Reviews

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

dfbballinger's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

elenikin's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

It was a little slow to start, but once it got going, I was hooked! Luzia's magic was interesting, but sometimes she was hard to like (when she was power hungry), but she grew on me and also matured as a person. I particularly liked seeing Luzia and Santangel's relationship grow. The ending was dramatic but satisfying. I liked how it all was also based on history, to some degree, which was fascinating but also sad (the Inquisition was horrible). Not as good as Ninth House and Hell Bent, but still a worthy read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

kdickin3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? No

3.0

I'll be honest I struggled with the first 70% of this book. 

I wasn't sure where the story was going, and didn't really care or feel connected to most of the characters. The main thing that kept me reading were all the interactions between Luzia and Santangel, as they were always interesting. Also really wish we could have gotten more out of the setting.

The last 30% of the book did make up for quite a bit. You got way more out of the characters, even side characters that I hadn't felt connected to up to that point.

I did not like that essentially all of these incredibly intelligent women fell for Donadei's manipulations/acting. Some figured it out, but it was always too late.

michellegraham's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

elmewhy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

anorkgold's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

luck_a's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative 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

4.5

helzbreads_33's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

brenna_m's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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? No

3.0

bookphenomena_micky's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

The Familiar was a book that grew on me most in the last quarter of the book. The story was rich and vibrant whilst being shadowed by mystery, superstition and magic. Set in the times of the Spanish inquisition, this was a time in history where woman had a hard life whatever their circumstances. It's funny how 'witch trials' repeat through history.

Luzia was such an interesting character, she went from surviving to thriving and back to surviving again. She came into her power and it empowered her in many ways. There was an interesting and believable romance in this story with a character I wasn't quite able to sketch out fully but I was eventually invested.

The last quarter of the book was exciting and picked up from the slower movement of the first half (or more). Other than the MCs, there were few characters to like and no-one was trustworthy. Overall, I liked this but I didn't love it.

Thank you to Viking Books for the review copy.