Reviews tagging 'Blood'

El Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

43 reviews

frmeden's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? N/A

4.5

picture me reading the ending on the bus with my heart in my fucking throat

leigh bardugooo you have so much talent, it felt like spain was honestly a whole other character in this book and so much love and care was given to every character, no matter how minor, that i was deeply invested in how each of their stories wrapped up

doesn’t quite join the ranks of six of crows but they’re not really the same story so probably incomparable? but it wrapped up so bittersweet and final and lovely. i liked this a lot

santángel you will always be famous and sexy

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, and Body horror

Moderate: Death of parent and Sexual violence

writingcaia'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? It's complicated

4.5

Enchanting and eery, magical and dark, with a historical setting that brings to life the horrors and hypocrisy of the Inquisition, the conversion and expulsion of Jews, and the fall of the Spanish Armada, mixing historical facts with magical ones that feel as true as the written down.
Amidst it all there is a girl grieving for a family and a future lost to poverty and inquisition, slaving away, until a casual and common (for her) little chant to fix the bread pushes her to display her magical talents, so intertwined with her past and traditions, driving her to find her lost strength and renewing her ambition - to be powerful, to be unique, to be seen.
Pushed into a political game between King and would-be powers she meets the strange but alluring Familiar, her magic mentor, and her life will never be the same.
A love story and a dark tale with villains and heroes disguised as either, where trust is earned and love stolen from the ashes of a forgotten world.
It didn’t dazzle me but it was still unforgettable!
Can’t wait for more like this from Leigh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Blood

Minor: War

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

fiafiu's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Oh my gosh this might be one of my favorite books I've read this year. Insanely beautiful and gorgeous writing! I love historical fiction AND fantasy so this book was a dream for me to read. All the characters were real and fleshed out, and Luzia was absolutely brilliant. I could tell how much work the author put into research to make this accurate to the time and to make her characters fit into the story. Incredible love story as well! I recommend this book a thousand times over. A MUST READ!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood and Death

laurenzazzles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Antisemitism, Confinement, Blood, Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Grief, Body horror, and Emotional abuse

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Gaslighting, Violence, Confinement, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Antisemitism, Body horror, Hate crime, Torture, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Abandonment, and Bullying

ljp817's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Blood, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: War, Excrement, and Vomit

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

ohennui's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Blood, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent and Physical abuse

sxndaze's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.25

A thousand stories. A thousand 
meanings. But in the end, it belongs to no one, except the woman who holds it in her hand.

a little slow in the beginning, but it’s an addicting read. the amount of names and characters that are thrown at you can be overwhelming at times too, but that’s the nature of fantasy i think. luzia is a wonderful character and her drive and ambition is something you can’t help but root for. santángel is dark and broody and everything i love in a character and the two of them together are chefs kiss. 

the plot is intriguing and the magic system is fascinating. the development of the side characters is wonderful too and i enjoyed my time with them. it’s definitely something i want to revisit again in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Antisemitism, Blood, Death, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Torture, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infertility, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol