Les Sept Saints sans visage, tome 1 (2024)

i cant help but get the feeling that this book desperately wants the edgy atmosphere of ‘nevernight,’ but instead manages the vibes of a watered down version of ‘wicked saints.’

which isnt necessarily a fault. the idea of the seven saints is interesting and decently established, the group of rebels fighting against a system of neglect is believable, and the writing is easy to read. all the basics are there. that being said, i kept getting the feeling that the story was trying to be more, but just couldnt quite reach it.

i would be very interested to see how the writing and plot develops across the series, to see if MKL does indeed achieve the full potential of the story. but for right now, i think readers who are intrigued with the concept of holy wars, people chosen by saints to worship them, and rebellion will enjoy this first installment.

thank you, little brown books, for the ARC!

↠ 3.5 stars

Before we get into this review of Seven Faceless Saints by M.K. Lobb, let us take a moment to thank netgalley and Little, Brown for the arc. All quotes have been taken from the advanced reader copy, check with the final published copy.

In war-torn Ombrazia, it's a death sentence if you're born without magic. Well, practically speaking. Based off of medieval Italy, the country is carved into guilds and each of the seven crafts has a patron saint. Those descendant from such a saint could be born with some of their ancestor's magic and are called disciples. Disciples' ability to craft is highly valued by the economy, so they are favored by society. Everyone else goes off to die in a war fought over trade routes against heretics who seceded for following the disgraced and fallen seventh saint.

Prickily and determined, Roz is a disciple, though she isn't proud of the role. Righteous in her anger, she does not believe in the saints nor does she the society their worship has constructed. Damian is head of security (a cop), a descendant without a gift, and guilt-ridden after his stint as a soldier at the frontlines. They were in love before he was shipped off, but everything had changed between them by the time he returned. Now, they're just strangers with history and strangers who have to team up together to solve a series of mysterious murders targeting both the unfavored and the disciples.

I want to make it very clear from the beginning that this is a secular review. I'm not religious. I'm not Christian. I was raised Muslim. The most I know about Christianity is the one week of Vacation Bible Study I led when I was in high school because I needed volunteering credit, the Book of Job analysis I had to do in my high school AP Lit class, and just talking to my Christian friends about their faith. So really, I don't have a horse in this race.

First and foremost, I had a little bit of fun with the Italian setting. I make fun of Italians mercilessly (mamma mia), but the Italian words thrown in here and there were fun. Developing a guild system as a political basis was also a good idea, but I wish the execution had been better.

The prose is very passive. It almost comes across as detached, which is a hurdle to overcome when connecting to characters. Many actions are overly wordy and simply described. For example, there are a lot of "the blank was a blank thing" (the glow was a somber thing, the sound was a deafening thing) which is cute once or twice but with the frequency I noticed it only aided in the detached style of writing. Also, it's a personal ick. The only time the writing feels alive and you actually feel connected to the characters is when the main couple is attracted (see: horny) to each other, which means that was the best part of the book, but it also means that literally everything else falls flat.

The main pair's relationship is extremely emotionally jarring to get through. And not in the good way. There are moments where the characters will switch from anger to humor to regret to horniness within one page with practically no sinew connecting the thoughts. Complexity of emotion is expected, but there has to be some continuous layering or transitions between them, or I'm just going to get whiplash. There are chapters of emotional buildup and when the characters finally standoff, there is an uncalled for casual air to the entire conversation. There are chapters ended on extremely emotionally intense dialogue, and when the POV switches into the same scene, the same character will deliver another line of dialogue on the complete opposite side of the emotional spectrum and I don't know how they traversed that entire gap. The emotions of the chapters contrasted, but the author refused to elaborate on how the character could say something so charged before changing her tune, only why she changed her tune.

So, we have a roller coaster of unconnected emotions making it difficult to connect to the characters. Especially Roz. I do enjoy the hardened female character, but she came off as entirely one note to me. Personally, I think it's because the author did not allow her to be wrong about anything. She let her desire for revenge and anger get the better of her from time to time, but it was clear throughout every discussion in the book that we were meant to side with Roz. She had very little to learn or understand about other characters, practically nothing outside of a romantic context. It was a boring viewpoint to be in, and it sapped the intrigue out of what could otherwise be compelling dialogues.

I liked Damian but that's just because the pathetically obsessed man is one of the archetypes I am most fond of. Call it the Raoul de Chagny print. Men who are complete losers >>>. But the way this man was written frustrated me to no end, because MK Lobb could've made his arc great but then just... didn't.

Disinterested prose and disjointed writing aside, the biggest problem with this book is how the author approaches religion. Seven Faceless Saints desperately wanted to be a commentary on religion, or at least religious systems. It wanted to have Damian have a fall from faith arc. But it could do neither of those things, because the book did not care to introspect on what could inspire people to religion or give them comfort. It did not develop a political system built around the ideals of a religion, even though it said it did. And no dialogue on religion was a true dialogue, because it was always, always cut short. Three times the dialogue is interrupted or written off because... the author did not want to write the other side? I'm at a loss.

If Lobb had chosen to take the saints out of the equation entirely, the worldbuilding would be the same. People with more magic are more useful, so they are favored by society. The disgraced society is fighting its war over trade routes. Lobb calls them heretics, but they're not fighting for a holy cause, they're fighting because their kingdom is dying. Why is it called a Second War of Saints? When Roz and Damian initially learn that they do not have powers, their first thought is toward Damian's inevitable enlistment. It's extremely pragmatic, extremely practical, and does not revolve around the ideas of any sort of higher power.

Damian's grappling with his faith is embarrassing to read. One of the first times Roz calls his faith lazy, his internal monologue basically throws in the towel, saying, "He couldn't do this with her. The saints were his understanding of the world, and he wasn't interested in hearing anyone tell him otherwise. It was how he'd been raised." It was such a cartoonish depiction of what an atheist would think a religious person believes, I couldn't believe it. He might have well looked into the camera and said "I'm brainwashed." And as he begins to doubt his faith, he does it on the basis that "not all the stories are true" or "if the saints aren't alive and aren't hearing my prayers then I'll look stupid for believing them". Which... is a choice.

This is all exasperated by the fact that you only ever hear 1.5 religious stories and none of their specific beliefs, so instead of having an actual religion to critique, we're left with the vague shadow of Christianity or Catholicism since that's the clear inspiration (see: Italian Saints). One of the stories shared is this world's version of Genesis. Roz flippantly comments that she does not believe that it is real, that the saints existed but did not carve out the world, and Damian has to antagonize with that possibility. Once again, it is embarrassingly flat. Like a child learning that Santa isn't real. But while adults know that Santa isn't real, they still in believe the spirit of Santa, the joy he inspires, and the importance of keeping that alive. Belief and faith, and all these things are not dipoles, they're a complicated gradient.

While it is certainly true that some Christians believe in Genesis verbatim, many understand that many bible stories exist to be metaphor. If religious stories weren't open to interpretation, then there wouldn't be a billion denominations. The bible has been studied and questioned for thousands of years, with scholars dedicating their lives to questioning what it means. Regularly, Roz comments on how people who are religious simply accept things without question and how much it annoys her. It's incredibly close-minded and ignorant, and I'd almost think that she was set up to be wrong except for the fact that the narrative backs her up. When Damian starts to question his faith (oh no the stories aren't 100% factually correct), it crumbles near instantly.

There are no central religious morals the citizens seem to follow. There are seven guilds, do any of their interpretation of the stories differ? Are there cultural differences between the guilds due to their different beliefs? If there are differences between the guilds, are some looked down upon by others? Do the different saints stress different morals that people who follow them feel compelled to? The unfavored citizens seem not to follow a guild, but do they still worship the saints? These may seem like extraneous questions, but they're questions you need to answer if you want to make a commentary on religion. It's hard to critique how a set of ideals can be corrupted and enforced on people when you don't have a set of ideals. You can't have saints without sinners, and Lobb never bothered to write sin. There's a source of evil, in a classical fantasy sort of way, but there is no belief of mortal sin. And it could've made the book so much better.

Damian is defined by his guilt. There is a lot he regrets. Yet, he never prays for forgiveness. There's a big difference between "if the saints don't exist, I'll have dedicated my life to nothing" and "if the saints don't exist, then who can forgive me for what I've done?". The possible drama. The angst. The yearning. The lack of it drove me insane. It could've been so good.

Instead, we just got empty appeals to his patron saint, asking him for guidance and asking what he did wrong to not be blessed with a gift. A plea that rings hollow because we don't know what his saint's morals are. How did Damian dedicate his entire life to a code of conduct that his saint set up? Is he mad at himself for being imperfect, for breaking it, or is he mad that he forwent his own sense of right and wrong to follow it and it still resulted in nothing?

Damian's saint is Strength, but the narrative regularly brings up how he's too soft, a sense of disappointment from his father. Which, wasn't lost on me, but we could've turned up the volume. Just imagine the drama if his father was a stoic follower of Strength, and believed in following the callous will of Strength before any other saint. Damian, on the other hand, could believe in the importance of balance, and felt that all saints have important teachings that they must consider. Or even, maybe Damian's fall from faith would be the fact that he couldn't dedicate his life to a cruel saint that made his father cruel. There would be an ideological rift between them, one that we never get to know because we don't even know what Strength's code of conduct is. We don't know what descendants of Strength are supposed to believe. If it was mentioned in the book, it must've been a throwaway line. But, I must've been sleepwalking through this book then, because shouldn't the religious beliefs of these people be baked into every other line?

Near the end, the narrative does dip its toes within the actual dangers of belief and religion, but it's more of a commentary on extremism than it is on any sort of organized system. I'm just... very disappointed. I watched Midnight Mass two weeks before reading this book, and maybe if I hadn't watched that near-flawless, gripping, commentary on religion, then maybe I'd be kinder. But no, I've seen how it's possible to show the dangers of religion while showing empathy to the people who believe. It also just makes for a better story. Dressing your book in religious imagery does little to actual imbue it with the inherent drama and stakes that actual religious belief bestows. Hell, even Book of Mormon, as flawed and blasphemous and problematic as it is, is a more nuanced take on belief than this is.

The commentary on cops is a little sus in places, but I ultimately think it checks out. I think. There's so much telling in this novel, I don't know why the author would feel the need to tell us that there are good people in the police force and that Damian tried to get rid of the bad apples (as if this is something to be applauded), but leave the bits about the system getting rid of good, merciful people (because it's inconducive to their goals) up to critical interpretation. The worldbuilding as a whole needed to be bolstered to make these kinds of commentaries.

I don't think I'll be picking up the sequel. Frankly, I can't see any continuation of the story that would interest me based on where the characters left off. There is more teased, but I just don't care about this world and I certainly don't care about the characters that much. I did quite enjoy the climax of the novel, and found myself gripped by the scene. It is emotionally satisfying, but beyond it could not make me care. The plot itself is whatever, I didn't find it clever, but it wasn't a bad mystery. Perfectly serviceable. The pacing didn't drag, though I did find myself growing annoyed with the mismatch of emotions and lack of worldbuilding after the 40% mark. Before that point, I had high hopes for this book. It had slayage potential. Unfortunately, it did not slay.

2.5/5

You can see a copy of this review on my blog.

Uwielbiam tę książkę całym sercem! <3

apparently this has stabby bi girl and soft boy who were childhood friends turned enemies and then become lovers so yeah I NEED THIS

Now that we're closer to release day, I thought I would drop a better note in here! I know I always liked when authors made a little post about their book on the Goodreads page.

It's funny that SEVEN FACELESS SAINTS is my debut, because it was the first book I wrote wholly for myself. I guess it's true that if you write what you love, it shows. I love magic, mysteries, romance, and darkness. I love opening up a YA fantasy and at once recognizing the conventions of my favourite genre. SEVEN FACELESS SAINTS is all of these things, so hopefully you love them too.

Mostly, though, this is a book for teen me, and all the other young people who know what it is to feel so bitterly angry at the world. Who let that bitterness permeate everything they do - whether rational or not - because being angry is easier than being sad.

It's also a book for the young people who had the strength to look at the things they were told to think and believe, and decided to forge their own path. I wish I had a whole book to devote solely to that, but alas, this is only a story. Please know that I'm proud of you either way.

Roz is my rage, Damian my regret. They're both a little messy, but so am I.

Thank you so much for reading!

~~~

EDIT: Please remember this is a murder mystery and does include elements of horror. As such, I would highly suggest taking a look at the content warnings on my website. If you read and come across any I have missed, please feel free to reach out to me through my contact form!

Weird book, in that I sort of plodded along, thinking "this is fine" the whole time...Until the lukewarm, underwhelming climax? You can't make the ENTIRE book just amble along!

There's decent action and intrigue in this book, as well as a romance that appealed to me, lover of Men Simping For Their Badass Ladies. However...None of it felt unique or groundbreaking. Recommended for fans of Bardugo, the summary said - and yes, there's Ninth House-esque dark academia feels to the murder mystery, and a very Grishaverse-adjacent magic system (healing magic wielders, metal magic wielders, etc.). Frankly, it read like a knockoff combination of everything Bardugo has written, with less likable characters and tense stakes.

I cared little for Roz or Damian, or anyone in this, really. I enjoyed the aspect of Damian that was submissive to Roz, and how much he simped for her, but his only other dimensions were 1) PTSD from a horrible off-screen war of some sort, I either missed something or whatever, I have no idea what was going on in the book's world LOL, and 2) his staunch faith in the saints, whose respective dominions determine the kinda-elemental powers of the various disciples. Normally I love a character who's been through the emotional wringer, but he read flat for me, and Roz too. I think the book's relatively short length, pacing, and the fact it seems to lean on the possibility of a book two were all responsible for that lack of depth.

For no reason I can really articulate, the climax was so underwhelming. There is a part about sixty percent in where Roz has to save Damsel Damian (yesss), and that to me was more compelling than the revelation of the big bad murderer and stuff. By that point there were only so many suspects, and I just found myself unconcerned with how it wrapped up.

The narrators did well, though!

That's really the summation for me here - the ingredients of a solid fantasy, but both so similar to other series, and so poorly baked that the end result is just kinda alright.

I only made it 24% into this book when I realized that I had to stop.

This book is nothing like Six of Crows or anything Leigh Bardugo writes. The only thing they seem to share in common is the fact there are factions of magic users that have powers that the 'gods' once had.

The story has a murder mystery like element to it, which I was excited to read... and then I realized that the two ex-lovers were paired up alongside one another and they absolutely had no. chemistry. at. all. Which is sad because you do find out they were a bit of a thing years ago... but then he went to war, and war changed him and his father didn't want her dating his son.

I absolutely dislike her and how she is written. She is too heavy-handed angry all the time and has no likeable qualities. She just started becoming paired with her ex-lover interest and she cannot resist treating him like sh*t or calling out the fact the didn't do x, y, or z. Everything is a quip to her.

I honestly cannot sit through this story if I m partnered to follow a character like that.

pre-read review: SHE’S GOT AN ARC FOLKS 🎉

~~~

post-read review:

ARC copy provided in exchange for an honest review. This in no way changes my rating or review.

Not sure how to feel about this one. On one hand, once I properly got into the book, I absolutely flew through it, but on the other, it did take quite a while to understand and become entrenched in the writing.

The characters were interesting but possibly not unique enough to truly become new favourites of mine – though I did love Damian, my little soft demi boy. And Roz was certainly the stabby bi girl that was promised, but I only really started to like and warm to her towards the ending, which was disappointing. However, the world building with the different saints and magic etc was really interesting! While I got nowhere near comprehending which saint was associated with which power, much less which colour, I still enjoyed the new world, and I think the author and this series have definite potential.

I can definitely see how the author will weave the characters and overarching story into something bigger later on in the series, but I did appreciate how this book had it’s own completed storyline as well. I’m glad I read this, though not sure I’ll continue the series. Nonetheless, I thank the author, publisher and TBR & Beyond Tours for the review opportunity :).

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Seven Faceless Saints is the first chaotic book within the series. From the very first chapter, I was completely hooked and just wanted to know more. Whether it was about the characters, the worldbuilding, or just the overall mystery - I just wanted more.

The only downside of that is actually always wanting more and never being satisfied. Mostly when it comes to the saints because they all seem so freaking interesting. I'm definitely hoping we learn more about them, or maybe even one more, in the next book.

Other than that, I loved the murder mystery, sassy comments, and the entire cast of characters. Yes, even the evil ones because we always need a good villain every now and then. As for who the murderer was, well, that was pretty easy to spot on before the big reveal. I still have no complaints about that because I just really enjoyed this book. So much that I have the physical copy and audiobook as well.

In the end, I definitely need my hands on the next book because I just want to know what is going to happen next.

"She was holier than any saint. If she let him, he might just make her his new religion." damian venturi the man that you are

gente la cantidad de frases que dice este wacho que marque... lo amo

me encantó el libro, capa capitulo me mantenía atrapada y queriendo ver más, el world building me pareció bueno (todavía hay muchas cosas que explicar pero yo creo que esta bueno para un inicio, sobre todo para no sobrecargar al lector) los personajes me parecieron geniales y ame las dinámicas que la autora creo, ya sea entre los dos protagonistas o ellos con sus amigos, me da muchas vibes que en el segundo va a ser tremendo found family.. love that for me

el romance?? 10/10, en tropes para que entiendan: amigos de la infancia, segunda oportunidad, enemies to lovers, guardia/rebelde, ella es la que quiere quemar todo el mundo y el es el diplomático tranquilo

amo cuando hacen a la protagonista principal la demente, si reina mata a todos VENGATE DESTRUI EL GOBIERNO QUEMA TODOOOOOOOOOO SLAAAAY

me gusto mucho damian como personaje, leer lo traumado que está de la guerra y toda la angustia y culpa que lleva me rompió el alma, ver como siempre trata de ver lo mejor en personas (que incluso no lo merecen), el amor que le tiene a roz nonono yo mataría por vos damian VOS DECIME Y LO HAGO

en fin, para ser una novela debut yo creo que fue bastante buena, es medio predecible? si, yo saqué el primer plot twist bastante rápido (es bastante obvio si tenes un poco de calle leyendo libros) y si bien hay uno al final que no reveló todavía estoy 99,9% segura que ya se lo que pasó... i mean no es un mal plot y realmente me gustaría que haga ESO pero bueno tendré que ver en el futuro

2/5

Unfortunately, this book was a mess. I think my main issue with it is that it has a very odd writing style, that reads as very surface level. I struggled in connecting with both of the MCs. I definitely liked Damien the most, I found Roz to be extremely annoying. The plot took far too long for my liking to develop, and I feel like the plot twists were quite obvious and typical of YA fantasies. The romance also fell flat. I wish we had gotten a true best friends to lovers to enemies to strangers to lovers romance as promised, but unfortunately, everything regarding the romantic arc was underdeveloped and had no real feeling or depth to it. I’m so sad I didn’t enjoy this, but the writing style and basic plot did not interest me at all.

first 🥰

4,75⭐️
TO BYŁO ABSOLUTNIE PRZEGENIALNE
fantazy, wątek kryminalny i romans w jednym? yes, please!
kocham roz i damiana, kocham ich relację (bo była serio świetnie napisana), kocham ten klimat (ta inspiracja włochami… i’m in love), kocham ten giga plot twist na końcu i kocham to zakończenie (mój mózg po epilogu: 🤯). kocham tą książkę.
megaaa czekam na drugi tom (można przyspieszyć tą premierę?) i na kolejne książki autorki, bo po tym jakże genialnym debiucie może być tylko lepiej.
KOCHAM TO I BŁAGAM CZYTAJCIE TO

This book is such a thrilling, evocative, romantic dream. M.K.'s line-level writing is gorgeous and thoughtful, her plot is twisty and page-turning, and the world she's created is so immersive and eerie. ALSO Roz and Damian are the perfect pair (stabby girl + soft boy!!!) and I would give my life for them! I cannot wait to hold my finished, published copy and for the rest of the world to read this story!

listen y'all i'm a contemporary YA reader almost exclusively but SEVEN FACELESS SAINTS gripped me from beginning to end. roz and damian's voices are so vastly different from one another and feel so freakishly real. idk how m.k. does it. and their romance is 🔥🔥🔥 also i'm a little too obsessed with the villain but i'll keep my mouth shut about that bc we hate a spoiler

THIS BOOK IS ABOUT TO BLOW ALL Y'ALL AWAY AND I CAN'T WAIT

Oh, I see how it is. I'm just supposed to finish reading this and be okay. Wow, alright, well joke's on you because I am NOT okay and y'all need this book on your TBR. So much dark goodness with a murder mystery, magical saints, a touch of rebellion, and a romance to die for.

Second Read: It's changed quite a bit since the first time I read an early draft yet it somehow got that much better and it can actually have 6 stars instead.

Nie podobało mi się. Książka jest nudnawa, często pretensjonalna, z Roz, która jest absolutnie nie do zniesienia. Nie potrafiła mnie niczym zainteresować. Na pewno nie będę czytać dalej, ale doceniam, że połączono kryminał z fantasy i mam nadzieję na więcej powieści tego typu, choć oczywiście lepszych

4.5, review will be posted later :)

Thank you Little, Brown and Netgalley for giving me access to this eARC!

Seven Faceless Saints is the story of Roz and Damian, two characters that live in a world with a broken system, where children have to go to war, and the ones without powers suffer the struggles while the disciples (the ones with powers) live comfortably.

This book had a chokehold on me since the very first page. I love how the writing makes the story both fast-paced and very easy to understand everything that's going on, while also explaining how the whole world works in like, the first 8% of the book. I found very refreshing the way everything is set up, how you get to know the details of their lives very fast, reserving only some details for the rest of the book. It goes straight to the mystery, we don't have to wait to long before we get involved in a web of lies and secrets to find out what's going on.

The world itself and how the magic works is something I found very interesting. I really wanted the story to show more about what the other disciples with different powers could do, but I'm sure that's something we'll be getting in the second book!

Now, the characters. I adore them. I adore how Damian lives and breathes for Roz, and how Roz is the tough one in the relationship. I love how their traumas are treated in the story, and how they are never diminished by anyone in the story. I love their love! Their relationship is so unique, but also so pure, coming from their childhood. I love how this is a friends to lovers to people who hate each other to allies to ?!?!?!? because their dynamics are always changing. That, for me, made their relationship even more believable. I also liked how Damian's faith was challenged all the way through the story, it's just fair after everything he had gone through.

If you are looking for a fantasy with some political and religious elements, a revolution, and great main characters that carry heavy loads on their backs (and hearts), I really recommend this book!

PS: Roz is bisexual. A bisexual main character? EXTRA POINTS

This was super good. It's been a long time since I was this invested in a fantasy story. If you like the enemies to lovers trope this could definitely be for you.

We follow Roz and Damian as a series of murders start appearing in their city of Ombrazia. There's some forbidden romance and of course, a rebellion thrown in the mix. I do think that this book was trying to do too much sometimes. I thought the war talk was interesting but I won't lie it got to be a little tedious. I'm having a hard time comparing this title to any others, and I really think that's a good thing since most YA has felt the same in the last few years. This book was refreshing and kept me on the edge of my seat. I appreciate that I wasn't able to guess the whodunnit on my own; usually with mysteries I can guess who the villain was pretty easily and with this one I didn't.

Overall, I'm grateful to the publishers and think that this could be a great series because the ENDING was not something I saw coming! I'm sad I have to wait for another year or so!

I couldn’t even finish this one. You have two people dealing with their own trauma, but the way Roz deals with it is to be an absolute b**** to Damian and not even acknowledge his right to his own trauma. I would get it if I thought it was supposed to be written that way, but I have the feeling I’m supposed to feel sorry for Roz and think all her actions completely justifiable. Instead she just came off as an incredibly self-centred person.
I will caveat this with, I didn’t make it to the end, so maybe Roz does come to realize that she’s being a b**** towards Damian. I just couldn’t wade through all my annoyance at her to get to that potential part.

The world was my favorite part of this book. The various saints and the virtues they stand for, along with their disciples that have some cool abilities. I have to say that I think I align with Patience most, but I'd take any powers and be happy. What I didn't love was that we didn't get to learn much about the other saints and what they can do, so I'm really hoping there's more about it in the sequel.

The murder mystery part was interesting, but the reveal was anti-climactic for me. Mostly because I didn't even recognize the killer once they were revealed so there was no surprise It was still fun to see Roz and Damian investigating and how they started to remember the attraction they once had.

I thought the story was well paced and overall entertaining. I'll be waiting for the sequel to see what happens to our characters.

Kompletnie minęłam się z moimi oczekiwaniami. Przewidziałam w jaką stronę może to iść i dlatego uważam, że przewidziane przeze mnie zakończenie jest dobre i otwiera nam możliwość na większy potencjał niż w pierwszej książce. Chce więcej krwi i flaków…

If SEVEN FACELESS SAINTS started off as an adult novel and the author was advised to age the characters down to YA because the book would do better there, I would not be surprised. From the erratic application of ages (the characters seem to range in age from 16 to 19, I had an ARC so I hope that was smoothed out by the time it was published, and I mean a single character, not the cast of charaters ranged), to the cadence of their language, to how the characters viewed life, this just was not a YA novel and these were not teenage characters. I know people will argue, “oh they’ve been through a lot and they’re just really mature because they were forced to be adults at much younger ages.” No. A teenage mind put through trauma is still a teenage mind. Between the jobs these characters held (although not uncommon for YA authors to put teenagers in positions they would never, ever hold), how they processed the world around them, how they spoke about their youth, how they referenced each other, and how logical they seemed to act, it all points to these characters not actually being teenagers, but older characters given younger ages. Whether it’s because these were originally older characters that were aged down, or the author doesn’t really have a grasp of the YA voice, I don’t know.

There’s next to no character development for either Damien or Roz. Damian’s a weiner for most of the book, finally snapping at the end. Roz was just static. She didn’t change at all. I guess she might have moved a millimeter by the end of the book, but that’s a stretch. She was just a standoffish, unlikable character for most of the book. On top of that, she didn’t have any skin in the story. Damian, at least, was propelled by his desire to not go back to war, so that incentivized him to solve the murders. If he didn’t, he was getting deployed again. Roz was just along for the ride. She was shoehorned into Damian’s story because what YA novel doesn’t need a complicated love interest? But she served no actual function. She was never at any real risk of anything untoward happening to her. The murders were immaterial to her except for the fact that she kept shoving herself into the investigation. She just had no reason to be there.

The rebel subplot was so far away from anything going on in the primary plot that I think the author forgot about it for a chunk of the story. Because the way it just like OH YEAH THIS IS GOING ON TOO at the end made it feel very superficial. It felt like this rebel thing had to happen in order to beef up the story, but it just wasn’t very well-developed and despite half the book being in Roz’s POV and she’s supposed to be really involved in the whole thing, there’s just not a whole lot about it in the story. The entire thing is a plot device to bring the story to its necessary conclusion.

The world itself was eh. Solidly mediocre. I appreciated the Italian-ness of it, but that’s about it. I didn’t find it particularly good or unique or engaging.

Overall, there just wasn’t a whole lot to really like about SEVEN FACELESS SAINTS. It doesn’t really do anything unique, the world is nothing to write home about, the characters are lackluster at best, the plot struggles to keep track of itself. The author, at least, could string a sentence together, but they weren’t very engaging sentences. I have been struggling with YA fantasy for YEARS at this point, considering myself in a reading rut for that genre. I’ve just recently come to realize it’s me. For some stupid reason I keep picking up these bland, basic, European-centric YA fantasy novels thinking they’re going to be something different when they’re just carbon copies of each other, playing off the same tropes, the same types of characters, the same worlds. Time for me to get off the continent.

1.5

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Niestety DNF w połowie...
Jest mi strasznie smutno i przepraszam od razu wydawnictwo, ale po prostu nie byłam w stanie doczytać do końca.
Liczyłam na coś mrocznego, wartkiego, krwawego, z wątkiem takiej a'la włoskiej świątyni czy zakonu, a dostałam... No cóż, historię wyzutą z wszelkich emocji i jakiegokolwiek tempa akcji, która dla mnie była po prostu okropnie nudna😓 Bohaterowie też nie mieli żadnych ciekawych cech i nie zapałałam do nich sympatią.
Przez dwa tygodnie próbowałam dać tej książce szansę, ale w sytuacji, gdy w ciągu siedmiu dni przebrnęłam przez dosłownie ledwo 30 stron - no niestety, ale nie chcę się dalej męczyć.

This just wasn’t amazing to begin with so when they started dating halfway through the book I was like “okay guess I’m done”

4.5 bo sporo przewidziałam ale chce kolejna część na już

this book grabbed me by the throat and slammed me to the ground and i liked it.

damian venturi if you're reading this i am free on thursday night. if you would like to hang out i am free on thursday night when i am free to hang out. i am free to hang out on thursday night so if you want to hang out on thursday night i am free.

Früher waren Roz und Damian beste Freunde – und mehr. Doch seitdem Damians Vater den Vater von Roz als Deserteur hingerichtet hat, haben sie sich nicht mehr gesehen. Als aber sowohl Roz als auch Damian versuchen, mehr über die mysteriösen Todesfälle in ihrer Umgebung herauszufinden, arbeiten sie zusammen, um den Mörder gemeinsam aufzuhalten.

Ihre Leben haben sich in sehr unterschiedliche Richtungen entwickelt, da Roz als Jüngerin magische wertvolle Kräfte besitzt, während sie gleichzeitig als Tochter eines Deserteurs die Missstände im Reich wahrnimmt und zusammen mit den Rebellen Pläne schmiedet, um den Palazzo zu stürzen. Damian hingegen ist der Chef des Sicherheitsdienstes im Palazzo und würde alles tun, um von einem der sechs Heiligen erwählt zu werden. Nach seiner Zeit im Krieg ist er ziemlich traumatisiert und gibt sein Bestes in seinem Job, hat aber auch immer das Gefühl, nicht gut genug zu sein.

Als sie sich nun wiedersehen, steht viel Schmerz, Wut und Enttäuschung zwischen ihnen, aber auch die romantischen Gefühle, die sie so lange unterdrückt haben. Der Tod von Roz‘ Vater hat beide sehr getroffen und nun haben sie Zeit, sich auszusprechen. Ihre gemeinsamen Ermittlungen sind aber auch sehr turbulent, nicht nur durch die Magie der Heiligen und den Zusammenhängen zu dem gefallen Heiligen Chaos, sondern auch weil Roz und Damian sehr unterschiedlich vorgehen. Sie verdächtigen verschiedene Personen und ihr Weg ist voller Meinungsverschiedenheiten, aber nur gemeinsam kommen sie wirklich weiter.

Ich mochte die Zusammenarbeit der beiden und ihre Ermittlungen zu den mysteriösen und unheimlichen Mordfällen fand ich auch sehr spannend. Die Welt der Heiligen, ihrer Jünger und der Unerwählten fand ich auch sehr vielversprechend und freue mich darauf, in der Fortsetzung noch mehr zu sehen!

I liked this, I liked this a lot! For fans of These Violent Thorns and This Vicious Grace...(just vibes haha)

Seven Faceless Saints was not a book high on my radar but I can say that I enjoyed it very much! The writing hooked me from the start with Lobb's delicate yet demanding prose. It's got this dark, ominous world and I couldn't wait to keep going. This story has so many elements that make it hard to put down....

- found family
- forbidden second chance romance...and did I mention they are friends to lovers too?
- religious corruption with a never ending war
- horror/mystery aspects...there's a killer on the loose
- magic system that puts people into a social hierarchy
- soft, open hearted boy and a stabby/closed off heroine
- lgbtq representation

"I missed you," she whispered. "I missed you so much I was sick from it."

The is so much angst and pining in this one that you can only get from past history as friends. I loved loved Damien and Roz definitely grew on me as well. I cannot wait to see where this heads. Its quite unfortunate that i'm already having grabby hands for the sequel and the first hasn't even been released!

An unexpected surprise of 2023!

*light to mod strong language and some fade to black sexier/romance scenes but still kind of open door (more focused on thoughts than parts) Very NA not YA.