Fantasy

The Lives of Saints

The Lives of Saints

  • Downloads：6771
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-04-03 14:58:53
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Leigh Bardugo
  • ISBN：1510108823
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

Enter the world of the Grishaverse and Shadow and Bone， soon to be a Netflix original series！

Dive into the epic world of international bestselling author Leigh Bardugo with this beautifully illustrated replica of The Lives of Saints， the Istorii Sankt'ya， featuring tales of saints drawn from the beloved novels and beyond。 Out of the pages of the Shadow and Bone trilogy， from the hands of Alina Starkov to yours， the Istorii Sankt'ya is a magical keepsake from the Grishaverse。

These tales include miracles and martyrdoms from familiar saints like Sankta Lizabeta of the Roses and Sankt Ilya in Chains， to the strange and obscure stories of Sankta Ursula， Sankta Maradi， and the Starless Saint。

This beautiful collection includes stunning full-color illustrations of each story。

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Reviews

Jo ，

Ahhhhh I can't believe I didn't check to see who reads the audiobook？？ A disgrace。 Absolute clown hours。 Maybe I'll put it on hold at the library anyway。。。。 For Reasons。Anyway， twisty and frequently dark with some interesting bits of world-building tucked in， but also leaves me with many more questions than answers re: religion in the Grishaverse。 Hm。 Ahhhhh I can't believe I didn't check to see who reads the audiobook？？ A disgrace。 Absolute clown hours。 Maybe I'll put it on hold at the library anyway。。。。 For Reasons。Anyway， twisty and frequently dark with some interesting bits of world-building tucked in， but also leaves me with many more questions than answers re: religion in the Grishaverse。 Hm。 。。。more

Lizzie Rhoades ，

Beautiful artwork！ I was in love with it all。 It felt like listening to a new version of the Grimm's Fairy Tales。 Beautiful artwork！ I was in love with it all。 It felt like listening to a new version of the Grimm's Fairy Tales。 。。。more

Megan Lowde ，

This was a nice addition to the Grisha-verse as a whole， and it was nice to see the stories of the saints who were so involved in the Shadow and Bone trilogy and Nikolai duology in particular。 Some of the stories were quite dark and they don't all necessarily have a happy ending， but it was still proved an interesting read and I liked the fairy-tale-esque vibe to it all。 This was a nice addition to the Grisha-verse as a whole， and it was nice to see the stories of the saints who were so involved in the Shadow and Bone trilogy and Nikolai duology in particular。 Some of the stories were quite dark and they don't all necessarily have a happy ending， but it was still proved an interesting read and I liked the fairy-tale-esque vibe to it all。 。。。more

Andi ，

I'm excited that I chose to read this book after the Rule of Wolves release。 Some may have read it when it dropped， but for me， it made the effect of Rule of Wolves echo after I had finished it last night。Small tidbit: A LOT of these stories are mentioned in Rule of Wolves as asides， the Saints themselves， or strange allusions to incidents that take place in the book。 The chapter that focused on Alina was interesting。 Since the stories seemed to reflect things happening that involved the Saint， I'm excited that I chose to read this book after the Rule of Wolves release。 Some may have read it when it dropped， but for me， it made the effect of Rule of Wolves echo after I had finished it last night。Small tidbit: A LOT of these stories are mentioned in Rule of Wolves as asides， the Saints themselves， or strange allusions to incidents that take place in the book。 The chapter that focused on Alina was interesting。 Since the stories seemed to reflect things happening that involved the Saint， I want to know what were the rainbow colors that were happening the young girl saw while at the time Shadow and Bone was going down。 What part of the three books did that incident occur？As for the chapter on The Starless Saint， and also tying in with Rule of Wolves， the chapter is about Yuri more so than The Darkling。 （view spoiler）[ The fact that in Rule of Wolves， Zoya， Genya， and Nikolai agree to honor The Darkling's wish to never be ignored， I wonder if this book is supposed to be published after the fact and that this was their way of trying to 'sweeten' the story of The Darkling on the fact that he and Yuri shared a body and or still share that body。 Reading after finishing Rule of Wolves also made Yuri's story a lot more unfortunate and sad。 （hide spoiler）]The art is also gorgeous and I'd love to see it reflected in the show。 Since the book is a prop that the show uses， I am wondering if they kept the same artwork but aged the pages。 Still， for anybody who loves the world and wants to feel a more deeper connection - read this。 I'd recommend that you read it either before King of Scars or after Rule of Wolves。 You can read it before， but for me， I felt that reading it after packed a lot of punch - like it was written/updated after everything that went down in all the books。 。。。more

Kevin ，

The Lived of Saints certainly looks and feels beautiful， but it’s too short and comes off as self indulgent and unnecessary。 The stories for each saint are really short （some just 2 pages long）， and some don’t even tell the stories of the saints themselves but of people who pray to the saints。 Consistency would have been welcome， and less saint but deeper stories would have been appreciated as well。 Was this a cash grab in time for the Netflix series？ Seems like it。

Saša ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 i have read only sankta alina of the fold， the starless saint and the saint of the book。sankta alina of the fold:1。 mal is dead and he was a drunk？？ his story doesn’t make any sense and it isn’t well explained2。 alina is fucking abusive？？ she sells kids？？ chases them with dogs？？ that is so out of character for her that i’m regretting that i read this。 who is she？？the starless saint:okay so honestly this was just a story about a boy who has tragic past and lives a hard life and when the darkling i have read only sankta alina of the fold， the starless saint and the saint of the book。sankta alina of the fold:1。 mal is dead and he was a drunk？？ his story doesn’t make any sense and it isn’t well explained2。 alina is fucking abusive？？ she sells kids？？ chases them with dogs？？ that is so out of character for her that i’m regretting that i read this。 who is she？？the starless saint:okay so honestly this was just a story about a boy who has tragic past and lives a hard life and when the darkling expanded the fold， it killed everyone except him。 we don’t find out anything new and i don’t get why is this written from a third perspective。 the story barely had anything about the darkling！！！the saint of the book:her story is kind of interesting and i like the idea of it。 she is a person who is stuck in a world where she writes history and reads books。*not gonna lie the pictures are so pretty that is the only reason i’m giving this 2 stars instead of 1in conclusion: the characters don’t act like themselves and i have no idea what became of them。 the book was mostly written from a third perspective and barely included the saints that we were talking about。 the pictures are really pretty tho。 my final thought is that this book shouldn’t exist and it kind of ruined the original story for me。 。。。more

Demi Nolan ，

It’s exciting reading all the saints story， though I would have loved more detailed stories for some of the saints。

stephanie ，

This book was actually pretty cool。 The artwork was beautifully done and so was the writing。 I loved that I got to see the backstories of the many different saints。 The different endings were very refreshing， some brutal yet some wholesome。

talia ♡ ，

AHHH！ the illustrations in this one are sooooooo beautiful and really make the whole experience worth it。 my favourites were Sankta Lizabeta， Sankt Demyan， Sankt Emerens， Sankt Valentin， Sankta Ursula， and Sankt Dimitri

Sara ，

Listened to it via audio & was not disappointed。 Ben Barnes could read me the fucking telephone book and I’d be like “damn！”The stories were indeed short， always centered around a different saint。Personally I liked the story of saint nikolai the best。

Sammm ，

The fact that I really didn't care for the world（building？） of Grisha and could still for some reason enjoy this book， is amusing。 I didn't care for the lore when reading the series。 I guess when separating the stuff， it's fun to see what weird stories Bardugo can come up with。 A lot of them do feel like what could actually happen （when magic is real >:3） like silly and greedy people always taking out the actual people who were nice and doing good。 lol It's depressing sometimes but once in a whi The fact that I really didn't care for the world（building？） of Grisha and could still for some reason enjoy this book， is amusing。 I didn't care for the lore when reading the series。 I guess when separating the stuff， it's fun to see what weird stories Bardugo can come up with。 A lot of them do feel like what could actually happen （when magic is real >:3） like silly and greedy people always taking out the actual people who were nice and doing good。 lol It's depressing sometimes but once in a while there'd be some with nice endings。 Oh， the art is effing gorgeous！ Mini review to come， but probably not anytime soon。 。。。more

Chelsey Saatkamp ，

A fun companion book if you're a fan of the Grishaverse。 Compelling short stories of each of the Saints， told in a fairytale-like manner。 I'd probably be a follower of Sankta Vasilka， patron saint of unwed women， lol。 A fun companion book if you're a fan of the Grishaverse。 Compelling short stories of each of the Saints， told in a fairytale-like manner。 I'd probably be a follower of Sankta Vasilka， patron saint of unwed women， lol。 。。。more

Matthew Gurteen ，

This book deserves five stars for the artwork alone！ Thirty-eight full-page， colour illustrations！ Whoever Daniel J。 Zollinger is， I hope this isn't the last we see of them。 Each one fitted the book's stories fantastically and added so much to the series as a whole。 As far as the stories themselves go， I do not have much to say。 There was nothing particularly wrong about them， but most were too short for me to form a comprehensive opinion。 I would have liked slightly more from each one rather th This book deserves five stars for the artwork alone！ Thirty-eight full-page， colour illustrations！ Whoever Daniel J。 Zollinger is， I hope this isn't the last we see of them。 Each one fitted the book's stories fantastically and added so much to the series as a whole。 As far as the stories themselves go， I do not have much to say。 There was nothing particularly wrong about them， but most were too short for me to form a comprehensive opinion。 I would have liked slightly more from each one rather than two or three pages， but ultimately it is only a companion book。 Most of the stories are simple， stereotypical hero journeys or summaries of books and movies。 The first story was essentially Stephen King's It， and there is a Romeo and Juliet/ Pyramus and Thisbe tale later too。 I liked some， but others felt slightly repetitive。 Still， it added some much-needed lore and world-building to the Grisha Universe for me。 I almost wish some of these Saints could have full books of their own！ If you have never read a Grisha book， then there are no spoilers in this， and I think it would be an excellent prequel to start with alongside The Language of Thorns。 I read it after the second Shadow and Bone book， wanting to familiarise myself with this vital text to the story before finishing the trilogy。 Ultimately I am glad I did。 If you are not familiar with Grisha， then this is a beautiful book you should have in your collection anyway， and if you are， there are some interesting references。 I would recommend The Lives of Saints to anybody。 。。。more

Alisha Brook ，

4。5 stars Absolutely beautiful。

Asimina ，

✦3。5 STARS✦ “You can choose faith or you canchoose fear。 But only one will bring what you long for。” I read this while hearing the audiobook narrated by Ben Barnes and Lauren Fortgang， and let me tell you it was worth it。 Ben’s voice is so soothing， it feels like he’s puts you to bed at night and starts reading you bed time stories。This is the book the Apparat gave Alina in Shadow and Bone， named “Istorii Sankt’ya”。It gives an insight of all the saints of the Grishaverse， not only fr ✦3。5 STARS✦ “You can choose faith or you canchoose fear。 But only one will bring what you long for。” I read this while hearing the audiobook narrated by Ben Barnes and Lauren Fortgang， and let me tell you it was worth it。 Ben’s voice is so soothing， it feels like he’s puts you to bed at night and starts reading you bed time stories。This is the book the Apparat gave Alina in Shadow and Bone， named “Istorii Sankt’ya”。It gives an insight of all the saints of the Grishaverse， not only from Ravka， but from Fjerda， Kerch， Shu Han and Novyi Zem。They’re all really short stories， some of them are good and some others not as much， some ending happily and others in martyrdom。 But the illustrations that accompanied every story are remarkable。 I think my favorite ones were: Sankt Nikolai， Sankt Valentin and of course Sankta Alina and The Starless Saint。 。。。more

Whitney ，

So many good stories but so much tragedy。

sassafrass ，

the illustrations get 5* but a lot of these stories dont actually give you the tale of how the saint became a saint， just a story of someone else praying to them and recieving a blessing - which seems a bit of an odd choice。 also having saints but no god is still the WILDEST choice of alledit: i forgot to say i DID appreciate the IT shout out in the first story。 i see you jorgy。 i see you getting eaten by the monster under the bridge

Holly ，

such a fun look at the different cultures in the grishaverse - definitely recommend listening to the audiobook for ben barnes and his smooth voice

Sarah Ressler Wright ，

I have always found the tales of Catholic saints fascinating because they are short and often bloody/end in death。 These are similar in content and format and yet also manage to point out the lunacy of people and mob mentality which we have seen all too often in America。 Some interesting political commentary about how the majority treat odd or unusual people wrapped up in saint stories。 Great and also short -2。5 hours on audio。

Jordyn ，

Beautiful artwork 。 It was nice to read about some of the saints mentioned in the Grishaworld 。 Very fast read。

Bonnie Wells ，

i ended up liking this a lot more than i thought i would！ admittedly， i didn't think this would be that interesting， but i found myself really enjoying the little book。 the artwork was stunning and the saints definitely play a big role in the grishaverse when it comes to "king of scars，" something i hadn't realized until my reread。 all the stories were rather short， so this never lagged。 i wouldn't say this is for someone that isn't already highly invested in the grishaverse （and you definitely i ended up liking this a lot more than i thought i would！ admittedly， i didn't think this would be that interesting， but i found myself really enjoying the little book。 the artwork was stunning and the saints definitely play a big role in the grishaverse when it comes to "king of scars，" something i hadn't realized until my reread。 all the stories were rather short， so this never lagged。 i wouldn't say this is for someone that isn't already highly invested in the grishaverse （and you definitely need to read the OG trilogy at the least） but as a grishaverse stan， i really liked making the connections to other books and characters from this book。 definitely worth a fan's time！ 。。。more

Rochelle Bautista ，

I really enjoyed this book and the whole experience was so reminiscent of the time I would study about saints every now and then for our Religion subject but this time， I’m actually enjoying learning about these saints for my own pleasure rather than as a requirement 🤣The stories are all so short but sweet with the perfect balance of magical， charming， entertaining， creepy and a bit dark。 Their stories are so interesting！ Some I enjoyed more than the others and all the artworks are so stunning！！ I really enjoyed this book and the whole experience was so reminiscent of the time I would study about saints every now and then for our Religion subject but this time， I’m actually enjoying learning about these saints for my own pleasure rather than as a requirement 🤣The stories are all so short but sweet with the perfect balance of magical， charming， entertaining， creepy and a bit dark。 Their stories are so interesting！ Some I enjoyed more than the others and all the artworks are so stunning！！I have here a list of the saints， what their patrons of and some commentaries for each of the saint’s stories！ Minor spoilers ahead！• Sankta Margaretha - Patron Saint of Thieves and Lost ChildrenShort but a nice， sweet start to the book！ Loved that it was set in Ketterdam 😍• Sankta Anastasia - Patron Saint of the SickCreepy artwork 🙈 Her story started off with pure intentions but done in the creepiest way 🤣 What a way to go at the end 🤣• Sankt Kho - Patron Saint of Good Intentions & Sankta Neyar - Patron Saint of BlacksmithsWasn’t too invested but enjoyed their story of working together！• Sankt Juris of the Sword - Patron Saint of the Battle WearyThis is more of the story of those who prayed for him rather than his story but it’s a nice show of power and faith against those who don’t believe。 • Sankta Vasilka - Patron Saint of Unwed WomenSuch a funny artwork but I love it！！ This so far the most entertaining story 🙈 I love how she just exuded independence 🤣 I’ll definitely be praying to her 🤪 • Sankt Nikolai - Patron Saint of Sailors and Lost CausesI super enjoyed this story！！ I was excited going into it bc this is about the namesake of the love of my life， King Nikolai 🤣 but going through it， it was such a nice story and I could see the bits of similarity between the two Nikolais I know of and the end was very similar to the Santa Claus origin story of Saint Nicholas。• Sankta Lizabeta of the Roses - Patron Saint of GardenersLove the artwork！ But it ended in gore which was sad 🙈• Sankta Maradi - Patron Saint of Impossible LoveI loved this！！ I’m such a sucker for forbidden love so I thoroughly enjoyed this。 Almost like Romeo and Juliet 🙈• Sankt Demyan of the Rime - Patron Saint of the Newly DeadHe just wanted to please people but he was killed brutally 🥲• Sankta Marya of the Rock - Patron Saint of Those Who Are Far from HomeSo interesting to read about a Suli and their way of life！• Sankt Emerens - Patron Saint of BrewersI feel so bad for him！！ Why do saints die from the neglect of those people they help？ 🙈• Sankt Vladimir the Foolish - Patron Saint of the Drowned and of Unlikely AchievementThis was set on Os Kervo！！ I vibe with this saint tbh 🤣• Sankt Grigori of the Wood - Patron Saint of Doctors and MusiciansAnother saint who died out of people’s jealous and entitlement 🥲 The way he went was so sad！！• Sankt Valentin - Patron Saint of Snake Charmers and the LonelyI just love stories about killing selfish， entitled men 🤣• Sankt Petyr of Brevno - Patron Saint of ArchersCreepiest demon so far but enjoyed how selfless Petyr was so the way he went was such a display of strength• Sankta Yeryin of the Mill - Patron Saint of HospitalityI love happy endings for the saint amidst all the mean noblemen trying to bring them down• Sankt Feliks Among the Boughs - Patron Saint of HorticultureI’m laughing at Feliks’s response when he was sentenced to die 🤣• Sankt Lukin the Logical - Patron Saint of PoliticiansLaughing at the first wife’s complaint about Lukin 🤣 but the end was a bit creepy• Sankta Magda - Patron Saint of Bakers and Abandoned WomenThis was such a beautiful， empowering story about women who are given help when needed。 Probably my fave saint so far！• Sankt Egmond - Patron Saint of ArchitectsThis was so interesting given it’s the origin story of the Ice Court and how it came to be！ Enjoyed this one a lot！• Sankt Ilya in Chains - Patron Saint of Unlikely CuresAhh yes the most familiar of all the saints because of S&B and it’s interesting to read about his story as told in the books and knowing the real story behind it。 Love the artwork too that was referenced a lot in S&B。 • Sankta Ursula of the Waves - Patron Saint of Those Lost at SeaSo nice to know that this saint died of natural causes rather than murder 🙈• Sankt Mattheus - Patron Saint of Those Who Love and Care for AnimalsLove the artwork！！ And awww as someone who loves animals， this was such an wholesome tale！• Sankt Dimitri - Patron Saint of ScholarsThe perserverance of this man is too strong 🤣 The last statement was a tad bit too creepy 🤣 • Sankt Gerasim the Misunderstood - Patron Saint of ArtistsHe just wanted to paint yet people don’t understand the extent of his talent！！ • Sankta Alina of the Fold - Patron Saint of Orphans and Undiscovered GiftsI love loove Alina’s artwork 🥺 Not the story I expected of Alina’s but very interesting and almost a tribute to her childhood 🥺• The Starless Saint - Patron Saint of Those Who Seek Salvation in the DarkHEHHEE love the artwork too！！ I miss my misunderstood bby， the Darkling， so I quite enjoyed this！• Saint of the BookSuch a poetic way of telling who she is！ 。。。more

Pip ，

Okay， so I told myself I’d wait to read this because my brother is gifting me a copy of the gorgeously designed book。 However， my brother also informed me Ben Barnes did the audiobook， and I did have a spare credit on my audible account。。。can anyone really blame me？ Plus， it was actually really helpful over the weekend when I was fighting a migraine; I couldn’t read but， but my podcasts and audiobooks always manage to calm my panic。 （Literally， anytime I take a BAD attack， my mum fumbles with my Okay， so I told myself I’d wait to read this because my brother is gifting me a copy of the gorgeously designed book。 However， my brother also informed me Ben Barnes did the audiobook， and I did have a spare credit on my audible account。。。can anyone really blame me？ Plus， it was actually really helpful over the weekend when I was fighting a migraine; I couldn’t read but， but my podcasts and audiobooks always manage to calm my panic。 （Literally， anytime I take a BAD attack， my mum fumbles with my phone like “HOW DO I GET YOUR BOOKS SO YOU CAN SLEEP？！” bless her。）Anyhoo， this was a lovely little bonus addition to the Grishaverse。 I am a sucker for books within books （Dragon Age’s Varric and his Hard in Hightown are to blame， I think） so this was fantastic。 Lauren Fortang read the female Saints and Ben did the male Saints， which was something that kinda struck me as odd （why do we need to pair off the genders？） but I won’t lie， it did work。 I may have got a little emotional with the last two Saints: Sankta Alina， and the Starless Saint。 That was a brilliant addition to the book we already knew a little of。 I have to say， I absolutely adore that Leigh writes all this additional material， just to give us that little bit more， and even explain things a little better。 。。。more

Kaitlyn Janzen ，

Sankt Nikolai is the patron saint of sailors and lost causes。 It’s poetic。

Kayla Anderson ，

So beautifully illustrated！ Fun to read the quick stories about each of the Saints in the Grishaverse。 Some are super dark！

Lex ，

Utterly brilliant！

Dhriti ，

♾♾♾♾♾♾♾♾♾🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 - infinite stars for The Darkling。 That man means everything to me。 3/5 stars for the book cause it was average meh。 the book was average and repetitive。 i didn’t like any story that much except ofcourse， My Starless Saint’s story， WHICH I ABSOLUTELY LOVED。 even sankt mattheus， the animal lover， was cute！THE DARKLING， I LOVE YOU LIKE CRAZYUNLIMITEDINFINITE😈❤️“But there are others who worship him still， the Starless One， patron saint of those who seek salvation in the d ♾♾♾♾♾♾♾♾♾🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 - infinite stars for The Darkling。 That man means everything to me。 3/5 stars for the book cause it was average meh。 the book was average and repetitive。 i didn’t like any story that much except ofcourse， My Starless Saint’s story， WHICH I ABSOLUTELY LOVED。 even sankt mattheus， the animal lover， was cute！THE DARKLING， I LOVE YOU LIKE CRAZYUNLIMITEDINFINITE😈❤️“But there are others who worship him still， the Starless One， patron saint of those who seek salvation in the dark。” 。。。more

Yuno ，

Wasn't as I expected。 Still enjoy this nonetheless。 Sankt Valentin is my most favorite of all of them， i guess。 I also enjoy Sankt Ilya because after reading Grishaverse， we all know the real story。 I think imma refer to this book whenever a name of a saint appear in the next Grisha books 😂 Wasn't as I expected。 Still enjoy this nonetheless。 Sankt Valentin is my most favorite of all of them， i guess。 I also enjoy Sankt Ilya because after reading Grishaverse， we all know the real story。 I think imma refer to this book whenever a name of a saint appear in the next Grisha books 😂 。。。more

Alexia ，

3。5

Viez ，

This book brings me back to the days when I used to spend my precious time with the Darkling and Alina。。。This supposed to be helpful when you're reading King of Scars， so I expect/know Yuri will be in the book。When reading this book， I felt like I was reading Andrew Lang's Fairy Book Collection。 So bottom line， this had a very "fairy tale" feel。I also found myself consulting a dictionary from like， 1997， and it worked perfectly fine。 Not everything is found only on Google， kids！ This book brings me back to the days when I used to spend my precious time with the Darkling and Alina。。。This supposed to be helpful when you're reading King of Scars， so I expect/know Yuri will be in the book。When reading this book， I felt like I was reading Andrew Lang's Fairy Book Collection。 So bottom line， this had a very "fairy tale" feel。I also found myself consulting a dictionary from like， 1997， and it worked perfectly fine。 Not everything is found only on Google， kids！ 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Lives of Saints

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Lives of Saints&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Lives of Saints&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0