A review by ehmannky
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

challenging dark hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A beautiful, moody historical fiction romance set in 16th-century Spain. Luzia can manifest magic with Ladino phrases and songs, and with the help of the essentially immortal Santangel (the titular familiar), tries to better her station and avoid the snare of the Inquisition. I'm not particularly doing this justice in the description, because it's such a character-driven novel and I'm not capturing how much I loved the characters, romance, and prose. It's a book about desire, and not just sexual. It's about how a life without desire is safe, but stifling, and explores the ways that the "sin" of wanting and living as yourself can be hindered by the world around you and how people carve it from the world anyways. 

Also, I know a lot of people on this review have put this down as a "slow" book, but I didn't feel like it dragged or was particularly slow-paced at all. 
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