Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

152 reviews

thelibraryskeeper's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

"Fate can be changed," Luzia said. "Curses can be broken."

Leigh has an absolute gift for writing and her adult novels have been such a breath of fresh air. This is a dark standalone historical fiction novel about a young woman who comes from a familia conversa (a Jewish family forced to convert in the face of the inquisition). She has magic in her blood which leads to a competition of piety. The book is tragic and hopeful all at once. The romance was perfection and unlike other readers, I felt it fit perfectly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Infertility

minamouse's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry

Moderate: Sexual content and Xenophobia

Minor: Sexism and Antisemitism

temperamentalprotagonist's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Genocide, Hate crime, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Infertility, Mental illness, and Murder

aj_mooney's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

This is a spectacular standalone fantasy. The mixture of magic, romance, and political intrigue was absolutely delightful. I love Luzia's character arc, as she comes into her power and claims a future for herself that no one expected from her. I also enjoyed being thrown into the world of the Spanish Inquisition, a time and place that are rarely covered in historical fiction. Overall, I think this is my favorite book from Bardugo to date.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Violence, and Religious bigotry

skbgfd's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Murder

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Cursing and Fire/Fire injury

meowata's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-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

3.75

Very slow burn. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual content

boutofbibliophilia's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry

blewballoon's review against another edition

Really not loving this so far. It's a bit too crass and unpleasant; there were 3+ mentions of casual sexual assault in the first 5% of the book. It feels like everyone is just abusing each other, or making whatever the most selfish and impulsive choice is that they can make. All the side characters seem to be there to add more awful texture. I think you're meant to sympathize with the main character and her bad choices, but the writing is missing the mark because I don't feel anything for her apart from mild exasperation.

It reminds me of some other books I read narrated by Saskia Maarleveld (Hester, God of Endings, Little Thieves), but she didn't narrate this one and I wonder if she could have made it much better if she did. I can take some grit and darkness, but I need there to be a sense of hope and change to get me through the sloggy parts. I am not finding that here.

This is my first Leigh Bardugo book, and if this is a good indicator of her writing style, I don't think I like it. I had high hopes since I know her books are quite successful, and this premise interested me, but hopefully this is a fluke and I'll have better success with one of her other books in the future.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Religious bigotry

queerloras's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.5

This was gorgeous. I didn't understand it properly the first time I don't think, but I'll be rereading it again just for the beauty of the prose so that's not an issue.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Torture, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

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

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

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