The Starving Saints

USA Today Bestseller!“As brilliant as it is bizarre. From the very first page you know you are in the hands of an author at the height of their abilities. . . . This is the unhinged cannibal book of my dreams—and my nightmares.” —Ava Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning“Enthralling, weird, and brilliant. A medieval pseudo-historical horror tale that explores what happens when our prayers are answered but we’re not sure what has answered them, or what it will demand of us in return. There’s no other story like this, and I mean that in the best possible way.” —Christopher Buehlman, bestselling author of Between Two FiresFrom the nationally bestselling author of The Luminous Dead and The Death of Jane Lawrence, a transfixing fever dream of medieval horror following three women in a besieged castle that descends ravenously into madness under the spell of mysterious, godlike visitors.

“As brilliant as it is bizarre. From the very first page you know you are in the hands of an author at the height of their abilities. Truly one of the most inventive, audacious, immersive novels I’ve ever read. Grips you like the cold sweat of a fever and doesn’t let you go until the final moment of dizzying, gut-shot revelation. This is the unhinged cannibal book of my dreams—and my nightmares.”
— Ava Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning

“Holy crap on a stick, this book is messed up in the best way. The Starving Saints broke my brain. It’s cannibalism like you’ve never seen it before!”
— T. Kingfisher, bestselling author of Nettle & Bone

“Enthralling, weird, and brilliant. A medieval pseudo-historical horror tale that explores what happens when our prayers are answered but we’re not sure what has answered them, or what it will demand of us in return. There’s no other story like this, and I mean that in the best possible way.”
— Christopher Buehlman, bestselling author of Between Two Fires

“The Starving Saints is a rich, strange, deeply medieval novel that left me astonished and delighted. Starling expertly dismantles our expectations in this perfectly rendered puzzle box of a world. I would follow these women anywhere, which would probably not end well for me.”
— Kate Heartfield, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Embroidered Book  

“I wildly enjoyed Caitlin Starling’s The Starving Saints. I hope it sweeps everything, gets every award going, gives her fame throughout the nations and does everything except get a lucrative movie deal, because if there was a movie I would be obliged to see it but also barf forever.”
— Tamsyn Muir, bestselling author of the Locked Tomb Trilogy

“Claustrophobic, heady, slick, honeyed with menace and panting with the desperation of a castle under siege, The Starving Saints is a gorgeous nightmare.”
— Cassandra Khaw, bestselling author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth

“This fantastical story is transfixing on its own, but it also serves to underscore that humanity’s obsession with power may be the biggest horror of all. . . . A brilliantly constructed and thoroughly unnerving fever dream that Starling’s fans will gulp down.”  — Library Journal (starred review)

"This medieval fever dream is seasoned with sapphic romance but thoroughly marinated in cannibalistic body horror. . . . Starling cleverly balances the carnage-filled surrealism with three women who show their love in ways both passionate and deep." — Booklist (starred review)

"A masterful medievalesque fantasy . . . . Starling expertly balances the plot’s contrasting aims, offering gruesome horror and sweeping fantasy worldbuilding in equal measure. The dextrously delineated human hierarchy in the castle and the creepy saints’ bee-based faith system undergird the increasingly shocking events of the plot. The pace is fast, the twists are unexpected, and the complex queer characters—each of whom narrate in wonderfully distinct voices—are easy to root for. This is a feast." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)