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A review by savvyrosereads
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
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? No
5.0
Rating: 5/5 stars
Luzia is a scullion in the home of Valentina and Marius Ordoño when her “small miracles” get her drawn into a dangerous tournament to become the king’s champion.
Leigh Bardugo is one of my favorite authors, and this book absolutely reminded me why. I’ll start with the writing: it is STUNNINGLY good, with so many witty and beautiful quotes throughout. If I was annotating this, I could use up entire highlighter collections noting my favorite passages and moments.
Secondly, the characters. Leigh Bardugo writes a morally grey man (and just morally grey people in general) better than almost anyone in the game, and I am OBSESSED with how well she did that here. Santángel is easily one of my new favorite all-time characters, and I also loved Luzia, and (maybe controversially?) Valentina. Even the characters I disliked were so delicately rendered and fascinating to read about, which is the mark of a truly great book in my opinion.
Finally, the level of detail and historical research here is INCREDIBLE and makes for a wonderfully immersive read. Highly HIGHLY recommend!
CW: Death/grief; sexual violence; physical violence/injury; torture
Luzia is a scullion in the home of Valentina and Marius Ordoño when her “small miracles” get her drawn into a dangerous tournament to become the king’s champion.
Leigh Bardugo is one of my favorite authors, and this book absolutely reminded me why. I’ll start with the writing: it is STUNNINGLY good, with so many witty and beautiful quotes throughout. If I was annotating this, I could use up entire highlighter collections noting my favorite passages and moments.
Secondly, the characters. Leigh Bardugo writes a morally grey man (and just morally grey people in general) better than almost anyone in the game, and I am OBSESSED with how well she did that here. Santángel is easily one of my new favorite all-time characters, and I also loved Luzia, and (maybe controversially?) Valentina. Even the characters I disliked were so delicately rendered and fascinating to read about, which is the mark of a truly great book in my opinion.
Finally, the level of detail and historical research here is INCREDIBLE and makes for a wonderfully immersive read. Highly HIGHLY recommend!
CW: Death/grief; sexual violence; physical violence/injury; torture
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Torture, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infertility