclusion....please read this book! It deserves all the hype and should be on everyone's must-read list for May!

The vibes are the main thing this book has going for it (unfortunately). I love the idea of this book and was excited to dive in, but ultimately this one fell flat.
To be honest the story was a bit confusing, and not always in a fun fever dream way, but a lot of times in a “this could have used tighter editing way.” Some things just didn’t make sense, and I think if I asked the author she would know, but the writing didn’t convey it.
My main gripe is probably our 3 main characters, who are ever-changing (almost interchangeable);their motivations are there one second and gone the next. They have a plan and then by the time the carousel of POVs get back to them, they are on a completely different track. They float through scene to scene, mainly to have new creepy or horrific or horny things happen to them.
I’m all for lady knights and creatures in dark caverns underneath the castle and heretical madwomen who are discovering their power - but this was a letdown.
This doesn’t deserve to be a 2, rounding up to a 3.

This was a wild ride. As other reviewers have mentioned, this did feel like a fever dream. If you like messy independent female characters and a medieval horror setting, then this is a read for you! Be prepared for some disgusting imagery.

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well, I think I have my favorite book of May already!

The Starving Saints is a fever dream of queer, kinky magic and mystery. I stayed up far too late both nights finishing it, and the reason it took me so long is because I didn't want it to end.

There's a siege and everyone inside the walls is starving. Food is desperately low. We spend almost a quarter of the book getting to know our three POV characters before the "miracle" happens, which usually would feel too long, but because there are three POVs and each is interesting and the setting is interesting, it works. The story stretches on in the beginning like the days stretch on when you're starving.

And then everything speeds up dizzyingly.

Am going to rec this to fans of Lindz McLeod's Beast, Delilah S. Dawson, and Hailey Piper.

This book is beautiful. Starving, yearning, lonely, desperate, wrong. We come upon a castle whose inhabitants are stuck under the threat of siege, and are going to die if they don’t get food soon. There are three women whose POV we get to enjoy, each very distinct and wanted. We first meet Phosyne, a nun-turned-sorceress living in filth and stink, who has made a miracle or two happen but has no idea how they came to be, really. Ser Voyne, a loyal, devoted soldier, is given to us next, itching to leave the castle’s gates and seek help. Lastly, Treila, a rat-catcher and servant girl who knows how to survive, but carries the weight of grief. Just as they are about to resort to eating their own, a miracle happens in the form of their Constant Lady and her Saints arriving. Unfortunately, these visitors aren’t really here to help, and the castle descends into bacchanalian madness. Our three women must work together to save the castle (this sentence sounds way too normal for what actually occurs). This book was definitely for me. Disgusting and magnificent.

Nobody talk to me for the next 6-10 business years. This book was EVERYTHING I hoped it would be and yet utterly original and unpredictable. I was riveted from start to finish. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 and I’m so gratified that it was every bit as special as I knew it would be when Caitlin first started teasing it.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this novel was secondary world fantasy! It’s rare that we find truly disgusting little horror novels set in different worlds, and I thought this one was utterly compelling. There isn’t a lot of detail given on what kind of world we are in, however, the universe’s rules and laws are less important in this instance than the immediate sense of setting and place within Aymar’s walls. Its ambiguity, in this sense, is a strength, because there is nothing outside the castle to comfort us about what is happening within it. And holy shit is what’s happening inside this castle unhinged.

In terms of prose and characterisation, I thought this one shone. All three of our POV characters felt very distinct; each other their own voice and vernacular and unique sense of viewing the world that came through in the writing incredibly effectively. It was truly spectacular to see three different takes on how to survive everyone’s worst day.

I knew before going into it that the horror was going to be no joke and I was equally surprised and unsurprised by the guises the horror took. I expected the girly pop cannibalism and generally icky body horror but what I wasn’t prepared for was the exploration of how power can rob people of humanity and how precarious autonomy truly is in a world without limits. I think some of the scariest moments in this book came from wondering exactly how far total submission and obedience can go especially in the context of religion and fidelity.

I’ll be handselling this to anyone who stands still long enough

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

This was such a fun and interesting read. Each of our main characters had a compelling storyline, and I enjoyed the push and pull in their relationships with each other and how their alliances shifted. The antagonists were also interesting and sufficiently mysterious and creepy. I enjoyed the tidbits that we learned about them throughout the story. I also enjoyed the castle being the singular setting of the story, and how it felt like the reader was also trapped in the castle with everyone else by not knowing what was going on in the outside world.

Hypnotic both in content and form, this book reinvents locked door mysteries. Each character felt fleshed out, and their actions made sense for them, even if you didn't agree with those choices as the reader. 1000000000/10

A lot of which in this book didn't fairly make sense to me, I loved the vibes but at points throughout the book the plot felt all over the place and left me rather confused at times but maybe its just me. Other than that the concept is great and I was Actually interested.

Thanks netgalley and the publisher for this free copy in exchange for an honest review💜

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for an advanced copy!!

This book was so good I almost wanted to gatekeep it!
Part medieval horror, part fever dream: it had me entirely obsessed.
The three characters who lead The Starving Saints-a madwoman, a knight, and a maid-were incredibly well-developed, starting with their backstories and ending with their character arcs. The atmosphere was cloistered, intense, and wicked, fully describing the pain and the hunger of the people stuck inside the castle and left to starve.
To say more would be to spoil everything, but The Starving Saints shouldn't be missed if you're a fan of unsettling medieval stories!! Absolutely incredible.

“The Starving Saints” is a dark and atmospheric novel with a strong concept and solid writing.

While I did appreciate the writing style and the eerie atmosphere of the story, I found it hard to focus on the plot. Maybe it just wasn’t the right moment for me to get fully invested in it.

That said, the book left enough of an impression that I might give it another try when I’m more in the mood for it.