Reviews

The Lives of Saints by Leigh Bardugo

lola218_'s review against another edition

dark hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jess_mango's review against another edition

4.0

The Lives of Saints is a collection of short stories by popular author Leigh Bardugo. Each of the stories in this collection are very short and tell the story of a different saint. Most of them are about the origin of a saint but a few of the stories tell of how a saint helped someone who prayed to them. These had a magical quality to them, with a definite fairy tale feel. Each story was a small capsule that immediately captivated.

I read my first Leigh Bardugo book last month and quite enjoyed it. It was[b:Ninth House|43263680|Ninth House (Alex Stern, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553102141l/43263680._SY75_.jpg|53348200] so wasn't even part of the Grishaverse. I am sharing this info for anyone wondering if you can read The Lives of Saints without reading the other Grishaverse books first, and the answer is unequivocally YES.

I listened to the audiobook and it was narrated by multiple narrators (one per story). I quite enjoyed it and it was a fairly quick read at just under an hour and a half. It's a great pick if you are scurrying about doing housework, shopping or even commuting to work.

Thank you to Harper Collins Audio for the audiobook in exchange for a review!

ineslts's review against another edition

4.0

It was a story of stories, pieces of a world I came to love... While reading this I realized that I could be in a palace library, in an underground hideout, on a ship in the high seas, a small village in the North or even, my personal favorite, on a rooftop of a gang riddled town...
That last story though, that hit different in the best way possible and I wasn't expecting it or counting on it, but it felt even more magic due to that.

n011ya's review against another edition

3.0

pretty good book, as someone who grew up reading bible stories it does give you that same energy of the stories being weird and messed up. Some stories left much to be desired however.

johannatiefenbacher's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

5.0

christineponkey's review against another edition

3.0

Very gorgeous illustrations

thedigsy's review against another edition

informative mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

sofia_santana's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A

3.0

dembury's review against another edition

4.0

As someone who has studied and written about MANY a hagiography, I thought this was a beautiful little collection. The illustrations are almost all stunning, rich and full of iconography, and accentuate the stories very well done. The hagiographies themselves are all predictable to an extent, but Bardugo does a solid job at building up the mythology of the Grishaverse and giving the reader a better idea of each of the individual cultures, values, and religions found in that world. Sometimes I feel like books like this are just a cashgrab tacked on to a popular book, but not this one; I think "The Lives of Saints" was a great choice to make for an "extra" non-novel book addition to the Grishaverse. My biggest critique is that there was certainly room to make these stories REALLY pop- saints lives stories are often a bit wild, which makes them a delight to read (like Saint Mary of Egypt). Bardugo's felt a bit more like fables rather than saints lives at times. All in all though, a solid read for any hardcore Grisha-fan, or anyone who enjoys fictional religious tales.

leonielovesbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0