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A review by the_rabble
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Really good! Puts you through the wringer, but every beat is earned.
3rd person, multiple POVs, light spice, edgy historical fantasy centered on 1500s Spain. Heroine levels up her power and navigates some Madrid-centric palace intrigue.
Characters were realistically nuanced and had complicated backgrounds-- and one character is fully an immortal magical entity. There's significant consideration of classism, religious and ethnic persecution, migration, colonialism, and terror as a method of rule.
Action scenes were great. The prose slaps. Plot is slow up front-there's a lot of table setting- but the back half kinda hauls ass.
Magic system is a really fun language amalgam (audiobook is particularly a treat bc there's singing.) Very interesting frame of household magic running side-by-side with an aggressive Catholic authority.
Vibewise- it's not a light book. It's not angsty, either, but it is... kind of a dark grey. Broadly, there's no glossing over the violence faced by women, children, and the poor in 1500s Spain.
[Last third of book]There is somepretty realistic Inquisition-led torture. That part's also a bit of a lull.
3rd person, multiple POVs, light spice, edgy historical fantasy centered on 1500s Spain. Heroine levels up her power and navigates some Madrid-centric palace intrigue.
Characters were realistically nuanced and had complicated backgrounds-- and one character is fully an immortal magical entity. There's significant consideration of classism, religious and ethnic persecution, migration, colonialism, and terror as a method of rule.
Action scenes were great. The prose slaps. Plot is slow up front-there's a lot of table setting- but the back half kinda hauls ass.
Magic system is a really fun language amalgam (audiobook is particularly a treat bc there's singing.) Very interesting frame of household magic running side-by-side with an aggressive Catholic authority.
Vibewise- it's not a light book. It's not angsty, either, but it is... kind of a dark grey. Broadly, there's no glossing over the violence faced by women, children, and the poor in 1500s Spain.
[Last third of book]There is some