Beautiful, bloody, and impossible to put down.

This was one of the most unique books I've ever read, with lush world-building and and a claustrophobic, terror-inducing atmosphere. The medieval inspired fantasy setting adds a touch of familiarity that is, in the end, used to further discomfort and shake any expectations or predictions you have for what's going on.

If you're a horror fan, this is most definitely a book to pick up.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Aymar Castle is under siege. Only a miracle saved their water supply, but they'll need something else drastic in order to eat. Centering on the stories of three women, the hero knight Ser Voyne, the nun-turned-sorceress Phosyne, and serving girl Treila, and the looming fears of starvation and disease that are more deadly than the enemy surrounding the keep.

This is a horror/speculative fiction novel exploring the reach of faith and miracles and the human capacity for suffering. It's absolutely the kind of horror I love to read, crossing the sacred and the profane with compelling characters. The story is not scary in the traditional sense, but terrifying as we look at the human and divine capacity for cruelty and forgiveness.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. I was so excited to get the approval email! I love the author and the cover is gorgeous.

This was different than I was expecting. I love historical (and sapphic!!) horror, but fantasy is usually 50/50 for me.

The vibes were great- you could feel the desperation of the starving and how Phosyne wants to save everyone. I just wish we'd seen more to the characters than their roles. We don't see much personality for them. I think I would have liked this book more if there was only one POV.

The second half kind of lost me. It all revolved around the saints and I don't think their motives were covered well enough.

I was initially drawn to These Starving Saints by its beautiful cover and the promise of a sapphic, fantasy-infused cannibal horror story. While some of these elements delivered, others felt underdeveloped or lacking.

The biggest disappointment for me was the characters. They didn’t feel like fully fleshed-out individuals with clear motivations. Instead, they often came across as NPCs—acting in ways that felt disconnected or inexplicable, without enough narrative grounding to make their choices feel meaningful or earned.

That said, the book truly shined when it embraced its surreal, fantastical madness. The more abstract and unexplainable the story became, the more immersed I found myself. Some aspects of the world clearly weren’t meant to be fully understood, and that worked in the book’s favor, creating an eerie, compelling atmosphere that kept me reading.

Ultimately, These Starving Saints is a mixed bag. It stumbles in character development but succeeds in building a strange, unforgettable world that lingers after the final page.

Waiter! Waiter! More yearning lesbian cannibal medieval horror please!
This book gripped me in the way I want all books to - I was seated for the duration, and wished for it to be longer. There were no slow chapters or filler sentences - everything was tight and perfect. The Starving Saints is a masterclass in suspense, horror, and yearning from Caitlin Starling.

Meandering is probably the best word I can think of to describe this book. Perhaps it was purposely written this way, as while I found it a chore to get through, I kept on in the hopes of seeing some clarity or resolution.
I saw this less as a medieval horror and more of a commentary on the nature of religion and its’ psychological hold. TL;DR, this book requires some effort to read and understand beyond just the surface level ‘plot’.



Thanks to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read this book!

I LOVED this book. I don't think there's anything that I can compare it to simply because I've never read anything like it. I want to get a physical copy of this book to annotate because having my live reactions preserved in this story is a must. I can't wait to reread this for many years!
Thank you so much to NetGalley & the publisher for allowing me read and review this ARC!

4/5 stars.
This was 5 stars until the last quarter of the book. It didn't go in the direction I was hoping, and a few things near the end dampened my enjoyment. However, this is just my personal taste. I also don't know if I would define it as horror in the general sense. Horrific, yes. Disturbing, yes. But did it scare me? No. What it did do though, is give me several sleepless nights from staying up and reading nonstop, needing to know what would happen next. I was super interested in all three POVs for most of the book. Rather than repeating scenes from different perspectives or jumping around confusingly, for the most part the story moved along smoothly and linearly between perspectives, which made it super easy to just keep reading chapter after chapter. It was a bit challenging to read, with a lot of vocabulary I wasn't familiar with, but reading it at a slower pace with a dictionary really made me appreciate the author's descriptive writing. The story follows an eccentric former nun turned sorceress, a muscular knight with an intense sense of duty, and a cynical fallen noblewoman with secrets. Hundreds are trapped and starving for months in a castle after it is besieged by an enemy country, when one day, the Saints arrive with a solution for their hunger. While the rest of the castle seems to forget the enemy beyond the walls while gorging themselves on feasts and descending into madness, these three women have to work together to survive and save people (if they even can.) There are a lot of religious themes & symbolism in this book that added so much depth and explanation to what was going on. Honestly I had a fantastic time. If you like books that feel like a gory fever dream, with fleshed out characters and sapphic undertones, you might like this. If you vehemently dislike religious symbolism (even fictional), you might find this a bit tedious. Otherwise, give it a try!

“A miracle so profound may be indistinguishable from horror.”

The Starving Saints is a sapphic, medieval-inspired fantasy horror novel with cannibalism, a cult-like religion, and witchy magic. There is definitely an audience out there who will really enjoy this book, but sadly I was not a fan.

The plot felt like a hazy, fever dream. As a reader I was never able to get my footing in the story, and I was constantly confused about what was going on. The exposition of the novel took about 100 pages and it got repetitive and boring. I also didn’t love any of the three main characters, and by the end of the novel I was still unsure about their motivations and feelings towards each other.

Since I didn’t love the characters, the romance subplot fell flat for me. I did not feel the chemistry between Phosyne, Trelia, or Ser Voyne at all. Additionally, there were some moments of sexual tension that could have been fun, but they came out of nowhere and didn’t really match the tone of the scenes they were in, which left me feeling disoriented and uncomfortable.

I requested this ARC thinking this book would be right up my alley, but unfortunately the execution of the fascinating concept fell flat. However, Caitlin Starling is clearly an innovative and creative author who writes hauntingly beautiful prose, so I will be trying out some of her other stories – this one in particular just didn’t quite work for me!

Thank you to Harper Voyager, Netgalley, and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review posted to Goodreads 5/1/25.

Review to be posted to Instagram closer to release date.

This one was… Not my favorite.

I’m a sucker for anything involving cannibalism, saints, or bees as a harbinger of doom. So I really genuinely expected to love this book. But unfortunately it fell flat for me.

The plot was confusing and barely there. There was a siege, and everyone was starving, and then there was magic, and saints, but the saints were monsters, but the main characters were monsters too, and they all hated each other, but they also were all sexually attracted to each other, but they were starving to death and were fainting from hunger, but they still had energy to have sex, and then they ate the bad guys? That’s about the entire plot in my experience. We alternated from watching the characters trying to kill each other to deciding that killing each other was kinky WAY more often than made sense. One of the main characters died and then just straight up came back to life, no explanation of how or why? And then immediately started kissing the other main character who had killed her in the first place??

The magic system made absolutely no sense. There’s these evil people from another realm who can take any form so they take the form of the saints, and they feed on lust? So they kill a bunch of people and then bewitch other people and made them eat their dead friends. And somehow that means they’re air? So they can only be killed by fire, or by iron, or by drowning, or by ripping their throat out with your teeth after you seduce them and eating them, but no really they’re immortal unless you do any of those things. Oh and also they’re the gods of the bees. But the bees don’t serve them anymore, the bees only served them until the bees decided to serve the bee priestess instead. And there’s also this whole other monster that is the soul of stone, but also has a tongue and teeth, and will bite off parts of your body in exchange for passage out of the castle and also through time. And also the main character is a monster, and then the other main character has a heart made of diamond, and there’s no explanation for why or how or what any of it means.

The first half of this book is all the characters talking about how hungry and starved they are since they haven’t eaten in months and the people are resorting to cannibalism because they’re so hungry, and then the second half of the book they all forget how hungry they are because they’re so horny. I still don’t understand if they somehow magically overcame starvation or what happened, because they went from literally dying of starvation, like, blacking out from hunger, “the end is near I won’t make it through the night” level of dying from starvation, to making out like that’ll fill their stomachs and not mentioning food at all. It was so much build up around food and hunger and starvation that just fizzled out and disappeared with no explanation.

If this review makes no sense it’s because this whole damn book made no sense. If you’re confused reading my review it’s because I spent the entire time I was reading the book confused, and I kept thinking I would get answers if I finished it, and I did not. I’m sorry.

Bottom line: I’m all for a good lesbian romance, but you can’t just go “she seduced me for the sole purpose of murdering me but she’s blonde so I’m still in love with her, no hard feelings” and call it a day.

3.75 🌟

The creepy, gory imagery of this book was perfect. If you enjoyed the visuals of NBC Hannibal (especially that bee episode), those are the vibes of this book and I loved it. The characters were interesting, the "monsters" (to keep it vague/not spoilery were great), although I didn't really feel the romance at all. Unfortunately I did find the plot dragged a bit, but overall a good read.

The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling is raw, gritty, and unpredictable. This is such a unique story. I recommend this read for fans of medieval history, mystery, and horror novels.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this ARC!

This book is the first horror book I've read that actually horrified me. It was beautiful and gruesome and delicious. Starling really blew me away here, with writing that was descriptive and compelling and mouth watering even when I wanted to turn away in disgust. The three POVs were equally compelling, and I loved the way their stories wove around each other as they also navigated their own stories in the castle. While we were left with so many questions at the end, it was like a door left open rather than loose threads. I cant't wait to read more from Caitlin Starling!! Thank you NetGalley and Avon and HarperVoyager for the advance copy!!

A lapdog knight, a heretical nun, and a feral noblewoman walk into a castle. They don’t walk out. They’re trapped, starving, and enchanted by creatures that may or may not be saints who arrive to either save them or prolong their suffering. Oh, and they’re all sapphic.

As a Caitlin Starling fan who’s read most of her work, I think I can say that I’ve found my new favorite Starling novel. This is as beautifully atmospheric, gruesomely horrific, and expertly written as her other books, but something about the vibrancy of the setting and the uniqueness of this story in particular pushes it over the edge for me.

The three heroes (and sometimes villains) of this novel are three of Starling’s richest. These are three very distinct characters with different roles to play in this story, and the variety in their POVs make the pacing and the world building that much more interesting. You see their whole terrible tragedy – and the three leading ladies – from three different perspectives, and all of their opinions have both merits and flaws.

This book is unpredictable, wild, and unafraid to go to some unexpectedly dark places. You do have to take a lot at face value, though. If you’re looking for a very rigid, thoroughly explained magic system, this book might leave you with a few unanswered questions. But if you’re willing to enjoy the ride and accept the scraps of information as truth as they come, you’ll have a good time watching the madness play out. It’s a ride I was very much strapped in for and thoroughly recommend.

If you’re looking for well-written, atmospheric, medieval magical horror with sapphic characters, you’ve found the right book.

“His beautiful face doesn’t shift, but the tension that dances between them has a different edge, now. He, like all the rest, is hungry, and he watches her with the eyes of a shrike, prepared to impale her on barbed thorns to keep her all to himself as he tears her to pieces. The creature who cocks his head and scents the air is something old. He smiles, and his teeth are sharp. “I’d recommend you run, little girl.” And Treila does.”

🐝𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖛𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝕾𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖘🐝

~ Caitlin Starling (@authorcstarling)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Published: 20/05/25 (ARC)
Genre: Horror
Page count: 342
Format read: 📱
Other books read by this author: None

Castle Aymer has been under siege for six months, & its residents are fast running out of food. The novel follows the POV of three characters - Phosyne the heretic, miracle-working ex-nun; Ser Voyne the loyal knight; & Treila the traitor's daughter-cum-servant - who watch as the castle is visited by a group of what appear to be saints, though it is unclear whether they come bearing salvation, or something darker.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 is beautifully written, an exploration of idolatry & zealotry juxtaposed with visceral body horror. I loved the medieval castle setting, & the characterisation of the three heroines, their differences stark but trivial in the face of their increasingly dangerous position. The underlying sense of dread that rises throughout the novel is flawlessly done; the horrors of siege warfare exacerbated by monsters you can barely see but whose teeth are no less sharp, & saviours hiding rot & decay beneath layers of decadence & frivolity. 

Thankyou to @authorcstarling & @netgalley for the ARC.

In fifteen days Aymar Castle will be without food. They have been under siege for the last six months and no assistance has been given to them. The king gives an order to Phosyne to produce a miracle that would allow food to be provided for the entire kingdom. Or else drastic measures would be taken. Then suddenly as if prayers are answered the Saints appear and they bring a solution to their problems or so it seems.
I’ll admit I struggled with chapters 1-13 it was challenging for me to get through them, a bit slow for me. After chapter 14 the action started and it was non stop. The characters in the story were good and I did enjoy learning about each of them. I would like to call this a castle horror. Towards the middle / end of the book it was very hard to put down. If you’re someone that has an issue with reading about cannibalism I would suggest you skip this book.
Thank you NetGalley, Avon, Harper Voyager and Caitlin Starling for the ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.

Content warnings: starvation, illness, body horror, death, dismemberment, zealotry, cannibalism

The Starving Saints is a forthcoming horror novel about a castle on the brink of ruin due to a siege and the lesbians working against their grim reality and an unfurling fever dream to save what little they have left. We’ve got the heretic (Phosphyne), the knight (Ser Voyne), and the servant (Treila) who each see something else in the mysterious saints that arrive unexpectedly with food and blessings galore. Nothing is as it seems and madness descends upon Aymar Castle.

I love the dread in this one and with three distinct perspective characters whose different drives lead them to a satisfying and disquieting conclusion.

The horror is such a slow burn of dread and what happens when there’s little left to lose and you won’t look too closely at any miracles coming your way. The visuals are equal parts dream and nightmare, enough to lure the reader into the same type of mystery that our protagonists find themselves in. The entire setting feels appropriately dirty given the deterioration that the castle’s denizens experience both bodily and spiritually. Being at wit’s ends at a besieged castle’s decline is one horror, everything that comes after proves horrific in a different way. This book is told through the kind of elegant prose that makes this such an immersive read. You can feel both the claustrophobia and distressing new textures as the madness settles deeper and deeper among the trapped residents. It is very effective for a more psychological kind of horror.

Faith’s role in the narrative is also particularly compelling. Phosyne starts off in a place of doubt already, having performed one miracle of water sanitation and is so desperate to find another. The determination she has in herself and in her need to keep some semblance of normal throughout each new happening makes her particularly intriguing to me. Ser Voyne’s is a bit more straightforward, in so far as that she trusted her king , but now Treila appears to make her question everything. She’s already been jaded due to her backstory, and the resolution of five years of unresolved anger takes Treila on a journey through the differences between living and surviving. It’s such a balanced cast that I cannot even pick a favorite. Much like a stool, the book needs all three of these legs to stand.

This book soothed the ache of wanting to reread Lapvona without putting myself through rereading Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh.

A medieval horror done right.

This entire novel was a fever dream from cover to cover. While there were definitely fantastical elements, it never felt like fantasy. Instead, the otherworldly touches served to deepen the unsettling tone.

Starling’s talent for cultivating a haunting, sensory horror experience is nothing short of incredible. Reading this felt like a 4D experience; every sense engaged and alert. I could taste the honey, smell the MEAT, hear the screams, and feel the oppressive blackness that swallows the castle whole. Sure, horrific, ungodly things happen, but it’s the atmosphere; thick, gothic, and inescapable—where the true horror lies. Gothic vibes? Signed, sealed, and delivered.

I won’t bother with a plot summary, because this book is best approached blind. I couldn’t do it justice anyway. What you do need to know: we have three badass women, wild debauchery, and DELICIOUS gore.

The dominant theme is hunger; hunger for power, for FLESH, for more, for revenge, for sustenance.

Our three leads are fierce, complex, and unapologetically aware of their motivations. Phosyne especially captivated me. Watching their arcs unfold, relationships fray and then mend (and fray again), was a brutal, beautiful thing.

I now need to devour everything Caitlin Starling has written.
Toodaloo.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely disgusting. The most foul. Pox upon the authors name! JK JK this book was excellent, gory, disgusting, horrifyingly religious, and all the better for it in all the most delightful ways. If you want to read more weird catholic sapphics? This is the book for you.

Phosyne, Treila, and Ser Voyne are trapped within a castle under siege. It’s been six months, the rations are running low, the tensions are high, and they are about to resort to desperate measures to try and outlast the army at their door. Suddenly, salvation in the form of their religious figures suddenly appears, along with a huge feast that came from nowhere. While the rest of the castle seems to fall under a spell, the main characters see through the rouse and are determined to figure out who these Saints really are. They are faced with battles within themselves, against each other, as well as with Saints to find a way to survive.

The author does a great job at conveying the feeling of the cramped, desperate, hungry people within the walls of Aymar. The writing drew me into this fast paced fever dream and I didn’t want to wake up. I loved the strong female main characters at the center of this book and how they interact throughout the story. The theme of loyalty is a very important part of this book; the power that comes with it and who should hold that power. Each main character has a power within themselves that comes from their past struggles which help to keep their heads against the Constant Lady. I really enjoyed the transformation that each of them go through as they find their inner strength. I was captivated by the horror and suspense you are thrown into. It starts with the hunger and just keeps diving into madness the further into the book you get. The villains of the story are very interesting and I found it to be a very original horror story. There are subtle sapphic undertones including the feeding of honey and characters obediently following the orders they are given. I was drawn to Phosyne’s character, the magic that she finds and her inner fight of losing herself to that magic. I absolutely loved this book and will be buying a copy for my shelves so I can read it over and over again. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the eARC of this book!