Caitlin Starling creates the most unusual and interesting settings for her stories. The first story I read from her was science fiction horror and this is maybe medieval horror? I was driving from place to place listening to this audiobook and when I went in I had to tell the first person I saw about it.
It's just so kind of shocking and horrific but suspenseful. I did guess some of the surprises but this was just a deliciously dark story about an unusual religious group.
I can't wait to see what Starling does next.

Aymar Castle is under siege and resources are thinning. Desperate for a miracle and thinking about diminishing their numbers, help arrives in the form of divine saints. The saints offer relief in return for devotion. Feasts of unknown origin satisfy Aymar’s hungry population but three women soon find themselves in a castle overran by madness and they begin to question these so called saints. With their pasts entangled with violence they must come together to save not only themselves but Aymar from the very monstrous saints they put their faith in.

This was my first novel to experience medieval horror and it was a vibe!
Starling’s atmospheric and lyrical writing was eerie and transports the reader down a fever dream spiral of cannibalism, body horror, and an extreme hunger from hedonistic ecstasy.

Parts of the novel did leave me confused but entranced by Starling’s writing and disturbingly beautiful descriptions and plot. The beginning of the novel was slow but sets the scene for the novels main antagonists. I couldn’t help but feel spellbound by Our Lady and her saints. Their mysterious and ominous presence was so addicting and truly terrifying. I have to appreciate the religious aspects of the novel and the symbolism of hunger and desperation. When faced with impossible challenges we are often turning to even more impossible solutions.

I liked how the novel was told through the different POVs of the three protagonists and the depth they each brought to the plot. The narrator was amazing! Loved the audiobook because it helped me with the pronunciation of the characters names. The writing gave such a gothic lit feel with the occasional f-bomb that made me chuckle.

Although this novel or type of horror may not be for everyone; I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be checking out more by Sterling.

I want to thank NetGalley and Harper Voyager for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A queer medieval fever dream. Ultimately this novel is about the resilience of women who have been ignored, marginalized, and reduced to their status. Their struggle for agency and power are just as vital to the story as the physical starvation and Bacchanalia influence of the saints. The list of CWs is long but includes cannibalism, graphic violence, and starvation.

I received an advanced audio copy from the publisher for review. I’m nominating this novel for LibraryReads. 5/5

This book was wild—in the best, most unsettling way. The Starving Saints is gritty, intense, and totally unrelenting. From the very first page, it feels like being thrown into a fever dream that just keeps twisting and turning, faster and darker with every chapter.

The writing is sharp and visceral. It pulls no punches and leans all the way into its raw, chaotic energy. I loved how the story teetered between horror, beauty, and madness, and somehow made all of it feel necessary. It’s the kind of book that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until the very end.

Definitely not a light read, but if you’re into bold, gritty stories that aren’t afraid to get messy and weird, The Starving Saints is a must-read. Total five stars from me.

I was utterly captivated by The Starving Saints from the very first time I heard about it, and as soon as I read the first page I was entirely entranced.

Content warnings include: starvation, death, amputation, cannibalism, assault, mutilation. Mentions of: treason, beheading.

I have read all of Caitlin Starling's other books, and they all excell in atmosphere, and The Starving Saints is no different. It's oppressive from the very beginning, both in setting and feel. It takes place in the besieged castle Aymar, food stores empty, and no sign of help arriving. Starvation is imminent, and things have gotten dire. Additionally, it's the height of summer with a sweltering heat plaguing the already starving inhabitants of the castle.
It's a stifling atmosphere, and the book makes you feel it.

The book centers around three of the women in the castle. Scattered Phosyne, the castle keeper's madwoman, tasked with creating another miracle to save everyone from starvation. Bold Ser Voyne, a battle hero frustrated by the tight leash her king keeps her on. And cunning Treila, a maid with a dark past who keeps to the shadows and who would do anything to escape the castle walls.
The three women become entangled, both by their pasts and presents.

Despite the starving, it's a delicious read. It's both a horrifying crawl and a sensual dance, of the three protagonist as well as their interactions with the Saints that miraculously arrive and offer food and pleasure, despite arriving with empty hands. Something is very wrong, and no-one seems to notice.

I loved following all three protagonists, and the tangled complexities of their respective relationships, and then later how they each deal with the Saints, all dynamics that are constantly in flux. The book is not a romance, but there are some definite sensual elements, though I found them to be more driven by dangerous obsession and a need to consume rather than by romantic feelings.

I also particularly enjoyed how all the protagonists have their respective moments of absolute power and realized agency, but also deep lows and vulnerability, which are often brutally exploited - but things are never as they seem.

Consumption, bargains, and careful wording are definitely big themes in general. As with almost all of the author's books, the big questions of how and why are answered, but very convoluted and not really straightfoward, and I always find it hard to put my fingers on the answers and put them into words. Rather than frustrating, in The Starving Saints I found this fit the atmosphere very well, and I got just enough answers to be satisfying.

Overall an absolutely stunning novel, though not for the faint of heart. It's brutal and raw, and does not pull any punched with its themes, it's gory, but not overly graphic, though I does not shy away from evil.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperAudio for this ARC Audio Copy!

Where do I even start with this book. I was so excited to read this when I saw the cover because what can that even represent and let me tell you that the cover for this book is the absolute best representation for the interior of a book that I have ever seen.

This book was a wild ride from the start to the finish. There were times I had absolutely no idea what was going on but that was completely okay with me. I am so interested in other books by this author because this was one of the most unique reading experiences that I have ever had, and if you are able to stomach it (check your trigger warnings) this is such a wonderful and weirdly enjoyable books I have read this year.

Caitlin Starling and I got off to a rocky start. I didn’t love The Death of Jane Lawrence – I appreciated the ambition, but I just couldn’t fully connect with it. (If I never hear the name Augustine again, it will be too soon.) So I went into The Starving Saints with trepidation. I saw all of the buzz (ha!) and that cover just spoke to me. Now here I am, still turning over scenes in my mind and nursing a mild obsession with this grotesque, gothic, gorgeously written horror fantasy. This will absolutely be one of my top reads of the year.

The story takes place in the besieged Aymar Castle, where the inhabitants are starving and debating whether they should begin eating the dead to survive. The question starts as a brutally grounded ethical dilemma – but it doesn’t stay grounded for long. Four “saints” arrive, seemingly offering salvation, and things get very weird, very fast. What begins as desperate survival turns into a supernatural nightmare. Cannibalism escalates from necessity to religious rite, and the castle transforms into something closer to a waking fever dream. At the heart of the chaos are three women: Ser Voyne, a knight whose loyalty has outlived her cause; Treila, a young lady posing as a servant and is fueled by a quest for revenge; and Phosyne, a former nun and miracle-worker who’s trying to keep hold of herself even as she’s being pulled toward something darker.

I listened to the audiobook and found it the perfect way to stay immersed in the atmosphere of the story – thick with rot, ritual, and dread. Emma Love’s narration was evocative and kept me engaged, and I’m genuinely grateful to her for pronouncing all the character names for me. That said, I’m already planning to go back and read the physical book because I want to make sure I didn’t miss a single detail. I (almost) never reread, so that should tell you how much this one got under my skin.

This felt like a fully realized world – medieval in feel, but just off-kilter enough to be uncanny. It reminded me of A Song of Ice and Fire, particularly in the immersive worldbuilding and grim realism, but it’s tighter in its storytelling and undeniably more feminist/sapphic in its perspective. The scenes that hit me hardest reminded me of Ramsay’s brutal unraveling of Theon into Reek – not because anything was a copy, but because of the emotional and physical brutality and the slow erosion of identity. That’s the sort of emotional texture you can expect here: hypnotic, morbidly fascinating, and deeply unsettling.

Of the three women, I connected most with Phosyne. She’s a thinker, isolated from her former religious community and pressured by the king to perform miracles. She’s kept in a tower, dismissed as mad, and quietly amassing power that she doesn’t fully understand. Her thirst for knowledge and her slow, uncomfortable drift into a lust for control hit a little too close to home for a perfectionist like me. Treila is an absolute force – smart, angry, trapped, and willing to do whatever it takes to survive. She’s probably the most bad-ass of the three, even if I didn’t emotionally connect with her right away. Voyne took the longest for me to warm up to – she’s stoic, reserved, and bound by duty – but by the end, I was rooting for her, too. Each woman offers something different, and they anchor the chaos with a surprisingly moving core.

I should also be clear: this book is intensely body-horrific. There is so. much. cannibalism. It starts with the question of eating the dead – grim, but arguably understandable – and spirals into people being bewitched into eating the flesh of the living. Some of the most disturbing moments for me weren’t even the undead feast scenes, but the sacrifices made to unseen forces – saying more might be spoiler-y. And by the end, we’re full flesh-eating frenzy, people devouring each other in chaotic frenzy. It’s grotesque and over-the-top and somehow still emotionally grounded.

I didn’t really take the book as a critique of religion, even though religion plays a major role in the narrative. It’s more about power – who holds it, how they use it, and what people are willing to give up for it. Phosyne gains power when she leaves the other nuns, but she also recognizes that Jacynde, the head of her former order, still wields a different kind of control. The saints use religion as a tool to bewitch the masses, while Phosyne channels her own miracles to purify a cistern and essentially claim her own followers. It all culminates in a kind of power standoff – not faith vs. heresy, but control vs. control.

In the end, what sticks with me most is the decadent weirdness of it all – this overwhelming, sickly lush atmosphere – a velvet rot – and the character arcs of the three women at the core. The book is beautiful and horrifying in equal measure. It’s not for the faint of heart – and certainly not for readers who shy away from gore or moral ambiguity – but if you’re up for something strange and unforgettable, The Starving Saints is well worth your time. I’m so glad I gave Caitlin Starling a second chance. What a dark little masterpiece.

What an interesting read. I never knew which ways it would twist and turn but it was a wild, captivating ride. This book does have cannibalistic horror within its pages so please be aware if you are squeamish. It’s bloody, violent, and a bit surreal but dang, I could not put it down. It feels like an eerie spiral into madness with an entire castle full of people and only about 3 individuals who are lucid enough to see beyond the “divine figures” pulling the strings.

Aymer Castle has been under siege for the past 6 months and only has a few days of food left to feed the people within. Though Phosyne has been able to miraculously turn dirty water into clean, she has been unable to figure out a way to make food from nothing. Treila seems to have once been part of the nobility, but her father was killed by Ser Voyne at the command of the king. Now Treila wants a way out of the castle at any cost but also wants justice against Voyne. Ser Voyne has been loyal to the crown and been more like a lapdog rather than a respected sword. However, when the divine beings they worship seem to mysteriously enter the keep without opening the gates, Voyne is drawn into the madness until Phosyne pulls her back out.

It was such an engaging story, though a bit brutal. I want to ensure you understand, I was absolutely fascinated by this story, but it does feel like a trainwreck that you cannot look away from. We have a medieval keep under siege and madness infecting everyone. It’s hard to figure out what is real and what is a fever dream. The fantasy and reality seem to blur, and we fight for survival with the few women who can see beyond the veil of illusion. If you are ready for a rollercoaster of cannibalism, insanity, and death, this should be added to your list.

Very repetitive narratively and in the writing. The audiobook experience was hard to keep focusing, at some point all three characters blended together and the story felt very stagnant. Felt let down as it did not feel "horrific", but might be up to my personal taste

THE STARVING SAINTS had no idea what its own plot was, or what it wanted to be. It was so all over the place that listening to this felt like serious work, and not the escapist good time that listening to audio usually is for me.

The premise of this interested me so I tried the ebook but struggled to get into it so swapped to the audio and I think the narrator did a great job bringing this weird medieval horror to life!

It’s a gory book with cannibalism and morbid themes but overall a decent read.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ALC and ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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

Caitlin Starling never disappoints! I just love all of her books. Each one so different but so good. As soon as I saw a review that said this was a medieval lesbian cannibalism horror, I was sold!

Starling is a fantastic atmospheric author and this book proved it again. I loved all of the gothic, medieval vibes that surrounded her complex and compelling characters. It did start a little slow but in the end, I joined that because I was completely sucked into the world by the time everything went crazy.

Highly recommend this and all of this authors other books!

What to expect:
- Medieval horror
- Touches of dark fantasy
- Very atmospheric
- Cannibalism
- Sapphic romance
- Bees. Honey. Bees

The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling
Genre: Gothic Horror
Subgenre(s): Secondary World Fantasy, LGBTQ+
Book Track: Will You Love Me When I'm Dead by Amira Elfeky

The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling is a sun-soaked horror masterwork dripping with blood, honey, and saliva. Conjured with prose that would undoubtedly impress the likes of Mervyn Peake or Nicola Griffith, Starling has constructed a story about three woman whose past and present lives are tangled together. Forced alliances must be made in order to survive the siege upon the castle they are sequestered within and it's not long before things get sticky. Food and clean water are in short supply and the inhabitants turn to their faith to extricate them from this nightmarish situation. Preternaturally beings arrive offering a salvation and the men, women, and children trapped within Aymar Castle quickly discover that it is eat or be eaten...

This book is sharp and sticky. It gets onto and under your skin and it's near impossible to put down once you've gotten a taste for it's sacramental offering. Caitlin Starling shapes this secondary fantasy world with a hazy, historically-adjacent, filter that feels like looking at a piece of art from the 15th Century but from the corner of ones eyes after having stared at the sun for too long. Familiar, near sacrosanct, yet something feels out of place, reskinned, and strangely askew like a mirage. It's this here that makes The Starving Saints special and unlike other tales of medieval horror. This novel feels so full and bright and loud, not just because of the bees or vore, but in the way that Starling describes her settings and atmosphere using all of the senses. In the way the fast paced narrative felt as oppressive as hunger pangs while each chapter somehow still would leave you feeling satiated. This all paired with her whip-smart and flavorful dialogue from characters you'll either hate to love or pray for their salvation. A new all-time favorite for this reader and perfect for fans of The Green Knight and Midsommar from A24. If you enjoyed Lapvona from Ottessa Moshfegh but wanted something more progressive and infinitely more queer, you'll feast on this book.

5/5 Stars
100/100 Score

Note on the audiobook: Barrie Kreinik did a wonderful job with this material. I heard her narration on Slewfoot by Brom and knew she'd do an excellent job bringing these characters and this world to life!

Thank you to both Harper Voyager for sending two of us on the podcast arcs, both physical and audio, and thank you to Net Galley for providing me with an eArc of this title.

I don’t even know what I read; did I provide a piece of myself for passage through this absurd tunnel of medieval horror??! A fever dream that I think I’m still in, a hallucination I’m still tripping out on.

Aymar Castle has been under siege for six months and food is scarce. Phosyne recently managed to create clean water magically, but how? She can’t remember and is tasked to magically create food. Ser Voyne is the king’s right hand knight who has been tasked to keep an eye on Phosyne, a major step down in her knightly duties. Treila is a servant girl who is seeking revenge on Ser Voyne, who was dear to her heart at one point in time. It’s tense. Everyone’s on edge. Food is running out. And then the Saints come. Food is miraculously restored and the occupants of Aymar Castle are merry, forgetting they were under attack. Treila, Phosyne, and Ser Voyne are able to see through the shimmery veil and into the meat of the miracle, so long as they resist their own temptations.

⚔️ medieval horror
⚔️ fever dream
⚔️ knights and nuns and “madwomen”
⚔️ gritty atmosphere
⚔️ cannibalism

I did have to pay extra attention when listening to the audiobook because I did not feel the narration was varied enough between the different POVs to truly know whose POV it was on sound alone. Honestly, it took me way longer than I care to admit to realize there were THREE POVs and not just two. I think part of that is that Ser Voyne and Phosyne have very similar sounds in their names that was tricking my brain into blending them into one character from time to time.

I really need to get my hands on a physical copy soon because a reread is a MUST. This is another one whose rating will only increase upon a reread, I’m sure of it. Even if I still have no idea what I read. But the way the book ended put so much into perspective, I think I loved it?

Thank you Harper Audio and NetGalley for an advance copy of the audiobook!

Happy release day!!!

The Starving Saints is out today & I just finished the ALC.

Eat or be eaten!
This book has so many wonderful layers to it laced with complete & total madness. This is chilling & haunting, oh & perfectly SAPPHIC. The pinky scene made my guts turn & I loved that.

The book has major …
"source?" divine intuition, gut instinct, and cryptic symbolism from my dreams, vibes !

Manic cannibal fever dream!

Also, Barrie is a delightful narrator.

Thank you Harper Audio & NetGalley for the ALC, in exchange for my honest opinion.

Far and away the best book I have read so far this year! If unhinged medieval fever dream sounds like it is for you, do not hesitate. Snatch this up, devour it, but be warned that you will only be left hungry for more.

Beyond that fact, I don't know where to go next with my review. There is too much bizarre, unhinged awesomeness to extoll. So, in no particular order, my thoughts:
- This book would be best enjoyed if you knew literally nothing about it and just experienced the unravelling of this world right alongside the characters.
- I am the only one who adored Ser Voyne? Can we start a fan club?
- Related to the above, I *cared* about the characters. Caitlin Starling is possessed of a cruel and rare talent if she managed to convince me to LIKE cannibals. But, but, but! It is unsafe to care about characters in a horror novel! She is wicked for making me do so.
- This was the antidote I needed to the deluge of romantasy that the publishing industry has been drowning us in. In fact, the interactions with the Loving Saint felt like perfect, pointed antithesis to romantasy.
- The world building was exactly enough. Not too much, not too little. I knew everything I needed to in order to suffocate inside the confines of Aymar castle.
- I loved the way the characters in the book were completely unhindered by anything resembling modern logic. In particular, Phosyne's mindset was unswervingly medieval. The author must have deeply steeped herself in writings from that period, presumably a bizarre combination of grimoires and religious texts by anchorites and female mystics, like Julian of Norwich or Marguerite Porete. If she did not, then props to her for being able to channel such antinomian/gnostic/alchemical ways of thinking. Trying to grow meat from meat using seeds? Yes, that follows undeniably medieval logic.

And yet, despite being a medieval fever dream, this book carries urgent modern relevance. It explores what holds a society together and what makes it unravel. It explores our willingness to obey, and how we may be tricked, or how we may choose to accept a lie in order to hide from reality. It shines light on the ways power is gained and held and wielded. I don't want to give away anything, but long story short, this is one that will be sticking with me for a long time.

For audiobook listeners: the audio of this one was deeply enjoyable! I did wish I had a print copy in hand at times just to see the names.

Thank you to HarperAudio and NetGalley for the advance copy!

I loved the plot with this book! however with 3 povs and 1 narrator it did get confusing at times so I think for me this book would have been better read instead of listened.
The narrator still did an amazing job!

Something about religion and horror just is my cup of tea.

Here we have a castle under siege and one lady performed a miracle to clean the water but they are desperate for her to come up with another miracle to provide food for everyone. As she is trying to conjure another miracle some visitors appear in the castle.. are they an answer to her prayers??

This has three pov and at times I just wanted to go back to the previous pov but overall I just ate this UP.
I listened to the audio so the slow burn nature of this creepy ass book worked very well.

I’m a fan.

Thanks to netgalley and Harper audio for an alc

2.5⭐️

I really enjoyed the first 27% and the gothic vibes. But otherwise this one really just missed the mark for me. I had a hard time keeping the different characters straight and figuring out what the point of the story was.

If medieval gothic horror if your vibe, give this a try, because maybe it’ll be one you enjoy!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

A creative and consuming horror story. When the zealous beliefs are turned against its loyal followers in a time of desperate need and starvation how far can false idols push those who grovel. A Castle has been under siege for so long and its people trapped inside that they have reached a very desperate level of starvation. Phosyne has been placed in a tower by the king and told to make food appear, after already using some mysterious skills to create clean water. Ser Voyne is the protector of the castle and now must be a watch guard to Phoysne instead of helping her people survive. Treila has been seeking revenge for a wrong done to her during the war and will only be happy when she can see Ser Voyne miserable. When False Idols arrive looking like saints and "solutions to all the castles problems" three women from vastly differently standings must find the truths of these "Saints" and how to not end up eaten like the others. This story was addicting and a very nice change up to the horror books you most commonly see.