Reviews with content warning for Confinement - The Familiar

Despite a bit of a slow start, I found metaphorically chewing glass over this story by the end. Leigh Bardugo writes a solid YA, but her adult fantasy is where her gift truly shines. This was a tense, moving mix of real and terrible history with magics big and small that assembled into a mosaic of flawed people reaching for something more.

I would recommend this book to fans of other historic-period urban fantasy, particularly the works of Naomi Novik, Allison Saft, and Helene Wecker.

For my fellow Jewish readers and Muslim readers, just a heads-up that you may want to be a little more emotionally prepared for this one, as the Alhambra Decree, Reconquista, Inquisition, and the persecution of moriscos and conversos are all intimately tied to the novel’s setting and characterizations.

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jenlengland's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

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drjoannehill's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

Some time in the 1590s (?), Luzia is a maid for a not very rich couple in a shabby house in Madrid; she comes from a Jewish family who have had to hide their faith. And she can sing short tunes that perform a number of 'milagritos' that make life a bit easier - words to fix burnt bread, grow a tree in an instant, or to multiply one bean into many. When this becomes known to her employers, Luzia is invited to a tournament and thrown into the politics and intrigue of the rich and ruthless wannabes of King Phillip's court.

I don't really have much to fault this book on. Maybe a teeny bit on the tension leading to the ending - it could have been a bit more tense, but that could have been me. And maybe a bit more mythology building behind the words of the milagritos and how Luzia's aunt came to know about them and teach them to Luzia.

It would be a shame if this book is only known as a fantasy book by a fantasy author, putting off anyone who thinks they don't like fantasy. It sits among historical gothic/magical realism.

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