Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

El Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

16 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

blacksphinx's review against another edition

emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Antisemitism, Death, Religious bigotry, Grief, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

Moderate: Vomit, Mental illness, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Infertility, and Death of parent

Minor: Gore, War, Dementia, and Islamophobia

elena_r's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Mental illness and Antisemitism

alexisdillon725's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism

Moderate: Torture and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death of parent, Mental illness, and Death

stormeno's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

Moderate: Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Blood, Mental illness, Gore, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual content, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death, Gaslighting, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

aileron's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Death, Antisemitism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Blood, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, and Mental illness

sillyhumantricks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Racism, Mental illness, Slavery, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Torture and Violence

becalexa's review against another edition

4.0

very solid 4 stars! the beginning was a little slow but once it got going i was quite interested. not the most intricate plot ms bardugo has ever written but it certainly had Vibes which i personally think was the point of this story. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Gore

midnightrose_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Familiar is a beautifully told dark historical fantasy set in the Spanish Golden Age. Leigh Bardugo is a remarkable storyteller who proves with every release why she’s not only one of my favorite authors, but an auto-buy author as well!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Vomit, Antisemitism, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content and Cursing

Minor: War

quiet_reader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-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: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Murder, Violence, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Blood, Classism, Gore, Sexism, Antisemitism, and Torture

Moderate: Confinement, Bullying, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Genocide, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Colonisation, Ableism, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Animal cruelty, and Animal death