“ℌ𝔦𝔰 𝔟𝔢𝔞𝔲𝔱𝔦𝔣𝔲𝔩 𝔣𝔞𝔠𝔢 𝔡𝔬𝔢𝔰𝔫’𝔱 𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔣𝔱, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔰𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔡𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢𝔰 𝔟𝔢𝔱𝔴𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔞 𝔡𝔦𝔣𝔣𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔢𝔡𝔤𝔢, 𝔫𝔬𝔴. ℌ𝔢, 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔱, 𝔦𝔰 𝔥𝔲𝔫𝔤𝔯𝔶, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔰 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔶𝔢𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔞 𝔰𝔥𝔯𝔦𝔨𝔢, 𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔦𝔪𝔭𝔞𝔩𝔢 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔫 𝔟𝔞𝔯𝔟𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔯𝔫𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔨𝔢𝔢𝔭 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔬 𝔥𝔦𝔪𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔣 𝔞𝔰 𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔰 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔬 𝔭𝔦𝔢𝔠𝔢𝔰. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔠𝔨𝔰 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔞𝔦𝔯 𝔦𝔰 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔬𝔩𝔡. ℌ𝔢 𝔰𝔪𝔦𝔩𝔢𝔰, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔱𝔢𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔭. “ℑ’𝔡 𝔯𝔢𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔯𝔲𝔫, 𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔱𝔩𝔢 𝔤𝔦𝔯𝔩.” 𝔄𝔫𝔡 𝔗𝔯𝔢𝔦𝔩𝔞 𝔡𝔬𝔢𝔰.”

Published: 20/05/25 (ARC)

Genre: Horror

Page count: 342

Format read: 📱

Other books read by this author: None

Castle Aymer has been under siege for six months, & its residents are fast running out of food. The novel follows the POV of three characters - Phosyne the heretic, miracle-working ex-nun; Ser Voyne the loyal knight; & Treila the traitor's daughter-cum-servant - who watch as the castle is visited by a group of what appear to be saints, though it is unclear whether they come bearing salvation, or something darker.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 is beautifully written, an exploration of idolatry & zealotry juxtaposed with visceral body horror. I loved the medieval castle setting, & the characterisation of the three heroines, their differences stark but trivial in the face of their increasingly dangerous position. The underlying sense of dread that rises throughout the novel is flawlessly done; the horrors of siege warfare exacerbated by monsters you can barely see but whose teeth are no less sharp, & saviours hiding rot & decay beneath layers of decadence & frivolity. 

Thankyou to Caitlin Starling, Avon & Harper Voyager, & NetGalley for the ARC.