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lvndrletters 's review for:
The Starving Saints
by Caitlin Starling
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
genuinely, where do i start?
this book starts off with introducing the characters, of course, and i remember my first thought being that they couldn't have been more different. one was a former nun, one was a king's guard/knight, and the other was a servant. i didn't know how they were going to come together to fight starvation at this castle, much less face the issue of cannibalism, yet their journey from the beginning of the book to the end was incredible. for one, i love, and i mean LOVE the author's writing style. it was easy enough to understand for the casual reader with a few "big" words thrown in, yet it definitely doesn't read like a modern book (for me at least) and that's something that got me hooked on it immediately.
the start was slow, of course, yet by the time the "main antagonist" was introduced, i was literally at the edge of my seat wondering how, why, and what the hell was going on. in my mind, i already had an assumption on how things were going to go, on how the book would probably reach a turning point, yet i was proven very wrong. the plot twist was something i definitely didn't predict! i will say, this book did take me a while to read (11 days, some days i only read a chapter a day) and it did drag on in some parts, yet in hindsight, it was absolutely necessary for it to be written in this way.
i immediately fell in love with two of the characters, with a wary and more neutral like for the third. this didn't hinder my intrest in this book, thankfully. the third character wasn't unbearable, and her motives were incredibly interesting. this book touched on many interesting topics (especially around cannibalism) and the main antagonist was genuinely frightening. i remember feeling hopeless towards the last half of the book. to have such a strong, intimidating antagonist, written in the way that they were - it definitely added to the intrigue of the story.
i also loved that despite this book being sapphic, i forgot about that little bit for a good portion of the story until a later chapter played on that theme. i loved how that scene was written, how tense it was, how GAY it was. this book really played on desperation, primal hunger, and a ton of little themes here and there that made this book perfect to me. i now realize the implications of the HEAVY themes of honey in the story: honey usually symbolizes pleasure, truth, and knowledge. yet considering this book also has religious themes, it also refers to holy text. with the way things happened ... yeah. it definitely makes sense.
this is definitely a book that'll stay in my mind for a long while. this book has even solidified my love for the horror genre, and now i wish that the next horror books i read will be the same vibes as this (wishful thinking). i think i would recommend this book to someone else. it was something new, i felt like i was in a fever dream the entire time, and i genuinely loved it.
now to spoilers:
i genuinely thought that voyne and treila were going to fall in love or something - like toxic yuri style. yet the moment phosyne and voyne's relationship of sorts was solidified, i immediately knew they were going to do something with that (especially with phosyne's masochist kinks). i didn't know what they were going to do, but GOD. that relationship being the only thing to snap voyne and later phosyne from their bewitchments was so, so beautiful. reminding each other that they hated each other, phosyne needing to stay in the castle ...
this particular quote killed me: "give yourself back into my care, phosyne, and i will bear the weight for you." just that reminder of voyne wanting to protect phosyne, to care for her despite that command from the king already void due to his death? the entire fight between treila and voyne hit hard as well. i was genuinely pissed off when voyne ended up dying for a moment, as i had grown to really love her character. treila's heartbreak was horrible though. her imagining herself killing voyne, yet when she managed to do it, she immediately regretted it. then when she was brought abck to life and they spoke, the truth spilling out about treila's father .. i don't know, it was almost heartwarming once they made amends of sorts.
the scene where phosyne sheds her name, recalls her nun name in order to overpower the false lady was so, so beautifully written as well. reminding herself of her past lifes, accepting them as part of herself, it was just beautifully written considering how she always felt like a burden. the vision that she has, becoming the false lady, was her future and she ultimately decided against it. i think if she didn't have treila and voyne with her, she definitely would've allowed herself to fall into that hunger (or gluttony).
i think one thing i'm still confused about is the thing that treila has in herself, the core? i'm not too sure on what that's supposed to represent. was it her potential, considering she was born into a good family and had all the markings of being successful, only to be ruined after her father was killed for treason? i guess that's how i'll interpret that in the meantime.
leodegardis definitely deserved way better, though his sacrifices were so needed to keep the story going. i literally pointed at the screen when phosyne rememebered kindness, which she promised to leodegardis. he was literally at death's door and she kept it. just another little tidbit i like to now think about.
jacynde was barely in the book, yet her last sacrifice was so poetic. she literally called out the false saints day one of them arriving and despite being cast away from phosyne's care, she still took it upon herself to make sure that everyone in aymar would live, or that the survivors would win. the bees taking the shape of jacynde, working together to display that message of sacrifice to the trio just hit so different when you know how bees interact and communicate with one another. the bees literally just working overtime and vibing whilst still being jacynde's domain is funny to me.
the very last thing, though, is ornuo and pneio. i love these little beasts so much, even if they barely appeared in the story. i quite literally voiced out loud "let's goo!!" when they dove into the cistern to literally cook the false lady alive. they didn't want to touch the water intitially, yet since they trusted phosyne so much ... i like to think that they're alive (they're definitely not) and have escaped the castle as well. i initially thought they were caught at the first feast and were fed to the people, and i would've dnfed right there. gladly, that wasn't the case, and they were given a worthy sacrifice. rip ornuo and pneio.
this book starts off with introducing the characters, of course, and i remember my first thought being that they couldn't have been more different. one was a former nun, one was a king's guard/knight, and the other was a servant. i didn't know how they were going to come together to fight starvation at this castle, much less face the issue of cannibalism, yet their journey from the beginning of the book to the end was incredible. for one, i love, and i mean LOVE the author's writing style. it was easy enough to understand for the casual reader with a few "big" words thrown in, yet it definitely doesn't read like a modern book (for me at least) and that's something that got me hooked on it immediately.
the start was slow, of course, yet by the time the "main antagonist" was introduced, i was literally at the edge of my seat wondering how, why, and what the hell was going on. in my mind, i already had an assumption on how things were going to go, on how the book would probably reach a turning point, yet i was proven very wrong. the plot twist was something i definitely didn't predict! i will say, this book did take me a while to read (11 days, some days i only read a chapter a day) and it did drag on in some parts, yet in hindsight, it was absolutely necessary for it to be written in this way.
i immediately fell in love with two of the characters, with a wary and more neutral like for the third. this didn't hinder my intrest in this book, thankfully. the third character wasn't unbearable, and her motives were incredibly interesting. this book touched on many interesting topics (especially around cannibalism) and the main antagonist was genuinely frightening. i remember feeling hopeless towards the last half of the book. to have such a strong, intimidating antagonist, written in the way that they were - it definitely added to the intrigue of the story.
i also loved that despite this book being sapphic, i forgot about that little bit for a good portion of the story until a later chapter played on that theme. i loved how that scene was written, how tense it was, how GAY it was. this book really played on desperation, primal hunger, and a ton of little themes here and there that made this book perfect to me. i now realize the implications of the HEAVY themes of honey in the story: honey usually symbolizes pleasure, truth, and knowledge. yet considering this book also has religious themes, it also refers to holy text. with the way things happened ... yeah. it definitely makes sense.
this is definitely a book that'll stay in my mind for a long while. this book has even solidified my love for the horror genre, and now i wish that the next horror books i read will be the same vibes as this (wishful thinking). i think i would recommend this book to someone else. it was something new, i felt like i was in a fever dream the entire time, and i genuinely loved it.
now to spoilers:
this particular quote killed me: "give yourself back into my care, phosyne, and i will bear the weight for you." just that reminder of voyne wanting to protect phosyne, to care for her despite that command from the king already void due to his death? the entire fight between treila and voyne hit hard as well. i was genuinely pissed off when voyne ended up dying for a moment, as i had grown to really love her character. treila's heartbreak was horrible though. her imagining herself killing voyne, yet when she managed to do it, she immediately regretted it. then when she was brought abck to life and they spoke, the truth spilling out about treila's father .. i don't know, it was almost heartwarming once they made amends of sorts.
the scene where phosyne sheds her name, recalls her nun name in order to overpower the false lady was so, so beautifully written as well. reminding herself of her past lifes, accepting them as part of herself, it was just beautifully written considering how she always felt like a burden. the vision that she has, becoming the false lady, was her future and she ultimately decided against it. i think if she didn't have treila and voyne with her, she definitely would've allowed herself to fall into that hunger (or gluttony).
i think one thing i'm still confused about is the thing that treila has in herself, the core? i'm not too sure on what that's supposed to represent. was it her potential, considering she was born into a good family and had all the markings of being successful, only to be ruined after her father was killed for treason? i guess that's how i'll interpret that in the meantime.
leodegardis definitely deserved way better, though his sacrifices were so needed to keep the story going. i literally pointed at the screen when phosyne rememebered kindness, which she promised to leodegardis. he was literally at death's door and she kept it. just another little tidbit i like to now think about.
jacynde was barely in the book, yet her last sacrifice was so poetic. she literally called out the false saints day one of them arriving and despite being cast away from phosyne's care, she still took it upon herself to make sure that everyone in aymar would live, or that the survivors would win. the bees taking the shape of jacynde, working together to display that message of sacrifice to the trio just hit so different when you know how bees interact and communicate with one another. the bees literally just working overtime and vibing whilst still being jacynde's domain is funny to me.
the very last thing, though, is ornuo and pneio. i love these little beasts so much, even if they barely appeared in the story. i quite literally voiced out loud "let's goo!!" when they dove into the cistern to literally cook the false lady alive. they didn't want to touch the water intitially, yet since they trusted phosyne so much ... i like to think that they're alive (they're definitely not) and have escaped the castle as well. i initially thought they were caught at the first feast and were fed to the people, and i would've dnfed right there. gladly, that wasn't the case, and they were given a worthy sacrifice. rip ornuo and pneio.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Cannibalism
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Murder, War
Minor: Confinement, Sexual content