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bluerskies's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Mental illness, Body horror, and Confinement
Moderate: Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Blood
Minor: Xenophobia
reclusivebookslug's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Probably my favorite book in the trilogy. Love the big women appreciation. We get the conclusion of the leftover mystery from the first book. Gets into some cool horror stuff.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Body horror, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury
maryellen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
My God, but I love this series so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Blood, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Murder, Sexual content, Animal death, Body horror, Grief, Death, and Kidnapping
astropova's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Grief, Kidnapping, and Murder
Minor: Sexual content
elle_e_d_light's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I may have liked the first book just a bit more, but I still really loved this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Vomit
natcat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
He's a guilt-stricken paladin with a dead God and a hole in his soul, she's a nun WHO CAN TURN INTO A BEAR on a quest to find her kidnapped sisters, together they fight injustice and PINE for approximately 95% of this book (this is mostly the paladin's fault, he will not get with the program). Honestly this book was a delight; I loved getting to see more of this world, I really liked Istvhan and Ursa, and while I was going "JUST KISS" at Istvhan for a good chunk of this book, all the resolutions were very satisfying to me. I partocularly liked how creepy and gruesome the ceramic man plot is, and how satisfying the end of Ursa's quest is. And also, shallowly, Ursa is tall and strong and CAN TURN INTO A BEAR , this is very attractive to me, okay?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Murder
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Clara is on the trail of her abducted sisters, and Istvhan is tracking a very strange pattern of headless corpses. They meet abruptly when Clara helps Istvhan navigate a cross-cultural social situation with the potential to go very badly for everyone involved. It turns out they need to go in roughly the same direction, and Clara joins Istvhan's traveling party while she tries to get word of her sisters. Most of the story revolves around the various obstacles in their journey, and the growing rapport between the two of them. The interactions are complicated at times as they're not sure how interested the other person is or how far they can be trusted. Clara, especially, has a lot of reason not to trust anyone with her secrets as they're not hers alone.
Istvhan was a secondary character in PALADIN'S GRACE, and his mission is related to the murderous and undead-adjacent "smooth men" Stephen encountered briefly there. This serves to wrap up that storyline, possibly completely, but it remains to be seen whether there will be further related incidents in later books. I enjoyed the brief anecdote from Istvhan as to more developments in Stephen and Grace's relationship. There's a new storyline related to Clara and her kidnapped sisters of St. Ursa, as well as the romance between Istvhan and Clara. This isn't the last book in the series, but because it appears that each book with have a different protagonist, it's pretty wide open as to what might be open enough to be picked up later. The one thing I can say for certain is there are five more paladins of the Saint of Steel who can be protagonists, and that the White Rat will continue to be relevant. Beyond that, these books are gradually filling in a whole world, and it's open enough that it doesn't feel like anything in particular was left for later, other than the march of time and that people will continue to need help that can be given by broken paladins of a dead god with their shiny swords.
Istvhan feels like he did in the first book, albeit having been filtered through Grace and Stephen's perceptions of him. Clara is an entirely new protagonist. Istvhan and Clara both have secrets they're keeping, and good reasons to be concerned that the other person might not want to stick around once they know. The romance is a slow burn, as even after they start to be physically intimate they don't know if the other person will stay interested once they know more of what's going on.
This would make sense to someone who started here without reading any other books in the world of the White Rat, let alone in The Saint of Steel series particularly, but the loose collection of the White Rat are building a world with each new story, and a few side details will be more impactful for someone who has already read PALADIN'S GRACE, in particular. Sometimes these little details double as updates about characters met elsewhere, other times they just contribute to the reader's growing knowledge of their shared setting. However, the main story and most of the side threads will be understandable and have much of their poignancy for someone who picks this up without knowledge of the other books.
I love the gladiator sequence towards the end. It's a tangle of plans, interruptions, and hoping things go well long enough for them to pull off something just shy of a miracle under terrible conditions.
Istvhan was a secondary character in PALADIN'S GRACE, and his mission is related to the murderous and undead-adjacent "smooth men" Stephen encountered briefly there. This serves to wrap up that storyline, possibly completely, but it remains to be seen whether there will be further related incidents in later books. I enjoyed the brief anecdote from Istvhan as to more developments in Stephen and Grace's relationship. There's a new storyline related to Clara and her kidnapped sisters of St. Ursa, as well as the romance between Istvhan and Clara. This isn't the last book in the series, but because it appears that each book with have a different protagonist, it's pretty wide open as to what might be open enough to be picked up later. The one thing I can say for certain is there are five more paladins of the Saint of Steel who can be protagonists, and that the White Rat will continue to be relevant. Beyond that, these books are gradually filling in a whole world, and it's open enough that it doesn't feel like anything in particular was left for later, other than the march of time and that people will continue to need help that can be given by broken paladins of a dead god with their shiny swords.
Istvhan feels like he did in the first book, albeit having been filtered through Grace and Stephen's perceptions of him. Clara is an entirely new protagonist. Istvhan and Clara both have secrets they're keeping, and good reasons to be concerned that the other person might not want to stick around once they know. The romance is a slow burn, as even after they start to be physically intimate they don't know if the other person will stay interested once they know more of what's going on.
This would make sense to someone who started here without reading any other books in the world of the White Rat, let alone in The Saint of Steel series particularly, but the loose collection of the White Rat are building a world with each new story, and a few side details will be more impactful for someone who has already read PALADIN'S GRACE, in particular. Sometimes these little details double as updates about characters met elsewhere, other times they just contribute to the reader's growing knowledge of their shared setting. However, the main story and most of the side threads will be understandable and have much of their poignancy for someone who picks this up without knowledge of the other books.
I love the gladiator sequence towards the end. It's a tangle of plans, interruptions, and hoping things go well long enough for them to pull off something just shy of a miracle under terrible conditions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Murder, Gore, Body horror, Suicide, Sexual content, Grief, Blood, Death, Confinement, and Child death
Moderate: Mental illness, Torture, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Minor: Medical content, Cannibalism, Vomit, Genocide, Pregnancy, and Slavery
wilybooklover's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
4.5
I think I have a bit of a crush on Clara after reading this book. She’s such a badass!
T. Kingfisher has a real knack for describing desirable characters that don’t fall into the usual ‘gorgeous and chiselled’ romance character archetypes. Not just the women, but the men as well. Her characters are older, less conventional looking, maybe even have a little bit of fat padding their bodies, but they find each other sexy all the same. It’s so refreshing and I love it. I also loved that both Istvhan and Clara had sexual pasts and were unapologetic about it.
I did think that it dragged a little bit in the middle. This book is longer than the previous one and it felt like it at times. But the plots of Clara’s missing sister-nuns and the smooth men were engaging, and it was really interesting to see how they tied together. As always, T. Kingfisher balances the contrast of humour and sweet romance with creepy horror perfectly.
Overall, another winner in the Saint of Steel series and once again I’m dying to dive into the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Slavery, Torture, and Trafficking
Minor: Abandonment and Infertility
epsyphus's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
So much fun!
Edit for reread: I love this world so much.
Edit for reread: I love this world so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Body horror, Kidnapping, Trafficking, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty
bethanycrowepowell's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A classic perilous journey with a dash of paranormal mystery and a core of pining romance.
This second installment of The Saint of Steel series stands alone while delivering on the premise of the first. Istvhan is seemingly the most well-adjusted ex-paladin, and he's leading a group on the trail of the weird serial killer creature discovered in Paladin's Grace. When he accidentally "acquires" a woman while settling a debt of honor, he's just relieved to help her get on her way. But their roads are more parallel than they expect. And while Clara is sure this troupe is doing more than proving escort to some expensive barrels, she's also hiding a lot about who she is and what exactly she's heading toward.
But as their paths continue to run with each other it seems that honesty, both about the attraction that they're ignoring as a complication and their true aims, might be worth trying.
I liked decisive, unembarrassed Clara, who in this book is powered by rage but also love, and the way her insecurities and strengths were matched by Istvhan's.
This second installment of The Saint of Steel series stands alone while delivering on the premise of the first. Istvhan is seemingly the most well-adjusted ex-paladin, and he's leading a group on the trail of the weird serial killer creature discovered in Paladin's Grace. When he accidentally "acquires" a woman while settling a debt of honor, he's just relieved to help her get on her way. But their roads are more parallel than they expect. And while Clara is sure this troupe is doing more than proving escort to some expensive barrels, she's also hiding a lot about who she is and what exactly she's heading toward.
But as their paths continue to run with each other it seems that honesty, both about the attraction that they're ignoring as a complication and their true aims, might be worth trying.
I liked decisive, unembarrassed Clara, who in this book is powered by rage but also love, and the way her insecurities and strengths were matched by Istvhan's.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Sexual content
Minor: Animal death