The Starving Saints

Oh goodness, okay this one was rather painfully interesting. rather like a rotting, gaping, wound in all the best possible ways. Creepy, culty, extremely powerful work about three toxically dependent women in a world where a goddess (?) (maybe?) has descended upon the world to give salvation(?) to a besieged castle. 5 stars. Tysm for the arc

“Aymar Castle has been under siege for six months. Food is running low and there has been no sign of rescue. But just as the survivors consider deliberately thinning their number, the castle stores are replenished. The sick are healed. And the divine figures of the Constant Lady and her Saints have arrived, despite the barricaded gates, offering succor in return for adoration.
Soon, the entire castle is under the sway of their saviors, partaking in intoxicating feasts of terrible origin.”

When I tell you this book truly has it all…
- A strange and stinky nun turned sorceress
- A lady knight that is unsure of where her loyalty should lie (she’s also really tall)
- An absolute menace of a girl that seeks revenge for the death of her father above all else
- The dynamics of messy, codependent women that want to kiss/kill each other
- The power exchanges. The YEARNING
- Cannibalism
- Religious icons as a threat
- Kneeling 😏🫡
- Bargaining with a hungry, unnamed malevolence beneath the castle
- A lot of bees

This book is a beautiful and disgusting fever dream and obsessed is an understatement. It’s impossible to guess what will happen next and I fear I will be thinking about it for a very long time. I cannot wait for this book to be out so I can get myself a physical copy. Thank you so much NetGalley the eARC!

The Starving Saints has been described as an intensely atmospheric fever dream of medieval horror, and man, did it live up to that! If you love weird girl, sapphic horror lit-fic, this will be the book for you! Think Ottessa Moshfegh’s
Lapvona, but without all of the fecal matter. It is bloody and sticky and bizarre, and for the longest time, you really aren’t sure what exactly is going on. I love a wild ride when I’m reading a book, and this definitely was one.

The narrators are an excommunicated nun (possible witch?), a Brienne of Tarth-type knight, and a girl playing the long game of revenge for her father’s death. They are all inside a castle that has been under siege for quite some time, and the food has run out. Phosyne (our nun-turned-magic woman) has managed to pull off one magical stunt, and everyone is expecting her to pull food out of thin air. After several failed attempts, it doesn’t matter because the Constant Lady and her Saints (Icons aka Heavenly beings??) show up out of nowhere with a bounty of refreshments. What could possibly go wrong? This book is a wild ride. It is very gory, has a lot of cannibalism, a lot of body horror, and a lot of creepy creatures. You will be grossed out, you will change your opinions about the main characters multiple times, and you will wonder if the ending is happy or not. This is my first book by Caitlin Starling, but I am looking forward to reading more!

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyage for this advanced copy of The Starving Saints.

this book was gory and disgusting and beautiful and religious and also distinctly sapphic about it. a novel for the Harrowhark Nonagesimuses of the world.

If you're looking for a book that's drenched in debauchery and brimming with bacchanalian madness, let me introduce you to my latest obsession.

The Starving Saints has it all:
- A lady knight (who has managed to steal my heart, thanks).
- Mind control food.
- Scary bees.
- Cannibalism as a metaphor for... cannibalism.
- Three toxic women who are, you guessed it, toxically dependent on one another.
- Delicious yearning.
- Not so delicious (and I say this positively) depictions of meat.
- A weird, cult-like religion.

When I say that this novel is an exploration of the depths of human depravity, I mean it. It's incredibly visceral--the type of story that doesn't shy away from appealing to your five senses in the worst (best) possible way--and god, the execution of it was just fantastic.

Our three leads are compelling and awful in their own compelling and awful ways, too. I always worry that there might be a character that I hate when there are multiple perspectives in a story, but Ser Voyne, Phosyne, and Treila were all PERFECT. The web spreading between them was also a delight, and I would give anything to read more about their messed up lives and histories if given the opportunity to.

Overall, this was my perfect book and I'm patiently counting down the days until next May when I can get my hands on a physical copy of it. It's easily a must-read for anyone even remotely fascinated by the medieval horror genre, or for anyone who wants to see messy sapphics try to save a starving castle from itself (and possibly each other).

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own :)

this was made for me. like, this was specifically made for ME.

what did we have? stinky and messy women,a lady knight, a poly relationship between three women?? (or god i hope so), body horror, absolute madness, medieval horror, CANNABILISM.

caitlin starling has been on my list of authors to read for awhile now and i'm so mad at myself for not diving in sooner. the writing was beautiful and it felt like reading a dark fairytale.

my only complaint is that i wanted MORE. And also, this is probably just me, but i didn't really care Treila. She was feral and I enjoyed that but besides that?? boooo.

still - i need the physical copy of this BADLY.

The description for The Starving Saints hooked me immediately, after initially being intrigued by the ominous book cover. I have been on a medieval fantasy kick lately, and was curious to try out something a little darker. The Starving Saints did not disappoint. In spite of taking place almost entirely within the confines of one besieged castle town, this story pulls you along at a sharp pace. Shifting between the points of view from Treila, Voyne, and Phosyne, we get a range of perspectives not only from each of their complicated backgrounds, but from their individual perceptions of reality, or lack thereof. I was absolutely eating up the dynamics between these three women. Revenge and loyalty, submission and command, violence and protection...those who enjoy the toxic devotion of Gideon and Harrow will not be disappointed by this book. I thought there was a good amount of detail on how the sinister magic plays out in this story without just giving it all away. Leaving some open to interpretation and mystery made it all the easier to be swept along in the madness, learning and adapting as the characters did. The Saints themselves are beautiful, shifting, creepy, and a very satisfying problem that the knight, serving girl, and disgraced nun must pitch themselves against. The imagery in Starling’s storytelling is unsettling and lush, and I particularly loved the descriptions of honeycomb and how it played a part in the plot.

It's very hard to write a review for a book like this, especially since I ended up liking it so much! The Starving Saints was gory and beautiful and constantly left you guessing what was true and what was not. All three of the main characters fully stand on their own and are fully fleshed-out characters. The way they are slowly built up and you learn more about each of them is done in such a tantalizing way, where you keep reading because you want to know more about them. The entire story feels like a fever dream and you can only watch helplessly as the entire castle falls farther and farther into madness. This story is very atmospheric and incredibly gory. I'm normally someone who doesn't care much for gore, but something about the gore in this is poetic. I just can't explain it, but no matter how bloody a scene got, I was entranced. Also, this book switches between the viewpoints of each main character wonderfully! It was so balanced, that I never got tired of reading one character's point of view. I really loved how the prose was written in this novel, and I'm eager to see what else Caitlin Starling will write down the line!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

First of all, this book is highly confusing and disturbing. I had no idea what was happening for 99% of it.
And it was genuinely fantastic.

PLOT SUMMARY:

The people of Aymar have been suffering for six months, the victims of a siege that has forced them into hiding behind the walls of Aymar Castle. Inside, the people are starving. Ser Voyne knows this and begins putting pressure on the resident madwoman, Phosyne, to produce a miracle to save them all. But when a “miracle” does arrive, it is in the form of saints: Saints that Phosyne did not call on.
As the saints begin wreaking havoc on the residents of Aymar, Phosyne and Ser Voyne form an alliance to figure out who these guests are and what they want. Meanwhile, a servant girl named Treila is desperate to escape and exact vengeance on Voyne. As the saints grow in power, all three women are forced to reckon with their pasts and the future that they may never see.
Will they succeed in stopping the saints before the people of Aymar are lost forever? Or will the Starving Saints pull them into the increasing madness that is so tempting?

PLOT REVIEW:

I have no idea what to say. Nothing in this book made sense, yet it really made me think a lot about the things people will resort to in trying times. In the end, I think this is what this story is all about.
Desire and human nature.
And it all happens in a time of deep desperation, when men and women are eating rats and human flesh to survive.
Did I mention this book is disturbing?
In any case, the premise was highly engaging. From the very beginning, I was immersed in the world of Aymar. There is no actual world-building, as we are, quite literally, trapped behind the walls of a castle in this book. Yet everything still managed to seem so vast and unending, with such vivid descriptions that I could see everything clearly in my mind.
And the plot.
The plot is something highly unique. I’ve read books with dangerous “visitors” who wreak havoc, but I have never explored a story with such deep meaning to it.
Such graphic desperation.
This book, again, was very disturbing and dark, but I also can’t deny that it was beautiful in its horror and depravity.
I loved it.

CHARACTERS:


The great thing about having three POVs is that you get three unique experiences and thoughts within the same plotline. We see Ser Voyne grappling with loyalty, Phosyne grappling with her growing power, and Treila struggling to understand what it is she truly wants: Vengeance or an escape?
It truly was fascinating to be in three different headspaces, looking at the growing danger of the saints through three sets of eyes, all with their own opinions on the situation. All of our characters were also driven by very different things: Treila only values survival, Ser Voyne loyalty and bravery, while Phosyne seems to value literally nothing and everything all at once.
As a bonus, they’re all sapphic and caught in a web of history, betrayal, and lust. They’re messed up and cruel in their own ways, with prejudices that guide their decisions on every page.
But that’s what made me love them.
Characters that are just perfect from the get-go have no way to grow or change. But we see so much change in each of these characters and I LOVED that!
Even better, Voyne is a lady knight and Phosyne is a sorceress.
We love that here.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Lady knights? Cannibals? A complicated lesbian throuple?
I’m in.

5 STARS!!! the yearning, the longing, the absolute rotting atmosphere veiled with tension and depravity. this is my perfect book

If someone were to ask me what the most ORIGINAL story I have read this year was, a million percent—The Starving Saints. There is nothing else like it.

Aymar Castle is under siege. The occupants? Starving. One by one, people fall to hunger. Sooner or later, they’ll need to start consuming the fallen if they are to survive.

Then the Saints arrive. Great, bountiful feasts for the people of Aymar to gorge themselves on. But, of course, things are not always as they seem.

Throughout this book, we get to follow 3 amazing female characters. Experience their downfalls and their triumphs as they try to save the castle and themselves.

I laughed. I cried. I wheezed. I gasped. I told people off for interrupting me whilst in the middle of a chapter. I absolutely cannot wait for this book to release in May of next year. Everyone needs to experience this twisted, magical adventure!

*I received an ARC from Netgalley in return for an honest review.*

perfect for anyone into weirdieval core (meee)!!!!
-religous in a disturbing way
-beautifully captures the brutality and grotesqueness of the time period
-weirdly and deliciously sapphic yumm!!
this book could be the love child of christopher buehlman and otessa moshfegh (my faves) and is definitely everything i’ve ever wanted in a book!! definitely recommending this for my book club! thank you so much for the earc netgalley! i loved it so much i can’t wait to add a physical copy to my collection!!!

What. a. ride. This is a queer medieval fever nightmare full of gore, magic, and heart. I loved the lush writing style and characterization of our three FMCs. In sum: very fucking metal.

Shout out Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This title is set to release May 20, 2025. i’m

Fantastic, claustrophobic, terrible, and above all, thoroughly engrossing, The Starving Saints has the noteworthy distinction of being one of the few books I've ever read that I seriously couldn't put down. I would engage in other hobbies, go about my daily routine, go to work, and through it all, I was doing it with a pull to come back to this book and find out where it's all going.

It won't be much of a spoiler to state at the outset that cannibalism, starvation, and general disturbing imagery hangs over this whole novel like a warm, weird-smelling and unappealing blanket, so if that's a deal-breaker for you, I don't know why you even clicked on this review - the synopsis/marketing should have pushed you away easily. BUT I will say that I was surprised at how... "tasteful" doesn't seem like the right word (nor do I wish to invite any further puns), but... let us say "ungratuitous" those unsavory aspects (dammit, looks like I'm doing it anyway) really are. Do not be confused: people eat people in this, and there are more than a few other upsetting instances, but in my opinion the author, Starling, never goes further than is needed to convey the horror of the scenario. It would have been easy to indulge and relish in the monstrosity of acts committed with elaborate descriptions, but Starling allows the situation and character-driven pathos speak for itself.

And this is where Starving Saints truly shines: its characters. Three distinct voices, each with their own well-established histories, desires and fears delivered piecemeal over the course of the novel as necessary that explain why they do what they do and what it is that drives them in 340 pages. The only small criticism I would have is that Ser Voyne's narrative can get a bit bogged down in melodrama that felt overwrought - yes - even in this story about a siege devolving into cannibalism. Aside from that, I found all three protagonists to be at turns relatable, unlikable, deeply sympathetic, and in a word: compelling. I kept waiting for them to get locked arm in arm and skip down the yellow-brick road to the conclusion of the story, but that's not who the characters are: they have conflicting motivations and desires and criss-crossing backstories, that makes it all the more interesting when they are forced to work together and when they fail to see how much they need each other in equal measure.

Finally, there are supernatural elements, and I have to say they are an absolutely chef's kiss. This is horror, not fantasy, and to that end, the supernatural elements of the story are just specific enough to have real weight and lend an air of understanding to how things are unfolding, while being just vague enough to invite a genuine sense of wonder and fear of the unknown. I do think that Starling perhaps over-indulges a bit near the end and threatens to take the story to a cheesy place, but it largely sticks the landing. Add to that at least one instance I can recall (I shall not spoil it here) that didn't feel properly foreshadowed or "earned" and I can't say that the implementation was uniformly perfect throughout, but the ambience it creates, the rules it establishes, and its place in the story are used incredibly skillfully to produce a truly fascinating living world.

Despite its grisly synopsis and subject matter, The Starving Saints never feels gratuitous or gross for gross's sake. Its characters steal the show, its antagonists are compelling and more nuanced than might at first be apparent, and by the end of it all you're left with a sort of chill: an almost Lovecraftian sense that the world is so much more than you can know and that not knowing is nearly as terrible as knowing. Unless you are excessively squeamish, I recommend this very highly, and even if you are squeamish, I suggest you at least pick it up and see if Starling can't win you over anyway.

Thank you to Net Galley and Harper Voyager for advanced access to this ebook. Expected date of publication is May 20, 2025.

these starving saints is unique in every single way- truly one of a kind. this book was also built for a certain niche, a niche of ethel cain lovers mixed with horror devotionists, and while that niche won’t be for everyone, I believe this is a wide appealing story.

while I was a little slow to pick this up, the story sucks you in immediately, and when the saints arrive ~25% mark, you can already feel like something sinister is going on.

this was written well, it had a good plot, good characters (the weakest one was still fairly decent too), and a truly sublime atmosphere.

this was the arc I was praying for and I’m so glad I got it. amazing book!!

“A miracle so profound may be indistinguishable from horror.“
What did I even just read!!! Going into this (at least the first few chapters), I was getting Gideon the ninth/the sixth deaths of the saint vibes. Maybe a bit of the honeys with the bee religion. However I was soooo wrong but I’m not mad about it!! This was a wild, gory ride that I couldn’t put down. Despite all the horror (so much horror) the beautiful prose really emphasized the disconnect the characters and everyone in the castle felt. I also felt weirdly hungry the whole time…the sensory details were that good. I will definitely check out more by this author!!! Massive trigger warnings for war violence, cannibalism, murder, assault, starvation so be careful but if you’re fine with those things give this one a try!!

We are extremely lucky to be spoiled for the sheer volume of nun flavored horror coming out next spring (TWO entire books, this one included). This one is especially hallucinatory, as it features a convent and town under siege, dwindling supplies, and the desperation of leaders lets in something old and hungry and eldritch. We've got lady knights, false miracleworkers, nuns, lesbians, increasingly desperate people, and the fever dream madness of what unfolds in this small town. Also, A++++ for cannibalism using illusions and delusions. Pick this up, you'll be in for a hell of a treat.

The Starving Saints was unlike anything I’ve experienced before. The story was filled with beautiful imagery, horrific scenes of malice and gore and rich with a lore that left much to the imagination. (which i quite enjoy) i found myself greatly engaged with the quick pacing and i read massive chunks of the book at a time. I talked about it non-stop to friends and coworkers and i’ve very excited to purchase a physical copy next year. one of my only critiques of the book was finding certain passages confusing and getting my characters / dialogue mixed up. at the beginning i was a bit lost with the vague and often cryptic descriptions or dialogues of some characters and the cryptic descriptions of action sequences but once i kinda got used to it i found it to be very enjoyable. all in all i absolutely loved it.

Read this if you like: medieval horror, A24 movies, Florence’s Dance Fever album.

The vibes here were off the charts bizarre in an enchanting fever dream way. There are times when you (and the characters) will wonder what’s real and what isn’t. The magic/fantasy elements provided incredible drama for the horror unfolding in Aymar.

The trio of main characters (Phosyne, Voyne, Treila) are toxic and terrible…and so engaging and enjoyable to read about. The characters are complicated, with depth and mysteries that unravel over the course of the book. I always worry that with multiple POV stories there’ll be one I dislike, but all three were excellent.

The premise of this is so unique - definitely not cookie cutter fantasy, and I’m not as familiar with the horror genre, but I think it’ll stand out there as well.

As mentioned in my read this if - this book would make a great A24 movie. Someone needs to get on that ASAP. I want to see Aymar Castle (I will close my eyes during the meat-related scenes).

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It's eat or be eaten.

It is months into the siege of Aymar Castle. The people are starving and resources are dwindling. As all seems lost, four myterious Saints appear at the castle gates with the promise of feast and abundance, but not all is as it seems.

The Starving Saints is a medieval fantasy horror story that follows three terrible women, who are extraordinarily different in so many ways, yet fit together so perfectly despite their jagged edges.

In the midst of the siege of Aymar Castle, as the people are starving and the resources are dwindling, four Saints mysteriously appear at the gates

Phosyne, a former nun turned madwoman sorceress who is tasked with the impossible, to find a way to feed the starving population of Aymar from nothing. After all, she has already conjured a miracle to cleanse the castle's water, defying all possible science.

Ser Voyne, the war hero who delivered the region of Carcabonne from Etrebian plunder, decorated evenly in atrocities and honors, all in the name of her king. Now, she serves as nothing more than King Cardamir's glorified lapdog, and most recently, Phosyne's reluctant minder.

Treila de Batrolin, a noblewoman fallen from grace after the execution of her father, holding herself together with nothing but spite, rage, and a thirst for vengeance. She holds self-preservation above all, but that craving for survival at all costs does not satisfy her.

As the Saints tempt the populace of the castle into supernatural hedonism, Phosyne, Voyne, and Treila find their fates entwined as the world they know begins to crumble around them.

I'm not typically a huge horror fan, but the premise of The Starving Saints had me in a chokehold that only grew tighter as I kept reading.

At its heart, this is a story about hunger. Hunger for food, for longing, for lust and fear and ecstasy. So, there's a lot of cannibalism. Cannibalism as a metaphor for. Cannibalism. But also as a metaphor and conduit for power, loyalty, and ownership. Hierarchy and dominion are heavy themes in this novel, and from the get go we see how each of our three protagonists is a victim to this system of authority.

Phosyne is only granted the resources she is because she is directly useful to the King. Voyne is the King's left hand man and has little autonomy and is constantly at the discretion of her liege. Treila has had her entire life ripped away from her and survives at the lowest rung of the ladder.

And letting things stay that way will spell the end for them.

So in turn, we see a lot of bargaining and sacrifices, really hammering in the notion that nothing is ever free because everything has a cost, even if we don't realize it. There is a lot of focus on the exchange of knowledge, power, and ownership and how those three things are interchangeable in ways and static in others. The Starving Saints plays around with the concept of a deal with the devil and amplifies it tenfold. What if you don't realize it's the devil? What if you only realize your mistake when it's too late? What if you're the devil?

Despite all this talk around equivalency and value, this isn't a story where every detail is fleshed out with a clear explanation and purpose. It is messy but captivating. Reading it genuinely feels like a fever dream and that isn't an exaggeration. That's not to say that the more solid parts of the world like the bee/honey centric religion and history of battles aren't fascinating, because they definitely still bring a lot to the table. But generally, the world and its rules quite literally shift as you're reading and there were parts where I had to go back and go over again and again because I genuinely could not fully conceptualize what was happening on first read.

The Starving Saints is dark, gorey, and intoxicating. While it is not a romance story, I would say that it is incredibly lesbian. Its storytelling is striking, yet fluid, with a strong core plot thread and interesting and unique characters that just made me feel, in the rawest way. This book will not be everyone's cup of tea, but I'd highly recommend it regardless, for fans of The Locked Tomb in particular.

All in all, The Starving Saints is a beautifully haunting tale of hunger, devotion, and transformation that will leave your stomach churning and mind scrambling while you can't help but crave the taste it left in your mouth.