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oxfordcommas91 's review for:
The Familiar
by Leigh Bardugo
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I truly hate to say this, but this book was a massive disappointment to me. I am a big Leigh Bardugo fan and have read 7 of her previous novels, so it truly pains me to rate this one so low. Her Alex Stern series (Ninth House and Hell Bent) were two of my favorite books of late, and I think Leigh is truly a skilled writer.
For all of those reasons, I want to talk about what did work for me before I talk about my issues with the book:
1. Bardugo is a master at creating a setting that feels like a character in and of itself. She did that again here. This novel is rooted in the Spanish Inquisition and the downfall of King Phillip II. It was a compelling and well crafted backdrop for the story that also felt like a history lesson in and of itself - Bardugo shares small tidbits throughout that make you feel deeply connected to the world she creates and you always feel like you finish the book a bit “smarter” than you started it.
2. I really respect what Leigh has done of late in the urban/dark/gothic fantasy genre. It’s clear that she’s really digging into the dark underbelly of society and playing with different forms of magic that aren’t as obvious as what other authors have done. She is playing in a different space - one without as many tropes. When reading her books, you never stop and think “I feel like I’ve read this before but with slightly different circumstances by a different author..” which is really refreshing.
Regrettably, what didn’t work:
1. The characters here felt one dimensional and dull to me. No ones motivations really made sense to me and you never connect enough with the characters to really feel invested in their story, success, or happiness. Everyone’s narrow pursuit of specific aims made the book a bit of a bore to me. There were no surprises in the ways that any of the characters acted throughout and it felt like at the end of the day, Bardugo put more love into the places she designed than the people she created in the world. She described the spaces and city in such wondrous ways and the characters got a hasty treatment in comparison. I get really attached to characters and I simply couldn’t bother to care about what happened to any of them in the end.
2. The romance subplot really didn’t work for me. It felt a bit icky and predatory and the way that this plotline advanced felt predictable and almost like it happened for no reason other than her readers expected some form of romance so she decided to toss some in at the last moment. It was a strange coupling, to say the least.
3. I really struggled with the amount of Spanish words, phrases, and bits of history that Bardugo sprinkles throughout without clueing the reader in to what they mean. Every chapter I was looking up or googling a new word - most of which google also had no idea as to what they meant or were referring to. I love learning new words in context of the history they belong, but if an author is going to use this amount of words in a language different from the language the book was written in, please include a glossary in your book! I would have loved to better understand the context for many of these expressions and terms and felt like I missed certain pieces by not knowing them.
4. The pacing on this book was an absolute mess - there were moments where it felt like it was building to a crescendo only to fall flat again. The constant “waiting for action that never came” was incredibly frustrating especially knowing that I was reading an author who can do those action scenes so well. I kept waiting for the big reveals or the big moments that were really missing. Leigh is a master at creating suspense and it was just completely absent from this book.
I wanted to love this book so badly. I saved it to the fall so I could read it during spooky season and I’m so sad that I can’t add it to my list of Leigh Bardugo must-reads that I recommend to everyone I know.
For all of those reasons, I want to talk about what did work for me before I talk about my issues with the book:
1. Bardugo is a master at creating a setting that feels like a character in and of itself. She did that again here. This novel is rooted in the Spanish Inquisition and the downfall of King Phillip II. It was a compelling and well crafted backdrop for the story that also felt like a history lesson in and of itself - Bardugo shares small tidbits throughout that make you feel deeply connected to the world she creates and you always feel like you finish the book a bit “smarter” than you started it.
2. I really respect what Leigh has done of late in the urban/dark/gothic fantasy genre. It’s clear that she’s really digging into the dark underbelly of society and playing with different forms of magic that aren’t as obvious as what other authors have done. She is playing in a different space - one without as many tropes. When reading her books, you never stop and think “I feel like I’ve read this before but with slightly different circumstances by a different author..” which is really refreshing.
Regrettably, what didn’t work:
1. The characters here felt one dimensional and dull to me. No ones motivations really made sense to me and you never connect enough with the characters to really feel invested in their story, success, or happiness. Everyone’s narrow pursuit of specific aims made the book a bit of a bore to me. There were no surprises in the ways that any of the characters acted throughout and it felt like at the end of the day, Bardugo put more love into the places she designed than the people she created in the world. She described the spaces and city in such wondrous ways and the characters got a hasty treatment in comparison. I get really attached to characters and I simply couldn’t bother to care about what happened to any of them in the end.
2. The romance subplot really didn’t work for me. It felt a bit icky and predatory and the way that this plotline advanced felt predictable and almost like it happened for no reason other than her readers expected some form of romance so she decided to toss some in at the last moment. It was a strange coupling, to say the least.
3. I really struggled with the amount of Spanish words, phrases, and bits of history that Bardugo sprinkles throughout without clueing the reader in to what they mean. Every chapter I was looking up or googling a new word - most of which google also had no idea as to what they meant or were referring to. I love learning new words in context of the history they belong, but if an author is going to use this amount of words in a language different from the language the book was written in, please include a glossary in your book! I would have loved to better understand the context for many of these expressions and terms and felt like I missed certain pieces by not knowing them.
4. The pacing on this book was an absolute mess - there were moments where it felt like it was building to a crescendo only to fall flat again. The constant “waiting for action that never came” was incredibly frustrating especially knowing that I was reading an author who can do those action scenes so well. I kept waiting for the big reveals or the big moments that were really missing. Leigh is a master at creating suspense and it was just completely absent from this book.
I wanted to love this book so badly. I saved it to the fall so I could read it during spooky season and I’m so sad that I can’t add it to my list of Leigh Bardugo must-reads that I recommend to everyone I know.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Infertility, Death of parent, Alcohol, War