The Familiar

The Familiar grabbed me from the first line and was extremely satisfying to read. I wouldn't say it was fast-paced, maybe more medium, but I was never bored and I never wanted to put the book down. In a lot of the books I read, there's a lot of buildup to the climax of the story only for the bulk of the action to happen in the last few pages, and I'm often left feeling like it was sort of rushed. But in The Familiar, there was buildup, and then the action started and I was like, “wait, there's still so much book left!”
I loved Luzia as a main character. I liked that while everyone around her thought she was just a stupid little servant, the reader knows she is so much more. It would have been incredibly dangerous for Luzia to show anyone just how clever she really was in the 1500s. But hiding your true self can be dangerous too, and this quote really smacked me in the face: “I know what it is to lower yourself, to keep your eyes downcast, to seek invisibility. It is a danger to become nothing. You hope no one will look, and so one day when you go to find yourself, only dust remains, ground down to nothing from sheer neglect.” I mean, it absolutely BODIED me. Leigh Bardugo, did you write that for me? I feel called out. Anyway, watching Luzia evolve from a meager scullion to a woman who truly knows what she's capable of felt really good.
Santángel was another great character and I liked the way his relationships evolved throughout the book and the way Bardugo introduced his backstory. Really, character development as a whole was super on point, even for side characters. Everyone felt important and they all evolved in ways that made perfect sense. I've learned that Bardugo is very good at this.
This is such a hard review for me because I like the book so much, I just want to gush about spoilery things. I'll just say I think the book ended just the way it should have and call it a day.
This was my first Leigh Bardugo book. Her others have been on my TBR for a while, but that list is a mile long. I hope to get to Ninth House soon because I know for sure I'm a fan of hers now!