Review: The Six Deaths Of The Saint

Book information

Title: The Six Deaths Of The Saint

Author: Alix E. Harrow

Where to buy: Amazon.

This review includes spoilers, read at your own risk.

“Well, she is my Devil now.”

In a thousand years and a thousand after that, they will still sing of the Prince and his Devil.

Your body fighting battles you’d already won or hadn’t yet fought.

“My Devil,” he said, and there was nothing you would not do for him when he spoke in this voice: fond, fatherly, full of love.

You understood, finally, that there had never truly been a she or a you but only a terrible, lonely I.

“I would rather love a coward than mourn a legend.”

I wanted so badly to be beloved.

But only one person in all my lives has ever loved me, and he does not wear a crown.

Likes: Tragic past of the main character makes them more human than anyone in the story thought she was. Also, the little detail with the red hair and the century (witches) was awesome. Everyone thought she was a devil 'cause of her red hair (and her fights), but in the end she was just a lonely servant girl who loved someone she realised too late. 

The story that repeats itself isn't just telling everything exact the same, it's more like a re-telling that you tell someone and then that someone tells it another and over the time the details change. That's exactly how it was, it wasn't boring to read it again, as we got new information every time the story repeat itself. Out of nowhere the squire had a name and every time the story repeat, the Saint of War fell more and more in love with her squirt. And the way she got her injury in her last battle changes too! First she got no arms, then she got a bow into her eyes and then again she got bitten by a viper. And in the end the Prince's name changes to God and we got to know that the priest also lived more than once. All of these extra info, makes it still interesting to read.

The narrative is always You and not I or She or He. At first it was confusing, but in the end it made more than enough sense. Of course You and not I, as the main character has an alter and this one is telling the story. It's You and not I. 

Reference: We have done this so many times, you and I.

Of course I disliked the Prince as he was manipulative to the girl, but I still kinda liked the toxicity of that relationship (perhaps 'cause I like kingdom romance). There were some moments that were actually kinda wholesome if the Prince wouldn't be manipulative. But that the Saint of War loved him with her whole heart wasn't just sad, but also speculative as she really did tried her best and it took 3 whole different endings for her to realise that he was not that good in the end. That shows how much she was bond to the Prince and if it would have been not toxic I would have shipped them actually.

After the first ending we get new information as already mentioned, but some aren't just interesting, but they actually give a better insight into relationships (Gwynne and the Saint of War) and also the Saint of War herself. How she pities Gwynne for being weak and vulnerable 'cause she was it herself. And also the relationship of the Prince and her could be interpreted now in two different ways; She loved him with all her heart and was bond to him, or she was just trying to get power (would explain her rudeness towards the squirt) and she wanted to be remembered as a song and/or legend. That could mean since she was never important and just called devil that she wanted to proof them all wrong and fight battles for the kingdom and be always remembered. 

Reference 1: You rose, because she was a saint and you were nothing, because no one had ever needed you before.

Reference 2: And you found you did not mind being a devil, so long as you were his.

Reference 3: You pitied him, almost hated him, for the way he looked: weak and vulnerable, just another poor bastard whose name the bards would never sing. Everything you’d once been and now despised.

Reference 4: “He—he loves me.”

Reference 5: “You cannot win against this.”

“Perhaps not,” you said.

“Why fight, then? For a few songs? For him?”

Dislikes: The romance was fine, don't get me wrong, but I disliked that it took the protagonist so long to realise who she really loved and even though the Prince wasn't nice to her and just used her that she realised that way too late too. I get it that she was a servant so she was glad she got a better life and wanted to serve him, but that is no excuse of being disrespectful to your squirt who was always loyal to you and even wouldn't move if she tried to slid her blade through his neck (I am talking about the first ending). That made the protagonist more dislikeable than necessary. Especially, as you can be manipulated and love someone else and still be nice to the people around you.

How it works: Only everything that is lower than 9 gets reduced from the final rating. Depending on how strong it inflicted the overall enjoyment of reading it effects differently. 

[ Story 9 / 10 ]

[ Characters 7 / 10 ]

[ Triggering 0 / 10 ]

[ Topic/Genre 10 / 10 ]

[ Writing style 10 / 10 ]

[ Grammatic and spelling 10 / 10 ]

[ Ending 10 / 10 ]

Final Rating

4/5

I read the other books of this series and this one is so far the best one. I knew from the average rating that this one had the highest from the series so this book from the series was also the reason why I started the book series, and I am glad I did. I did want to give the other books a chance even if the first book of the series had the lowest average rating. I wanted to read this one and see if the average rating is actually fair, and it is, at least for me. 

Started the book: 05. May 2024

Finished the book: 05. May 2024

Wrote the review: 06. May 2024