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A review by beforeviolets
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
5.0
“Because it is a language that spends its power in command and conquest. But you were wrong when you said you didn’t need the words. You do need them. Just as God did when He set this whole miserable clockwork running. Language creates possibility. Sometimes by being used. Sometimes by being kept secret.”
Wow. Without a doubt, will be one of my favorites of the year. Dazzling, quietly perseverant, and captivating, THE FAMILIAR is a testament to resilience. It’s a testament to the Jewish experience. It’s a testament to survival– to protecting the most precious parts of ourselves for ourselves however we must.
There’s something that gets me choked up about reading Jewish stories that center this particular brand of resistance: the kind that isn’t about changing the world, but is about taking care of ourselves and each other. Of course, Jewish revolution and political action can be just as moving, but for so much of our history, we did have to put our heads down and keep our communities safe through quieted whispers and clenched teeth and clasped palms. Through keeping the most valuable parts of our identities close to our chest. And this isn’t a story about moving the political tide or making waves in the minds of the masses towards acceptance. It’s a story about drops in the water and the ripple effect they can make. And there’s something so preciously Jewish about that. (Honestly it makes me want to cry just thinking about it.)
The characters here are all so brilliant and riveting. Luzia is fierce and bull-headed and daring, everything I love in a strong female protagonist. Valentina is brave, stumbling into her own self-discovery. But I think my favorite was Santángel, who felt like a cross between Ariel from the Tempest and Erik (the Phantom) from The Phantom of the Opera, with a sprinkling of Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle. But as all good characters should, their individual traits truly shine when they come into contact with each other, molding and scarring each other for the better.
I know many people will walk away from this book simping over the love interest or gushing over the romance, and honestly, I get it, I am a little bit as well. But, if I could have one hope as this goes into the world, it would be that people remember that the context of this book was very real. That the Spanish Inquisition was real. That the struggles these characters face were real struggles that Jewish and Muslim and other marginalized people faced at this time. "Witchcraft” accusations were a tool of more than just misogyny. They were a tool of empire and cultural erasure. Before the witch hunters came for the women, they came for the queer and disabled people. Before the witch hunters came for the queer and disabled people, they came for the Jews, the Muslims, the Black and Indigenous people.
I think this book does an incredible job of explaining how marginalized people were targeted by this empirical effort, so I’ll just leave this quote here with you:
After hundreds of years, if there were so many sinners left, what had the Inquisition accomplished? They might root out Jews and Muslims and Erasmists and alumbrados, but then what was left? The machine had been built to consume heresy and impiety, so would it simply keep finding heresy and impiety to feed on?
I can’t wait for this book to launch its way out into the world and for you all to join me in this world of scorching flames, blinding jewels, and heart-softening orange blossoms. An utter masterpiece from Bardugo, THE FAMILIAR will be a praised for years to come.
CW: antisemitism, religious bigotry, forced assimilation, violence, blood & fore, body horror, imprisonment, torture, fire, drowning, character death, grief, misogyny, animal death, alcohol, emesis, sexual content, death of parents (past), sexual assault (past, brief)
Wow. Without a doubt, will be one of my favorites of the year. Dazzling, quietly perseverant, and captivating, THE FAMILIAR is a testament to resilience. It’s a testament to the Jewish experience. It’s a testament to survival– to protecting the most precious parts of ourselves for ourselves however we must.
There’s something that gets me choked up about reading Jewish stories that center this particular brand of resistance: the kind that isn’t about changing the world, but is about taking care of ourselves and each other. Of course, Jewish revolution and political action can be just as moving, but for so much of our history, we did have to put our heads down and keep our communities safe through quieted whispers and clenched teeth and clasped palms. Through keeping the most valuable parts of our identities close to our chest. And this isn’t a story about moving the political tide or making waves in the minds of the masses towards acceptance. It’s a story about drops in the water and the ripple effect they can make. And there’s something so preciously Jewish about that. (Honestly it makes me want to cry just thinking about it.)
The characters here are all so brilliant and riveting. Luzia is fierce and bull-headed and daring, everything I love in a strong female protagonist. Valentina is brave, stumbling into her own self-discovery. But I think my favorite was Santángel, who felt like a cross between Ariel from the Tempest and Erik (the Phantom) from The Phantom of the Opera, with a sprinkling of Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle. But as all good characters should, their individual traits truly shine when they come into contact with each other, molding and scarring each other for the better.
I know many people will walk away from this book simping over the love interest or gushing over the romance, and honestly, I get it, I am a little bit as well. But, if I could have one hope as this goes into the world, it would be that people remember that the context of this book was very real. That the Spanish Inquisition was real. That the struggles these characters face were real struggles that Jewish and Muslim and other marginalized people faced at this time. "Witchcraft” accusations were a tool of more than just misogyny. They were a tool of empire and cultural erasure. Before the witch hunters came for the women, they came for the queer and disabled people. Before the witch hunters came for the queer and disabled people, they came for the Jews, the Muslims, the Black and Indigenous people.
I think this book does an incredible job of explaining how marginalized people were targeted by this empirical effort, so I’ll just leave this quote here with you:
After hundreds of years, if there were so many sinners left, what had the Inquisition accomplished? They might root out Jews and Muslims and Erasmists and alumbrados, but then what was left? The machine had been built to consume heresy and impiety, so would it simply keep finding heresy and impiety to feed on?
I can’t wait for this book to launch its way out into the world and for you all to join me in this world of scorching flames, blinding jewels, and heart-softening orange blossoms. An utter masterpiece from Bardugo, THE FAMILIAR will be a praised for years to come.
CW: antisemitism, religious bigotry, forced assimilation, violence, blood & fore, body horror, imprisonment, torture, fire, drowning, character death, grief, misogyny, animal death, alcohol, emesis, sexual content, death of parents (past), sexual assault (past, brief)