Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

23 reviews

sarahsbooklife's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.5

Honestly, I wasn't really sure what to expect going into this book. I knew very little, just that it was set in late 16th century Spain and a woman could do magic. And I'm glad that I didn't have any expectations going into this book.
It has a bit of a slow start. When I was reading it, it felt like it took longer than it actually did for characters to be introduced and for the plot to actually start. The overall pacing of the book is pretty slow. Maybe that's because I never felt like there were particularly highstakes for the characters. I was pretty sure that the main couple would get a happy ending even if no one else did. Although, towards the end I did begin to doubt that. 
I wouldn't say that this book was amazing. It was good and I enjoyed reading it. But it's not one that I would recommend to everyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Antisemitism, Blood, Classism, Physical abuse, Confinement, Islamophobia, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Murder, Sexual content, Death, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Excrement, Slavery, Suicide, Vomit, and War

kristinallard's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Sexism, Death, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Torture, and Forced institutionalization

turtles555's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

The individual stories of the very unique journeys the leads embark on brings brilliantly to life the disturbing presence of patriarchal societies. Top notch. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Sexism, Violence, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Bullying, Racism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Grief, Classism, Child abuse, and Police brutality

vagrantheather's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.0

Had trouble getting into this one. Picked up in the second half.

It feels a little wrong to me that the MC never acknowledges her religious background, even when she is on the verge of execution. Seems like a thread left untied. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Police brutality, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Violence, Torture, and Sexism

Minor: Misogyny, Infertility, and Murder

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

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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

probablytoolate's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infertility, Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Torture, Murder, Antisemitism, Sexual content, Sexism, Body horror, Death, and Domestic abuse

chronicacademia's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Antisemitism, Death, Hate crime, Body horror, Child abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Classism, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Blood, and Murder

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Rating: 5/5 stars

Luzia is a scullion in the home of Valentina and Marius Ordoño when her “small miracles” get her drawn into a dangerous tournament to become the king’s champion.

Leigh Bardugo is one of my favorite authors, and this book absolutely reminded me why. I’ll start with the writing: it is STUNNINGLY good, with so many witty and beautiful quotes throughout. If I was annotating this, I could use up entire highlighter collections noting my favorite passages and moments.

Secondly, the characters. Leigh Bardugo writes a morally grey man (and just morally grey people in general) better than almost anyone in the game, and I am OBSESSED with how well she did that here. Santángel is easily one of my new favorite all-time characters, and I also loved Luzia, and (maybe controversially?) Valentina. Even the characters I disliked were so delicately rendered and fascinating to read about, which is the mark of a truly great book in my opinion.

Finally, the level of detail and historical research here is INCREDIBLE and makes for a wonderfully immersive read. Highly HIGHLY recommend!

CW: Death/grief; sexual violence; physical violence/injury; torture

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Torture, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infertility

narzibenoucdel's review against another edition

dark reflective 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? No

4.0

A great book with characteristic Bardugo strengths of writing and character, but needed to be 100-200 pages longer to flesh out the intricacies and themes to their full potential

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Blood, Misogyny, Sexism, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

aseel_reads'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I don't really know how I feel about this? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry and Torture

Moderate: Antisemitism, Physical abuse, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Violence, Sexual violence, Death, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder