Saint Death

A very powerful book [...] I believe it will easily raise awareness and inspire empathy because Arturo's story is so tragic.

...an incredibly powerful thriller, tautly written and timely, exploring a world of drug lords and gang warfare, migration and capitalism, and what it means to live in poverty.

It's beautifully-written with a real sense of atmosphere, menace and tension

I really enjoyed Marcus Sedgwick's strange and intriguing tale, told in rhythmical and compelling prose.

Saint Death is perhaps the first great anti-capitalist YA novel of the 21st Century.

I think this is probably the most important book to be released this decade.

...there's more to this book than just a gripping story-line; it's an eye-opener regarding the conditions in which thousands of people live alongside the border.

I can't fully explain how important it is, how horrifically hopeful and sad it is. Just writing this review and remembering the book has me on the verge of tears. I can only hope you read it.

Exploring themes of migration, capitalism and social mobility this taut thriller, laced with Mexican folklore, will have you holding your breath until the shocking climax.

Beautifully written, the prose is absorbing, taut yet poetic, with a real sense of menace ... This is not a comfortable read, and not for the faint-hearted - Sedgwick points a finger at our indifference, and no compromise has been made to the brutal realism - but it is an important read.

I read it in one glorious gulp [...] this isn't a larky read, although the heavy subject matter could not slow down the pace if it tried. [...] Sedgwick writes like a dream

Bleak, choppy, switching freely between perspectives and languages, Sedgwick's book pulls no punches, and will leave the reader reeling

A tightly plotted, dark and thrilling tale of crime, poverty and desperation, Saint Death pulls no punches in painting a horribly accurate picture of life for the poorest young people in Mexico, where savage criminality may be the only choice

Marcus Sedgwick's brilliant YA thriller Saint Death, describes a place in Mexico where rights violations make it impossible to live well with integrity

In places Saint Death becomes difficult to read [...] but it's an important book and it made me consider issues that, up until this point, were easy for me to turn my back on. [...] In Saint Death, we see Sedgwick at his most raw, his most honest and, unforgettably, his most brutal.

This is also a really well-written and well-researched novel that draws you in and never lets you go. Please read it.

Sedgwick did the right thing in showing the dark reality faced by Mexicans through their eyes, it made a change from what the media usually presents them as...

Another gem from a prize-winning author, whose masterful delivery of prose will leave you breathless ... A quick-paced and addictive read for young adult readers and up. I loved this

...gripping, tragic and above all else beautifully written.

...powerful, compelling and gritty thriller. Exquisitely written...

Marcus Sedgwick challenges us to consider this thought-provoking question in a novel which is timely, topical and, ultimately, a gritty portrayal of life in a world where criminals rule.