Review Detail

"All the Crooked Saints" is YA fiction with a heavy dose of magical realism. The Soria family lives in Bicho Raro, Colorado, where they are saints who perform miracles. The process of the miracle is perhaps not what you would expect. They pull a part of the person out (their demons which manifest as a challenge) and then the person must overcome them. These pilgrims stay in Bicho Raro while doing so, but the Sorias cannot speak to them during the process- if they interfere, they will also be cursed. The book follows some of the Sorias, the pilgrims, and others who are related to the town. The book almost reads like a bunch of related short stories, telling us about many of the people rather than focusing on a few main characters.

The book was not what I expected. While it has the lyrical prose of the talented Stiefvater, it doesn't follow the same clear plot as the other series (which is not to say that it doesn't tell a story). It's beautiful in the way it is written, but as the characters' stories are only somewhat intertwined, you don't get the same overall focus to the novel as the past books did. I have some mixed feelings about it as a result. While it is beautifully written, it didn't capture my attention the way her past books did. However, I still enjoyed it as it tells some really unique and elegant stories focusing on many different characters (although a few do keep popping up). The prose felt very similar to the Raven Boys series in its beauty and musical quality. Fans of magical realism will really enjoy this new novel.