The Familiar

I wanted to like this book so badly. This is the 10th Leigh Bardugo book I’ve read. Before reading this she was batting a perfect 1.000 for me. Of the nine books I had read by her previously I would say that I enjoyed every single one. What’s even crazier is that I felt like she had been getting better. Her two most recent books (Ninth House and Hell Bent) were my two favorites. To top it off, it’s a historical fantasy book set in the time of the Spanish Inquisition, which is a really interesting time period and one rife to do fun things with from a fantasy writer’s perspective. To say that I went into The Familiar with high expectations would be an understatement. I didn’t just think that I would like it. I felt like I already knew that I would like it.

And yet I didn’t. I waited for the moment for the book to click for me and it never did. I don’t think The Familiar is totally irredeemable. Bardugo clearly did a ton of research into the setting, there are some really cool set pieces and some of the supporting characters are really cool. There are really only a couple of criticisms that I can make about the book. Unfortunately they are pretty big mistakes.

The first is that I just don’t find the main characters to be interesting at all. Here I’m mostly talking about Luzia and Santangel, who are easily the most prominent characters in the book. I just can’t bring myself to care about them, which is a really big problem because the book really needs you to be emotionally invested in them and their love story. Luzia is just boring and when she’s not boring she’s antagonistic to the point that it makes it hard to root for her. Santangel is a cardboard cutout of ‘edgy male love interest’ to the point that I could believe he was a character in a Twilight knockoff. When you have a romance between these two characters and have that be one of the biggest storylines of your book, the book isn’t going to be good. A novel can survive having boring or unlikable side characters. But even the best worldbuilding, supporting characters and pacing cannot save a book in which the two main characters just aren’t compelling. What’s so strange about this criticism is that I know for a fact that Bardugo can write characters like this extremely well. Alex from Ninth House and Hell Bent shares plenty of similarities with Luzia on paper but she’s actually great and is a huge part of what makes those books so good. Nikolai from the Grishaverse has some stuff in common with Santangel but he was easily compelling enough to carry a duology by himself. If a writer who I didn’t have as much faith in wrote these characters I’d be more forgiving but once again I know that Bardugo can do better than this and that’s what makes this criticism so frustrating.

While most of what I dislike about the book comes down to the fact that I just don’t care about Luzia and Santangel, it also has to be mentioned that this book has some weird pacing issues. I feel like it’s way too long and yet somehow feels rushed at various points as well. There is a lot of stuff going on throughout this book and I feel like a few sections or subplots could easily be taken out and make the book better.

For an NBA player, shooting 90% from the free throw line is exceptional. 90% gets you at least an A- in most classes. For a writer, having 90% of your bibliography be amazing is very worthy of praise. I still like Bardugo and consider her to be one of my favorite authors today. But this book is a notable miss for her.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, so maybe my disappointment with this book is on me, with my expectations set too high. But at the same time this was advertised as a deeply personal historical fantasy based on the author’s family history, while it was actually an alternate universe Alina x The Darkling story.

My full review for this book is on my booktube channel, where I explain why this felt like an alternate universe Alina x The Darkling

The beginning was great, and I loved the first chapter as it really sets the stage for things to come. We are introduced to several of our main characters and their situations. We have Luzia who is a maid in a not so wealthy house, and unhappy with her position. She has magic, but since it comes from her Jewish family and is performed with a mix of languages, she knows she could be killed for using it.

We also have Valentina, who is trapped in a loveless marriage and longs for companionship, while being isolated by societal expectations. Because of this she often employs cruel attention seeking and controlling tactics on the two servants in her house.

The first few chapters of the book we are told that this story doesn’t end well and there are small things that happened that cause a domino effect. I generally find this premise interesting, but the problem is, looking back on this part of the book, I stopped believing that it was actually these small things that made a difference. Luzia was too power hungry and ambitious not to get caught eventually. Sure the bread incident might have been what tipped Valentina off, but Luzia was careless. She freakin’ fixed the torn dress right in front of Valentina. And you can’t convince me that Luzia actually thought Valentina’s wrath was better than her interest. Luzia revels in the attention. She wants people to notice her and notice how powerful she is. She was going to show off eventually, bread incident or not.

At times, I liked that we focused on a power hungry ambitious character. It was interesting to see how far she would take things, how far she could climb in social status before falling. But it got old when this was Luzia's only personality trait. I didn’t feel like the characters were well rounded, which might be why I felt that I was kept at arm's length from the characters. I had trouble getting immersed in the story.

I really enjoy Leigh Bardugo’s writing. She has some great punchy lines!

"Luzia saw her reflection in the goblet, changed but unchangeable, made perfect and ruined all the same"

I love this one, though it feels like a Grishaverse quote.

“She could be safe. ‘I'd rather be powerful” she whispered to no one”

Oooh I was so ready for a corruption arc!

“But did he deserve to die?”

“Death doesn’t come to those who deserve it. I can attest to that.”

The book is written using modern language, so if that is something that breaks your immersion in a historical novel, then this one is not for you. It is something I notice, but it doesn’t take me out of a book, so it worked fine for me.

Overall, I'm glad I read it, but I think this is my first Bardugo book that I've read and won't be rereading