Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

70 reviews

lunsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a fairly quick book to read, with an interesting premise, where you can tell the author put in a lot of work and research. I truly enjoy Leigh Bardugo's writing and the athmosphere/setting was my favourite part. 

Sadly I just couldn't connect to any of the main characters. The protagonist was actually quite unlikable for me, which is not a problem when executed correctly, but in this case it just made me not care about her story or fate at all. I much preferred secondary characters like Valentina,

who had the best character arc in the book in my opinion

, or even Santángel. 

Overall, not a lot happened for the first 70%, and then it felt as if everything was wrapping up too rapidly in the last 100 pages or so. I did enjoy it for the most part, but I just didn't love it, as I feel like it would've perhaps benefitted from being longer, with the action scenes more evenly spaced throughout. 

The romance between Luzia and Santángel was a bit too instantaneous for me, it felt as it there was no build up and the characters went from strangers to being madly in love. I just felt there was no chemistry, and in turn it just made me not care for their relationship.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Confinement

Minor: Infertility, Death of parent, and War

sashajust4you's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

An amazing read. The language is beautiful and the characters stole my breath away.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Death, and Torture

adventuresinfantasy's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Religious bigotry

daryn's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Antisemitism

taryn_g's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, and Torture

Moderate: Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Confinement, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent, Sexual content, War, and Infertility

ewalkergrace's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Torture, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death, Violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Vomit and Sexual assault

lucyford's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was the first historical fantasy book I’ve read, and I loved the setting so much! The magic was so well thought and it was interesting to see how it was perceived by people at the time. The plot was also very exciting.

The only thing is that I really didn’t like the ending. Like I know they were “together” in the end or whatever, but not in the way I would’ve liked.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Hate crime, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Death, Murder, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Classism, Confinement, Sexual content, Deportation, Police brutality, Infertility, and Emotional abuse

caidyn's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It was alright. I did enjoy it, but I don't think I'd read it again.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

bergha1998's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This is such an interesting story, especially coming from Leigh Bardugo. I loved the setting, and all the world building. This felt really 2010s with the main romance, I won’t say anything more to ruin it. I also liked the sprinkling of LGBTQIA+ in the mix. 

Historic Fantasy, Romance Subplots, 1 🔥

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Child abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry

riaroo400's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Racial slurs, Sexism, Death, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Blood, Grief, Antisemitism, Classism, Racism, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, and Physical abuse