Reviews

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

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caitsparks's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious fast-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

4.0

mcluster1's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

Perfect ending

krows_ink's review against another edition

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

3.5

I sat on this review for a few days. What I keep coming back to is that this book (like most of Bardugo’s works) could have benefited from more pages.

Some of the lines in this book were truly beautiful and the ideas of ambition and lineage were interesting. That being said, I think the size of the cast was ambitious and because of it Bardugo’s strengths (characters and world building) got pushed into the background.

I could not find anything to love for the main character. She didn’t even feel like a full character to me. She always had to be sarcastic and witty without giving her space to also feel actual fear or other “weak” emotions. Santángel was probably the most interesting character at a glance; however, we didn’t actually get into his character as much as I thought we might.

Even his and Luzia’s relationship took me by surprise. I could see why they would be drawn together but in my opinion it needed a slower burn for the whole ‘I’ll let myself burn on a pyre for you’ thing to work.

My actual favorite character by the end of the book was Valentina. She’s not loveable but she had the most interesting character arc in the story and I think her ending was executed the best.

I loved how original this world felt and the magic in Luzia’s refranes. I also loved the exploration of magic and milagritos in the time of the Spanish Inquisition. I would have loved to see more exploration of this through either a longer story or a more focused one on Luzia and Santángel.

I won’t get too much into the ending, but I think some of it was rushed and lazy. There was no true explanation to Luzia becoming immortal. I could probably write a paper on the parallels between this book and the original Grisha Trilogy but I don’t want this review to be much longer than it is.

Content Warnings

emilywemily6's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

This book read a lot like Ninth House- like I was just minding my own business and reading this book and I was reminded of Ninth House... and then I remembered that both books are written by Leigh Bardugo lol. The vibes are similar, though the magic is very different. I really like the historical aspect of this story, and I really appreciated Luzia's character and how she has worked her whole life for what she has and aspires to have more once the opportunity arises. I didn't enjoy the romance subplot as much as I hoped, I think I didn't see the chemistry as much and wanted more progression of the characters' feelings for each other. I never knew where this book was going, which was interesting and kept me reading, but also made the book feel a little bit slow. These characters are not likable, but they are very realistic and not inherently unlikable. This book has perfect vibes for a fall read.

Content Warnings

ffionreilly's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

camillesrv's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense

Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

imogent's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

4.25

susannah_h's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a book that was probably conceptually going to be 150+ pages longer. The characters arc builds like there was supposed to be more pages of growth. I'm sorry Leigh that you had to cut short these characters bc of publishing page limits :(

rebeccafish23's review against another edition

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dark 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

4.0

rachaelgabriel's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.75

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