How do I even review this lmfao.
This was such a sapphic fever dream fr & I’m glad everyone agrees w/ that ‘cause wtf ☠️

This was such a cool premise that really delivered. Did I get hungry just listening to it? Yes.
Did I also happen to be adding honey into my freakin’ tea at the same time? Yes. Take me, Saints lmfao.
You literally can’t predict anything in this.

A book full of saints and bargains— The twists were amazing, the whole idealism that we view saints as “holy” beings. The cannibalism. The— I can’t even explain half the stuff that went on. So insane, but in the best way possible and I would love to relive it again ‘cause I don’t think I ever read anything like that? Such unique premise!!
Barrie Kreinik did an amazing job narrating!!
Again… Such a gory read w/ so much dark, gothic atmosphere 🫶🏽 Loved this!!

once again i have found a book that makes me feel as frenzied as a raccoon in a city dumpster. i loved this and thought it was fascinating. i do not agree that the story or writing or what have you was too thin and not as well rounded as a novel should be. this book is like playing monkeyball in bowser’s castle. there is a clear direction, a path through but boy howdy, you will be surrounded by nothing but bloody, bloody chaos.

for fans of muir’s the locked tomb series or han kang’s the vegetarian. at least, that’s what i felt phantom tendrils of the most while reading, and i loved every moment of it.

This one is definitely not for the faint of heart, but if you like your horror unsettling, your heroines complicated, and your feasts grotesque in the worst best way, this will absolutely get under your skin.

Set in a besieged medieval castle slowly unraveling into madness, The Starving Saints is a fever drenched descent that balances hedonism and horror with eerie, mesmerizing precision. The plot takes its time at first, and while the pacing isn’t always smooth with definite start stops and moments where the narrative meanders a bit, it eventually finds its rhythm. And once it does, it charges straight into the abyss.

What I appreciated most was the way Caitlin Starling centers the story around three women, all distinctly drawn, deeply flawed, and wildly human. Their shifting motives, vulnerabilities, and connections create a tangled web of suspicion and survival. No one here is easily likable and that’s kind of the point. There’s something deliciously feral in watching these characters navigate devotion, vengeance, desire, and dread all within the crumbling, grotesquely blessed walls of Aymar Castle.

Yes, there’s gore. And yes, some of it is truly horrific. If you’re squeamish, this probably isn’t for you. But if you’re into haunting religious overtones, cannibalistic dread, and a touch of the unholy in your high concept horror, then you’re in for a twisted treat.

Special shout out to the narrative voice, which somehow manages to echo the eerie formality of a Victorian psychodrama while still feeling fresh and urgent. It adds this looming sense of dread and detachment that works so well with the story’s overall descent into madness.

Was it perfect? No. But was I completely transfixed? Oh, absolutely.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio for the ARC.

I thought this was a really interesting read! I really enjoyed the idea of it and the characters. Though it was an immensely strange book. Would read another book by this author

The Starving Saints is a dark story about a castle under siege and the struggles to survive under dire circumstances. As the supplies run out, the Constant Lady and her divine companions arrive, offering aid for devotion.the castle quickly breaks down into a cannibalistic, hedonistic nightmare.
The history and relationships between the main characters keep the story from getting too bogged down in gore.

After months of being under siege, the occupants of Aymar Castle are starving. Phosyne, a former nun dabbling in unknown forces, has been tasked with creating a miracle to feed the people, and the heroic knight Ser Voyne has been ordered to watch over her. Phosyne’s experiments are mostly unsuccessful when the sudden appearance of the Constant Lady and her Saints at the gates signal salvation. The Lady and her Saints provide food, but at a terrible price. Ser Voyne and Phosyne, aided by the serving girl Treila, will have to make sacrifices to save the castle from the siege within. With engrossing and emotional narration, this read is atmospheric with well-developed characters and will appeal to horror fans.

“wow” is honestly not enough. maybe if i put it in all caps. WOW. this book has everything. a hot lady knight. nuns. saints that may or may not be real saints. cannibalism. choking kink. worship metaphors. women kissing women. bees. if you are a sexy knight enjoyer, a locked tomb fan, a horror enthusiast, a cannibalism apologist, a repressed former catholic, or simply someone whose ears perk up at the words “sapphic medieval bacchanalian horror”, BOY DO I HAVE A BOOK FOR YOU!

this is one of my most anticipated books of 2025, and i am thrilled to say it did not disappoint. i read & adored her debut (the luminous dead), and i’m incredibly impressed by the range she’s shown just between these two books alone! her writing is so visceral and vivid — so much so that certain scenes were hard to read when i picked up my book on my lunch break. it unsettled me, it chilled me, it horrified me — but god, it gripped me. whenever i wasn’t reading it, i was thinking about it. before i even finished, i was thinking about how i wanted to read it again.

don’t even get me started on how much i adore phosyne, treila, and ser voyne, individually or in any combination. but especially SER VOYNE!!! i have a weakness for lady knights, and she is no exception. i am so glad to get the opportunity to fall in love and horror all over again via audio this time! the narrator is absolutely fantastic, lovely voice.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced audiobook copy. I found the narrator to have a very soothing voice and atmospheric accent that helped build the medieval world The Starving Saints takes place in. While I was not scared out of my seat, I felt a strong sense of dread and unease surrounding the plot. Starling describes the castle, the outer walls, the deep underground caverns in a way that left me worried for all the characters involved! The magic system was interesting- a kind of wild versus regimented struggle going on. Being new to fantasy, I was captivated by many of the character and plot choices. However, I wonder if seasoned fantasy readers will have the same impact- describing this book to my brother, whose an avid Dungeons and Dragons DM, he guessed many of the major plot points as I kept him updated on the storyline. But overall, I had so much fun in this world, and really hope to see more from these characters.

It's a slow start, but I really like this. The cover art is just beautiful, and the narrator did an excellent job. I will be looking for them in future listens.

Aymar Castle has been under seige for six months, and food stores are running dangerously low. Former nun and local reaident madwoman Phosyne has been tasked by the king with creating food from nothing after a miraculous discovery that purified putrid water. Just when things get their most desperate, salvation comes in the form of the Constant Lady and her companion saints. They come, bringing a feast for the starving residents.

Phosyne works against the clock to get to the bottom of this miracle, as it doesn’t seem right. Knight Ser Voyne, assigned to Phosyne, has pledged herself to the Constant Lady. Trelia, a serving girl with a vendetta against the knight now just wants to escape the castle alive. But everything has a price. The book follows the three women as the situation devolves into madness, and they try to save those left from whatever is coming.

I devoured this weird ass book. Weird fiction is my favorite, and Starling always delivers on the weird. The women are flawed, each in their own ways, but they’ll have to pull together and build a partnership to save the people from these “saints.” I appreciated Phosyne’s madwoman status, Ser Voyne’s fall from grace and redemption arc, and Trelia’s fierce independence and what happens when she has to depend on others.

I typically try not to give feedback and reviews on a book I did not finish, however, in this case I made it to 87%. I honestly believe I was the target audience for the book, which made it that much more disappointing that it so completely missed the mark. The one positive I can say about this book is that the environment was very atmospheric. Beyond that we were plopped into this world not knowing much, it honestly kind of felt like when you read the third book in a series and didn't realize until you were several chapters in. I love queer horror and the reason I kept reading far after I probably should have was because this absolutely had potential. Unfortunately, I didn't care about the characters or the plot. I kept trying to get interested and failing. It seemed like nothing was going to pan out and I still felt the same exact detached nothing-ness for our three main characters by the time I set this one down. This is the second book by this author that I have DNF'd and I can't say I will be picking up anything else by her.

If there's anything this book does exceptionally well, it's set the damn scene. Starling is incredibly talented at creating, in turns, a tense, suspenseful atmosphere, and an intensely intimate one. The main characters feel gritty and believable, carving (sometimes literally) their way to autonomy and reclamation of power. I could definitely appreciate the gruesome and darker elements, (I do feel like if you liked another Sapphic Cannibal 2025 release "The Lamb", you'll appreciate these sapphic cannibals as well, even if the vibe isn't as contemporary lol). Unfortunately, for me, the exceptional atmosphere didn't lend clarity to some of the final events, pacing, and plot happenings, but I still think it's worth the read!

i'm going to be so honest, i unfortunately could not get through this one. the first few chapters are crucial for me, and they were just too slow paced. thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the audiobook arc!

First off this cover is just to die for, it's so pretty. But unfortunately, I don't think that I'm the audience for this type of story. As the story went on, the more it felt like a wild fever dream, it's a book that require your full attention because of how abstract and intense it is. Sometimes it's hard to tell if something was actually happening to/around the characters or it was just a mind game making you think that they are. I do think what the book was exploring was fascinating though despite not clicking with it fully.

I still don't know if I know what happened. What happened was a fever dream and I was scared and confused but I enjoyed it. It's so atmospheric and eerie, you felt as trapped as the main cast. What a wild ride.
The narrator was incredible, I had to stop and check a couple times to confirm if it was dual narrators.

I think that I'm not the right audience for this book, and possibly for Starling's works as a whole.
This is (unless I'm forgetting something) the 4th book I think I've read from her.

Or I guess attempted to, since this is gonna end up being a DNF.
Granted I did listen for the full play time, I just listened to the first third 3x over. Because every time I was like... I swear I'm missing something. I swear there's more to this I'm just not getting. Let me try again.

Starling has really excellent ideas, and just enough writing ability that it doesn't set off any alarm bells or annoy me or even really become something I can put my finger on for why I'm not clicking. But I think there's ultimately just not enough substance. Lots of words, but at the end of it I have no clearer picture on the atmosphere or the plot or the characters or anything really.

Just not a good fit between reader and author, I think. The premises keep drawing me back in, but I think I need to learn to let go of my 5 star Caitlin Starling pipedream.

I love the author and the narrator but this audiobook just was not for me. I was just too disturbed and maybe not a place where I can do dark fantasy type books. It was definitely a me issue.

This book was such a fever dream. Did I like it? I think so. Was I super confused the whole time? Absolutely.

Don’t ask me what this is about cause I have no idea 😂

Definitely lots of moments that made me shudder, scratch my head, and question my own sanity. Do with all of that what you will.

Captivating and imaginative tale of magical forces taking advantage of a town surrounded by seige told from the point of view of three women relying on their strengths to survive the horrors upon them

This book was a wild fever dream…and I genuinely don’t know how to feel??? At times I sort of loved it… but I also spent 90% of it feeling completely lost and disoriented in the narrative. It’s abstract, intense, and demands a lot from the reader (or listener), and while that can be thrilling, it also left me struggling to stay grounded in the plot.

That said, I really appreciated the sharp parallels to modern religion and the way it explores themes of conformity, expectation, and longing. As an allegory, it’s fascinating. The audiobook was strong in terms of performance, but I found it difficult to tell the characters apart, which added to my overall confusion.

A bold, surreal experience, but one I’m still mentally unpacking.