Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Six Deaths of the Saint

The Six Deaths of the Saint is a fantasy genre short story about a young, malnourished, and often ill girl that is visited by the Saint of War on her (presumed) deathbed, told mostly through second person perspective narration. Using evocative prose and unique character development, The Six Deaths of the Saint examines what it is worth to be seen, and what it means to be known, and to be loved. There is also a bittersweet (and likely unintentional) thematic parallel to The Iron Giant animated film that I think this story explores very well. I am genuinely in awe that such a striking narrative was fit into less than thirty pages.

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vj_thompson's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

So much emotion was packed in the 30 pages. The writing is beautiful and lyrical. I felt like I was there standing next to the main character and her squire. The ending, wow wow wow. The ending gave me chills.

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peggy_racham's review against another edition

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5.0

"I know him, and in knowing him I love him, and in loving him I cannot do as he wishes."

Never has a shorter story made me this emotional. Also second person prespective, which I love.

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adri_13's review against another edition

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fast-paced

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

2.5

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huntress's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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pookiee's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

a well done medieval atmosphere, takes less than an hour to devour, and delivers a gut punch using one of my favorite themes:

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bookishwondergoth's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This Joan of Arc-inspired (I can only assume) short story is absolutely superb. The amount of depth, intrigue, characterisation and emotion that Alix E. Harrow packs into just 30 pages is nothing short of astounding. Beautifully written, full of quotable hard-hitting lines, I cannot recommend this enough.

I've seen a few people in their reviews say they wish this had been a full-length novel. I find that I do also wish this, but I also wonder, "Would it have hit so hard if it wasn't so short?" The answer, I think, is no. The fact this is a short story is what makes its power so astonishing.

Read it once through to experience it for the first time. Then read it again to fully understand it. It is excellent. I loved this story and will definitely be reading more of Alix E. Harrow's work in the future.

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