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A review by annettebooksofhopeanddreams
The Lives of Saints by Leigh Bardugo
4.0
It's been a while since I visited the Grisha world created by Bardugo. It was also a world I had to warm up to. However, the moment this book was announced I knew I just had to have it. I loved the other collection of short stories and considering the amount of Saints Bardugo has talked about in her books I was quite curious to discover their tales. And tonight I had some spare time and I didn't want to read an e-book, so this was the perfect choice!
What I really loved about this book is that the stories of the Saints are really told like stories of Saints are told in the big religions I'm familiar with. All of the stories are therefore quite short, between two and five pages, but it really gives an authentic feel to the concept. I can even imagine that if you'd bury this book in some time capsule and people would find it in who knows how many years, they might conclude these Saints were really Saints we worshipped.
And just like the traditional stories of Saints, most of these Saints have quite tragic endings. I guess it's one of those things making someone a Saint. You have to be willing to give your life for people who are unthankfully taking it. It therefore doesn't make this book light and it's for sure not the kind of book that makes you smile. (Although, maybe the two last ones did make me smile, but mostly because of how they tie in with the stories we're so familiar with!)
Last but not least, there are the wonderful drawings in the book! Every story starts with wonderful artwork! Even if you may never read the stories, you just want to have this book for the beautiful art inside of it. The atmosphere in each drawing is amazing and I loved how they already gave an impression of what was waiting for us in the story. I'm sure that at times I will just go through the book again to stare at the pictures and to re-read a few favorites.
What I really loved about this book is that the stories of the Saints are really told like stories of Saints are told in the big religions I'm familiar with. All of the stories are therefore quite short, between two and five pages, but it really gives an authentic feel to the concept. I can even imagine that if you'd bury this book in some time capsule and people would find it in who knows how many years, they might conclude these Saints were really Saints we worshipped.
And just like the traditional stories of Saints, most of these Saints have quite tragic endings. I guess it's one of those things making someone a Saint. You have to be willing to give your life for people who are unthankfully taking it. It therefore doesn't make this book light and it's for sure not the kind of book that makes you smile. (Although, maybe the two last ones did make me smile, but mostly because of how they tie in with the stories we're so familiar with!)
Last but not least, there are the wonderful drawings in the book! Every story starts with wonderful artwork! Even if you may never read the stories, you just want to have this book for the beautiful art inside of it. The atmosphere in each drawing is amazing and I loved how they already gave an impression of what was waiting for us in the story. I'm sure that at times I will just go through the book again to stare at the pictures and to re-read a few favorites.