Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

29 reviews

madelineeva's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness and Torture

Minor: Death of parent

jennipea382's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Genocide, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War

celery's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful informative inspiring tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

cuteasamuntin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Islamophobia, and Grief

Minor: Body horror, Genocide, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

alba_1994's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

Interesting read, I liked the characters and the ending. I just wish the resolutions were better woven into the plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, and War

ifyouhavebooks's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault

hihicass's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent

amaranth_wytch's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Excrement, Islamophobia, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

danaaliyalevinson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

I’m Jewish and have Sephardi ancestors who fled Portugal thanks to the Inquisition. So immediately this book was right up my alley. I felt that the prose had a certain ineffable Jewishness to it. There was a poeticism and this feeling of the weight of history, and worlds being destroyed and created, that seeped through every line.

The magic system. The way language and connection to heritage was used to control the world around Luzia was so beautiful.

I also found the characters incredibly compelling. And the chemistry between Luzia and Santángel was beautiful and also poetic. I felt the book in its entirety did a very good job of balancing really wonderful character development with more plot driven storytelling.

My only criticism is that it felt

that Luzia’s connection to her Jewishness was a dangling character thread that was never fully resolved. I kept expecting her to eventually come to identify with her Jewishness in the way that her Aunt Hualit did. Or at the very least, when she transported herself and Santángel toward the end, that she would transport them to Salonika, or even Ottoman Israel-Palestine, to live among Jews. There was some implication of this with the oranges, but it wasn’t explicit.

If that character thread had been better wrapped up, this would’ve been a 5 star read for me. But it was still wonderful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ashstrong172's review against another edition

emotional mysterious fast-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

4.75

This book blends the political intrigue and cultural insights of a historical fiction with the excitement of a fantasy. It also features a compelling love story, which I did not expect from the description.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder