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The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling Published by Harper Voyager on May 20, 2025 Genres:Horror, Fantasy, LGBT, Historical Fiction Pages: 352 Format: Hardcover Source: Purchased
Content Warnings: Death, Suicide, Blood, Sexual Content, Cannibalism, Starvation, Mind Control, Dismemberment, Disembowelment Rating:
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. The war hero Ser Voyne gives her allegiance to the Constant Lady. Phosyne, a disorganized, paranoid nun-turned-sorceress, races to unravel the mystery of these new visitors and exonerate her experiments as their source. And in the bowels of the castle, a serving girl, Treila, is torn between her thirst for a secret vengeance against Voyne and the desperate need to escape from the horrors that are unfolding within Aymar's walls. As the castle descends into bacchanalian madness—forgetting the massed army beyond its walls in favor of hedonistic ecstasy—these three women are the only ones to still see their situation for what it is. But they are not immune from the temptations of the castle's new masters… or each other; and their shifting alliances and entangled pasts bring violence to the surface. To save the castle, and themselves, will take a reimagining of who they are, and a reorganization of the very world itself.
The Starving Saints is one of the wildest, most confusing books I have ever read. Over a month later, I am still trying to process the events that took place at Aymar Castle once the Saints showed up and people started losing their minds.
We begin well into a siege that has left those within the walls of Aymar running out of food. With just a few days left before food runs out, tensions are already high as people begin to starve. Starling does an excellent job showcasing the lengths people will go to survive and the tough decisions that must be made to ensure the survival of as many people as possible. The line between right and wrong blurs as hunger closes in, and we watch as these tough decisions are made. Starling challenges us to answer the question: Is it really wrong to eat another person, given the right circumstances? What lengths would you go to justify otherwise horrendous behavior?
The matter is complicated when the Saints arrive. At first, it appears the people of Aymar have been saved, but everything quickly descends into madness as it is revealed the Saints are not there to save them at all, but instead to entertain themselves. It is unclear what exactly the Saints are. One of my book club members suggested they may be fae, as they tend to follow many of the rules fae follow, like fear of iron and making deals, but they also follow the rules of vampires (needing to be invited in), as well as those of eldritch horrors. It isn't clear what we are dealing with, which makes us all the more uneasy as readers.
This unease is compounded by the creepy atmosphere and unreliable narrators. The story follows three women, each as unreliable as the next, as they face off against each other, the Saints, and themselves. Phosyne, a witch trying to figure out her own power, Ser Voyne, who is dedicated to her King and her Saint, and Treila, who is running away from her past and future, must make difficult choices that will determine the fate of everyone in Aymar's walls. Unfortunately, they too descend into madness, making it difficult to figure out what is reality and what is not. By the end of the book, I had more questions than answers, but I know this was by design. We are meant to be confused and uncomfortable, left feeling exactly like those we are following. The creepy atmosphere Starling creates is definitely memorable.
However, it is this sheer lack of answers that resulted in me giving the book only 3.5 stars. I wanted so much more than we were given. After discussing The Starving Saints with my friends, we all agreed we would have been happier if the book had contained an epilogue. I was invested in our characters' survival and was really curious how they fared once they escaped. Were they shocked? Horrified? Confused? How did the outside world feel about the events? Was it all just a delusion formed as a coping mechanism by three starving women who were pushed to horrific means of survival?
In the end, The Starving Saints is a great portrayal of psychological horror mixed with fantasy and a touch of romance set in a time of cruel kings and valiant knights. Maybe skip the charcuterie board while you read this one. It is sure to make you lose your appetite for fresh meat.
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Content Warnings: Racism, Classism, Death, Alcohol Use, Blood, Gore, Blackmail, Torture, Child Abuse, Gun Violence, Colonialism, Misogyny, Sexual Assault, Slavery, Self-Harm, Death of a Parent, Murder, War Rating:
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire's quest for colonization. For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide . . . Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?
Babelis my first experience with R.F. Kuang, as I have yet to read The Poppy Wars, and I was not disappointed. While I may not have rated Babel as high as other reviewers, it was still high up on my list of reads this year.
"Betrayal. Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes."
Babel is an in-depth look at the harm colonialism has and is continuing to enact on society at large, set in a fantastical, alternative version of our own world where "magic" exists through the act of translation and silver bars. Despite it being set in an alternative reality, the message is no less an honest reflection of our world, where colonialism has led to the worst atrocities we have ever witnessed. Kuang ruthlessly explores the themes of colonialism, racism, and resistance, leaving very little up to interpretation.
Some readers have remarked that Kuang is "heavy-handed" in her writing, but I disagree. Just because the exploration and commentary are "obvious" doesn't mean the writing is heavy-handed. In a world where people are arguing that books are not political, I think we need more authors to be clear in their messaging.
Kuang not-so-politely holds up a mirror to the reader and modern society and asks us to confront our darkest demons. Under all the glamour and illusions, we find there is nothing but a failing system leading all of us to our inevitable doom. Robin, our main character, and his friends, who are largely non-white immigrants, are faced with the harsh realities of an oppressive system that is failing everyone except the ultra-wealthy. From capitalism and colonialism to misogyny and racism, our characters, and therefore we as readers, experience the very worst society has to offer, and things never get better.
"Only it builds up, doesn’t it? It doesn’t just disappear. And one day you start prodding at what you’ve suppressed. And it’s a mass of black rot, and it’s endless, horrifying, and you can’t look away."
It's through this exploration that we find ourselves siding with what society calls "terrorists," the individuals fighting against the system. The lengths our characters are willing to go to fight against oppression are the same lengths that so many people have gone through for centuries. This is a culmination of resistance, the desire to fight for freedom and liberation, even when death comes knocking. I was sobbing by the end of Babel, my heart aching for our characters and the world. From the language to the setting to the themes and magic system, Babelis a masterpiece.
“Power did not lie in the tip of a pen. Power did not work against its own interests. Power could only be brought to heel by acts of defiance it could not ignore. With brute, unflinching force. With violence.”
While I thought the story dragged in some parts and could have probably been about 150-200 pages shorter, I loved every minute of it. From the linguistic lessons to the footnotes, my breath was consistently taken away. I am such a sucker for footnotes, whether they are real or not; I believe they are a unique and interesting way to world-build. I loved the footnotes just as much here as I did in the Emily Wilde Trilogy. However, some parts were read like an academic textbook, with very little actually happening in the story. This was my biggest qualm with the book.
Furthermore, the magic system was profoundly unique. Translations were written on silver bars, which were then used to perform different tasks, like shielding the building or speeding up carriages. What was even more interesting was that the silver bar's function waned over time, and eventually, some word pairs no longer worked because the languages became too similar to each other. French and Spanish end up having words in common with English as societies intermingle and trade, resulting in a Frankenstein language. This was such a clever idea, and I ate it up.
I cannot recommend Babel enough, especially in light of current events, not just here in the United States, but all over the world. Alt-right ideologies and politics are on the rise, which is a threat to all of us, not just a few. I encourage you to educate yourself through diverse viewpoints and take whatever actions you can to fight against oppression.
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The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo Published by Flatiron Books on April 9, 2024 Genres:Historical Fiction, Fantasy Pages: 400 Format: Hardcover Source: Purchased
Content Warnings: Torture, Antisemitism, Death, Murder, Sexual Assault, Gore Rating:
In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family's social position. What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain's king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England's heretic queen—and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king's favor. Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the line between magic, science, and fraud is never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition's wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo is a quintessential Bardugo novel. If you have read her other works, you likely know what I am talking about. The Familiar reminded me a lot of Shadow and Bone and not necessarily in a good way. Once again we have a young woman, gifted with immense power who is "ugly" and shy and doesn't believe in herself who must go through a series of trials to prove her worth. Honestly, I am tired of this trope. In the first several chapters Bardugo makes a point of describing Luzia as plain and nothing to look at, which adds absolutely nothing to the story. At least in Shadow and Bone, Alina Starkov being "ugly" and tired-looking had a point. Luzia being plain contributed nothing to this story and in no way furthered the plot. The only important aspect of Luzia's physical appearance was her hair, therefore any other mention of physical traits was a waste of time. I don't understand Bardugo's fascination with making her female leads ugly. Is Bardugo trying to prove something to herself?
Despite my displeasure with Bardugo's description of Luzia, the book was decent. The Familiar is told from multiple points of view within the same chapter, which made for an interesting story. While this sounds like it would be confusing, the book flowed seamlessly and was easy to follow based on visual clues. Whenever the story was shifting points of view or timeframes there was a large break in the text to denote such a change. I enjoyed understanding the story from multiple perspectives, each character adding details that would otherwise be lost if we only followed Luzia alone. I loved the magic system, which is based on folklore, and how Luzia brought forth her magic through singing, even if it was sometimes only in her head. As I mentioned in my review of The Hedgewitch of Foxhall by Anna Bright, singing is something I incorporate into my own magical practice so it's nice to see this represented in books.
While I enjoyed the overall story, the pacing was terribly off. Some parts were extremely slow while others felt rushed and overlooked. For a high-stakes story, you'd think the pacing would be more consistent. One such example of this failed pacing is the love story that takes place. I don't want to give anything away, so I won't mention who falls in love with Luzia, but it felt like it came out of left field for both characters involved. There are some subtle hints that the two may have an attraction, but this relationship goes from 0 to 100 in a matter of pages which left me flabbergasted, to say the least. Others have described the relationship as a slow burn, but it is anything but. There was no burn leading up to the intimate scenes between Luzia and her lover. The spicy scenes between the two are docile, with very little description. I prefer this as I don't enjoy reading smut, so if you are into super spicy scenes, you will not find that here.
Apart from the terrible pacing, the language sometimes pulled me out of the time period. I loved that The Familiar is a fantastical historical fiction, setting the story within real historical events in Spain. Bardugo even goes so far as to include what happened to some of the real characters whose ends we do not see by the end of the story. I am an absolute sucker for Tudor history, especially history involving Elizabeth I and her defeat of the Spanish Armada. The Familiar takes place after Philip II's Armada is defeated by the English, and Philip's desire to reclaim his dignity and defeat the heretic Protestants is a driving force in this story. Bardugo, however, uses "fuck" a little too often for my taste, not that I mind vulgar language (I use the word often), but it pulled me out of the historical setting very quickly. Jarring is how I would describe it.
While I was not over-the-moon impressed with The Familiar I did quite enjoy the ending. The final chapter was my favorite, not because the story was finally over, but because I loved how Bardugo wrapped everything up with a nice bow. The characters who deserve the worst get their comeuppance while others live happily ever after. By the end, I did enjoy the love between Luzia and her partner and was satisfied with how their story panned out. It blossomed into a beautiful love, just as the flowers consistently bloomed for Luzia.
Overall, I give The Familiar a 3 out of 5 stars. It was just okay but still worth the read. Maybe check this one out in the library instead of purchasing it. Who knows, maybe you will love it more than me.
