Climbing Mount TBR: The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling
Review by Ed O.
Welcome back to Mount TBR where I, your humble Book Kaiju, try to climb to the top of my “to read” pile one book at a time. This week we’re looking at The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling. A quick shout out to the publisher, Harper Collins, who gave K&G a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
If I had a nickel for every time in 2025 that I read a feminist, religious horror novel, then I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it is weird it’s happened twice.
Let’s jump in and see what The Starving Saints is all about!
Aymar Castle is under siege! The King is holed up inside with his best knights and he refuses to surrender. Surely rescue will come soon! The King has three sons! Obviously one of them will muster an army to break the siege. It’s not like they would just abandon their dad to the enemy so they could inherit the kingdom.
Right?
Oh no…
The siege has lasted for six months so far. According to the numbers they have food to last fifteen more days. Fifteen more days before everyone starves. Fifteen more days before the lack of food does the enemy’s job for them. Fifteen more days until death comes.
The story of the horror experienced in Aymar Castle is split between three POVs. There is Phosyne, a “mad woman” (a.k.a. a witch). She’s begrudgingly tolerated by the king because she’s already figured out how to purify the tainted water. Now she must figure out a miracle to provide food. But she shouldn’t be rushed. Rush a miracle worker, and you get crummy miracles.
There is Ser Voyne, a heroic knight. Yeah, this kingdom maybe medieval inspired, but its knighthood is egalitarian. Good for them! Voyne is going through it right now. She’s a war hero, but instead of being allowed on the front line she’s relegated to serve as a symbol for the king. She’s more important as a “hero” than a soldier.
Then there’s Treila, a poor peasant girl… Who is actually the daughter of a disgraced noble executed by Ser Voyne (dun-dun-DUUUUUNNNN!!!). Her goals are simple: Kill Ser Voyne and maybe survive the siege.
These three women weave a narrative of betrayal, survival, and conflicting loyalties. This is not a found family situation or a “sisterhood” united in trying times. They all loathe each other on a visceral level. They’re also vaguely horny for each other too. It’s… complicated.
Eh, it doesn’t really matter, does it? They’re all going to starve to death anyway. All hope is lost until the Constant Lady, a god, and her Saints appear in the middle of the castle. Divine intervention has arrived! God herself has declared the people of Aymar Castle saved! Time to eat, drink, and be merry!
Except that now nearly everyone is acting as if in a trance. The saints are wanting to strike deals that are held to their letter, not their spirit. Some people are starting to lose limbs. And does this pork taste a little funny to you? Forget it, let’s party like a Donner!
So, what did I think?
Have you ever watched a horror movie, and you want to scream at the characters? “She’s pale and refuses to go outside during the day! She’s a vampire you idiot!” or “He really needs a shave, eats his meat raw, and howls at night! Get some silver and run!” We see the story the characters are in, and we know the rules, but these numbskulls think it’s a great idea to go into that abandoned house that’s built on a Native American burial ground.
But that’s the thing. We’re the watchers. We know the rules. We’ve read Dracula, we know what vampires are and we know we’re watching a vampire movie. The characters don’t know that. They haven’t done the homework.
So, when mysterious beings who love to make a deal, use glamour, and have an aversion to iron show up, I clocked immediately what was going on. Even if a certain “F” word is never uttered. But it’s clear that in this world this is something new, something that’s never been experienced before. And that means everyone, I mean everyone, does the stupidest things. At a certain point, you just gotta let the characters be ignorant and dumb for the plot, I guess.
Overall, this book felt like a fever dream. I mean that exactly as it sounds. Things don’t really make sense at times. Logic goes flying out the window. You think it’s over, but it starts up all over again. Plus, the entire time you feel kind of queasy.
Nothing is ever truly overt. There’s no brutal mutilations or torture on page here. But the hints at it, the possibility, is perhaps even more unsettling. The reader’s mind can fill in the blanks.
The characters are fascinating and well written with clear goals and character arcs. They all want something, and they work to achieve it! I know that the bar is so low a Mole Man can step over it, but I’ve been reading some real trash novelizations lately so I appreciated the change of pace.
The one gripe I have is that it barely explores religion. Phosyne is an ex-nun, kicked out of the order for magic. The Prioress of the nuns is a major side character. The monsters take the form of the gods. Yet it never really commits to a critique.
I think some of that comes from the fact that Starling decided that the religion of the Constant Lady is going to be based on bees (insert Nicholas Cage meme here). Since they idolize bees, it has led them to be focused on engineering and science, meaning that some of the easier low hanging critique fruits are null and void.
There’s a bit about how they are so regimented that they don’t allow discovery, but this comes from Phosyne who is not the most reliable of viewpoints (she is the castle “mad woman” after all). The nuns use math and science to figure out the natural world. She’s about vibing it. Both may have a place, but the text never really endorses Phosyne’s views.
And the people don’t believe the monsters because they are posing as their gods. They believe the monsters because they are on the verge of starving to death and these “gods” show up with a feast. They believe because they’re desperate.
I guess that would be my main critique of The Starving Saints. It was fascinating and well written; it just didn’t use its themes to the utmost effect. Religion is the reason for the horror, but it doesn’t say anything about religion. Feminism runs through the text, but it doesn’t really say anything about feminism.
Overall, I did enjoy reading The Starving Saints. The world, the prose, and the characters were excellent. Sure, I might have some quibbles here or there, but they do not detract from my enjoyment. Seriously, if you can only read one feminist, religious horror novel that involves beings trapped in a fortress, then pick up The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling today!
That’s another book off Mount TBR… Only 315 to go!
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